Amigos del Cartel

Amigos del Cartel is the poly ship between Kim Wexler, Lalo Salamanca and Saul Goodman from the Better Call Saul fandom.

Season 5
JMM

Kim and Jimmy are preparing to get married, a simple legal arrangement to ensure that they have spousal privilege if the two ever get in legal trouble for their illegal activities. The arrangement came about as a result of a promise that Jimmy cannot lie to Kim or hide anything from her with regards to his dealings in the illegal world. After Kim and Jimmy successfully get married at the courthouse, Jimmy receives a call from Nacho that he has a new client, one Jorge de Guzman, a cover name for Lalo Salamanca when he is arrested for a murder he committed at a money transfer business. Jimmy meets with Lalo prior to his hearing, and Lalo tells him that he wants to be released on bail to avoid a trial or a deal that keeps him in prison. Jimmy tells him that the task he's proposing is nearly impossible with a murder charge on a foreign national. Lalo asks him in Spanish, "Quieres ser un amigo del cartel?", then in English, "Do you want to be a friend of the cartel?" This is a pressure move to manipulate Jimmy to push for bail at the hearing.

Jimmy and Kim come home to their apartment in the evening, and go to have sex. As they are about to, Jimmy recalls their agreement with their marriage of not keeping things from each other. He stops them to tell Kim about Lalo's proposal for bail, including telling Kim Lalo's real occupation. He tells her that he's considering helping Lalo with his goal because he could be a "friend of the cartel." Kim asks Jimmy if he really wants that label attached to him. He assures her that he doesn't, then continues telling her the details of Lalo's case. He says that no judge will ever grant Lalo bail, and that he told her about it because he had the urge to not tell her, and he wanted to honor their agreement. She nods and thanks him for telling her, and they sit for a beat in silence before going back to having sex.

At the hearing, Jimmy is able to grant Lalo bond like he asked for because of Mike tampering with the prosecution's only witness. The bail is set at $7 million, and Jimmy apologizes to Lalo, who doesn't react. He tells Jimmy that he has the money, but that he'll need him to pick it up for him and bring it back to Albuquerque from the Mexican border. Lalo is taken away by the court guards as he tells Jimmy that he'll call him about the details of the arrangement. Jimmy is confused and shocked.

BAGMAN

Following the hearing, Lalo does call Jimmy and they meet again at the detention center Lalo is held at. Lalo begins telling Jimmy the directions for the place that he will have the bail money dropped off at by his cousins, the Salamanca brothers. Jimmy takes down the directions and Lalo assures him that the brothers are nice boys that Jimmy will like. Jimmy then offers the idea that the brothers drop the money off instead of him, but Lalo tells him that it'll be less suspicious if the lawyer drops off the bail money, as well as hinting that Gustavo may catch wind of Lalo trying to leave on bail and stop his plans if the brothers drop it off. After also asking why Nacho can't pick up the money, Lalo tells Jimmy that he's the "guy for this," and that the journey will be quick and easy because no one will look twice at him. Jimmy hesitantly agrees and Lalo tells him that it's fine if he doesn't do the money drop, that he just isn't the guy for the job after all. He compliments Jimmy's skills in the hearing, telling him nonchalantly that he'll just find someone else to do it. Jimmy is about to leave when he reconsiders the offer, and says that he'll do the pick up if he gets $100,000 for the journey. Lalo is surprised at the ask, but agrees.

Kim comes home as Jimmy is in the shower. She comments on him having an evening shower, and he tells her that he's doing it because he has an early morning. She lays in bed to read their mail as he gets out of the shower and changes. He tells her that he has "business news" to tell her, and she assumes correctly that it has to do with him now being a "friend of the cartel." She asks if he got Lalo bail, and he confirmed that he did with the evidence from Mike. She tells him that she knew he would find a way. He then tells her that he has to pick up Lalo's bail for him, and she sounds concerned. She asks how much Lalo's bail is, and Jimmy is hesitant in responding with "7." She assumes that he means $7,000 at first, but he then corrects her to the correct amount of $7 million. She then begins to freak out about the possibilities of misfortunes that can happen to Jimmy while he's out collecting it, but he tries to calm her down by assuring her that the transfer will be completely safe. She disagrees and tells him that no amount of money is worth being the cartel's "bagman." She asks why he can't have someone from his cartel do it, and he tells her that Lalo trusts him and that's why he chose him. He goes as far as to tell her that she's making a big deal out of the situation. He tells her that he'll pick it up the next morning and he'll be home before she will in the evening. She tells him that she wants to go with him. He tells her that she can't because the brothers will only be expecting him. He continues to assure her that everything will be fine, and she comments that it sounds like he's talking himself into going. He tells her that he'll be fine and that he'll leave immediately if he feels that something is wrong. She shakes her head and tells him sincerely that she doesn't like the idea. In response, he hugs her and tells her again that he'll be fine. She is rigid, and Jimmy's face behind her as they hug shows concern.

Just as Kim predicts, Jimmy gets into trouble on the way back from the deal. A rival gang ambushes him and almost kills him before Mike appears to save him. Jimmy's car is shot in the ambush and becomes unusable. The two are forced to walk on their own back to civilization with the two large duffel bags of cash, while also having to avoid any more stragglers from the rival gang looking for them. A full day passes, and Kim comes to visit Lalo in the detention center the morning after, while Jimmy is still missing. He seems confused as to who she is and she tells him that she lied to say that she was part of his legal team to meet with him. She tells Lalo that she knows everything about him pertaining to his real identity and occupation and that the two have something in common: Jimmy being missing. She tells him that she just wants to know where he sent Jimmy so that she can find him, and that she won't alert any authorities. There is a tense silence between them before Lalo asks who Kim is for Jimmy to be telling Lalo's business around to her. She assures him that the two are married, meaning that Jimmy can tell her anything and she cannot testify against him as part of spousal privilege. Lalo is shocked that Kim is Jimmy's wife, and comments in Spanish, "good for him." He goes on to gently mock Kim for being so worried about Jimmy that she had to come to talk to him to ask where Jimmy could possibly be. She's not amused, and he asks why there couldn't be a possibility where Jimmy just ran off with Lalo's money. He then corrects himself to say that such an idea couldn't be possible, since Jimmy didn't take Kim with him. Kim pushes Lalo to just tell her where he sent Jimmy, but he declines. Lalo tells Kim that Jimmy is like a cockroach, a "born survivor." He tells her to give it another day, because he'll show up if he's alive. She asks about the alternative, if he's dead. He tells her that a day won't make a difference at that point. He then gets up and tells her that it was nice to meet her, and calls her "Mrs. Goodman." He calls for the guard to remove him from the room, and she tries to push back before she gives up, threatened.

Fanon
Because of Lalo's relatively short time on the show and the dynamics of the group, the ship is a rarepair. Lalo was seen as a true antagonist throughout the show's run, cemented further with the few encounters with Jimmy and Kim together over the fifth and sixth seasons. There is absolutely no romantic sparks or undertones with the three together, and perhaps that is what makes the ship interesting in the first place. There are currently only two fan fictions on AO3 with this ship.

Fandom
FAN FICTION