Let’s say there was an overseas account in Antigua and Barbuda.
Tiger Fish Corporation?
You put my name on the board of a fictional corporation.
I had to give it up.
I didn’t really have a choice.
And a heads up would have been nice.
Kim Wexler has always been a bad ass.
Kim is extremely intelligent, she is strong and independent, she is a consummate professional
with a tremendous work ethic, and she has also sometimes proven to be cold and calculating,
whether she is acting in her own best interest or even sometimes when she’s just having
fun and doing something she really enjoys.
With only one episode remaining in Better Call Saul, it appeared to me that Kim found
redemption when she finally came clean about her role in the demise of Howard Hamlin.
But perhaps I was completely wrong about that.
Yup.
I ain’t exactly Quasimodo over here, but one thing I will confidently say, which is
a testament to the cleverness of the creative team, is that if we never see Kim again, she
already had two different powerful moments that each could have acted as a satisfactory
send off for her character.
The first time was after she broke up with Jimmy in Fun and Games.
Honestly, that episode would have worked well as a series finale in its own right, were
it not for the fact that we were given multiple timelines right out of the gate.
Kim confessed her betrayal to Jimmy, she broke things off, and then Jimmy fast tracked his
way into becoming the finished Saul Goodman product, as exhibited through the well played
time hop.
That would have been a perfect ending for Kim, the final reveal that led Jimmy down
the Saul choice road, and at that time I was kind of hoping that was the last we’d see
of her, because I thought it was a powerful ending for her story.
I’m glad it didn’t play out that way, because Kim’s story in Waterworks was nothing
short of fantastic.
In the end, Kim confessed her and Goodman’s role regarding the truth about Howard, that
he wasn’t some wild hooker lovin’ cokehead, but that he had been set-up by the Slippin
Duo.
She implicated Jimmy as well, and following her confession to Cheryl after she had given
her affidavit to both her and the court, we see Kim break down.
Oh God!
Just like the case in Fun and Games, if this was the last moment we ever see Kim, it works.
Perfectly.
The biggest question going into the finale is what ultimately happens with Gene.
Does he follow Kim’s advice and turn himself in?
Does he get captured or killed by law enforcement?
Or does he get away and go free, maybe finding a beach someplace where he can con wealthy
vacationers?
I personally think his only path to redemption is turning himself in.
When Kim suggested this, Jimmy called her out for her hypocrisy, before she ultimately
stepped up and confessed her part in the frame job on poor Howard.
So in addition to Gene’s ultimate fate, the next biggest question is does Kim still
figure into his story.
Will they ever meet face to face again?
The one thing that’s stuck with me most about Waterworks was that when Kim did come
clean, even while being truthful about every little detail in what actually went down with
Howard, her inner Kimmy Corleone couldn’t resist sneaking in one last devilish little
lie - she never admitted she knew full well that Jimmy was alive.
Does this not remind you of her previous lie about someone being alive?
The Nuns back in Cicero would send me to hell for saying it, but thank God he’s dead.
No remaining witnesses other than my ex-husband, assuming he’s still alive.
This perhaps puts all of Kim’s motives into question.
Maybe Kim is banking on the fact that Jimmy will be caught soon, and she’s taking these
measures not primarily as an act of redemption, but perhaps she is trying to preemptively
protect herself for when Jimmy inevitably does get caught, in case he tries to flip
on her.
Or maybe he evades the law, and this comes back to bite her in the ass.
Two common themes this season, and really throughout the series, especially in recent
episodes, are redemption and betrayal.
And if Kim does still figure into Gene’s ultimate fate, I am expecting one final big
betrayal between them, or at least the potential of such.
Will Kim correct her last lie and inform the authorities she was contacted by Jimmy?
Will Kim turn on Jimmy, and act against him?
Or will Jimmy evade the law, and will Kim somehow pay an unexpected price?
As far as we know, the last time they were face to face was when they finalized their
divorce.
McGill was visibly suffering emotional pain that he poorly tried to mask when he told
Kim to have a nice life.
Yup.
Yup, Yup.
The big question I’m wondering is, could Goodman have taken some type of fail safe
measure that somehow links Kim to his illegal money laundering operation?
We know he did something like this with Francesca, having something in her name unbeknownst to
her!
Goodman certainly seemed petty and spiteful the last time we saw him with Kim, and perhaps
understandably so.
After all, it was Kim’s fault that their relationship fell apart from his perspective.
She was the one who suggested they get married after he went ahead with the Mesa Verde scam
after she asked him to call it off.
Then she was the one who proposed ruining Howard.
Jimmy tried to dissuade her, even going so far to say Howard didn’t deserve that.
Still she insisted, and when she brought it up the second time, he again expressed his
reluctance.
Kim was persistent, and she knew his desire to please her would enable her to win him
over.
She did, and he played his role in the elaborate plan with expert precision.
Then Kim has her sitdown with Mike when she is informed Lalo was alive.
Kim deliberately withheld this information from Jimmy, because she knew he was already
reluctant and would call it off.
Even when Jimmy was eager to call it off after discovering the arm injury, Kim still insisted,
and she abandoned a meeting that could have potentially made all of her pro bono dreams
come true.
In the end, Kim confessed her lies of omission, and she explained she did it for selfish reasons
- she was having too much fun!
Then she broke things off, and the whole time Jimmy had been just going along with what
SHE wanted.
So perhaps Kim is somehow affiliated with Ice Station Zebra after all, even if she doesn’t
know it.
Maybe it’s hard to believe that Jimmy could ever sneak something like this past Kim, which
has me wondering if there is more to the mysterious black book.
They made a point to show us the book in the opening montage of the Season 6 premiere,
and we again see it when Kim and Jimmy are testing the drug they intend to use on Howard.
Maybe it never comes into play, because just knowing it exists helps explain how Goodman
knew so many guys who knew guys who knew guys.
But depending on the exact extent and versatility of the contacts he has in that dirty little
book, could Goodman have put a mutually assured destruction measure in place?
If he goes down, Kim goes down?
A situation like that would perhaps present an either/or scenario for Redemption OR Betrayal.
And it’s potentially set up in such a way, that these are plausible predicaments that
can surface for both Kim and/or Jimmy.
Each may have the opportunity to help indict the other, and each might likewise have the
chance to make a sacrifice for the other.
It’s absolutely fascinating stuff!
Now I have no idea if we will even see Kim again, but if we do see her, I do wonder if
things might not end with Goodman having one last successful con against the woman who
broke his heart. But what the hell do I know?
I’m no Quasimodo.
Maybe Goodman will go to Holsten’s with the Kettlemans and order some onion rings
while Kim is outside engaged in a parallel parking fiasco?
Or maybe Goodman will be brushing his teeth, decide to smash his face into a mirror, where
he sees the reflection of a smiling Lalo, prompting Saul to say
“How’s Kimmy? How’s Kimmy? How’s Kimmy!”
Or maybe Kim will wake up in bed with Kevin Costner telling him she just had the worst
dream ever.
I for one am still hopeful we get an Ernesto-Lyle karaoke duet, and whatever happens I’m fired-up
for the series finale of Better Call Saul.
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos, delicious chicken grilled or fried.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos.
Every now and then I fall apart.
Turn around.
Man! Ernie’s really going for it.
Yes, yes he is.
Yep!
Yep! Yup!
You know Quasimodo predicted all of this.
Who did what?
At the end of it he might never be able to practice law again.
No, he doesn’t deserve that.
I was thinking about our first move, on the Howard front.
We’re doing that?
I thought we were.
Aren’t we?
Why are you telling me this and not him?
Because I think you’re made of sterner stuff.
Thank God he’s dead.
Here’s to tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
*CLING*
We’re going to pull the plug, and we’re going to live to fight another day.
What other day?
You would not be okay with it, not in the cold light of day.
Wouldn’t I?
It happens today.
Nostradamus!
Quasimodo’s the hunchback of Notre Dame.
Right, Notre Damus.
Nostradamus and Notre Dame.
It’s two different things completely.
You g et back in the car, bust that speed limit, and you’ll still make that lunch.
Jimmy, this is where I need to be.
I beg your pardon?
I think you heard me. Howard.
You drive a silver Miata, correct?
An offer has been made and accepted by Mrs. Irene Landry which is going to make all of
you, I believe, very satisfied.
I think I’m in the middle of something.
There’s really no need to.
Oh!
Oh shit!
Maybe I misunderstood what I saw.
You would have known.
Please excuse me.
I love you.
I love you, too.
But so what!
We’re talking about a career setback. A career setback for one lawyer.
I was having too much fun!
I need to brush my teeth.
Good idea.
I will file these tomorrow.
Alright, well, have a nice life Kim.
Yup.
Yup!
Stop.
I’m Saul Goodman.
Stop!
I’ve seen enough of this horse shit, jeez.
There’s lots more.
Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos, delicious Chicken grilled or fried. Pollos Hermanos, Pollos Hermanos
It’s interesting though that they would be so similar isn’t it?
And I always thought okay.
You got your hunchback of Notre Dame, and you also got your quarterback and halfback
of Notre Dame.
What is this?
That my friends is Albuquerque's public enemy #1.
You want me to say something?
Yeah.
You should turn yourself in.
Do what?
You heard me.
So what!
So what.
Screw them!
Remember, the winner takes it all!
No remaining witnesses other than my ex-husband, assuming he’s still alive.
Conspiracy to commit a federal crime.
Whoa!
Conspiracy?
It was your idea.
Yeah, it’s called mutually assured destruction, so…
You put my name on the board of a fictional corporation.
I had to give it up.
I didn’t really have a choice.
And a heads up would have been nice.
Kim.
I’m glad you’re alive.
One’s a fucking cathedral.
Obviously I know, I’m just sayin’.
It’s interesting the coincidence.
What?
You gonna tell me you never pondered that, the back thing with Notre Dame?
No!
You’re done!
You are done!
Yup!