Warning: SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11.
Better Call Saul has confirmed that Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) is still alive after the events of Breaking Bad, but what does this mean for the remaining episodes? Viewers last saw Kim packing up to leave the apartment she shared with Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk.) She had quit her job as an attorney and ended her destructive and toxic relationship with Jimmy, which completed his transition into Breaking Bad‘s Saul Goodman.
Since then, nothing has been seen or heard of Kim until Jimmy takes a call from his former secretary Francesca in the opening scenes of Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11. As proven by his tearful distraction during episode 10’s mall heist, Jimmy still loves Kim, something confirmed by how he reacts to Francesca’s mention of her. She tells him that, following the collapse of Walter White’s drug empire and the subsequent investigations, Kim called her to check she was okay and asked if Jimmy was still alive. This gives him hope for the future and backs up Better Call Saul‘s potential happy ending for Gene and Kim. But those hopes appear to be very quickly dashed, leaving the ending of Kim’s story open as Better Call Saul builds toward its finale.
The ultimate fate of Kim has been one of the biggest discussion points in Better Call Saul. As audiences knew that she didn’t appear in Breaking Bad, there were multiple theories about how her story would ultimately end. Kim’s lies about Howard Hamlin and her part in his shocking death led her to quit the legal profession and end her relationship with Jimmy. This was a more narratively satisfying explanation for Kim’s absence from Breaking Bad than being killed by Lalo Salamanca, but it still remains to be seen if this is how her story truly ends. Introducing the possibility that Jimmy and Kim are in touch after Breaking Bad suggests that there will be more from her in the Better Call Saul Gene timeline.
How Will Better Call Saul End Kim’s Story? Will She & Gene Reunite?
Even though viewers can’t hear what’s being said, it’s clear that Jimmy’s phone call to Kim does not go well. Above the noise of passing traffic, Jimmy’s voice is raised, and he is gesticulating wildly. After he hangs up, Jimmy/Gene smashes the phone and puts his foot through the glass. It’s unclear whether he’s actually exchanged words with Kim, or if she has point-blank refused to speak to him when he calls her place of work. The fact that Jimmy knows where Kim is implies that this is not the first time he’s tried to contact her, and viewers may see him try to reach her during his Saul Goodman days. This may be the way that Better Call Saul ends Kim’s story, with her and Jimmy having one final conversation, perhaps during an unseen moment from the Breaking Bad timeline. It may even absolve Kim of some of her guilt about Howard, given how bad Jimmy gets once she leaves him.
The phone call also makes the potential Kim and Jimmy/Gene reunion more unlikely than ever. It’s clear from Jimmy’s actions that Kim does not want to speak to him. Either she’s told the colleague who answered the phone not to put her through, or she’s come on the line and given him some harsh words about his involvement with Walter White. Whatever happened, it’s highly unlikely that Kim will make the trip from her new home in Florida to Omaha for the final episodes of Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul continues Monday on AMC.
