One revealing aspect of Kim's Better Call Saul fate highlights just how bleak her future is - and we're not talking about the dull job or emotionless humping. After divorcing Jimmy McGill and upping sticks from Albuquerque to Florida, Rhea Seehorn's Kim Wexler found gainful employment at a sprinkler company, met a new romantic partner, and took up jigsaw puzzles as a hobby. That may sound good compared to the alternatives she faced, but there are plenty of reasons to feel sympathy for Kim in Better Call Saul's Gene timeline.
Kim reluctantly decided to leave her dream lawyer gig after Howard Hamlin's death, but working at Palm Coast Sprinklers doesn't even come close to fulfilling her potential. And at home, her partner is, for want of a better word, an idiot. Theirs is clearly a loveless romance (certainly on Kim's part), and their most fascinating conversations revolve around mayonnaise and TV shows. Kim's friendship group isn't much better - a gossiping gaggle that Better Call Saul's old Kim wouldn't dream of associating with. Snazzy new hairdo aside, Kim Wexler has nothing to smile about in this sun-drenched suburban nightmare.
More tragic than Kim's unfulfilling career and even more unfulfilling home life, however, is a new personality trait Better Call Saul's "Waterworks" repeatedly draws attention toward. Whenever Kim is asked to make even the most mundane decision, she ever-so-politely declines. Kim lets her partner handle the Miracle Whip issue, giving a noncommittal answer when he asks her opinion. He later questions Kim on some meaningless TV-related thought, but Kim once again offers "maybe" as a response. She can't help June decide between vanilla or strawberry ice cream for Tammy, and she's the only member of Palm Coast Sprinklers' fearsome four not to offer a take on the drugs conversation over lunch. All through Better Call Saul, Kim was a strong, confident, vocal personality who spoke with poise and authority, and always had an opinion to give. Seeing her so placid in season 6's Gene timeline is miserable.
Kim’s Better Call Saul Future Is Even Worse Than You Thought
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Before Better Call Saul confirmed Kim's reason for not appearing in Breaking Bad, consensus among fans was that escaping death and jail would represent a big win for Wexler. Kim came unerringly close to being killed by Lalo Salamanca and Gus Fring, then even closer to getting jailed for defaming Howard Hamlin and abetting the cover-up of his death. Reaching Florida alive is some achievement.
Better Call Saul season 6's "Waterworks" asks whether "prison" should be defined solely by iron bars and orange jumpsuits. Kim Wexler has spent six years not just lying and pretending, but completely oppressing her true personality. Every morning, she rises from her bed and pretends to be ditzy and demure, agreeing like a nodding car statue without ever raising a question or offering her own thoughts. For a woman once considered among Albuquerque's brightest legal minds, acting unremarkable must be pure torture, even if she does believe this pretense will stop her regressing back into "Slippin' Kimmy."
Kim is alive and safe, but whether this Florida facade is worse than jail is a matter of opinion. Kim herself obviously isn't sure - risking everything by signing a sworn legal confession speaks volumes about how depressing her existence has become. Viewers might've assumed Kim's survival was Better Call Saul trying to be less dark after Nacho, Howard and Lalo all died, but watching her so shriveled - not even a shadow of her former self - proves punishment comes in many forms.
Better Call Saul concludes Monday on AMC.