Better Call Saul May Have Just Confirmed Kim Isn't Around In Breaking Bad
Caution: SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6 ahead.
Better Call Saul may have just confirmed why Kim Wexler isn't around in Breaking Bad. Despite having a huge impact on the future Saul Goodman's life during the spinoff prequel, Kim isn't seen or even mentioned during Bob Odenkirk's four-season run on Breaking Bad. With the premiere of Better Call Saul season 6, viewers may have just been given a clue as to why that is.
Throughout Better Call Saul, Kim has remained Jimmy McGill's closest associate. The show has followed her plotlines and journey from a promising up-and-coming lawyer to—by the end of Better Call Saul season 5—shifting closer to Jimmy by marrying him, quitting her job at Schweickart & Cokely, and taking pro bono work. She gradually becomes more embroiled in Jimmy's criminal activities, which leads to her coming face-to-face with Lalo Salamanca. Based on the cold open of season 6, it appears these developments may spell disaster for Kim and Jimmy's relationship.
The cold open of Better Call Saul season 6 features a crew of movers taking inventory of items in a house that belongs to Saul Goodman. This makes it clear that this scene takes place following the events of Breaking Bad. Upon closer examination, it appears as though most of the clothes and items being checked belong to Saul, with none of the clothes that Kim usually wears present. Furthermore, an item that falls out of Saul's cabinet is another indicator of what became of Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler. The item in question is the stopper from the bottle of Zafiro Añejo tequila that Kim kept from when she and Jimmy scammed Ken in season 2. All these factors serve to prove that their relationship likely dissolved at some point before Breaking Bad, which will likely be shown by the end of Better Call Saul.
Although she embraced her dark side in Better Call Saul season 5, Kim has been shown to have a moral compass that is much stronger than Jimmy's—or at least less easily swayed. This is still evident to a degree in season 6 when it comes to her handling of the Kettlemans. Despite essentially blackmailing the Kettlemans to keep quiet about Kim's plan against Howard, she still makes sure that they pay back everyone they scammed through their tax fraud scheme. It's likely that by the end of season 6, when Jimmy fully embraces his persona as Saul and becomes more involved with criminal organizations, her compass will win out and force Kim to turn away from Jimmy for good.
Despite the cold open of Better Call Saul season 6 giving a better indication of her whereabouts, it's still unclear what will become of Kim in the end. While many fans are concerned that her absence in Breaking Bad could mean she's killed off, it's also possible that after Kim and Jimmy split up, she simply leaves. Whatever the case, Saul keeping the bottle stopper stowed away inside a cabinet indicates that however Better Call Saul concludes, the resolution to his story with Kim will not be a particularly happy one.
New episodes of Better Call Saul season 6 drop Mondays on AMC at 9:00 PM ET.