‘Better Call Saul’: Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould React to Terrified Fans Who Believe Kim is Going to Die
Better Call Saul fans truly love Kim Wexler. All along they’ve been so worried about her — as the Breaking Bad timeline creeps closer, they’re all acutely aware that her absence in the original series means something dramatic is going to happen to her. And now that Kim crossed over into the dark part of Jimmy’s life, it’s not too far-fetched to imagine she might be killed.
As expected, show creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould haven’t revealed what’s going to happen to Kim. But they did at least hint at some key facts about her character — and where she might end up.
[Spoiler Alert: Spoilers ahead for Better Call Saul Season 5]
Vince Gilligan didn’t offer Kim Wexler’s fans much reassurance
In a 2018 interview with TV Guide, Gilligan admitted that even though he and Gould loved Rhea Seehorn and the character of Kim, that truth didn’t necessarily offer her immunity from death. The Breaking Bad creator is very accustomed to killing off popular characters.
“You’re right, you don’t see Kim Wexler on Breaking Bad, but that doesn’t mean she’s dead. It doesn’t mean she’s alive either. You kind of have to wait and see,” Gilligan told TV Guide.
He continued: “All I can tell you for sure, and I’m being coy here, but I can tell you for sure that we love the character of Kim Wexler and we love Rhea Seehorn who plays her. She’s just money in the bank. She is so much fun to work with, and the character is so interesting and wonderful … Having said that, we loved Michael McKean too and we killed his ass.”
“I wouldn’t assume anything,” Gilligan concluded. “The best answer is that I wouldn’t assume anything when it comes to this show or where it’s headed.”
Peter Gould couldn’t envision how Kim Wexler would still be around for ‘Breaking Bad’
Unfortunately for Kim’s fans, Gould had even more ominous comments on what Kim’s fate might be.
“People feel very protective of Kim Wexler. People love Kim Wexler. Jimmy loves Kim Wexler. And we love Kim Wexler and we love Rhea Seehorn,” he said at the season 4 premiere. “We’ll see. It’s kind of hard to picture how Kim Wexler is still in Jimmy’s life when he becomes Saul Goodman, but there’s a lot of surprising twists to come.”
It may be “hard to picture” Kim quietly sitting at home while Jimmy runs his shady law firm for criminals — and makes lewd comments to his secretary Francesca. But fans are hoping she survives by escaping into a new identity, possibly even through the Ed the Vacuum Repairman.
Seeing Kim disappear rather than get murdered by the Salamancas (or some other unkown enemy) leaves the door open for her and Jimmy to reunite in the flash-forward scenes with Gene Takovic. That’s what fans are really hoping to see.
We know Kim and Jimmy can’t get divorced
Better Call Saul fans realize that the writers are sticklers for detail and would never conflict with anything Saul says in Breaking Bad. Now that Kim and Jimmy are married, and we know Jimmy has two divorces in his past that he later mentions in Breaking Bad, there’s no way they can get divorced too. That leaves two options: Either Kim dies, or she leaves town but stays married to Jimmy for some reason.
After her meeting with Lalo, fans are starting to see how Kim could be in serious danger of being killed. But when it comes to figuring out her fate, Gilligan and Gould are remaining tight-lipped.
Catch new episodes of Better Call Saul Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
