Is Michael Mando leaving Better Call Saul? Is Nacho Varga dead?

Tonight on Better Call Saul season 6 episode 3, we had an episode for the ages for Michael Mando as Nacho Varga. Unfortunately, it’s also one that led to the character’s demise. “Rock and Hard Place” was so painful, but it was another reminder of just who the character was at his core — he never wanted to be a villain. Because of that, he decided to sacrifice himself in order to save his father.

Did we think it was possible Nacho would die during the final season? Sure, but we had no way of knowing it would be so early on.

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Rather than be killed by the Cousins or Hector Salamanca (or even Mike), Nacho chose to take his life himself — but not before tearing into Hector in a fantastic monologue. It was a great way for the character to go out, and Mando notes to TVLine that he knew it was coming before he ever stepped foot on set:

Vince [Gilligan] and Peter [Gould] called me that winter before we started shooting [Season 6], with Melissa Bernstein on the line, and they told me they have this larger-than-life, operatic ending for Nacho and that they couldn’t wait for me to read it. They said it was going to be very heroic, and it was going to break the internet, and I just felt an immediate sense of gratitude. We exchanged a lot of nice words because we knew it was all coming to an end, and it was a season of endings. I just was really excited and very grateful.

We’re going to miss this character a lot — he was one of the most complicated people within this world, and we can’t believe just how much he evolved following season 1. We’re absolutely going to miss him, and we know that much with absolute certainty.

What did you think about Michael Mando and Nacho’s story on Better Call Saul tonight?

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