‘Better Call Saul’: Inside Kim’s ‘Terrible’ Decision in ‘Bagman’ & What’s Next
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 5, Episode 8 of Better Call Saul, “Bagman.”]
Better Call Saul took to the desert for its latest installment, “Bagman,” as Saul (Bob Odenkirk) attempted to fulfill a mission assigned by Salamanca cartel man Lalo (Tony Dalton) to pick up his bail money. But it wasn’t the shoot-outs or the sun-drenched quest of Saul and Mike (Jonathan Banks) that raised the stakes. Instead that honor goes to Kim (Rhea Seehorn) who — when worried about Saul not returning home — visits his client in prison.
Needless to say, Lalo wasn’t pleased when Kim addressed him by his Salamanca name, revealing details he believed were private between him and lawyer Saul. We caught up with Dalton, who teased what that interaction between Saul’s two worlds could mean for the future, whether or not Kim’s bolder than her fast-talking husband and more.
Do you think Lalo was aware of the severe ordeal Saul would face in the desert when he sent the lawyer to collect his bail?
Tony Dalton: No. No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I think that this guy totally expects it all to work out pretty fine. He’s not going to send a guy out to pick up $7 million to get that $7 million jacked. I think that’s a big surprise, and it [continues] with further episodes. You see how it comes out he did not know about that. He really did want him to just go pick up the money and bring it back to him.
(Credit: AMC)
Lalo doesn’t seem that bothered about losing his money because he suggests that perhaps Saul hasn’t returned on time because he took the cash for himself. Do you think he’s just keeping a calm demeanor or does he truly not care?
Well, I think that one of the things about Lalo is that he just lives vicariously, nonchalant, not worrying about a lot of things. That’s his M.O. All these guys, these people that work in the cartel line of work, they know that any day, the jig is up. It will be over, whether you get shot in the back of the head by some other guy who you owe or whether you end up in jail like El Chapo.
So, there’s one side of it that says, “Oh, if it doesn’t work out, it’s not like I didn’t ask for it,” and there’s another part of it I think that Lalo has seven different other plans to get out of that jail. This is the first one, and the $7 million hurts, not so much him as it does his family, but at the end of the day, it’s not that much. I think that he’s playing it cool, but I also think that he really doesn’t care. It’s both.
We saw worlds collide in this episode when Kim meets Lalo in prison. Was that a bad decision on her end?
That was a terrible decision on her part, the worst decision of her life. I mean she went to see a cartel guy. Now they know who she is. That’s all I can say about that. Yeah, it’s bad.
Is Kim even ballsier than Saul for confronting Lalo at the jail? She’s usually the voice of reason, but she made a bold choice deciding to approach you.
Yeah, you hit it right on the nose. I think that’s what’s happening because even in the past episodes [this season], you see Kim taking a stand. She’s becoming more and more [bold] … I mean even with the old man who was in the house, where she tells him off, and then Saul, in the past episodes. So yeah, I think that she’s becoming more and more ballsy, and that might not be such a good idea for her.
(Credit: AMC)
It was probably also not a good idea to say she was Saul’s wife….
No, that was not a good idea. I can tell you that.
This episode was literally explosive. Is this a sign of things to come as Season 5 nears its end?
Yeah. Well, it gets wilder, really. It’s crazy. These guys, Peter [Gould] and Vince [Gilligan] and all the writers, they set it up for the ending. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Towards the end of the episode, Saul discovers the bags of money he’s been hauling through the desert have ripped. Will this be a problem when he doesn’t return with the full amount for bail?
They set up so many things that you don’t know which way the story’s going to go, and that’s the best thing you can do, as far as storytelling, expect the unexpected. If you think they might go one way, or you think it might go the other way, so you really don’t know which way this is going to go.
Anything else viewers should anticipate from Lalo before the season is through?
I just can say it’s going to get crazy. I can’t say much. I don’t want to get into trouble.
Better Call Saul, Mondays, 9/8c, AMC
