Warning: This article contains spoilers for Better Call Saul season 6
Giancarlo Esposito, one of the stars (and directors) of Better Call Saul, breaks down the Kim Wexler flashback from season 6, episode 6. The Breaking Bad prequel series returned to AMC screens last month with a two-episode premiere kicking off its sixth and final season. Esposito's narcotics distributor Gus Fring began season 6 by cleaning up his failed assassination attempt against the acting head of the Salamanca family, Lalo (Tony Dalton), and has since set up an extensive surveillance network awaiting his rival's eventual return to Albuquerque.
Meanwhile, Jimmy McGill (now practicing law under the name Saul Goodman) and his loyal confidante Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) have started executing their plan to ruin Howard Hamlin's (Patrick Fabian) career. Though much of their master plan remained a mystery early on, it has become more apparent with each passing episode. By planting seeds in Clifford Main's mind with numerous past incidents, Jimmy and Kim plan to use a psychotropic drug on Howard to provoke a "Chicanery"-style outburst from him at the Sandpiper case hearing, causing him to appear deranged and inept in front of the court. An unexpected broken arm almost jeopardizes the scheme during the episode's final moments, forcing Jimmy and Kim to alter their plans.
In an interview with Variety, Esposito discussed the Better Call Saul season 6 episode titled "Axe and Grind," which the actor directed. The episode was rather Kim-centric as it began with a flashback to her stealing a pair of earrings as a child and ended with a "moment of doom” for the character, says Esposito. He broke down the pivotal flashback saying the moment is a "reflection of Kim’s whole life and who she actually becomes" and mentions how important the earrings are to Kim, as she can be seen wearing them in almost episode. Read what Esposito said below:
We all have moments we remember with our parents. We remember how it affected us in an adverse way or in a positive way. This moment to me is a reflection of Kim’s whole life and who she actually becomes. I believe intrinsically that Kim is a good person and has probably deeper lawyering skills than Jimmy does. And yet she falls for the other life; for how long, we don’t know.
In that scene, you see some connections through the episode if you’re watching closely. The earrings are important because Kim wears the same earrings basically her whole life. You see them again in the veterinarian’s office; if you notice, those are the same earrings. They meant something to her. She needed to have the slap on the hand, “No we don’t do that.” But it was all an act. She was probably satisfied with being chided by her mother for doing something wrong, needed that parenting direction and then is blown away when her mother comes out and goes, “Look what I got for you.” It was all a ruse. This is heartbreaking. I think it breaks her in a way that relates to the decision she makes at the end of the episode.
This isn't the first time Better Call Saul has flashed back to Kim's childhood in Nebraska with her mother. The season 5 episode "Wexler v. Goodman" begins with a flashback to a teenage Kim waiting for her mom to pick her up after cello practice. When she finally arrives, she is clearly intoxicated, and Kim decides to walk home rather than get in the car while her mother chastises her for never listening. Season 6's flashback plays out similarly with Kim's mom reprimanding her for stealing the earrings before she later drops the facade and tells Kim to be happy she "got away with it" without a slap on the wrist significantly shapes her as a person.
"Axe and Grind" is bookended by two Kim scenes, and the earlier flashback is integral to understanding Kim's decision to abandon a legitimate career opportunity in Santa Fe to drive back to Albuquerque at the end of the episode to prioritize her and Jimmy's "D-Day" scam on Howard. As many have theorized, if Kim's eventual fate is death or disappearance, these two scenes could be the perfect omen for what's to come in the midseason finale. After a few weeks off, the second half of Better Call Saul season 6 will resume on July 11.
Source: Variety