Created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould
Written by Ann Cherkis
Directed by Rhea Seehorn
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Michael Mando and Jonathan Banks
New episodes airing Mondays on AMC

by Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer

Nobody says his name. Nacho Varga committed suicide in front of a handful of men who were, at best, throwing him to the wolves and, at worst, were the wolves and now, one episode later, nobody's mentioning him.

You can feel his presence, though. Nacho's buried in an unmarked grave that we'll probably never see, but his unwilling strike against the Salamancas has everybody on high alert. The first big revelation of the episode comes when a random "I'll talk to the planning commission about this" couple enter their quiet suburban home and open the door on a couple security guards watching a wall of surveillance screens. It's a moment that could have been in Lost, only this is Better Call Saul, so we don't have to wait two seasons to discover its significance: their house is connected to Gus Fring's by a secret underground tunnel. They're living decoys, and the security team is around to ensure Gus's safety from Lalo Salamanca.

Lalo is missing in the same way Nacho is, even if he's, presumably, still alive. The show's gone two episodes without giving us any indication of where he is, and that can't help but leave everybody uneasy. Unflappable, Gus is leaving the house in a bulletproof vest, with a pistol strapped to his ankle. However expensive it is, you still have to recognize the thing he's living in as a bunker. I've used the word before and I'll use it again here: Lalo is a terminator. Whatever Gus does, whatever precautions he takes, he knows that at some point, likely with little warning, the force he's hiding from is going to crash into him. When we are reintroduced to Lalo, it will be like watching a tornado rip the roof off a house. Knowing that, every scene he isn't in is still one Lalo controls.

The other half of the episode is considerably more fun. Howard goes to therapy, which is fascinating because he seems like the kind of person to reject all self-reflection. Maybe that's still true - his therapist asks how he is and Howard starts to list business accomplishments. "Howard, I'm not a shareholder," the therapist says.

While that's happening, Jimmy, spray-tanned and dressed up in his old Howard replica suit from the billboard stunt way back at the beginning of the series, steals Howard's car and uses it to pick up a sex worker. It's Wendy (Julia Minesci) from Breaking Bad, which is an unnecessary cameo but ultimately isn't too distracting. Besides, I liked Wendy.

Before we get much further, Frankie Muniz has been doing ads on Instagram for one of those bubble-popping phone games that looks like fun, and then forces you to sit through its own set of ads for other phone games. And I swear to god, Bob Odenkirk dressed up as Howard Hamlin looks like 36-year-old Frankie Muniz.

Jimmy's plan is a continuation of the cocaine stunt from the season's opening episodes. It's all for the benefit of Clifford Main (Ed Begley, Jr.), in the hope that he'll think his old pal Howard is malfunctioning, forcing the Sandpiper lawsuit to wrap up. For as dark as he's had to get, Jimmy's still played by Bob Odenkirk. He's still hilarious. At one point, Jimmy uproots a Patients Only sign in the therapist's parking lot and puts it in front of a different space to cover his scam, and it's pure Bugs Bunny. It's Wile E. Coyote painting a fake tunnel on the face of a cliff.

It was around this halfway point that I really felt Nacho's absence. I craved any kind of closure - just let me see Mike and Gus try to decompress. Give me some idea of where Lalo is on the continent. But that's what I want, not what I need. It'll hurt more if the show plays it this way. I'll feel Nacho's absence if he's actually absent.

In more serious Jimmy McGill developments, the Lalo/de Guzman alternate identity has been spoiled, and it's burned all of Jimmy's relationships in the legal community. Nobody at the courthouse will talk with Jimmy, and Kim's being followed by some mystery men in a blue car (one of whom looks exactly like Anthony Carrigan, currently killing it on Barry, but the role doesn't show up on his IMDb page). Jimmy's business as Saul - the business we see fully established by Breaking Bad - is booming after word hit the street Saul was a cartel lawyer. It's a plus and a minus.

Later, we discover the blue car guys aren't Salamancas or feds. Mike meets with Kim (quick note here that actor Rhea Seehorn directed this episode) in a diner and tells her the men following her are gone and had only been sent to make sure Kim would be okay with Lalo running around who knows where. It's a good scene and also a wild reminder that these two pillars of the show's story have never met. There are still new relationships left in Better Call Saul. But there will be no decompression. Even if the car guys weren't there to threaten Kim, they were specifically there because violence is in the air. The stress will continue.