If you thought Jimmy and Kim's parting scene of Better Call Saul season 5 looked familiar, there's a good reason for that. While Breaking Bad fans might think they know the trajectory Saul and the gang are on in Vince Gilligan's spin-off series, the recent season 5 finale proved that almost anything is still possible. After mixing himself up in the narcotics trade and helping kill a man in the desert, many viewers were expecting Kim to recoil in horror at the man Jimmy had become. Instead, she ordered room service and cooked up the couple's next big con.
Better Call Saul's season 5 finale disproved the popular notion that Jimmy was dragging Kim down a dark path, instead confirming something that has been bubbling beneath the surface for some time - Kim Wexler can be just as dangerous and unpredictable as Jimmy. In Better Call Saul's final season, it appears that the husband and wife dream team will frame Howard for an "unforgivable" crime that he didn't commit, pocketing millions as a result. The concept is so wild and vindictive, even Jimmy isn't on board. After all, this isn't an armed assassin trying to leave him for dead in the desert, this is Howard - boring, safe, vain and annoying, but not necessarily someone Jimmy would delight in destroying.
Flipping the script so dramatically ahead of Better Call Saul season 6 is a fascinating move, and Kim's villainous turn in made official by a clever parallel of Better Call Saul's previous finale episode from season 4. At the end of "Winner," Jimmy finally gets his law license back and decides to start operating as the sleazy, amoral "Saul Goodman." As Jimmy points, delivers his "better call Saul!" catchphase and walks away, Kim is left looking confused, dejected and concerned. The end of "Something Unforgivable" in season 5 pulls exactly the same trick, but with the roles reserved. As a worried Jimmy asks Kim whether her plan to frame Howard is a joke, she walks away, points with the same double-fingered shooting action, and leaves Jimmy looking just as confused, dejected and concerned as she was 10 episodes ago.
Better Call Saul is full of visual and in-dialogue callbacks to both itself and Breaking Bad, but this scene easily ranks among the best of them. Subtle enough to not look contrived, but obvious enough to send a clear message, Kim's mirroring of Jimmy in consecutive season finales offers a clear indication of her new moral alignment. When Jimmy did the pose in season 4, it marked the true start of his descent into criminality. Soon after announcing himself as Saul, Jimmy was defending drug dealers, helping the cartel and covering up murders, but also making a lot more money. By repeating the same pose, Kim confirms she is now set to head on a similarly illicit journey, but how far will she go down that (bad choice) road?
With regards to Jimmy, will his season 6 arc now mirror Kim's development in season 5? Although she was initially distrustful and dismissive of Jimmy as "Saul," Kim was confronted with an angry Lalo, a bag full of cash and a tale of money and murder even Joe Exotic would feel uncomfortable with. Eventually she came around and doubled-down on Jimmy's side; so will he now do the same for her, going along with the Howard plan and sticking by his wife when everything inevitably goes wrong?
Better Call Saul season 6 is currently without a release date.
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April 23, 2020 at 05:40AM
