Nacho Varga's shocking death - but episode 4 somehow makes that loss even more brutal. Absent throughout the entirety of Breaking Bad, the writing was always potentially on the wall for Michael Mando's Nacho as Better Call Saul's long-awaited climactic run loomed. Predicted though his demise might've been, "Rock & Hard Place" shocked audiences on multiple levels, from Nacho pulling the trigger himself, to watching such a massive character die as early as episode 3.
Nacho's Better Call Saul departure rifled home the harrowing reality of cartel life. The sheer, unflinching violence on display as Gus Fring's trapped rat put a gun to his head - having not long rammed a secreted shard of glass in Juan Bolsa's leg - is unsettling enough, but Better Call Saul also plays on the sad futility of Nacho's position. All through his final episode, the shard of glass feels like a slither of hope that Better Call Saul's most sympathetic gangster can survive but, ultimately, the desperation of his predicament proves too great. After Jesse Pinkman's happy ending in El Camino, Nacho's Better Call Saul death served a timely reminder that fairy tale endings are rare in this business.
Having delivered such a hard-hitting farewell, Better Call Saul faced a tough task making its Nacho Varga situation any more affecting, yet season 6, episode 4 ("Hit & Run") somehow does exactly that... by completely avoiding the subject altogether. The episode largely focuses on the latest phase of Jimmy and Kim's Howard Hamlin scam, and since neither lawyer knows the Nacho news just yet, there's little cause to discuss him. But then "Hit & Run" switches to Gus and Mike... and there's still zero talk of Nacho. Gus makes no reference to last week's showdown in the desert, Mike shows no lingering resentment that his surrogate son now sleeps in the sand, and there's not even an exchange between Gus and the cartel to acknowledge their leak has been plugged.
Expecting a flower-filled funeral might've been a touch optimistic, but the complete lack of Nacho talk in the immediate aftermath of his death is just plain haunting. Rarely does any main character perish, then go totally unmentioned the very next chapter. Three years on, and Marvel still won't shut up about Tony Stark... By ghosting Nacho in his post-death episode, Better Call Saul sends an important message about the brutality of its world and the characters within. Nacho's body has barely gone cold, and already it's like he never existed. The cartel has moved on; Nacho was just another tragic victim quickly forgotten, and even those who do care to him (i.e. Mike) know better than to express those feelings. It's harsh, but it's reality, and there's a real chance Nacho won't get mentioned again before Better Call Saul ends. That gunshot would be a fitting final word.
Omitting all mention of Nacho from Better Call Saul's "Hit & Run" strengthens the meaning behind his demise far better than if the episode had addressed the matter. Featuring Nacho's funeral, for instance, would give Michael Mando's character a sense of closure, betraying the coldness of cartel life in Better Call Saul's world. Even just Gus Fring itting Nacho caused him a serious headache would make his death feel like a big deal for the cartel, rather than just another day at the office.
Better Call Saul continues Monday on AMC.