‘Better Call Saul’ Co-Creator Peter Gould Calls Kim and Jimmy’s Relationship ‘Volatile’
Better Call Saul fans are worried about Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), and they’re not the only ones. The show’s co-creator Peter Gould says he’s “concerned” about her character as she seems to be making choices that are leading her down a dangerous path. But is Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) to blame for Kim’s transformation? While it seems the morally upright Kim has been led astray by Slippin’ Jimmy, the real situation might be a bit more complicated.
Does Kim Wexler have a death wish?
Gould chatted with Anthony D’Alessandro during Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees virtual event on August 16. After being asked if Kim had a “death wish,” Gould weighed in.
“It’s an interesting situation, because the show is a prequel to Breaking Bad and in some ways a sequel to Breaking Bad,” he said before pointing out that we already have know what happens to key characters such as Jimmy/Saul, Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). But Kim doesn’t appear in Breaking Bad, making her ultimate fate a mystery.
“In a weird way, as the show has gone on, Kim has become the character we’re most concerned about,” Gould said.
“It’s a question of where her head is at,” he added. “Is she going down a bad choice road?”
Do Kim and Jimmy bring out the worst in each other?
When Kim was introduced in Better Call Saul Season 1, she was a polished professional climbing the ranks at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill. Her strict ethics contrasted with Jimmy’s more flexible approach to the law. But over five seasons, as she’s gotten more involved with Jimmy — the two even got married last season — her character has become more complicated. So is that all due to Jimmy’s bad influence? Not necessarily, according to Gould.
“It’s a very interesting relationship. On the surface, you might say he’s corrupting her. But that’s not all that’s going on,” he said. He then compared Jimmy and Kim to two elements that are inert on their own but become “volatile” when they come together.
“She keeps moving in a direction of corner-cutting,” Gould went on to say. “I think Kim has become disillusioned with the practice of law as she’s known it”
Kim might be realizing that she doesn’t always have to “play by the rules of the system,” he added. “We’ll see where that leads her. I’m a little worried about her too.”
Kim’s fate will be revealed in ‘Better Call Saul’ Season 6
Viewers should get answers to what happens to Kim (and why she’s not in Breaking Bad) in the sixth and final season of Better Call Saul. But figuring out the ending to her story has been a challenge, Gould told the Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s the devil’s own Rubik’s cube because we know where these characters are and we know kind of where some of them end up,” he said. “There are characters like Kim Wexler, whose fates are wide open. And then there are characters like Jimmy McGill, we know very specifically what he was doing for a couple of years there.”
Whatever happens, it will change the way people look at Breaking Bad.
“I think by the time you finish watching Better Call Saul, you’re going to see Breaking Bad in a very different light,” Gould said.
