‘Better Call Saul’: Kim Lets Go & Gene Pushes the Limits in ‘Waterworks’ (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 6, Episode 12 of Better Call Saul, “Waterworks.”]
Better Call Saul‘s penultimate episode, “Waterworks,” has arrived and with it comes plenty of tears and watershed moments.
From updating viewers on what Kim (Rhea Seehorn) has been up to in the years since her separation from Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) to Gene’s scheme hitting a major roadblock, there’s no shortage of important moments in this pivotal episode. Below, we’re breaking down all of the key events from the installment, so beware of spoilers, ahead.
Kim Meets Breaking Bad
(Credit: AMC)
In the episode’s opening sequence, Saul is sitting in his Breaking Bad-era office bouncing a ball when he gets a call from Francesca (Tina Parker) who asks if he realizes what time it is. He acknowledges her, and she complains that she’s not going to stay overtime considering his full waiting room. Opening an envelope, we discover divorce papers for himself and Kim. He eventually calls Francesca back and asks her to send “her” in, implying Kim.
As the episode plays on, we return to this scene and timeline as they sign the papers together in his office with Francesca looking on. It’s an awkward and stiff ordeal. He asks Kim what she thinks of his office and she says it’s nice. When Saul asks why she’s moving to Florida, she doesn’t have a chance to answer as he cuts her off. It’s clear he’s still upset over their broken relationship. He also mentions how she should have taken her cut of the Sandpiper earnings as she could benefit a lot from it, but guilt prevents her from taking such spoils. Once the papers are all signed, Saul tells Kim to “have a nice life,” before asking Francesca to send in the next client who turns out to be Emilio (John Koyama).
Viewers will recall that Emilio is one of Jesse’s (Aaron Paul) friends, a.k.a. the guy who was dissolved in a bathtub in Breaking Bad‘s first season. As Saul welcomes Emilio into the office, Kim and Francesca share a loaded look, one acknowledging how much Jimmy has changed in his life as Saul. Heading outside, Kim pauses to light a cigarette as she hides from the downpour of rain uncharacteristically blanketing the Albuquerque landscape.
(Credit: AMC)
Behind her, a figure asks if they can bum a cig, and it takes no time to uncover who it is by Jesse’s recognizable tone. So yes, Kim once met Jesse Pinkman, could it bode well for her future considering Jesse’s one of the only main characters to survive Breaking Bad so far? Perhaps.
As they chat, he makes small talk about rain before acknowledging that he recognizes her as a lawyer. He tells her about how she helped his friend Combo (Rodney Rush) when he got into trouble for stealing a baby Jesus from a manger as a juvenile. She hopes he’s staying out of trouble, but instead of answering, he asks her if Goodman is the real deal since his pal Emilio is facing a lot of time. Hesitant, she says “when I knew him he was,” noting how good Saul could be as a lawyer. She then walks out into the rain, leaving that chapter behind.
Kim in Florida
(Credit: AMC)
Kim enters the black-and-white phase of the show, offering fans a glimpse of her life in Florida where she hosts cookouts with an unnamed man she appears to be dating. Her hair is brown now as she dons bangs and forgoes her signature ponytail. She speaks with a different voice, shedding the version of Kim viewers came to know over the years.
Cleaning up after the gathering, Kim and her new beau wind up in bed together and after some afternoon sex, she works on a jigsaw puzzle while he watches The Amazing Race. Sending him off, Kim turns in for the night alone and heads to work at Palm Coast Sprinkler the next day. There we get a taste of her office life which includes putting together the company’s catalogs and brochures.
She signs birthday cards for coworkers, has lunchtime discussions with her female colleagues, and goes about her day until one of her fellow employees receives a call from a Mr. Victor St. Clair, a name she knows but serves as one of Jimmy’s many aliases and we finally get to see her side of last week’s mysterious phone booth conversation. Shutting her blinds, Kim stares at the blinking call-waiting button before picking up. He casually greets her and asks how Florida is after asking if her receptionist would be listening.
(Credit: AMC)
When Kim acknowledges that the receptionist wouldn’t be listening, he makes small talk, mentioning how he was thinking of her and how it’s been six years since they’d last seen each other or talked. He mentions how she might want to know he’s still alive, but she immediately responds by telling him to turn himself in. Gene counters that she’s a pot calling the kettle black as she doesn’t really know his involvement in the story revolving around Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman.
He then goes on to add that Lalo (Tony Dalton) is supposedly dead as well as Mike (Jonathan Banks) and so they’re the only two who truly know what went down before Breaking Bad, particularly when it comes to Howard (Patrick Fabian) and his untimely death. Taking this in, she quickly says she’s glad that he’s alive before hanging up the phone. She then is forced to continue on with her day as if everything is normal.
Kim’s Cathartic Trip
(Credit: AMC)
Following her call from Jimmy, Kim jets off to Albuquerque where she visits her old stomping grounds at the courthouse. There, she files an affidavit, detailing everything she knows about Howard’s death, and her and Jimmy’s involvement in framing him to look like a drug addict. Kim presents this to Howard’s wife Cheryl (Sandrine Holt) at their home where she lives alone now. When Cheryl asks why Howard was murdered, Kim explains it was because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. She admits to Cheryl that she doesn’t know where Howard’s body is and that a search will likely commence although she doesn’t believe anything will be found.
Cheryl asks if she’ll be tried for her involvement and Kim mentions that the affidavit has been filed, but it’s up to the courts whether they press charges against her or not. Kim notes that the lack of evidence makes it hard to prove. Cheryl points out that she could sue Kim, and she acknowledges the possibility. When Cheryl asks why she’s sharing all of this information, we never hear Kim’s answer or the reason behind it.
(Credit: AMC)
Later on, as she takes a shuttle to the airport, Kim begins to break down, letting all of the pent-up emotions out. She cries out loud. Letting the long-kept secret of Howard’s death out in the open is sure to be a huge weight lifted from her, but it must also be liberating that she’s no longer living a lie. Will she pay for her misdeeds or will her penance be enough to save her?
Gene’s Scheme Goes Awry
Meanwhile, Gene’s story continues to unfold as he breaks into the home of the cancer-suffering mark he and Jeff (Pat Healy) targeted the week before. Luckily for Gene, the man is still knocked out from the barbiturate-laced water Jeff gave him during the cab ride home. Gene goes about snapping photos, stealing passwords and more and is just about to be in the clear when he decides to take a trip upstairs for a closer look at other goods. Picking up a cigar, pouring himself a drink, and plucking a watch from the businessman’s supply, he becomes so swept up in the con that he doesn’t realize the man has awoken and gone into the bathroom.
When he exits, Gene hides upstairs, waiting to see if the man will move from his perch at the bottom of the stairs. Just as he thinks he has no other option but to hit the man over the head with his dead pet’s ashes, he notices the man drop his phone as he passes out in sleep. As Gene goes to exit the house though he notices that a cop car has pulled up behind Jeff who is waiting out front for Saul.
(Credit: AMC)
What neither Jeff nor Gene knows is the cops weren’t even paying attention. Escaping out of a back door, the police get involved when Jeff speeds off and crashes into a nearby parked car. It feels purposeful, and it seems that Gene may have talked Jeff into faking the accident as a diversion.
Returning home by way of bus and car, Gene waits for a call once he’s home where Jeff rings and pretends that Gene’s his dad. He tells him that he was arrested because they think he’s involved in a robbery, but Gene reassures her that without evidence they can’t prove he was and he’ll be out by lunch.
Gene says he’ll get Marion (Carol Burnett) to help bail him out and he gives the elderly woman a call. She’s startled to hear from him and he explains the situation, saying that they need to get Jeff out and she gets upset. She mentions how the boy will be the death of her and she listens intently to Gene’s advice when he gets into detailed legal jargon, like how, unlike Albuquerque, Omaha doesn’t have outside bail bonds, so Jeff’s exit from jail will be quick and painless.
When he tells her to get dressed before he arrives to pick her up, Marion pulls out her laptop and begins searching. She gets so swept up in what she finds and is listening to that she doesn’t see or hear Gene come into the home. She tries to hide what she’s seen, but the noise gives it away, she’s discovered who he is. He tries gaslighting her, but Marion’s too smart. She says that she only had to google Albuquerque conman to uncover his identity. As she goes to call 9-1-1, he pulls the cord from the wall.
In a threatening manner, he begins wrapping the ends around his hand and you wonder, is he really about to strangle Marion? She then holds up her life alert caller, and he begs her not to push the button. Pulling it from her hand, she says, “I trusted you.” That remark pauses him in his tracks as he drops the clicker and she presses the button, saying that a criminal is in her kitchen, that it’s Saul Goodman. He begins running just as the credits begin to roll.
Talk about a heart-stopping ending. Only one more episode will determine where Jimmy and Kim end their story. Let us know what you thought of the penultimate episode, below, and don’t miss the Better Call Saul series finale when it airs on AMC and AMC+ on August 15.
Better Call Saul, Series Finale, Monday, August 15, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
