When Better Call Saul wrapped up Season 5 earlier this year, fans were left wondering about nearly every main character's fate going forward. Sure, we know Bob Odenkirk's Saul and Giancarlo Esposito's Gus Fring are going to survive the long(er) haul, but what about Michael Mando's Nacho and and Tony Dalton's Lalo? And perhaps most importantly for the titular character's future, what about Rhea Seehorn's Kim? As it happens, not even Better Call Saul's co-creator sounds all THAT optimistic about Kim's future. Cue the worldwide volcanic eruptions!
Okay so maybe the fate of a fictional character isn't worth molten lava covering the planet, but for many Better Call Saul viewers, Kim Wexler is as much a reason to tune in as Jimmy's transition into Saul Goodman. And it's indeed the two characters' relationship – as loving as it is detrimental to mental health – that will likely lead to Kim's undoing, however that might come to pass. Co-creator Peter Gould talked rather ominously with Deadline about the Jimmy-Kim connection, saying:
It’s a very interesting relationship, because on the surface you might say, ‘He’s corrupting her.’ But maybe that’s not all that’s going on. Sometimes there’s chemistry between people, and sometimes chemistry’s a great thing. But maybe sometimes chemistry can be a bad thing. You can add two inert chemicals and come up with something very volatile when you combine them. And it could be that’s what’s happening with Jimmy and Kim.
From the outside looking in, Jimmy has often appeared to be the stick caught between Kim's spokes, with his endless scheming, dreaming, wheeling and dealing taking a toll on both her career and her personality. However, as viewers have come to realize, we don't have all that much insight into her past, or what kind of person she was before the series' timeline started. So she might very well be fully aware of how responsible she is for loosening Jimmy's leash so that his Saul persona could develop.
Which, in turn, means she may have metaphorically built a runway that's too small for her to have anything but a crash landing. And the way Peter Gould puts it, it sounds like Kim's stance on her entire career has degraded to a point where she might be in a form of self-sabotage mode whenever Season 6 arrives. And that, my friends, is a lot of why Better Call Saul's showrunner Peter Gould is worried about her moving forward. In his words:
She seems to be moving in a direction of corner-cutting. I don’t think that just comes out of her own self-interest. I think Kim, this season, in some ways has become disillusioned with the practice of law as she’s known it. Being with Jimmy maybe has shown her either something that she knew before, or it’s made more vivid to her, which is the possibility of cutting corners; doing what you think is right, and causing what you feel is justice, rather than playing by the rules of the system. We’ll see where that leads her. I’m a little bit worried about her, too.
Now, that comment doesn't necessarily make it sound like Kim is doomed to bite the dust as soon as Season 6 kicks off. But it does sound like she might get mired in loosened virtues while trying to take the "easy" way out of a situation. So what if, in the name of renegade justice, Kim commits a crime that ends up getting her sent to federal prison for a long time? I'm starting to believe that might end up being the case, but will need a few more clues to fully commit to that hypothesis.
Season 6 will be the last time that Emmy voters have a chance to give Rhea Seehorn the lauding and trophy-centric acclaim that she deserves, since apparently her insanely great Season 5 performance just didn't make the cut. And here's hoping, once again, that she won't have to die in order to secure the nomination.
Better Call Saul Season 6 is definitely on the way to fans at some point in the future, but it's still impossible to tell when that might happen. While waiting to hear more on when production might start up again, head to our Fall TV 2020 premiere schedule to see what's on the way soon.
