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canyonwalkerI've written a few times now that the character Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul is a bit of a puzzle. She's a hardworking attorney who, after suffering unfair setbacks in early seasons of the show, is finally seeing her career take off. That's satisfying. But what's her end game in the series? And we know it is an end game because of what I call the Star Wars Rogue One principle: When a prequel introduces a major character who's not in the original, we know that character is doomed.
At the end of season 3 it seemed like Kim's doom might be physical. 😰 She had an accident, but survived... and recovered. As Jimmy and Kim grew apart in season 4 I wondered if her end would be emotional.... Would she and Jimmy just become so different that they broke up? The way they worked together to con the district attorney in ep. 4.08 embodies both the highs and lows of their relationship. Kim was apprehensive about getting involved in one of Jimmy's scams and wanted to do it the by-the-books way first; then she actually proposed a scam to Jimmy and was exhilarated to be part of it; then she seemed to realize how much she'd jeopardize her own career with it.
In fact it's Jimmy who brings up the risk of all the ways the scam could've hurt her. Kim's immediate response after winning the case with the help of their con was elation. She cornered Jimmy in a courthouse stairwell and kissed him passionately. The next day Kim stopped to talk to Jimmy on the street when she saw his car parked there. One glance at the stern look on her face and he started apologizing for involving her in the scam. He rattles off their offenses— "Ex parte communication, contempt of court. I mean, what, talking about a couple hundred counts of mail fraud?"— noting it would destroy her career if it came to light.
What does Kim do?
I expected her, at this point, to say something like...
Instead she said something totally different. "Let's do it again." 😳
That was at the end of ep. 4.08. In the next episode Jimmy and Kim indeed do run another scam. At least this one is to benefit Kim's career, not Jimmy's. But at this point I'm thinking Kim's doom is self-destruction.
Here's my new guess for where Kim's character arc goes from here. She enjoys the thrill of the caper too much that it blinds her to the magnitude of the risks she's taking. Already we've seen her thrill-seeking-risk-taking a few times, and she's taking bigger risks each time. It's going to spin out of control on her. The Rules of Writing dictate she's going to face her comeuppance. Some scam she participates in with Jimmy will get exposed, and it'll blow up on her. It could be the fake-letters one from 4.08, it could be the one in 4.09, it could be a scam she hasn't done yet. She loses her job, her career, everything she's worked hard for for the past 10 years. Discredited and disheartened, she moves away and never talks to Jimmy again.
At the end of season 3 it seemed like Kim's doom might be physical. 😰 She had an accident, but survived... and recovered. As Jimmy and Kim grew apart in season 4 I wondered if her end would be emotional.... Would she and Jimmy just become so different that they broke up? The way they worked together to con the district attorney in ep. 4.08 embodies both the highs and lows of their relationship. Kim was apprehensive about getting involved in one of Jimmy's scams and wanted to do it the by-the-books way first; then she actually proposed a scam to Jimmy and was exhilarated to be part of it; then she seemed to realize how much she'd jeopardize her own career with it.
In fact it's Jimmy who brings up the risk of all the ways the scam could've hurt her. Kim's immediate response after winning the case with the help of their con was elation. She cornered Jimmy in a courthouse stairwell and kissed him passionately. The next day Kim stopped to talk to Jimmy on the street when she saw his car parked there. One glance at the stern look on her face and he started apologizing for involving her in the scam. He rattles off their offenses— "Ex parte communication, contempt of court. I mean, what, talking about a couple hundred counts of mail fraud?"— noting it would destroy her career if it came to light.
What does Kim do?
I expected her, at this point, to say something like...
"You know, Jimmy, you're right. I can't keep going like this. Getting the win in that case was fun, but if any of the things we did ever come to light, even a fraction of them, it'll end my career. I've made partner now. I've got way too much to lose. We can't keep working together. Or even seeing each other anymore."
Instead she said something totally different. "Let's do it again." 😳
That was at the end of ep. 4.08. In the next episode Jimmy and Kim indeed do run another scam. At least this one is to benefit Kim's career, not Jimmy's. But at this point I'm thinking Kim's doom is self-destruction.
Here's my new guess for where Kim's character arc goes from here. She enjoys the thrill of the caper too much that it blinds her to the magnitude of the risks she's taking. Already we've seen her thrill-seeking-risk-taking a few times, and she's taking bigger risks each time. It's going to spin out of control on her. The Rules of Writing dictate she's going to face her comeuppance. Some scam she participates in with Jimmy will get exposed, and it'll blow up on her. It could be the fake-letters one from 4.08, it could be the one in 4.09, it could be a scam she hasn't done yet. She loses her job, her career, everything she's worked hard for for the past 10 years. Discredited and disheartened, she moves away and never talks to Jimmy again.
