"Carrot and Stick" is the second episode of the sixth season of Better Call Saul and the fifty-second episode of the series altogether.
Summary[]
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At Nacho's house, his junkie girlfriends Amber and Jo are lazing around when Mike, Tyrus, and Nick walk in unannounced. Mike tells the panicking girls that Nacho isn't coming back and gives them a bundle of money, instructing them to leave town and never return. After they leave, Mike searches the house while Nick uses a power drill to break into Nacho's safe. Inside, Mike finds stacks of cash as well as two fake Manitoba IDs for Nacho and his father Manuel. He puts the money and Nacho's ID card in a sack while pocketing Manuel's ID card. Victor drives a duplicate safe to the house, into which Mike places the money and Nacho's ID card, as well as a sealed white envelope.
Act I[]
At Kim's apartment, Jimmy practices a monologue as part of his and Kim's scam against Howard. Their plan is to persuade Cliff Main to take a meeting, have Cliff hear an anecdote about Howard abusing cocaine, building on their caper at the country club, but also have the case be something Cliff would reject. The couple trade suggestions on how to make their story believable. Kim comes up with an idea but tells Jimmy that he is going to hate her idea.
Meanwhile, at the Los Pollos Hermanos chicken farm, Gus and Tyrus look over several crime scene photos and forensic reports by the Federales for the assault on Lalo's compound. As Gus looks at the photo of a burnt corpse, Tyrus informs him that the corpse's dental records match that of Lalo's. Accepting that Lalo has died, Gus has an idea and makes a phone call to Juan Bolsa, telling him that he knows how to keep the peace within the Cartel.
Outside Albuquerque, Jimmy drives to a tax servicing business, and admires a large inflatable Statue of Liberty on the property. The owners of the business turn out to be Craig and Betsy Kettleman. Jimmy offers to exonerate them for their past legal troubles if they sign letters of engagement barring them from taking on competing lawyers, deliberately name-dropping Cliff. Betsy is against it, but Craig wants to sign the documents, much to Betsy's chagrin. When they both sign, Jimmy tells the Kettlemans the basis of a would-be civil suit: Howard, the lead attorney in their case, was impaired in his legal duties by using cocaine. Betsy thanks him for the information but fires him as their lawyer, allowing them to find other legal counsel. Jimmy feigns being upset by their refusal and yells at Betsy that he will still get a cut of the compensation when they tell other lawyers that she got her information from him. As Betsy and Craig return inside, Jimmy smirks as he walks back to his car, knowing that they will not mention his name when they meet with Cliff.
Act II[]
At the motel in Mexico, Nacho paces around his room and chafes under the anxiety of waiting for rescue. He draws his gun upon hearing footsteps outside his door, only to find that the manager has left food for him on a tray. He peers out of the window through the curtains and watches a man wandering near the property. His attention is drawn to a small building across the parking lot from his room. Although all of the windows are boarded-up, he notices a running air conditioner dripping condensation. Focusing on the building's details, he notices that one of the window's boards has a hole in the corner.
At Davis & Main, Erin Brill approaches Cliff and tells him that the Kettlemans want to meet him, seeking to sue their former lawyers at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill. The couple tell Cliff that Craig's conviction for embezzlement was due to Howard's alleged cocaine abuse. Cliff refuses to take their case, stating that doing so would be a conflict-of-interest as they are partnered with HHM on a case, that reversing Craig's conviction is unlikely, and that Cliff doesn't believe what the couple claim about Howard. The Kettlemans then walk out frustrated. However, when he returns to his office, Cliff, having seen Howard in apparent possession of cocaine at the country club, is troubled enough by their story that he is unable to continue playing his guitar.
At the Casa Tranquila Nursing Home, Gus and Bolsa visit Hector. While he openly admits that he never got along with Lalo, Gus claims that they are all serving Don Eladio offers his condolences for the death of Hector's nephew. Both he and Bolsa promise to aid the Salamanca family in avenging him; Hector offers his hand for Gus to shake, but uncharacteristically looks him in the eyes while doing so while smirking, shocking Gus. Outside the nursing home, Gus watches as Bolsa leaves and then calls Mike, informing him that Lalo is still alive.
Act III[]
Bolsa's men ransack Nacho's house and use a power tool to cut into the decoy safe. Inside, they find Nacho's fake ID card as well as the envelope left by Mike, which contains a bank statement for offshore account transactions as well as a phone number. Bolsa dials the number, which connects him to the motel where Nacho is hiding.
The following day, Nacho is monitoring the small building across from his room when the manager drops by to leave him food again. Nacho opens his door a little but doesn't step out; as he watches through the window, he sees movement behind the boarded-up window, thus confirming that someone is watching him. Not wanting the watcher to realize that Nacho has learned of this, Nacho steps outside of his door collects the food in a casual manner, in full view of whoever is watching him, and gives off the air that he believes he is safe enough at the motel to do so. Nacho takes his food and returns to his room, but once back inside, he throws the food at the wall in anger. He considers dialing Tyrus, but instead opts to escape the room by kicking out the air conditioning unit in the rear window and then jumping out of it.
Nacho sneaks into the other building, where he enters the room that was facing his. Inside, he finds a man surveilling his room. Nacho forces the man to surrender his gun and demands to know who he works for. The man claims not to know, that all of his contact is by phone, and that he is just paid to take note of Nacho's movements. Holding the man at gunpoint, Nacho uses his own phone to call Tyrus, and tells him that he is about to flee the motel before hanging up. The man's own cell phone then receives a call, confirming Nacho's suspicion that Gus has sold him out. Nacho tells the man to turn around, and the man smugly remarks that he cannot be shot as the criminals in town will react to the gunshot. However, Nacho uses the gun to knock him out.
Act IV[]
Nacho breaks into a parked pickup truck with the intent to steal it. Just then, a group of Cartel henchmen, accompanied by the Cousins, pull up to the motel. The Cousins and the henchmen spread out to search the location, breaking down the doors of every room. Nacho attempts to hide in the pickup but is soon confronted by one henchman, who holds the motel manager hostage. Nacho shoots and kills the henchman, which draws the attention of the others. He is briefly pinned down by another henchman until the Cousins shoot their own henchman, reminding the others that their orders are to bring Nacho alive. Nacho hotwires the pickup and drives it in reverse, damaging the Cousins' car in the process. A brief standoff ensues between Nacho and the Cousins, which ends when Nacho charges at them with the pickup. Both parties exchange gunfire and Nacho manages to speed away from the scene.
At Kim's apartment, Jimmy receives a hectic phone call from the Kettlemans, and Jimmy schedules a meeting with them the following morning. As he retrieves a large wad of money from the duffel bag in the closet, Kim, looking unhappy, asks whether Jimmy will use "the stick" on the Kettlemans, and replies that they are more of the "carrot types". To Jimmy's surprise, Kim suggests that she accompany him to the meeting.
The following day, at the chicken farm, Tyrus informs Gus and Mike that Nacho's stolen pickup has been found while Nacho himself remains missing; Lalo is also missing, and the Cartel believes he is dead. Mike says that none of his men have seen or heard any indication that Lalo is in New Mexico, surmising that he is also looking for Nacho in Mexico and is planning to extract the truth from Nacho in order to get permission from the cartel to kill Gus. Gus struggles to keep his composure and accidentally knocks over and breaks a drinking glass. As he cleans it up, Mike tells him that their only option is for Mike to bring four of his best men across the border to track down Nacho before the Salamancas do and to bring him back to Albuquerque. Gus tells Mike to bring in Manuel, and Mike flatly refuses, causing Tyrus to brandish his gun at him. At that moment, Nacho calls Mike on his phone, and Gus allows him to answer it. After a brief exchange, Mike tells Gus that Nacho wants to talk to him.
Act V[]
Jimmy and Kim drive to the Kettlemans' tax business, where Betsy is shocked to see Kim. After Kim tells her that she and Jimmy are married, Betsy angrily tells them that the couple have gone to four different lawyers to share the news about Howard's cocaine usage and that all of them stated that they have no case. They accuse Jimmy of using them to help assassinate Howard's character, and wonder what Howard will say when they inform him of Jimmy's plan. Jimmy offers cash to them to buy their silence, but Betsy turns down, demanding that he make good on his promise of exonerating Craig and complains that Jimmy ruined their life, adding that she lost everything. Tiring of the exchange, Kim resorts to a "stick" tactic and makes a call to the Albuquerque office of the IRS and tells them that she knows of a tax preparer agency that involves them filing the proper forms with the IRS but giving falsified forms to their customers, where they pocket at least half of their clients' tax returns. In a panic, Betsy hangs up the call and says that she will do anything.
Kim instructs the Kettlemans to give back their customers what they are legally owed and to forget about Howard; if they do not, both Kettlemans will go to prison and that Craig would get a harsher sentence as he would be a repeat offender. Kim then tells Betsy, who had complained earlier that she had lost everything, that she has no idea yet what it means to truly lose everything. The couple are left defeated, and Kim leaves the office and returns to the car. Inside, Jimmy looks at the Kettlemans in silence, but gives them the money, the "carrot" tactic, as a consolation. Jimmy is visibly taken aback by the incident, and returns to the car. Getting into the driver's seat, Kim correctly surmises that Jimmy gave them the money, which disappoints her. In response, Jimmy mutters "Wolves and sheep." As Jimmy and Kim drive away, they are followed by a sedan.
Official Photos[]
Trivia[]
Episode Poster
- On the cheque that Betsy Kettleman prints out for a client, the current date is shown as May 23, 2004.
- The inflatable Statue of Liberty prop used during filming is the same one used for Breaking Bad that sat atop Saul's office.
- This episode marks the final appearances of Craig and Betsy Kettleman.
- The real-life tax agency Liberty Tax filed a lawsuit against AMC and the creators of Better Call Saul in August 2022, believing that the Kettlemans' tax fraud agency, Sweet Liberty Tax Services, violated their trademarks and that the episode gave viewers the notion that they also provided fraudulent tax services.
- The meals Nacho is given include a can of Único Fresco juice in a "bottle can". This is anachronistic to the show's timeline as the episode is set in 2004 while parent company Jumex states that "bottle can" format was introduced in 2007.
- After leaving Sweet Liberty Tax Services, Jimmy mumbles the words "wolves and sheep," referring the the piece of advice given to him by the conman in "Inflatable".
- This episode was nominated for Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
- Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill
- Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut
- Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler
- Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin (credit only)
- Michael Mando as Nacho Varga
- Tony Dalton as Lalo Salamanca (credit only)
- Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Uncredited
- TBA
Memorable Quotes[]
- "You think you lost everything? You have no idea."
- ―Kim to Craig and Betsy Kettleman
- "Whatever happens next, it’s not gonna go down the way you think it is."
- ―Mike to Gus and Tyrus