‘Better Call Saul’: What Will Happen to Kim in the Finale?
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 6, Episode 12 of Better Call Saul, “Waterworks.”]
Better Call Saul‘s series finale episode is on the horizon and with it comes plenty of questions, particularly about the fate of Rhea Seehorn‘s fan-favorite Kim Wexler.
The closing installment aptly titled “Saul Gone” indicates the clear ending of a chapter for Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), a.k.a. Saul Goodman and Gene Takovic. But what does the end mean for Kim? It’s a concern that has plagued viewers since Season 6 began, as fears over her possible death or disappearance arose.
Thankfully, the penultimate episode, “Waterworks,” gave viewers insight into her life post-Breaking Bad-era, and she’s alive. Living under the same name, she’s adopted a brunette hair color and new style, speaking in a bit of a higher pitch, and going through the motions of a “normal” life in Florida, where she relocated to following her divorce from Jimmy six years prior.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
That lifestyle could have bode her well if she continued to keep herself uninvolved in Jimmy’s story, but when he calls her from Omaha, she is motivated to set certain things in motion. Suggesting to Jimmy that he turn himself in, he refuses and implies she’s a hypocrite because she was also involved in bad deeds.
He misses her and wanted to catch up, but Jimmy’s words sit with Kim and she decides to return to Albuquerque where she files an affidavit and hands it over to Howard Hamlin’s (Patrick Fabian) wife Cheryl (Sandrine Holt). The paperwork details all of the events surrounding Howard’s death, offering Cheryl some closure, but it’s unclear whether or not Kim will be prosecuted as there isn’t sufficient evidence without Jimmy’s presence.
When Cheryl asks why she’s doing this, the camera cuts away before Kim answers her and we later see Kim cry on an airport shuttle. As far as the present timeline is concerned, this is where fans left Kim. So, what’s next? Below, we’re breaking down a few details that could hint at her fate.
Disappearing Act
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
When Kim is at the Albuquerque airport after flying in from Florida, she stands and waits for a ride under the sign for Alaska Airlines. It may seem unimportant, but the visual clue serves as a callback to Jesse Pinkman’s (Aaron Paul) escape as he fled for Alaska with the help of Ed (Robert Forster) in El Camino.
While it’s pure conjecture, the visual could hint at Kim’s escape from the messy life she left behind. Just as Jesse turned his back on Walt (Bryan Cranston) in the Breaking Bad finale before making his mad dash to freedom, Kim’s being set free by her confession to Cheryl, and without possible consequences, she’s free to flee. Would she return back to Florida, or has this revelation untethered her to the consuming guilt?
She Will Survive
In a flashback to the day Kim and Jimmy signed their divorce papers, she steps outside to light a cigarette and bumps into Jesse. Unaware of the role he’ll play in Jimmy’s life, she makes small talk when he asks to bum a cigarette off of her. As they remain under the office’s awning, they hide away from Albuquerque’s uncharacteristic downpour.
(Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
The image of them standing side-by-side could hold more weight than some random meeting as Jesse was one of the only characters to survive his Breaking Bad ordeal. Could that spell good luck for Kim? While she’s not innocent in her involvement with Jimmy’s schemes, and her doubling-down on the lie surrounding Howard’s death isn’t something to forget, she has represented a moral individual throughout the series as opposed to Jimmy’s immoral character. There is remorse and Jesse fit that category in Breaking Bad.
She’ll Make Things Right
While she and Jimmy were both involved in the scheme against Howard, Kim appears to have been keeping her nose clean in her “normal” life. In the meantime, Jimmy became even more involved with criminal activity, and although it wasn’t as bad as what Walt and Jesse were up to, he had his hand in the pot.
When she mentions to Cheryl that the only way she could be held accountable for her involvement in Howard’s death is if Jimmy were there too, it makes us wonder, could he be? He had to flee when Marion (Carol Burnett) discovered who he was and called the police using her Life Alert pendant.
In his effort to escape, could Jimmy return to the one place fans knew him the best? Albuquerque. If Kim remains there and they cross paths, will she force him to face the music for his actions? Atoning for their wrongdoings. It’s certainly a possibility, as is anything when it comes to Better Call Saul‘s unpredictable series finale.
Tune in on August 15 to find out what will happen to Kim as well as Jimmy when the final episode airs.
Better Call Saul, Series Finale, Monday, August 15, 9/8c, AMC
