Warning: This will delve into spoilers regarding Better Call Saul’s latest episode, “Fun and Games.“From the very beginning,Better Call Saulfans wondered what would be Kim Wexler’s ultimate fate when it was all said and done. In the show’s latest episode, they finally got their answer.
Since Kim Wexler was introduced in the first episode ofBetter Call Saul, most assumed her absence inBreaking Badmeant the worst. However, unlike all theotherBetter Call Saulcharacterswho don’t show up in the show’s predecessor, Wexler is (apparently) alive and well, but the reason for her departure was just as heartbreaking all the same: ultimately leaving Jimmy McGill all alone.
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In light of Kim’s final decision, Wexler’s actress Rhea Seehorn opened up in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter on her thoughts regarding both Kim’s character arc on the show and where it ultimately went in the end. “I was like, ‘Oh right. That’s how much she can’t live in her own skin anymore,'” Seehorn said. “While she’s dealing with it by looking almost catatonic in her suppression of emotion, she’s imploding, and she’s absolutely desperate. She’s like, ‘I cannot be this person anymore. I have no right to practice law. I have absolutely no right to pass judgment on others.’ She’s been tipping the scales in the favor of those that are ‘deserving’ for years, which is absolutely an unethical way to practice law, and it ended up with a dead person at her feet. While she does acknowledge that there’s something they ignite in each other, she’s also acknowledging her part of it. And ultimately, there’s an incredible amount of self-loathing in her thinking of, ‘I don’t deserve anything.'”
The arc of severalBetter Call Saulcharacters revolves around the point where they had gone too far. When they finally do reach that point, the character has to decide if there’s no turning back now (like Mike Ehrmantraut) or if they realize that it’s not who they are thus they started backtracking. In Kim’s case, she realized she had gone too far when she conjured up thescheme to ruin Howard Hamlin. Howard didn’t deserve to have his life ruined like that, and she inadvertently was responsible for his death. Many viewers thought if she were to leave Jimmy, it would be because he went too far as a sleazy attorney for her to handle, but in the end, it was more about Kim atoning for her wrongdoings than anything.
What makesKim Wexler such an extraordinary characteris that she turned out to be nothing like whatBetter Call SaulandBreaking Badfans thought she would be at the beginning. Since she’s not inBreaking Bad, they assumed that she would leave Jimmy at some point, which she eventually did. However, Kim had been playing with so much fire that by the end, many were predicting that she was going to die because she ultimately flew too close to the sun. It had gotten to the point where viewers thought she was worse than Jimmy, who did cons because they were fun, and he was masterful at them. Kim did the cons because she got a thrill from them like a drug. It was only until she hurt someone who didn’t deserve it that she realized her wrongdoing.
Kim Wexler’s story in the show should serve as a template for how a prequel’s main character should be treated. Because she’s not inBreaking Bad, viewers knew going in that something happened to her. However, the way Vince Gilligan and co. executed her character made viewers fear that her fate would be heartbreaking all the same once it was revealed. At the same time, is this where it all ends with Kim Wexler? She’s from Omaha, Nebraska, and that’swhere Gene Takovic is right now. Who’s to say we won’t get a reunion of everyone’s favorite con duo? Now that the show has wrapped up the prequel part, there are four episodes left to potentially initiate a reunion.
Better Call Saulwill air its final four episodes on Mondays on AMC at 9:00 p.m. EST.
