"Wine and Roses" is the first episode of the sixth season of Better Call Saul and the fifty-first episode of the series altogether.
Summary[]
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The teaser initially appears to be the usual black-and-white segment following "Gene Takavic" as previous seasons began, showing neckties cascading into a box; however, the ties gradually become more colorful. Continuing in color, the teaser then shows a team of workers removing personal effects—including expensive clothing, luxury furniture, sentimental items, and a white Cadillac sedan—from a large mansion in Albuquerque. The mansion formerly belonged to Saul Goodman, and the property and everything in it is being repossessed. As a large cabinet is being loaded onto a moving truck, the distinctive cap from a Zafiro Añejo tequila bottle falls out into the gutter, going unnoticed by the workers.
Act I[]
In 2004, Nacho flees from Lalo's compound in Mexico after allowing Gus's assassins to enter through the back gate. He overhears gunfire as he runs through the wilderness. At daybreak, he hides in a ditch to avoid being seen by some farmers. Nacho then receives a call on his cell phone from Tyrus, who tells him that the hit on Lalo was successful and advises him to travel north and keep a low profile while a safe location is prepared for him.
Meanwhile, a wounded and disheveled Lalo turns up at the home of a woman named Sylvia. After tending to his leg wound, she fixes breakfast and thanks him for funding oral surgery for her husband, Mateo. Mateo appears and, after Lalo comments on his large beard, is told by Sylvia to shave. Lalo tells him to keep his mustache and soul patch. After Mateo heads to the bathroom, Lalo separates the blades of a pair of scissors, gripping one piece as a knife. After killing Sylvia offscreen, Lalo visits the bathroom and talks to an oblivious Mateo, who now resembles Lalo after having shaved himself.
In Albuquerque, Jimmy lies awake in his bed at the hotel, troubled by his conversation with Kim the previous evening. Returning to her apartment, the couple prepare for work. Kim is short of money for the taxi the couple are planning to take downtown, but Jimmy retrieves a duffel bag from the closet and hands her a large bundle of leftover cash from his trek in the desert. Kim also takes out Jimmy's bullet-pierced thermos from the duffel bag. As she and Jimmy are about to drive away in the taxi, Kim throws the thermos in a trash can.
Act II[]
Marco and Leonel Salamanca arrive at Lalo's compound, where they are treated fearfully and deferentially by the Mexican Federales investigating the shootout. Inside the hacienda, the Cousins find the body of Mateo, which has been burned beyond recognition to resemble Lalo's, lying in the kitchen. Marco respectfully covers "Lalo's" body with his suit coat and Leonel leaves a Santa Muerte card with an inscription vowing vengeance. Angered by Lalo's apparent death, the Cousins leave.
Meanwhile, at the Los Pollos Hermanos chicken farm, Gus receives a call from Juan Bolsa, who reports that Lalo is dead. Fearing imminent chaos, he says that Don Eladio has put a price on Nacho's head and that the Salamancas plan to interrogate Nacho once he is found. In a war conference with Mike and Tyrus, Gus is skeptical that the mission was successful when all of the assassins have been killed; Mike doesn't say so, but appears to harbor his own doubts. He proposes venturing into Mexico to rescue Nacho, but Gus isn't receptive to the idea. Speaking privately, Mike tells Gus that Nacho successfully navigated a tough situation and is entitled to some respect; Gus curtly replies that he has it.
After parting ways with Kim at the courthouse, Jimmy is confronted by ADA Gina Khalil and Det. Tim Roberts, who demand to know the whereabouts of "Jorge de Guzman". Roberts explains that the address Jimmy provided for "Jorge" has been found to be fake and the family presented at the bail hearing have not been located; "Jorge" himself has vanished. Khalil expresses her suspicion that the family was made up and that Jimmy knew about it. In the ensuing argument, Jimmy accidentally refers to his client as "Lalo," which further raises Khalil's suspicions, but plays this off as simple name confusion of his various clients. He walks into an empty courtroom and sits down, agonizing over his gaffe.
Act III[]
That night, Jimmy arrives at the El Camino Dining Room to have dinner with Kim. Hearing about her day at the courthouse, he remarks that it sounds like it was a "day from hell," but Kim says that it was actually one of the best days of her professional life. She remarks that Jimmy's new Ford Taurus isn't showy enough for "Saul Goodman" to drive, and suggests they begin looking for office space where "Saul" can set up his law practice. Discussion turns to Kim's proposed scam against Howard; she tells Jimmy that she has come up with a plan that will get the Sandpiper case settled but leave Howard still standing, and that the first step involves targeting Cliff Main. Jimmy agrees to hear her plan.
In Mexico, Nacho hides inside a large culvert when an armed Federales convoy drives by. He arrives at a remote motel and receives a room key from the woman at the front desk. Inside the room, he has been left with an envelope containing a pistol, extra magazines, a change of clothes, both Mexican and U.S. currency, and a mobile phone. Calling Tyrus, he is told that he will be picked up in a couple of days and is instructed to lie low in the meantime. Nacho anxiously looks out the window of his motel room. He attempts to call Mike, who is playing with Kaylee, but Mike reluctantly declines the call.
Act IV[]
The following day, Jimmy and Kim surveil Howard and Cliff as they play golf at a country club. Kim estimates that Jimmy has forty-five minutes to enact his part of their plan. As "Saul Goodman," Jimmy walks into the country club and begins to take a tour. He is spotted in the main lounge by Kevin Wachtell, who takes aside Jimmy's tour guide, Norm Wakely, and tells him to have Jimmy removed. Instead of leaving, Jimmy makes a scene and accuses the country club of engaging in antisemitic discrimination. Kevin confronts Jimmy and is nearly provoked into punching him. Angered, Kevin leaves. Feigning stress-induced bowel issues, Jimmy has Norm give him the directions to the men's locker room.
There, Jimmy walks into a bathroom stall and deliberately clogs a toilet to distract the attendant. Meanwhile, outside, Kim is alarmed when Howard and Cliff end their game early. Jimmy, having found Howard's locker number on a list, receives a text message from Kim telling him to abort. Ignoring the message, he finds Howard's locker and slips something through the door. Hearing Howard and Cliff entering the room, Jimmy takes off his clothes in order to pose as a fellow club member just out of the shower. When Howard opens his locker, a small bag of what appears to be cocaine falls out to the floor, seen by Cliff. The two men brush off the incident, but Cliff seems suspicious.
Act V[]
Outside of the country club, Jimmy and Kim watch as Howard and Cliff walk to Howard's Jaguar. Kim expresses doubt in their plan and says they may have been "too subtle," but Jimmy replies that the plan was "perfect."
Meanwhile, Lalo rides in the back of a pickup truck near the U.S.-Mexico border. He is dropped off at a location where a group of undocumented immigrants are being loaded into a hidden compartment in a hay truck. Before he climbs in, Lalo makes a call to the Casa Tranquila Nursing Home and tells Hector that he survived the attack on the compound, that Gus was behind it, and that Lalo plans on returning to Albuquerque to exact revenge. Using his bell to communicate, Hector asks whether Lalo has proof of his accusations; Lalo realizes that he knows exactly where to find it. Deciding not to cross the border, he demands his money back from the two traffickers handling the immigrants. When they refuse, he shoots them both dead. Lalo then gives all of the cash back to the immigrants, steals the truck belonging to the traffickers, and drives away from the border.
Official Photos[]
Trivia[]
Episode Poster
Storyboard of the episode
- This is the first (and only) season opener of Better Call Saul without a colorless teaser. The entire sequence is in color, with the ties that fall at the start actually being black and white and followed by colored ties after. It is also the only season opener to not feature Jimmy during his time as Gene.
- The opening scene is the first time we see Saul Goodman's house during the Breaking Bad timeline. It includes many notable items seen in Better Call Saul, including (in order of their appearance during the montage):
- Spare running shoes ("Lantern")
- Joey Dixon's Panavision hat ("Off Brand")
- A copy of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine ("Carrot and Stick")
- A painting from Kim's Apartment used to hide notes about the plot against Howard Hamlin ("Rock and Hard Place")
- His Ritchie Blackmore signed guitar from ABQ in Tune ("Expenses")
- A Wiser the Owl Beanie Baby ("Hit and Run")
- Caldera's criminal contact book ("Axe and Grind")
- Promotional toy balls from CC mobile ("Talk")
- The photo of a cowboy on a horse taken by Olivia Bitsui ("Wexler v. Goodman")
- A bag of bingo balls ("Bingo")
- His cocobolo desk from Davis and Main ("Switch")
- The first Saul Goodman & Associates strip mall office sign ("Fun and Games")
- The cap from a bottle of Zafiro Añejo ("Switch")
- An advertisement for one of Jimmy's medications, Numilfor, is first seen on Nacho's TV in "The Guy For This".
- Whilst talking to Mateo about his beard, Lalo makes a comment that he looks like a member of the American rock band, ZZ Top.
- Peter Gould took the photo of Bob Odenkirk that was used as the standee of Saul in the opening montage during Season 3 of Breaking Bad.
- The song used in the opening montage, "Days of Wine and Roses" by Andy Williams, partially shares the name with this episode and was attached to a movie of the same name. In the film, a couple spirals into alcoholism and attempts to deal with their problems. This could be a poke at Kim and Jimmy's relationship within the show.
- The woman in the Ocotillo Motel is watching Casados con hijos, the Argentine version of Married... with Children.
- The music played during the scene where the Cousins go to Lalo's hacienda is the song "The Cousins" from the Breaking Bad: Original Score From The Television Series, Vol. 1.
- To a question from a fan on Twitter about the Ramos couple, Thomas Schnauz said: "He killed both of them and used the guy who shaved as a double for his own burned corpse. Lalo paid for his dental work, as they talked about, so Lalo worked it ahead of time as a plan to have that guy's dental records in "Lalo's file."
- It's shown that after forcing the surviving hitman to call and report his death, Lalo killed him.
- When the twins are walking around Lalo's house, 3 evidence placards are depicted clearly in frame with the letters D, R and W on them. This alphanumerically corresponds to 4/18/22, the air date for this episode. This shot was also shown in a Season 6 trailer which fans quickly deciphered as the air date for the season.
- The Ford Mustang in Kim's case is anachronistic to the show's timeline as that episode is set in May 2004 whereas that generation of the Mustang would only begin production 4 months later in September 2004.
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Uncredited
- TBA
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Here it is! Violence! It always comes to this!"
- ―Jimmy to Kevin Wachtell
- Juan: "We know this much. Ignacio Varga is a rat. Don Eladio has put a price on his head. Every man we have is searching for him. When Varga's found, we'll know who he was working for."
- Gus: "I assume Don Hector has been told."
- Juan: "I called him myself. As for if he understood me, quién sabe. Listen to me. You must be careful, Gustavo. This is a dangerous time. No one is above suspicion."
- Gus: "I understand."
- ―Gus and Juan's phone converstation about Lalo's "murder".
- "You guys got caught with your pants around your ankles and somehow that's on me? I don't think so. You've got two dozen lawyers up there, you got investigators, you got the whole damn police force, and it's my fault you can't keep track of Lalo? That is not my job!"
- ―Jimmy McGill about "Jorge De Guzman"'s disappearance.
- "I told you. Be nice."
- ―Lalo to Bearded Coyote