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Villain Overview

You wanna be a friend of the Cartel? Time to get yourself a new motto: "Just Make Money."
~ Lalo Salamanca giving Saul Goodman advice.
I'd just like to hear the story. I mean, I paid a lot of money for that story, so I think I can hear it as much as I want. So... tell me again.
~ Lalo intimidating Saul.
Save it. I'm gonna come back. And then you are gonna tell me the whole story.
~ Lalo's final exchange with Saul.

Don Eduardo "Lalo" Salamanca is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Chuck McGill) of Better Call Saul, the prequel series to Breaking Bad.

He is the nephew of Hector Salamanca, the cousin of Tuco, Marco and Leonel Salamanca, and an uncle to Joaquin Salamanca, as well as a member of the Cartel. Originally coming to New Mexico to run Hector's business for him, he eventually has to escape back to Mexico, where he begins a crusade against Gus Fring following a failed assassination attempt. After murdering Howard Hamlin, Lalo had a final confrontation with Gus that ended with Gus killing him and burying Lalo's body beneath his superlab construction. However, the memory of Lalo would continue to haunt Saul Goodman for years to come and helped posthumously mold him into the crooked lawyer he would become later down the line.

He was portrayed by Tony Dalton, who also played Gastón Diestro in Rebelde.

Personality[]

In complete contrast to other Salamancas, Lalo is charismatic, clever, manipulative, and at times seemingly polite and friendly. Despite this, he still has the same traits his family does, being a cold-blooded, sadistic murderer who deals with his victims in a cruel way. He is also incredibly skilled and strong, as he took out five assassins by himself, with no one's help and only a single gun. Lalo also plans in advance, having a body double planned for him long before any assassination attempts truly happened, all while keeping everyone else unaware of the man's existence.

Just like the other Salamancas, though, Lalo deeply cares about his family and carries a "La familia es todo" (Family is all) way of living, taking care of his uncle Hector and calling him after faking his death, as well as calling his cousins Marco and Leonel "good boys" despite being two of the most cold-blooded assassins in the entire Cartel, on top of genuinely caring for the people that lived in his house despite his somewhat-bad treatment of them. He also viewed Nacho as a friend and was deeply hurt when he realized he tried to have him killed and was filled with rage upon seeing his housemaid dead because of it. Despite that, he not once mentioned Nacho following the assassination attempt, and the actor that portrayed him, Tony Dalton, mentioned that Lalo probably couldn't care less about Nacho, instead being focused on hunting down Gus.

Another thing that separates him from the rest of his family is how he's a genius that's able to go toe-to-toe with, and even outsmart Gustavo Fring and Mike Ehrmantraut, two of the most intelligent characters in the Breaking Bad franchise. He has a good memory, forms calculated plans, and easily makes the majority of the characters in the series pawns in his game, even getting Gus to do exactly what he wants him to do.

However, in his final moments, he fell into the same problem that doomed several other characters in the franchise; Pride and obsession with revenge. When he finally had Gus at gunpoint, instead of killing him, he decided to have fun with him by making a video to Don Eladio showing his secret meth lab, and even decided to let Gus have his last speech before death just for his own amusement. All of this lead to Gus finding the perfect opportunity to kill Lalo by shooting him in the throat. However, even when dying in pain he found some amusement in his defeat, smiling and laughing.

Kill Count[]

Victims killed by Lalo Salamanca
  • Fred Whalen - Murdered for trying to call the police.
  • Ciro (indirectly) - Used as a human shield and shot by assassins.
  • 11 assassins - All shot in self-defense.
  • Sylvia Ramos - Stabbed to death with a pair of scissors.
  • Mateo Ramos - Body double; killed with a pair of scissors and then burned to fake his death.
  • Two unnamed human traffickers - Shot for not giving him his money back.
  • Howard Hamlin - Shot in the head with a silenced pistol for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • Four of Gus' men - Shot for being at the laboratory.
Total kills
    • Total - 22 directly, 1 indirectly

Quotes[]

Season 4[]

Oh, hey! You're here! Right on time. Ah, wait, hold on, one second... you are going to love this. I made this just for you. Never in your life have you tasted something so delicious, it's true. Wait, wait... You're gonna die.
~ Lalo's first words, preparing a meal for Nacho, while foreshadowing his death.
Ah, I'm just here to lend a helping hand, you know, make sure the business is running in order. I got-- I got a good head for numbers. But listen, don't even worry. It's gonna be like I'm not even here.
~ Lalo explaining his sudden arrival to Nacho Varga.
Who's got the biggest set of balls north, south, east or west of Michoacan?
~ Lalo reuniting with Hector.
You know what I was thinking about this morning? The smell of burning leather and horsehair stuffing. Do you remember? Hotel Tulipan. You were so polite to that guy. And he turns his back on you? Makes that big deal to show he's not scared. He was a professor before he opened that place, remember? He'd always bring that up, the big college professor. You took your time with him. And his wife listening from the side. That asshole was so proud of his beautiful Spanish... his books, his antiques. But when it burned... it all smelled like shit. I never told you this, but... I went back inside. I went through the flames, the smoke. It was so hot, the rubber on my shoes melted a little. Yes, I know it was very stupid, but... I'm sentimental. I wanted a souvenir. I kept it all these years.
~ Lalo telling a story to Hector of how they tortured a guy and burned his hotel, only to give him the bell he got from it as a reminder.
Lalo: Varga tells me that while everybody else was picking their asses, you rushed to him, stuck him on the chest and brought him back.
Gus: It was simple instinct.
Lalo: But still, with all the history between you two... What you did was a gesture of peace. At least, that's how we see it.
Gus: I'm very pleased to hear that.
~ Lalo and Gus' first conversation.
Werner... Ziegler. Ziegler... Werner... Zieeegler, Zieeeegleer...
~ Lalo's most famous quote, constantly saying Werner's name.

Season 5[]

La familia es todo (Family is all).
~ Lalo to Hector.
Tell me again.
~ Lalo ordering Saul to tell the story of what happened on the desert over and over.
I'd just like to hear the story. I mean... I paid a lot of money for that story, so... I think I can hear it as much as I want!
~ Lalo's justification for the above.
Yeah, I never sleep much. An hour, maybe two. It's enough. When it's like this... that's when I can think. I get my best ideas when everybody else is asleep. Some people, they call it a curse. I like it.
~ Lalo telling Nacho about how he barely sleeps.

Season 6[]

Let them keep believing I'm dead. So much the better. It was the chicken man. That coward sat up there in the north while his paramilitaries came into my home... my home, Uncle! Screw Bolsa, screw Eladio. I'm coming north. I'm going to hurt him. Hurt him like you taught me. And then I will kill him.
~ Lalo telling Hector his plans for Gus.
Don Eladio. Guess who. It's me! I'm alive! I'm here in beautiful downtown Albuquerque. Been here... Four nights? Now, you might be asking, what am I doing down in this shithole? Well... a little Croatian bird told me a secret. He put up a hell of a fight, but he told me. Look... See that? Right there. Fring's secret. Now, I've been watching, and Fring hides his guards very well. But they're there, dressed like laundry workers. See? That's one there. They're hiding guns under the uniforms, but I see. I have a pretty good idea what I'm up against. I can tell you what's in there. A big hole where a German engineer, Werner Ziegler, designed the perfect place to hide the... "mother of all meth labs." Well, that's my story. And Fring, Fring will have his story. A good one. And Bolsa will back him. Because he's an... "Earner." So, tonight... I go in... I kill all the guards... and show you the proof. Then... you decide. Adios.
~ Lalo on a video for Don Eladio.
Let's talk.
~ Lalo after killing Howard.
Big talk. You done?
~ Lalo's last words.

Trivia[]

  • Lalo and Hector are the only Salamancas who were ever referred to as Dons, implying they're the highest ranked in their family.
  • According to show writers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, Lalo was meant to be introduced as early as in Season 1, but had to be postponed due them not being able to fully realize the character up until near the end of Season 4.
  • In the analogue episode for "Better Call Saul" in Metástasis, the Colombian Spanish language remake of Breaking Bad, during the scene where Walter and Jose (Jesse) kidnap Saul and bring him into the desert, Saul asks if a man named "Gordon" sent them rather than Lalo.

External Links[]

Navigation[]

            BreakingBadLogo / Better Call Saul logo Villains

Heisenberg's Empire
Walter White | Jesse Pinkman | Skyler White | Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman | Mike Ehrmantraut | Todd Alquist | Lydia Rodarte-Quayle | Badger | Skinny Pete | Combo | Huell Babineaux | Patrick Kuby | Declan | Vamonos Pest

The Cartel
Dons/Leadership
Don Eladio | Hector Salamanca | Juan Bolsa | Lalo Salamanca
Salamanca Family
Hector Salamanca | Tuco Salamanca | The Cousins | Lalo Salamanca | Joaquin Salamanca | Gonzo
Others
Nacho Varga | Krazy-8 | Emilio Koyama | No-Doze | Tortuga | Gaff | Arturo Colon | Ximenez Lecerda | Carlos | Blingy | Benicio Fuentes | Miguel | Mouse | Sticky | Arlo | Ron

Los Pollos Hermanos
Leadership
Gus Fring | Mike Ehrmantraut | Peter Schuler | Max Arciniega
Others
Walter White | Jesse Pinkman | Lydia Rodarte-Quayle | Nacho Varga | Victor | Tyrus Kitt | Rival Dealers | Tomás Cantillo | Gale Boetticher | Chris Mara | Duane Chow | Nick | Dennis Markowski | Dan Wachsberger | Ron Forenall | Harris Boivin | Raymond Martinez

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Jack Welker | Todd Alquist | Kenny | Matt | Frankie | Lester | Neil Kandy | Casey

Jimmy McGill's Contacts
Chuck McGill | Kim Wexler | Francesca Liddy | Saul Goodman Productions | Ed Galbraith | Ira | Betsy and Craig Kettleman | Cal and Lars Lindholm | Marco Pasternak | Jeff | Buddy

Other
Spooge | Spooge's Lady | James Kilkelly/Jimmy In-'N-Out | Old Joe | Gordie | Lawson | Scary Skell | Tucker | Caldera | Hoffman & Fensky | Daniel Wormald | Clarence | Sobchak | The Con Man | Espinosa Gang | Rocco, Zane and Jed | Gangbangers | Mrs. Wexler | Colombian Gang

See Also
Metástasis Villains

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