Following each of the final Better Call Saul episodes, Wexler Watch evaluates Kim Wexler's
condition.
The following contains "Waterworks," episode 12 spoilers.
The penultimate episode of Better Call Saul, which aired on Monday night, made it quite
obvious that Kim Wexler is just as important to the show as Saul Goodman: The Better Call
Saul team made the decision to dedicate practically all of one of the last two episodes to Kim
Wexler with just two episodes remaining to wrap up this masterpiece of a prequel.
And that episode revealed a lot about Kim's life after she breaks up with Jimmy, as well
as about a crucial choice she takes that might lead to his demise.
(Carol Burnett adds her voice to the discussion on the second point.)
It follows that Kim Wexler is still alive.
The fact that Kim is still alive throughout Jimmy's "Gene in Nebraska" years was confirmed
in last week's episode courtesy to a call Jimmy made to her place of employment, Palm
Coast Sprinklers in Titusville, Florida.
(More will follow on that call.)
We see what Kim's existence in Titusville truly looks like in "Waterworks," an episode
that is well called considering the sprinkler link and that gorgeous Kim breakdown moment
on the airport shuttle.
Friends, it's very grim.
It may be argued that Kim's fate is worse than death because she is monotonous and confined
to Florida.
Whereas as a lawyer and (uncredited on her resume) sometimes con artist, Kim formerly
had to make critical judgments, these days her biggest dilemmas are whether to use Miracle
Whip in a potato salad and which flavor ice cream to offer at Tammy's office birthday
party.
At this point, Kim isn't even qualified to choose between strawberry and vanilla!
Here, she is not her usual self.
She is, in general, not herself.
Vince Gilligan, who wrote and directed this episode, makes it obvious that Palm Coast
Sprinklers is a delightfully mundane workplace with the type of precise, particular detail
that is so characteristic of Better Call Saul.
(There is one three-second moment when a worker knocks on the top of her cubicle and her neighboring
coworker gives her a hole puncher wordlessly that portrays more boredom than whole seasons
of The Office.)
Kim succeeds in this situation anyway, as she frequently does.
She goes above and above with her work, learning pipe lingo and even visiting the production
floor to conduct research, despite the fact that her job appears to be limited to updating
the Palm Coast Sprinklers website.
The Kim we are familiar with is the Kim who excels because her job is something she can
manage.
Outside-of-work Kim, on the other hand, appears to be satisfied to watch Rupert Holmes (callback
alert!) and be in a mediocre relationship with a man who frequently uses the word "yes"
during sexual activity.
Kim also makes arrangements far in advance to visit the newest Outback Steakhouse location.
The moment when he watches The Amazing Race as she completes a jigsaw puzzle in the other
room best illustrates the difference between the life she had with Jimmy and the one she
has with this guy (whose name is never mentioned).
Kim's hubby and her used to watch classic movies together while cuddled up on the couch.
Now, while she attempts to piece things together on her own, her boyfriend is concerned about
the risks The Amazing Race may provide.
Okay, so how actually is Kim Wexler doing?
Being really honest, she seems to be satisfied with her existence, which is, to be fair,
a lot less stressful than witnessing old coworkers get shot in the head in your living room.
But then she receives a call from Jimmy posing as Viktor St. Clair, the fictitious identity
they used to defraud Ken of tequila back in season two.
Kim advised Jimmy he should give himself in last week, but it turns out that Jimmy was
actually screaming at her during that phone call.
He then asked her to think about why she hadn't come forward herself.
Jimmy almost seems to want to be discovered at this point, don't you think?
Kim takes that challenge so seriously that she writes an affidavit confessing to everything
she and Jimmy did and the fact that Howard was killed and gives it to Cheryl, Howard's
widow, as well as the district attorney in Albuquerque.
The possibility of Kim being charged exists, but as she explains to Cheryl, she has her
reservations because there is no physical proof and Jimmy was the only other witness
to Howard's murder.
Kim adds that Jimmy "might even be dead," which she knows to be untrue.
Kim is effectively turning Jimmy in while also attempting to atone for her own sins.
She's aware of this.
And I believe it's one of the reasons why, in what I think is an incredibly wonderful
performance by Rhea Seehorn, she just loses it on that airport shuttle.
At that very moment, the horror of all that transpired as a result of her and Jimmy, as
well as of everything she has lost as a result, descends upon her.
Everything in this episode shows that Kim has been managing her suffering, dividing
it apart, and keeping it contained.
Even the scene in Saul's office later in the episode (but earlier in the chronology), where
Kim and Jimmy sign their divorce papers and she runs into Jesse Pinkman while taking a
smoke break, shows she started to put up barriers around her heart as soon as she split from
Jimmy.
When Jesse inquires as to whether Saul Goodman is a competent attorney, she responds, "When
I knew him, he was."
That response shuts the door on the Kim and Jimmy tale, especially in a scene that alludes
to the cigarette Kim and Jimmy shared in episode one.
After reopening the book, Kim can no longer hold back her distress during that shuttle
journey.
How is Kim Wexler's ponytail, which serves as a proxy for her mood?
Oh, this is crucial.
Florida Kim has long, black hair that she usually wears untidy.
Kim's sense of style appears to have disappeared along with the ponytail.
Kim appears to have determined that seeming uninteresting is the best way to blend in.
But when she arrives at the Albuquerque courthouse, she notices a lawyer there who resembles the
Kim she used to be, complete with a ponytail, high heels, and a pencil skirt.
The former attorney glances longingly at this woman, as if she were a person whose desires
were just out of reach.
Her passion for the law is still quite evident.
However, she is no longer able to follow her heart.
Her morals won't let her do it.