10 Best Performances In Better Call Saul

A staple of the Breaking Bad extended universe is pairing up equally matched adversaries. The franchise has had its share of antagonists who seemed to have our heroes matched at every turn, and in short order, Lalo Salamanca has proved to be one of the best yet.

Tony Dalton brings something completely different to the role, especially for a character coming from the esteemed Salamanca family. The members we’d met before are live wires, tempestuous and quick to violence. Lalo is all of these things, but under a cover of easy going charm that makes him all the more dangerous.

Dalton embraces the affability of chatty, friendly Lalo, but never for a moment is it any less than clear that this is a highly dangerous man. Indeed Lalo possesses an amalgamation of the series’ baddies’ most useful qualities - he blends in, he’s calculating, capable in a fight, and happy to resort to extreme violence.

Introducing a key antagonist this late in the game is a risk (see Jack from Breaking Bad, who never really worked), but from the off, Dalton made Lalo enjoyable to watch and utterly terrifying. He’ll have a huge part to play in the final season.