This Breaking Bad callback was spread out across Better Call Saul’s last two episodes

Better Call Saul planted a Breaking Bad callback so deep it didn’t pay off until the following episode.

AMC’s Better Call Saul is an embarrassment of riches in terms of Breaking Bad callbacks. The spinoff series, set mostly in the years before Breaking Bad (though that is starting to overlap), makes constant playful nods to its five-season history.

This week’s episode, “Breathe,” completed a callback that was planted in last week’s season four premiere, “Smoke.” Spoilers for the most recent episode of Better Call Saul to follow…

After Hector (Mark Margolis) suffered a stroke thanks to some medicinal tampering from Nacho (Michael Mando), Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) calls a meeting with cartel boss Juan Bolsa (Javier Grajeda) to discuss the future of the Salamanca territory. As Nacho and his associate, Arturo (Vincent Fuentes), are called in, Gus looks at Arturo and says “You, I know,” before looking at Nacho with a much more disapprovingly “You, I do not.”

While tensions were running high, Gus’ message was that things were to stay the same, so as not to draw in any unwanted attention from the DEA.

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However, Gus’ greeting strongly echoes the one he was given by Don Eladio (Steven Bauer) years earlier. In the flashback sequence of the Breaking Bad episode “Hermanos,” Gus and his partner, Max (James Martinez), “the chicken brothers,” are brought to Don Eladio’s estate. There, Eladio looked at Max knowing who he was, but looked at Gus and says: “Tell me, who are you?”

It’s this part of the message that makes these exchanges so deceitfully nerve-wracking. If you’re not known by the guy in charge of a criminal syndicate, chances are you’re expendable, right?

Eladio proves how well this technique works, as Max pleads to Eladio on how important he is to their crystal meth operation — not to mention their burgeoning chicken restaurant. Then, while Max continues to beg, a shot rings out. Gus is covered in blood. Max partner is dead, and Gus is forced to watch it all happen.

There’s a reason Gus chose to riff on Eladio’s fateful meet and greet with Nacho and Arturo. Even as Hector was being loaded into the ambulance at the end of season three, Gus was eyeing the pills Nacho handed over the paramedics. His suspicions were confirmed, thanks to some spying from Victor (Jeremiah Batsui) after their initial meeting.

With the seed planted last week, the callback came to fruition tonight. After Victor and Tyrus (Ray Campbell) deliberately riled Nacho’s nerves over their expected shipment, Gus’s crew relented. Then, as Nacho and Arturo leave the meeting, Gus comes from behind and seals a plastic bag around Arturo’s head as his hands are tied behind his back.

Then, like what was done to him years earlier, Gus makes Nacho watch it all happen. Sure, he tells him all about how he knows what he did, but he’ll keep it from the Salamanca family in order to use him as leverage in his incredibly long-gestating plot for revenge.

We’ve seen Gus be utterly brutal before, (RIP, Victor), but we’ve never seen just how deep his bloodlust for Hector really is. Nor have we seen him utilize the same tactics that had been used on him by his enemies, a trait that Walter White exhibited over the years in Breaking Bad.

While Better Call Saul has lavished loyal fans with callbacks and cameos, this is an example of creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould playing the long game. As the outcome of the show grows closer, meticulously plotted moments like these are a testament to how well-plotted it really is.

Better Call Saul airs Monday nights only on AMC.