Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman and Lavell Crawford as Huell during shooting of the episode 4x08 Hermanos of Breaking Bad. (Photo taken by Irmin Wehmeier)

Spoilers ahead for ‘Better Call Saul’ & ‘Breaking Bad.’

Season six of the critically acclaimed, Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, reached halftime on Tuesday as a brutal cliff-hanger shocked the entire fandom in its mid-season finale.

The final season had been split into two with a total of 13 episodes, much like the final season of Breaking Bad. Season six started exactly where we left off. We saw the aftermath of a brutal assassination attempt by Gustavo Fring on his enemy, Lalo Salamanca. Lalo’s partner, Nacho Varga, was also caught up in the commotion as he was used by Gus to betray him.

After a failed attempt, both men fled. Lalo is presumed dead, and Nacho is the suspect. Over the first three episodes, we saw a hasty chase for Nacho from the Cartel as he was framed for the attempt. This brought us to some extremely intense, narrow escape scenes.

The build-up spun for three episodes until we saw an extraordinary climax. Varga accepted his fate and surrendered to Gus’ team. When confronted by the Cartel, Nacho goes on a thrilling rant on why he did what he did. While ranting, he mentions to Kingpin, Hector Salamanca (now in a wheelchair due to a Cardiac arrest) that he was the reason that he’s in his position. He switched his pills to fakes in the past season.

This direct call back to the previous seasons was genius. Hector believed that Gus was the reason for the attack (which he was). By Varga explaining how Gus saved his life with CPR, it put Gus in the clear. Just fantastic writing. Nacho finally took matters into his own hands by killing himself as he was held at gunpoint by both factions. The final decision from an imprisoned character was made by himself. The character had been manipulated and used in most of his journey, similar to Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad.

Trailer for Season 6 of ‘Better Call Saul’

On the other end of the spectrum, we saw Kim Wexler & Jimmy McGill start their plans to take down fellow Lawyer, Howard Hamiln. This was mentioned at the end of season five. Although these scenes took a slower nature, we got some clever and hilarious scenes. Such as the duo framing Howard to be a cocaine addict and even dressing up as the snappy lawyer to make it look like he was having an angry confrontation with a prostitute. Howard's associate, Cliff Main was the attendee of these scenarios. The build-up led to an explosive mid-season finale.

The finale saw the shocking killing of Howard Hamlin. This was up there with one of the most brutal deaths in the entire Breaking Bad Universe. Howard previously got humiliated by Kim and Jimmy’s actions and when he showed up at their apartment later to confront them, he ended up in the crossfire as, presumed dead, Lalo Salamanca, turned up. The acting from the couple is outstanding as it looks like they're staring into the soul of a ghost. Lalo brutally murders Howard with a silencer due to being an innocent witness of his presence. The show ends with Lalo saying “let’s talk” to the lawyers. Seeing both sides of the story merged was carried out in a brilliant execution, pardon the pun.

This season is only seven episodes in, and yet, there are so many questions unanswered. What will the outcome of Kim Wexler and Lalo Salamanca (who weren’t on the original show) be? What will happen to Gene Takovic? (Saul Goodman’s hidden identity after the aftermath of Breaking Bad). We are also still awaiting the cameo appearances of Breaking Bad stars, Bryan Cranston, and Aaron Paul (Walter White and Jesse Pinkman) as they were announced by the Better Call Saul Twitter page.

The only frustrating thing for Better Call Saul fans is that they must endure a six-week break before we see the return of Slippin’ Jimmy. The next episode airs July 12th on Netflix. With six episodes left, this show is likely to conclude as a mesmerising final season. The well-crafted prequel has the potential to be up there as one of the greatest shows ever made, sitting comfortably next to its companion, Breaking Bad.

TV Series Review: ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6 Part 1