Beer bottle scene is so good, Kim starts chucking bottles off the balcony, Jimmy joins in after. The morning after, Kim goes to clean up the mess while Jimmy goes to work. This pretty much sums up their relationship in the show.
This is such a phenomena take and view. Such a simple scene offers so much characterization of Kim and Jimmy and especially their relationship. Both make the mess, one feels bad and cleans it up. Definitely indicative of Kim’s complex character and her contrasting morals. Phenomenal view!
Hindsight is always 20/20. We can see the plot unfolding to it’s inevitable end in scenes like the bottle breaking. Kim isn’t fully into the ethics-bending like Jimmy is. Kim can’t live with the messes she makes, Jimmy can ignore them.
@@MisterzzYT late to the party as I just finished the show today. I got to say it’s just a masterpiece in filmography Also wants to say that with quality like this it’s a matter of time until your UA-cam channel takes off
Breaking and cleaning up the bottles forshadows the end of the show. She helps Saul break Howard Hamlin, then at the end she cleans up the mess by confessing to what she did. .
No one ever mentions that Kim wears that same exact earring every single time. The ones her mom stole for her. She wears them as a burden until Howard's death and she leaves town. When we see her again she's wearing nothing because she feels like nothing. Cut to the end she is wearing earrings of her own choosing. The burden is lifted, she can move on.
It really does represent them so well. They enable and encourage one another to commit crimes and bend their morals and eventually they destroy themselves and others. Great pickup
Its also a great subversion for characters like Kim. She is the "love interest" type character who we thought going to be the decent, pure and hardworking person that will push other characters to be a better version of themselves. We thought she was going to be like that but we were wrong. So very wrong lol
Easily my favorite character in the show for me. Seeing her slowly develop and embrace alot of the toxicity Saul portrays was so incredible. I remember when she and Jimmy break up and she says "I was just having so much fun" with tears in her eyes, aware of the evil she carries, disgusted by her actions......man. So well done.
I see it as couple of one veteran junkie and the other a non drug user. The junkie from time to time manages to give taste of the drog to the non drug user until makes her an equal with him. I never liked her, when she worked in HHM she was such an enabler. She acted like a brainwashed employe by the company where she working in. But when she feels she can't take it anymore, woooohaaa suddenlly she sees beyond HHM. Seriously? And.... Her morality... She always acts like she has moral values but at the same time she's morally flexible. Her sense of right and wrong has blured side and they very debatable. Also I always see her as using Jimmy as a pet, not really being a lover. Maybe like a frind with whom she lives and have sex but she doesn't have romantic feelings, she avoinds discutions about the relationship or feelings like it's a taboo topic between them, she avoids emotional intimicy. This a why I don't like her. She's also very non charismatic and could towards others, is like she's so basic, her personality has no shape of color, she's netrual, grey...ultraboring and in contrast with Jimmy's personality who is the exact opposet, he's like a ultracolorfull perrot and extroverted and charismatic.
I think the way Kim and Saul/Jimmy always smoke together is one of the best pieces of foreshadowing I’ve ever seen. To me it represents them pushing each other towards mutually assured destruction and with how the show has them sharing cigarettes very early in the show before their relationship really develops, it’s one of the many things that makes this show so excellent with visual storytelling and symbolism
Also cigarettes represent rebellion and being able to do what you want in the moment. Like smoking outside your job or for example jail. When your boss is walking all over you and you had a bad day at work or, a inmate the least you can do is smoke and have control in that moment.
It's also an interesting point that we never see Jimmy smoking alone, he only ever smokes with Kim, and in those scenes it's always Kim who hands Jimmy a cigarette, never the other way round. Although subtle, it's an example of how they both enjoy participating in each other's vices.
I stopped rooting for Kim (and Saul) after the framing of Howard, which led to his death. I liked Howard, he did not deserve to end up unfound in a hole in the ground with the scumbag who killed him.
Howard's death is probably the most haunting one in all of Breaking Bad for me, I really like Howard but even though he's not really my favorite character, it's something about how wrong on so many levels it is. This man tries his hardest to better himself after his business partner's suicide despite his debts, marriage problems and two former associates planning his doom like it's D-Day. Finally gives Jimmy a chance to work at HMM like he originally wanted, goes to therapy, maintaining himself physically and what does he get? Shot in the head by a guy that didn't think twice about it or cared. What happens to him afterwards just stuck with me, I couldn't even watch the next episode for a few days because of it. I genuinely would not wish what happened to Howard on my worst enemy, killed by a lunatic who thought anything of it, buried in an unmarked grave with your own murderer and framed as a drug addict to the living while your widow lives on in misery.
@@angel_aeon What you and Max the cat said, is exactly my whole feelings on the situation, I cried when Kim was crying on the bus, saying in between sobbing "please, just do it, I beg you"... I wanted justice, and Howard's body never being found, also along his murderer is depressing. At least Hank and Gomez got found and were able to have a proper respectful funeral... I wish Howard had at least in his horrible ending a little of respect and justice...
@@angel_aeon What you and Max the cat said, is exactly my whole feelings on the situation, I cried when Kim was crying on the bus, saying in between sobbing "please, just do it, I beg you"... I wanted justice, and Howard's body never being found, also along his murderer is depressing. At least Hank and Gomez got found and were able to have a proper respectful funeral... I wish Howard had at least in his horrible ending a little of respect and justice...
All the people saying Kim is a 'strong female character', I think the word you are looking for is a character with a lot of dimension. Kim is truly one of the biggest villains of BCS. Just because she doesn't go around selling drugs and killing people doesn't mean she is not a terrible and morally challenged person. The biggest flaw in her is that she is a hypocrite..... she thinks by doing some PD work and helping the underprivileged by leaving her very high paying job means that she can redeem her terrible actions. The fact that she just decided to fuck up Howards life because she wants some fun is honestly sickening. So yeah Kim is one of my favourite villains and a quintessential example of what you should NOT aspire to be.
she didnt want some fun, she hated him because he mistreated her when working for him and he told her Jimmy wasnt good for her. So he always put himself as above her.
That is what makes her a strong character though, she’s not a token “empowered woman” who is exceptional at everything and does no wrong and exists to try to make the show look progressive. Any two bit writer could write a character like that. She’s strong because she is extremely capable, motivated, and intelligent but also has very legitimate flaws and deals with situations in a way that demonstrates a complex, cloudy, but still characteristically consistent, morality. I prefer that over a Mary Sue any day.
@@emmyturner7385 explaining how her character is flawed isn’t anywhere close to misogynistic. I don’t entirely agree with his explanations of why she does certain things, but his viewpoints are still valid. There’s no sign of misogyny here
They lacked boundaries, imo. Jimmy is a walking red flag, but Kim always always always took his side. Prior to "Chicanery", Kim was firm on Jimmy. And then I think she softened to him, until they became enmeshed. They got so close, they ended up on each other's "other" side.
In a lot of respects, Howard might have been a good boss to work for. When he finally stood up to Chuck, he made it clear that it was all about protecting the firm. So if you can just make sure everything you do is translatable to the firm's benefit, you're good with Howard. No personalities, relationship conflicts, or anything else.
The McGill brothers have to be taken as a dual entity. Chuck and Jimmy complete each other. Everyone else was secondary. I'd even venture Chuck would not have been Chuck if his younger brother wasn't Jimmy or had they had a sister. Poor Kim just got involved with the wrong brothers.
Kim isn't doing these misdeeds for the power she gains. She's doing them because of her unreconciled childhood trauma with her mother. These schemes bring her and Jimmy closer together, create a bond between them. Jimmy subconsciously reminds Kim of her mother. It's not uncommon for a person to be attracted to a partner who has characteristics similar to a parent, especially if that parent may have been a source of trauma. The child will always seek reconciliation, because they are still trying to heal over that early example they were given. The only other scene that they ever show in the series of young Kim with her Mom is when they bond together or, rather, her Mom gives her praise saying, "I didn't know you had it in you," referring to Kim having shoplifted some jewelry from a department store. Kim associates this praise and being part of a scheme, as love. Her mother looks at her with admiration afterwards in the car. We get the impression that her mother is barely ever attentive to her otherwise, given she is very late to pick young Kim up, in the scene with the cello on Kim's back. Kim, as an adult, is still conflicted over her mother, it is a childhood trauma. As an adult, she is still wearing the earrings from that Department store shoplifting incident. Kim seeks reconciliation in recreating these bonding moments with Jimmy, over their shared misdeeds and schemes. So, in conclusion, Kim gets pleasure out of these schemes not to gain power, but because she mistakenly associates the adrenaline rush with Jimmy as love. This is all at a subconscious level, of course.
100%! My take as well as I was watching the series. So the whole conceit of this video-- that she had hidden "evil"-- isn't quite correct. To take the "resolving trauma" concept a bit further, scamming is Kim's addiction in this show about the criminal world of DRUGS. And she seems to need more and more scamming to get her high. Many children of alcoholics, like Kim, become alcoholics themselves; this is just a different substance of abuse. You know what they say..."hurt people hurt people."
the moment she was more evil was when jimmy discovered the judge broke his arm. he said to her to abort the plan, to postpone it to another day, but she returned town, cancelled her other appointment, just to screw with howard that day. than howard got killed because of this. have they aborted the plan, howard would not have been in their house when lalo arrived. she was in a butterfly effect the main cause of howard death. and she did not because of money, or hate, or anything, but just for fun. and this, this was really evil and scary
My favorite part of the last scene between them is the visual symbolism. First Kims PoV, Jimmy in a literal physical cage We see Jimmys PoV, Kim behind a fence, her cage being an abstract one Then a shot of them both seperated with a gap between their own 2 cages. Both being prisoners of their sins. Ive admired the camerawork of this franchise for a while now and this is just one of many excellent examples of it.
The thing is jimmy continued multiple times to stop with the “bad” lawyer shenanigans but then Kim always comes in and convinces him to do it. Then he does it and he is able to live with the consequences but she can’t. If it wasnt for her he wouldn’t have gotten in nearly the amount of trouble he did
Kim Wexler is who toxic fans expected/demanded Skyler White to be. A strong woman who is supportive of the main character’s misdeeds up until she realizes people are getting irreversibly hurt But Kim and Skyler are just different people in different situations. Of course Kim would be ok with Jimmy’s low stakes grifts cause she’s aware of this side of him AND the risks of harm are fairly minimal Skyler was sideswiped by her husband suddenly lying, sneaking off and becoming more and more violent and then when she tried to distance herself and her children he manipulated and threatened her to stay
Imagine being married to a nice normal person for twenty years & then BAM, out of the fucking blue they become a violent drug lord. Any reasonable person would act like Skyler
Imagine being married to a nice normal person for twenty years & then BAM, out of the fucking blue they become a violent drug lord. Any reasonable person would act like Skyler
@@AJ-nh9qm "Yes, the hate for her is actually wild. Walt’s manipulation is so good it breaks the fourthceall" Aside from people who don't like women, Skyler is easy to dislike in ways Kim isn't. Skyler is Walt's wife, and the marriage isn't going great. He has to lie to her and get away from her so he do meth crimes, which is what we want to see. In other words, Skyler is trying to stop our fun. Kim's the opposite. Jimmy pursues her instead of lying to her or hiding from her, which makes the audience like her too. She's a lawyer like Jimmy, but seems better at it, which makes her a powerful player in the legal game. And instead of trying to stop the fun, she sometimes gets in on scams and cons with Jimmy.
I don't think I've ever seen a couple in any show or film that had better chemistry. I utterly believed their attraction to each other and those short moments when they got along and things were going well felt so good. Jim and Kim were why I watched the show.
I think the acting makes it work and the chemistry between the actors, but just going off of the script I dont think it works very well. Jimmy is manipulative and mentally abusive to a degree in how he uses Kim and Kim is aware of it but still goes along with it. Based on her skill level and intelligence along with her abusive mother, I dont actually find it reasonable for her to find Jimmy attractive.
@@bloopboop9320 If you don't think people marry people who abuse them in a similar fashion to the way their parents did, then you must be living under a rock.
@@gregorybrown9101 thank you for your entirely useless and redundant counter argument. Just because people do that doesnt mean it makes it logical within the context of the show. Kim is constantly an over-achiever and bases her self-worth off of helping people and being "good" while Jimmy is selfish and self-loathing who lies to her consistently during their relationship.
@@gregorybrown9101 again, congrats on not being able to argue or discuss a point. The issue isnt self destructive, the issue is that it is directly against her personality and interest at the same time. People will bend their standards in one area, but people rarely bend their standards in nearly all areas of their life. For example, the two of them getting married almost made me quit the show altogether. Quite literally right after Kim says "our relationship is over because you keep on manipulating me and lying to me" she then says "let's get married." That's gimmicky writing because the writer's wrote themselves into a corner and then had to 180 it due to the rule of everything having to be unexpected in the Breaking Bad universe. 90% of Better Call Saul's dialogue scenes are simple reversals of expectations, but it happens so often that it becomes expected. It isnt bad writing per say, but it's predictable.
kim was a freaking hypocrite, acting like she was the voice of the less priviliged , while destroying howard's life for her own benefit. I lost much respect for jimmy and kim when they started destroying howard's life for their own gain, especially kim. And honestly, their outcomes suit them.
@Mr. Melendez Mike isn't really a hypocrite. He's not a good man and he doesn't pretend to be. But he has values that he holds on to. I wouldn't call him a hypocrite because he doesn't pretend to be anything he's not
@@Yougotcaged102 Mike absolutely pretends to be a good person. He acts as if he's the honorable thief, when he's just as morally wrong as the salamancas
@@Yougotcaged102 he’s let innocent people die at his hands and let’s himself become a murder for hire hit man. As a cop he said he was out for the “bad guys” but is he really all that better than those bad guys in the end? He wants his daughter in law and Kailey out of their bad neighborhood while he contributes to the drug trade elsewhere. He lets himself become an essential cog in Gus Frings meth empire. Maybe not an outright hypocrite but he goes against his own proclaimed values on multiple occasions.
Agreed with you on Kim's darker side. Jimmy at least got his motives clear, but Kim? I really don't know. Her eventual confession to Howard's wife just can not cover the damages that She & Jimmy did to Howard. To show his regret & love for Kim, Jimmy spends the rest of his life in jail, where is Kim's part of regrets?
@@freddiesimmons1394 Maybe not being to practice law again for her crimes. And yet in the end of the story, she just got back to her pro bono work, never have to receive the consequences of her actions because Jimmy had it all covered for her. Howard died for nothing.
@@ruggedland At least Skyler was forced to live in her shitty apartment, losing her job and had half of her family wiped out. Kim still has - A nice cozy house. - A stable job. - A good husband. - Good friends. - Not facing any jail time and the prospect of grand civil lawsuit is so unclear that it might of might not happen at all. - Become a lawyer again (I’m talking about the scene before DA Suzanne called her). She had it easier than anyone because she doesn’t lose anything that matters to her. Her only suffering was that she felt sad for 6 years and cried a lot but other than that, she’s fine and the audience loves it because she’s a fan favorite character.
@@nont18411 what crimes did she do that would be worth being disbarred? I'm pretty sure a lifetime of emotional scarring and being with someone who she doesn't satisfy her as much as Jimmy both count as consequences
I think the best scene played by Kim in the history of mankind, for me, would be the waterfalls in the bus scenes, the way she nods 3 times before totally exploding into tears, not bursting, literally EXPLODING INTO TEARS, that definitely depicted how long she has held it together and pushed it to the ultimate end and even further. Kim is one badass bitch actor! I fucking love her!
Yeah now that you mention it, why didn't the character of Kim wexler attract more attention. To me her character is the perfect representation of what the "strong independent woman" should be. She never had to say that she was, she just did.
Its because most people who champion strong female characters can only identify them in an environment of weak or incompetent male characters ie they believe for a woman to be strong the man has to be weak. In actuality calling for strong female leads shines brighter when her male counterpoints are idiots, I give you Kim Wexler.
Because the writing in these shows are real.. they are real character with real development in 10years + not a money grabing hollywood travesty of forced inclusion.
Chuck may’ve helped jimmy become Saul, but Kim held him there, and in the end chuck was somewhat right, jimmy couldn’t change for good, even when he’s a top ranking lawyer, he still went back too his old ways
I think part of the reason Kim is such a popular character for women as well as men is because we live in a time of so much awareness of addiction, and Jimmy/saul has an obvious addiction to being in the game. At least for me, I related to her so much for genuinely loving and caring for someone you know isnt making the right choices, knowing you won't be able to fix them and maybe not even wanting to at all, but you wanna live a life with them still. Covering for them is a thrill, its Us vs The World, and you may even be the only exception they would never consciously try to scam. So that can feel so great. When jimmy is willing to throw himself down for her in the end, able to admit honestly to her what he did and ACCEPT consequences no not just accept but force the legal system to give him the harshest consequences, christ if the scammer I loved in my life could do such a thing I would fill their commercary and visiting time whenever possible even after so long with no contact.
Love the use of season 6 music here. Stargazing and Lament for Howard are some of the best tracks in the show. Season 6 had some really good music. Also want to point out that a lot of Kim's actions that got her spiraling into the criminal world came from a need inside her to save Jimmy. This enabled him. She tried to save Jimmy from Chuck multiple times which enabled his schemes against his brother. She got back into scheming to save Jimmy in saving Huel (and their drifting relationship). She saved him from Lalo. She saved him from further interrogation by Cheryl. And I think she kept quiet about Howard's death throughout the 6 years to protect Jimmy from Mike, Fring and the Salamancas.
She always wants to save everyone and clean up their messes, but especially Jimmy. Definitely stemmed from her chaotic childhood with her mother. And thx, stargazing and lament for Howard are some of my favorites as well and I think I’ve used them in all three of my BCS vids lol.
I think Kim's actions are usually informed by a conscious drive to do good, and much of her defending Jimmy probably came from an inner moral justification to stand by someone she loved. The more unconscious and libidinal desire to partake in social taboos is probably what made their relationship last for so long and drew Kim into some insane moral bargaining to keep the thrill alive. From early on in childhood Kim was socialized to ignore the social construct of 'wrong' when in relation to loved ones as hinted at by her mother using her to shoplift items. For Kim true love always has to have this dual nature, where love is reaffirmed through acts of crime and taboo, just as love from her mother was always colored by crime and taboo. This is why we are led to believe her relationship in the modern timeline is unsatisfying. It's less that Kim is evil, or that she becomes evil, but that Jimmy pushed and encouraged Kim to dig into this part of her that was always there; both in ways which are clearly active like when he convinces her to con wealthy businessmen and more passively by allowing her to slip further for purely selfish reasons. The reversal that happens in the last few episodes is such a poignant way to end since it's through Kim's courage to accept responsibility and take actionable moral decisions that allows Jimmy to act on his own repressed drive to do good. It's through this inverse construction of their relationship that we're able to find clarity and actually understand what the two characters mean to each other.
Chuck caused all of Jimmy's issues . By telling him he couldnt change and scheming against him over and over , chuck made sure even if Jimmy wanted to change he wouldn't be allowed to . Chucks the big bad
At the same time, Chuck is mentally ill. It doesn’t excuse his actions and he was always an asshole who hated Jimmy, but I don’t think it’s fair to label him a “big bad” Definitely a foil and definitely an antagonist tho. Great comment.
@@MisterzzYT it would be interesting to see how Jimmy turned out if chuck had just backed him in HHM for the job . If he did then no saul . No saul means breaking bad would be so different ...keep up the great work btw
Ultimately, it's still Jimmy's fault. There were numerous points in the story where Jimmy pretty much had a dream job or significant wealth with no strings attached. Even if we're looking at it from the perspective of nurture, you still could say that when he saw his father get scammed, what he took away from it was for him to decide. He could have decided that it was his responsibility to be the wolf of the wolves. Hell, imagine prosecutor Jimmy taking out con-artists and criminals.
It was an affront to him that a con man who cut corners would become a partner in a firm he worked at. Howard didn't cut corners and did everything by the book. He also pointed out that Jimmy ultimately hurt everyone he is involved with.
Chuck is the big bad of the first half of the show (seasons 1 through 3), but Jimmy becomes the villain throughout the rest of the series. That's how I think of it.
Kim Wexler is not only the most complex person in the BB/BCS universe, but also one of the most complex and intriguing characters in all of TV history. Rhea Seehorn deserved much more critical acclaim and awards, especially since the show runners admit that Seehorn's performance was actually a driver in how the character developed. She was mesmerizing, couldn't take my eyes off her.
Never ceases to amaze me how people can even be convinced to... find joy in destroying people who haven't so much as harmed them. Feels like a waste of potencial for someone who might actually help a lot of people. Surely owning up to the harm caused, in some way improves the world, but also imagine if they might somehow turn thier skills to decent ends. Sadly the corrupt people they've benefited, in working with, are not as easy to get off on tricking. Maybe they're always want the easy path of tricking idealists to feel superior
@@Adriana-eu6ty i love kim and like skyler. I think most people that hate skyler are probably gullible. The show purposely sets up skyler to look like a villain in order to TRICK the audience. In reality shes the only one in the show thats ACTUALLY doing everything for her family. She sacrifices her relationship with her son and relation ship with her sister and brother in law just so they dont have to feel the pain she feels. Her "cheating" was set up to only look like cheating from a far distance but then if you look even slightly closer she had already split with walter, got him out of the house and found out he was a criminal. I love kim for completely different reasons. Kim is objectively not a very good person (i dont think she is evil). She wants to do the right thing but constantly proves otherwise with her actions until she realizes that her actions effect other people more than she thought. But by then its too late. Its truly a tragic and incredibly complex story of morality and i love that about her.
Great series and great analysis. Kim has such a way of getting you to like her that when she left Jimmy (after 5 whole seasons!) I felt something like a sense of loss.
Their romantic relationship went back to their days in the mailroom & was on & off for years, remaining friends the whole time. It didn't begin after the 1st bar scam - that's when it started up again.
Since everyone propably pointed out most interesting stuff about Kim here, I just want to appreciate the show for showing and using some of childhood memories in a lot of cases and not make it "oh this person was evil from the start" but rather show how these past expierences ,even if small, changed the character of these people. Childhood is an extremely important part of life and especially in case of Kim, these important moments, even if few, pretty much shaped some of her traits. Children are a blank card and depending on how they grow up, different things may develop later and visualise themselves in not as usual ways as we sometimes expect. Better Call Saul doesn't just copy the same behavior from youth to adulthood but evolves it in an interesting way and also makes a point, that sometimes these things stay rooted very deeply in our minds and if we want to fight it, it's really hard, or it just straight up controls us. Not just trauma, but even how we were taught to live by our parent figure.
Great breakdown of Kim's character. I think the word "evil" might be a LITTLE strong to describe her, but that could be just because the BB/BCS universe is so full of TRULY "evil" characters, like Fring and the Salamancas. Over all, though, yeah her actions definitely lead to a ton of bad situations, more than enough to simply write it off as "misguided" haha. But yeah great video, dude! Also, a bit of unsolicited advice in regards to the editing, but, miiiight be worth increasing the volume levels on all of your mixes, only because, I had to have this volume at MAX to be able to hear it normally. Tested this on both my PC and phone, and yeah, had to have volume at full just to hear, which is unfortunate when an ad comes on and absolutely blasts you with 100 decibal volume. ANYWAY, I don't mean any offense by this, just figured I'd offer a bit of friendly advice, keep it up, regardless!
Hey, really glad you enjoyed and will make the next video louder. Guess I overdid it this video because last video my volume was way too loud so I overcompensated a little on this one. Should be perfect next video. But yeah amazing comment, Kim isn’t necessarily evil, she just has hints of it. Might’ve exaggerated a little but that also might just be the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul Universe messing with my viewpoint. Glad you enjoyed though, can’t wait to see you in the next
I definitely think it’s fair to call her evil, her actions arguably border on sadism, and even though she feels bad, it’s only when she’s directly confronted with the consequences. Furthermore she never turns herself in, and just goes off to live peacefully
Thank you guys so much for the support on my recent Better Call Saul videos. The love you guys have shown has been incredible and I truly cannot thank you guys enough. As stated in the video, this will likely be my last Better Call Saul video for a while besides one last “Ultimate Analysis” coming at the end of this year. I have so much planned for the future and I can’t wait to show you guys. So truly, Thank You ❤
Good video overall, but I take issue with your statement that Chuck "earned" Mesa Verde as a client. It was actually Kim who did all of the legwork. I think the series makes it pretty clear that the primary motivation for Chuck's convincing Mesa Verde not to stick with Kim (a sort of chicanery and conning on the post of Chuck), was done out of pride and spite towards Jimmy, as well as Kim given that she essentially chose Jimmy over HHM. But a small point really. Otherwise, great job!
I mean, Chuck did earn it. He didn't use shorthanded methods to convince them. He was intelligent and he used his wits the right way. So in that sense, he did earn it
@@errwhattheflip Nah, he stole it. He did 0 work in acquiring the client, chortling with Howard, until after Kim got them through the door. Sure, he did work for them afterwards, but he did not earn them. Masterful stealing though, but that's just business.
I didn't find it realistic that Saul would confess just to please Kim, and we can see he is ready to change and take responsibility for what he's done. If he wanted to change, he could have done something good with his skills outside of prison. What was the point of choosing to rot in prison except for the writers to conclude his character arc?
I can imagine him being incentivized to do it knowing that it allows him to come to terms with what he did. Think about it like this: if he doesn't confess, he spends 7y alone. No Kim to visit him. A shameful prison life where he thinks about what he will do when he gets out. But if he does confess, he can prove to her and himself that he can take accountability for his actions. That he can atone, and better: he can change. He can give a final F you to Chuck, and see Kim for the rest of his life, and he can think fondly of his life and reflect on it freely. Confessing is quite honestly just freedom for him, when he knows he'll just return to conning after 7y. He's too materialistic to stay away from unlawfulness, too talented at it and too entertained by it. Choosing 86y was a net gain for him because of how it affected the quality of his life going forward, as opposed to choosing 7y of hiding from the truth and trying to forget Kim.
I don’t really agree with your assessment of Kim’s motivations. She does’t love the con because she loves success. She loves the con because she’s only ever wanted one thing: “More.” Kim says this out loud in her interview with the rival firm. The motivations of her recurring grift are more akin to an addict than an over-achiever. Beyond this, she loves to ‘stick it to power’ and the rich / powerful people who have governed her & many of her pro bono client’s lives. It’s not just love for Jimmy, it’s resentment verging on hatred for nepo-baby America.
You misremembered how Kim got put in Doc Review, not from Jimmy getting fired from Davis & Maine, but because she saw his unapproved TV advert without saying anything to HHM about it (because Jimmy lied to her about it being approved). He wasn't fired for that, though it was both strike one and strike two.
Such a great video! I remember that one scene from season 6 where after all this relationship building in the series, the first "I love you" drops. Not in some comfortable setting, but during Kim's break up with Jimmy. I don't think I've noticed any other time they said they loved each other throughout the whole series. That scene, that one scene has such a huge impact that it left me crying my eyes out for the solid hour.
My take is that Kim saw Jimmy's love for her as being dependent on her being able to enable what she thinks are his desires. She worries that if she wants to be totally straight laced, pushes him to do so or expresses judgement of him then Jimmy will cut her off and move on, much like he did with Chuck. The purpose of showing her with her Mother in the scams, I think, is to show a previous situation where this has been the case, and that she believes people can't be changed. Her mother clearly only saw Kim as useful for her own schemes and likely dropped her cold after Kim stopped helping with them. It's clear to me that Kim's whole dilema is her desire to do good in the world being thwarted by her need to be loved, alongside her abandonment issues. I'm not so sure why some people are so desperate to paint her as the less dedicated of the two. Clearly, they both are dedicated to each other but have self-esteem issues that stop them from seeing that dedication from the other. Kim broke up with Jimmy because the reality of the dangerous consequences of Jimmy's actions became brutally clear with the second Lalo encounter. Her ignoring of the immorality of their actions became impossible at that point and she seemed entirely sincere. She's not blameless but Jimmy is equally to blame.
Great explanation. I missed that part where she saw he dismissed Chuck and therefore would dismiss her if she stopped him from being who he wanted. She saw him having no remorse or regret when his brother died and i think she reevaluated things from that moment, meaning she had to play his game to not loose him.
Just one thing: Saul and Kim did speak once during those 6 years, when they divorced. They divorce sometime around the start of Breaking Bad, we know this because Emilio walks into Saul's office immediately after and Jesse tells Kim about it outside. This is immediately after Emilio is arrested in a drug bust during episode 1 of Breaking Bad. Otherwise, great analysis!
Legitimately the scene where they ruin Howards career and it cuts straight to them having sex...dude that actually made my sick to my stomach. I was so conflicted because they were both characters I loved and seeing them do that was hard to watch as it was but then seeing how much pleasure they got from it really screws with your head.
But they both had their reasons to exact revenge on howard. Sure it was petty, and the punishment was disproportionate to the crime, but still it's understandable from an emotional standpoint. Jimmy and Kim had both grown up in a bad environment, feeling powerless to influence their own fate, so of course being able to punish someone who had mistreated them felt good and empowering for both of them.
You’re naive thinking Howard is all good victim because he looked so vulnerable in the last season lol he didn’t deserve death but he kinda deserved to get scammed maybe little too much but he would’ve been fine
@@ilkkavierula6664 He was being manipulated by Chuck at points and maybe he could be a bit snobby in the 1st season, but overall, Howard was a decent man trying to do the right things and most certainly not deserving of a demented scheme to ruin his life. Even if Jimmy and Kim had bad upbringings that does not give them the right to destroy a man's life and cause misery for his wife and family.
@@smartwater598 Why would he deserve to be scammed? He felt guilty after Chuck's death (which was on Jimmy who drove him to suicide) and offered Jimmy a job only for Jimmy to throw bowling balls at his car and hire prostitutes to embarrass him in public. If Howard was some evil scumbag like Hector or Tuco Salamanca, then I'd understand going along with Jimmy & Kim's scheme, but he was nothing of the sort, so it was just horrible to see them ruin this innocent man's life.
@@TheMrHavish Well, technically he didn't do anything wrong, but he insulted both Jimmy and Kim to the point they became vengeful. Jimmy felt humiliated, as he was taking care of Chuck, acting in good faith, getting him groceries while Chuck actively kept stabbing him in the back, trying to stop his career from advancing. Howard was aware of that, and not only let it happen, but actively contributed by acting as a cover for Chuck's actions. Of course Jimmy felt betrayed and humiliated and wanted to retaliate. Kim on the other hand was insulted by howard when she tried to adjust the direction of her career. It was shown she was unhappy with her work, and stressed to the point of crashing her car due to her job. When she tried to do what she wanted, Howard intervened, basically talking her down, saying her choices were caused by Jimmy's bad influence, essentially presenting her as Jimmy's victim, too powerless and stupid to decide about her own life. For that reason she set out to prove a point that she was just as capable of scheming and doing morally questionable things as Jimmy was. She set out to prove she was not some innocent goody-two-shoes girl who strayed from path of perfection because she was infatuated with a "bad boy".
The punishment that she inflicted on herself was the most terrible: Boredom. If she, out of guilt, had went to jail, commited suicide, forced herself to do heavy work, undergone physical torture... she would have felt that it wasn't ENOUGH, since she actually enjoys drama, pain and difficulties... She started in Florida the most horrible life for a character like her: bare of spark, meaning, fun, surprises, hard work, challenges... For me, it was one of the most painful moments to watch...
Kim is really the only character that tries to do good, with her pro bono work. There are others that are lawful, or treat people they know better, but none actually try to make the world a better place.
Kim didn't had a great upbringing. She didn't had good parents and good role models. She did not had 'fun' in her childhood. And now she finally has fun. She started ruing Howard's live just for fun I think that her upbringing without fun really played a huge role.
Bro first Skyler White, and now Kim Wexler, you know women can be evil or "bad" too? I guess it shows how well written these shows are when people internalize characters that much. I mean there's people who actually like Walter White as a person, so anythings possible.
Shoutout to Mike, the most complex yet minimally written character. A nam vet, street cop corrupted, a father whos son he blames for the death of the job that he followed in his fathers steps. Then a grandfather willing to save and enjoy the granddaughter while being dragged back into the life he tried to leave but couldn't. Not because it was obligation but because he couldn't resist the money making his daughter in law and grandchilds life better
Great video! If you do end up making another Better call Soul video, could you do something on Nacho Varga? Maybe the character isn't very deep, but he's cool and I love the actor.
Love Nacho, definitely one of my favorite characters, at least on the crime aspect of the show. I don’t know if there’s much for me to say that hasn’t already been said though. His story is absolutely heartbreaking, especially the end of it, but his actions led to that. He was super likable and a great character but honestly I feel like every video made on him says exactly how I feel about him and his story. The video “How Nacho Outsmarted Every Salamanca” is a phenomenal video, should definitely check it out if you haven’t. I’ll explore possible Nacho videos but can’t promise anything. Thank you though and glad you enjoyed it. Great comment and I love the suggestions. Michael Mando is an excellent actor (especially in Far Cry 3)
Lyle is also and arguably one of the most complex and compelling characters in the Break Bad universe. Rumors have it that he might get his own spin off show.
Kim (R.Seehorn) became a co-star. In some ways her and Lalo were upfront last two seasons. Incredible acting. Who would have thought this ended up almost a love story. My fav KW scene was with a Spanish version of 'My Way'.
I detested Kim during the Howard takedown. I was really hoping she got taken out, which is what a lot of people thought by her absence from BB. Alas, the plot armor was too thick. Great series anyway, and great recap of Kim.
@@freddiesimmons1394 I think the minute Lalo knew she knew his identity she was as good as gone. Lalo killed everyone in his wake and that danger was part of the thrill of the show. The cartels keep their house as clean as possible. The “handle your business” scolding seemed like way too much of a departure from the reality of cartel assassins. I don’t think they’re easily steered by sharp tongued civilians. That’s when I knew 100% she was absolutely written in to be part of the ending. Similar plot line as Wendy Byrde on Ozark except that got even more ridiculous as she started putting out hits on people 😂
@@JT-LV I am surprised lalo let her be, but while he might have been offended in a "who is this bitch talking to me like this" sorta way, he just didn't see that as a reason to kill her. He does kill people in his way, she wasn't in his way. Just loud and a surprise. I am also surprised Wendy made it out but I don't remember Ozark as well as thjs
@@freddiesimmons1394 yeah I was surprised also. Especially since the money was there and she wasn’t useful. She was actually a dangerous loose end. One of the greatest thrills of BB and BCS is the imminent danger and violence the cartels represent. It’s a big hook for the audience. But the writers put that aside for Kim’s character development in this instance. Not a believable stretch in my opinion. That’s when I knew the armor was thick. Still absolutely loved the series. Ozark was several steps behind in quality.
She's not evil. It just got outta hand. It's really on Jimmy. He showed her the ropes of being the wolf and the benefits that comes with it. I could see my ex doing the same with me, we would've had a lot of fun but it wouldn't have gone that far. Hell, even if the roles were switched, we still would've done it. There's nothing more satisfying, more fun and more empowering than succeeding with that one special person. Great video man! I've watched a few of yours. They were all great!
@@emmyturner7385 not true at all lol kim definitely gets a bit evil up until howard’s death.She literally brings up the idea to sabotage howard even though he’s not even that bad of a dude she just gets off on it jimmy isn’t perfect either but everyone knows this already
@@emmyturner7385 Ok lol all ur comments on the channel are just talking about being misogynistic and hating on females.meanwhile the show paints the picture clearly kim gets pretty corrupt but ok
I’ve watched so many video analyses of characters from the BCS and BB universe and my main take away is that every main character is at least a little bit morally corrupt.
@@MisterzzYT I don't think thats really all that fair. BCS and BB hyperfocus on criminals and criminal enterprise. ofc those people are largely immoral. Its part of the game
Kim's hate for Howard is justified, the way he discarded her so easily and talks down to her, but stooping down to Jimmy's level was stupid. She should have just started her own practice and stolen all of HHM's clients and gone head to head with Howard every chance she could get, or cut him off compeltely would hav ebeen the most healthy. She is the essential Devil's Advocate.
It feels like for the purpose of the video you cut out how much responsibility Saul has in this, he did make an active effort to push Kim into scamming and ultimately it was his actions that led to her spiraling into a monster, not some hidden maniacal evil deep in her psyche.
@@emmyturner7385 I have no idea how any of what you watched implies this channel has anything against women... Jimmy and Kim were bad for each other. Remember that she was the one who wanted to ruin Howard, against Jimmy's initial judgment. Sure Jimmy helped feed the resentment she had building in her, but by the end she also pushed him into crueler stunts. They literally say it in the show, together they're poison. They both share responsibility for what happened to Howard.
Just keep making good interesting content that is worth watching and well... keep growing brother. I mean the truth of hte matter is there's a lot of 'content creators' reaping the benefits of gaming the algorithm and that seems to be the best path for success not actually putting out worthwhile content. Good luck whatever you do and keep true to yourself.
I felt Better Call Saul was a love story. Especially on how far Kim went to be with Jimmy, she would go against her own instincts and do whatever she can to be close to Jimmy.
I agree about it being very much a love story, but i disagree about Kim going against her instincts. Kim is very much like Jimmy, that's why they fell in love on the first place. Kim is just hiding her true self. She is a classic overarchiever, a textbook example of "good girl syndrome". We are shown, despite her professional status and the power and wealth that comes with it, she feels deeply unsatisfied and unfulfilled with her work. With Jimmy, she can let go of all that, drop the facade and be herself. Look at the scene where they pull off their first bar scam. She is usually portrayed as very emotionless, almost robotic with stiff body language, but in that scene she smiles, laughs, her body language becomes relaxed. After it we can see for the first time her and Jimmy getting physically intimate on screen. She loves Jimmy because he is the only person in the show she can be herself with. This is also reinforced by how their relationship is presented on screen. Not with scenes of passionate intimacy, but with scenes where they brush teeth together, or them talking while Kim sits on a toilet etc. emphasizing how comfortable they are in front of eachother, which is kind of a more powerful expression of intimacy. There are also subtle cues about Kim's darker side that she keeps hidden, like the fact she keeps wearing the earrings her mother stole her, indicating they are a kind of trophy for her. A memento of her first con she pulled off with her mother's help. Also, have you noticed how Jimmy never smokes, except with Kim, and in those scenes it's always Kim who hands Jimmy a cigarette, never the other way round. Although subtle, this is also an indication how the characters participate in each other's vices.
Kim and Jimmy's story is the most romantic story I ever witnessed, even if they're not good people, they love each other and would literally kill for each other
I love how you said that Heull was the most complex character in television. I mean we all want Heull to be happy am I right? Also I just found your channel and your content is great, i agree with not hammering bcs tho, it just ended and a lot of people are just realizing how great the show is. There are literally countless videos out now about the show. Its just youre right, same way the show came out slow and steady. No need to pump this content out quick because it takes time and should be respected
Thanks. I’ll likely be making a sort of “Ultimate Analysis” of BCS at the end of this year and that might be the only video I upload in all of December, but for a little I’d like to shift my focus away from BCS. Thanks for understanding and I really hope to see you in my next videos. Might revisit BCS in half a year or so but for now I’ve said most of what I’ve wanted to say. So again, thank you so much for supporting me and thanks for understanding.
Kim reminds me of Walt in the sense that she was always this person. It’s just getting the chance to be enabled to do it, and feeling the freedom to continue.
Dude. This is the second I've watched from you. I'll watch other videos of yours, I watch a buttload of different shows, so I'd be happy to watch others. I dig your insight.
The most important character in this show is the bottle cap(the same one that was on the bottle that killed 90% of the drug cartel in Breaking Bad). It perfectly represents a morally neutral character slipping in an out of crime at moments notice and the cap becomes more and more prominent as the seasons go along until the midseason finally in 6(and we all know why).
Man just came across your channel yesterday, really like your vids. Keep it up you putting in a lot of work and it will pay off🙏🙏. Also have you ever seen the sopranos? If so i wonder if you’ll ever do any content around that. Anyways keep it up mate🫶🙏
I puzzled over her character and actions throughout the show, looking for a heart of gold, seeing a glimmer here or there. Never made it to this final conclusion, but you are right. A truly perverse character.
What about the scene where Kim is being picked up by her mom from a store backroom after she'd shoplifted? Goes to show by far Jimmy wasn't the first one who instilled evil into Kim. The way the scene with Kim's mother goes after they leave the store implies it was actually a con her mom and her were running in my opinion.
I greatly disliked that Kim suddenly grew consciousness and berated Jimmy even though she was the one that pushed him to destroy Howard. Jimmy tried to pull out multiple times but she just couldn't let it go because she enjoyed it so much. This is why the hypocrisy of her saying Jimmy needs to take responsibly angered me greatly. In the end Kim escaped without being punished for this scam and Jimmy takes all the blame on himself to protect her because he loves her. So Jimmy grows as a character by taking responsibility but Kim doesn't making it even more tragic.
I loathed Howard's memorial scene when Kim told Cheryl she caught Howard doing cocaine. I even screamed and startled my husband. I couldn't believe she would intentionally hurt Howard's grieving widow just to back up Jimmy's lies. I agree with you. Kim being relegated to living a drab existence in Florida isn't penance for her actions!
I think you're picking and choosing here when it comes to pointing fingers of immorality. First off, they both "escaped" from that "scam". Jimmy ends up in Nebraska because of his "evil" (if we're gonna use that word) connections and collusion with the murderess drug cartels, both during Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. The fact that Howard got killed had to do exclusively with Jimmy, not Kim, and was incidental to their chicanery with Howard. Anyone who would have visited them that night would have been killed. Jimmy's need for confession at court was not only to protect Kim from ancillary crimes she was not involved in, but was inspired by Kim's own confession. Hypocrisy? Not so much. Did Kim become more and more addicted to Jimmy's duplicity and cons? Yes, and even went further than Jimmy in the BCS universe (but not the BB universe, Jimmy as Saul did that). If she had become sanctimonious *after* what they did to poor Howard then you might have a case. I believe her many concerns with Jimmy's behavior in the first 4 seasons were genuine. Others might make the argument that Jimmy led Kim down this onerous path, and the ruin of Howard was all from the no good Jimmy. Which is of course equally baloney. The writers did an amazing job of creating complex characters that were capable of both wanting to help others but also hurt others. As an aging male dude, I can't help but see the misogynistic trope of blaming the "evil woman" for all the misdeeds of the male counterpart in some of these comments surrounding this particular video. I'm hearing Santana's Evil Woman in my head right now.
Brilliant analysis, thanks. There’s to add, that this superb storyline and characterisation reflects the corruption to the core of the system. It’s nearly impossible to uphold high morality in it.
Beer bottle scene is so good, Kim starts chucking bottles off the balcony, Jimmy joins in after. The morning after, Kim goes to clean up the mess while Jimmy goes to work. This pretty much sums up their relationship in the show.
This is such a phenomena take and view. Such a simple scene offers so much characterization of Kim and Jimmy and especially their relationship. Both make the mess, one feels bad and cleans it up. Definitely indicative of Kim’s complex character and her contrasting morals. Phenomenal view!
Hindsight is always 20/20. We can see the plot unfolding to it’s inevitable end in scenes like the bottle breaking. Kim isn’t fully into the ethics-bending like Jimmy is. Kim can’t live with the messes she makes, Jimmy can ignore them.
Also jimmy encouraged her from the start
@@MisterzzYT late to the party as I just finished the show today. I got to say it’s just a masterpiece in filmography
Also wants to say that with quality like this it’s a matter of time until your UA-cam channel takes off
Breaking and cleaning up the bottles forshadows the end of the show. She helps Saul break Howard Hamlin, then at the end she cleans up the mess by confessing to what she did.
.
Kim after Jimmy commits the most heinous, unspeakable crime:
“Ok”
More like, "OK. Here's how I'm going to use my legal genius to magnify, no..._telescope,_...whatever shit you've already gotten into.
Kim after Jimmy asks for help getting unstuck from an obvious trap that Kim told him not to do 5 times and made him promise her he wouldn't do it.
Wtf did Saul do that was so fucking horrible??? I’ll never understand
Plot twist: Jimmy was actually just into Kims feet all along
@@WatchingHamasBURN --Well, he went along with Kim's plan to wreck Howard's life... But seriously, being Lalo and Walt's accomplice was pretty bad.
No one ever mentions that Kim wears that same exact earring every single time. The ones her mom stole for her. She wears them as a burden until Howard's death and she leaves town. When we see her again she's wearing nothing because she feels like nothing. Cut to the end she is wearing earrings of her own choosing. The burden is lifted, she can move on.
Cool! I never noticed. Thanks, that's a meaningful detail
This is so much more analysis then was present in the actual video. 🙏 thank you. I like her character more now with this titbit
So those are like the ring Jimmy got from Marco? Damn
Oh I did notice that she was wearing the earring her mom stole for her !
Great visual storytelling. I noticed they were always the same earrings, didn’t realize they were the ones her mom stole
Kim and Jimmy both enabling each other misdeeds until they’re both destroyed is such a fitting end for both characters but also so tragic.
It really does represent them so well. They enable and encourage one another to commit crimes and bend their morals and eventually they destroy themselves and others. Great pickup
Its also a great subversion for characters like Kim. She is the "love interest" type character who we thought going to be the decent, pure and hardworking person that will push other characters to be a better version of themselves. We thought she was going to be like that but we were wrong. So very wrong lol
The funny thing is that Kim Wexler was going to be the straightlaced lawyer who inspires Jimmy to be a better person played perfectly straight.
@@iantaakalla8180 why’s that funny?
@@iantaakalla8180 Subversion of expectations, played brilliantly.
Shoutout to Huel, the most complex characters in the show
There’s gotta be an analysis soon
No no, Ken Wins is the most complex. He's practically a complex ninja.
Fred from TravelWire gets my vote. Very deep
I read this comment as soon as he said it in the video I love when that happens
@@VoiceUnder Kevin Wachtell is... without a doubt. Yyyyyyyyyyyyyep!
Easily my favorite character in the show for me. Seeing her slowly develop and embrace alot of the toxicity Saul portrays was so incredible. I remember when she and Jimmy break up and she says "I was just having so much fun" with tears in her eyes, aware of the evil she carries, disgusted by her actions......man. So well done.
Such a well written character and yeah that scene when they’re actually breaking up is really telling of what she turned into. Bravo Vince!
@@MisterzzYT vravo bince
The performance of Rhea, God damn... That's how you write and perform a female character, jaw dropping
I see it as couple of one veteran junkie and the other a non drug user. The junkie from time to time manages to give taste of the drog to the non drug user until makes her an equal with him.
I never liked her, when she worked in HHM she was such an enabler. She acted like a brainwashed employe by the company where she working in. But when she feels she can't take it anymore, woooohaaa suddenlly she sees beyond HHM. Seriously? And.... Her morality... She always acts like she has moral values but at the same time she's morally flexible. Her sense of right and wrong has blured side and they very debatable. Also I always see her as using Jimmy as a pet, not really being a lover. Maybe like a frind with whom she lives and have sex but she doesn't have romantic feelings, she avoinds discutions about the relationship or feelings like it's a taboo topic between them, she avoids emotional intimicy. This a why I don't like her. She's also very non charismatic and could towards others, is like she's so basic, her personality has no shape of color, she's netrual, grey...ultraboring and in contrast with Jimmy's personality who is the exact opposet, he's like a ultracolorfull perrot and extroverted and charismatic.
I think the way Kim and Saul/Jimmy always smoke together is one of the best pieces of foreshadowing I’ve ever seen. To me it represents them pushing each other towards mutually assured destruction and with how the show has them sharing cigarettes very early in the show before their relationship really develops, it’s one of the many things that makes this show so excellent with visual storytelling and symbolism
A major part of their love is surely their shared addictions. - And, Slippin' Jimmy provided her with the best stuff she ever had .
@@Badbentham such a good way to portray it
Cigarettes 🚬 themselves are incredibly corruptive of their user's bodies and leads to self-destruction (death by slow cancer).
Also cigarettes represent rebellion and being able to do what you want in the moment. Like smoking outside your job or for example jail. When your boss is walking all over you and you had a bad day at work or, a inmate the least you can do is smoke and have control in that moment.
It's also an interesting point that we never see Jimmy smoking alone, he only ever smokes with Kim, and in those scenes it's always Kim who hands Jimmy a cigarette, never the other way round. Although subtle, it's an example of how they both enjoy participating in each other's vices.
Just one correction: Jimmy wasn't "illegally" selling phones. He was just selling them under bad faith. In a bad neighborhood, to bad people, etc.
Bad people?? Criminals need to make a living too. You missed the point of the series.
@@Ray_D_Tutto my brother in christ please shut up
criminals? Innocent until…
There are no "bad neighborhoods" lol
@@rbxless go to the bad parts of detroit for an extended amount of time
I stopped rooting for Kim (and Saul) after the framing of Howard, which led to his death. I liked Howard, he did not deserve to end up unfound in a hole in the ground with the scumbag who killed him.
It was lalos fault
Howard's death is probably the most haunting one in all of Breaking Bad for me, I really like Howard but even though he's not really my favorite character, it's something about how wrong on so many levels it is.
This man tries his hardest to better himself after his business partner's suicide despite his debts, marriage problems and two former associates planning his doom like it's D-Day. Finally gives Jimmy a chance to work at HMM like he originally wanted, goes to therapy, maintaining himself physically and what does he get? Shot in the head by a guy that didn't think twice about it or cared. What happens to him afterwards just stuck with me, I couldn't even watch the next episode for a few days because of it. I genuinely would not wish what happened to Howard on my worst enemy, killed by a lunatic who thought anything of it, buried in an unmarked grave with your own murderer and framed as a drug addict to the living while your widow lives on in misery.
@@smartwater598No shit. We still have every right to be pissed at Jimmy and Kim for what they did to him.
@@angel_aeon What you and Max the cat said, is exactly my whole feelings on the situation, I cried when Kim was crying on the bus, saying in between sobbing "please, just do it, I beg you"... I wanted justice, and Howard's body never being found, also along his murderer is depressing. At least Hank and Gomez got found and were able to have a proper respectful funeral... I wish Howard had at least in his horrible ending a little of respect and justice...
@@angel_aeon What you and Max the cat said, is exactly my whole feelings on the situation, I cried when Kim was crying on the bus, saying in between sobbing "please, just do it, I beg you"... I wanted justice, and Howard's body never being found, also along his murderer is depressing. At least Hank and Gomez got found and were able to have a proper respectful funeral... I wish Howard had at least in his horrible ending a little of respect and justice...
All the people saying Kim is a 'strong female character', I think the word you are looking for is a character with a lot of dimension. Kim is truly one of the biggest villains of BCS. Just because she doesn't go around selling drugs and killing people doesn't mean she is not a terrible and morally challenged person. The biggest flaw in her is that she is a hypocrite..... she thinks by doing some PD work and helping the underprivileged by leaving her very high paying job means that she can redeem her terrible actions. The fact that she just decided to fuck up Howards life because she wants some fun is honestly sickening. So yeah Kim is one of my favourite villains and a quintessential example of what you should NOT aspire to be.
Nah we should all aspire to be like saul and kim no joke
Nah "shes" a strong female character cuz the character is actually complex. While being femaile
@@rohanthandi4903believe it or not, the two can co-exist…
she didnt want some fun, she hated him because he mistreated her when working for him and he told her Jimmy wasnt good for her. So he always put himself as above her.
That is what makes her a strong character though, she’s not a token “empowered woman” who is exceptional at everything and does no wrong and exists to try to make the show look progressive. Any two bit writer could write a character like that. She’s strong because she is extremely capable, motivated, and intelligent but also has very legitimate flaws and deals with situations in a way that demonstrates a complex, cloudy, but still characteristically consistent, morality.
I prefer that over a Mary Sue any day.
Huh. Kim is _from_ Nebraska, and that’s where Jimmy ends up when the vacuum guy “disappears” him.
U think he hope to meet her someway?
@@qqyoung1715 He probably never stopped hoping.
It sucks that my favorite TV relationship is so toxic. Like totally goals if you take out all the crime.
Agreed. This channel is a bit misogynistic and didn't do her credit at all.
@@emmyturner7385 Leave.
@@emmyturner7385 explaining how her character is flawed isn’t anywhere close to misogynistic. I don’t entirely agree with his explanations of why she does certain things, but his viewpoints are still valid. There’s no sign of misogyny here
@@emmyturner7385 Because it's about the hidden evil of Kim
@@emmyturner7385weirdo lol
Kim and Jimmy have become my relationship goals... without the crime part, but with the unconditional acceptance of each other
For a minute there I was very concerned..
Same. I loved their dynamic, how they cared for each other and how he protected her.
@@attitudeproblem6462 they protected each other alot throughout the show
well... it's okay to be conditional if the person is doing something very wrong and dangerous.
They lacked boundaries, imo. Jimmy is a walking red flag, but Kim always always always took his side. Prior to "Chicanery", Kim was firm on Jimmy. And then I think she softened to him, until they became enmeshed. They got so close, they ended up on each other's "other" side.
"Huell Babineaux, quite possibly the most complex character in the Breaking Bad universe..." This is a fact.
Why? I don't get it?
@@jumentogenial-oi2oo izza joke
From Louisiana
In a lot of respects, Howard might have been a good boss to work for. When he finally stood up to Chuck, he made it clear that it was all about protecting the firm. So if you can just make sure everything you do is translatable to the firm's benefit, you're good with Howard. No personalities, relationship conflicts, or anything else.
The McGill brothers have to be taken as a dual entity. Chuck and Jimmy complete each other. Everyone else was secondary. I'd even venture Chuck would not have been Chuck if his younger brother wasn't Jimmy or had they had a sister. Poor Kim just got involved with the wrong brothers.
Kim isn't doing these misdeeds for the power she gains. She's doing them because of her unreconciled childhood trauma with her mother. These schemes bring her and Jimmy closer together, create a bond between them. Jimmy subconsciously reminds Kim of her mother. It's not uncommon for a person to be attracted to a partner who has characteristics similar to a parent, especially if that parent may have been a source of trauma. The child will always seek reconciliation, because they are still trying to heal over that early example they were given. The only other scene that they ever show in the series of young Kim with her Mom is when they bond together or, rather, her Mom gives her praise saying, "I didn't know you had it in you," referring to Kim having shoplifted some jewelry from a department store. Kim associates this praise and being part of a scheme, as love. Her mother looks at her with admiration afterwards in the car. We get the impression that her mother is barely ever attentive to her otherwise, given she is very late to pick young Kim up, in the scene with the cello on Kim's back. Kim, as an adult, is still conflicted over her mother, it is a childhood trauma. As an adult, she is still wearing the earrings from that Department store shoplifting incident. Kim seeks reconciliation in recreating these bonding moments with Jimmy, over their shared misdeeds and schemes. So, in conclusion, Kim gets pleasure out of these schemes not to gain power, but because she mistakenly associates the adrenaline rush with Jimmy as love. This is all at a subconscious level, of course.
Best analysis ever. I had noticed as well her need to do bad stuff to get close to Jimmy, and therefore get close to her mother in spirit.
Sounds more like the kind of lunacy BPDs engage in to justify their actions
100%! My take as well as I was watching the series. So the whole conceit of this video-- that she had hidden "evil"-- isn't quite correct.
To take the "resolving trauma" concept a bit further, scamming is Kim's addiction in this show about the criminal world of DRUGS. And she seems to need more and more scamming to get her high. Many children of alcoholics, like Kim, become alcoholics themselves; this is just a different substance of abuse.
You know what they say..."hurt people hurt people."
Fuck her childhood traumas. She is fucking evil
the moment she was more evil was when jimmy discovered the judge broke his arm.
he said to her to abort the plan, to postpone it to another day, but she returned town, cancelled her other appointment, just to screw with howard that day.
than howard got killed because of this. have they aborted the plan, howard would not have been in their house when lalo arrived.
she was in a butterfly effect the main cause of howard death. and she did not because of money, or hate, or anything, but just for fun.
and this, this was really evil and scary
no, not for fun but because she hated Howard.
@@gloriabartolome3123 nope, it's in her ammission, she did it just for fun
@@XPainMasterbut they definitely didn't like Howard
My favorite part of the last scene between them is the visual symbolism.
First Kims PoV, Jimmy in a literal physical cage
We see Jimmys PoV, Kim behind a fence, her cage being an abstract one
Then a shot of them both seperated with a gap between their own 2 cages.
Both being prisoners of their sins. Ive admired the camerawork of this franchise for a while now and this is just one of many excellent examples of it.
The thing is jimmy continued multiple times to stop with the “bad” lawyer shenanigans but then Kim always comes in and convinces him to do it. Then he does it and he is able to live with the consequences but she can’t. If it wasnt for her he wouldn’t have gotten in nearly the amount of trouble he did
Kim Wexler is who toxic fans expected/demanded Skyler White to be. A strong woman who is supportive of the main character’s misdeeds up until she realizes people are getting irreversibly hurt
But Kim and Skyler are just different people in different situations. Of course Kim would be ok with Jimmy’s low stakes grifts cause she’s aware of this side of him AND the risks of harm are fairly minimal
Skyler was sideswiped by her husband suddenly lying, sneaking off and becoming more and more violent and then when she tried to distance herself and her children he manipulated and threatened her to stay
Yes, the hate for her is actually wild. Walt’s manipulation is so good it breaks the fourthceall
Imagine being married to a nice normal person for twenty years & then BAM, out of the fucking blue they become a violent drug lord. Any reasonable person would act like Skyler
Imagine being married to a nice normal person for twenty years & then BAM, out of the fucking blue they become a violent drug lord. Any reasonable person would act like Skyler
I really loved Skyler as a character, and I loved Kim just as much. I think a lot of it comes down to their differences in childhood
@@AJ-nh9qm "Yes, the hate for her is actually wild. Walt’s manipulation is so good it breaks the fourthceall"
Aside from people who don't like women, Skyler is easy to dislike in ways Kim isn't.
Skyler is Walt's wife, and the marriage isn't going great. He has to lie to her and get away from her so he do meth crimes, which is what we want to see. In other words, Skyler is trying to stop our fun.
Kim's the opposite. Jimmy pursues her instead of lying to her or hiding from her, which makes the audience like her too. She's a lawyer like Jimmy, but seems better at it, which makes her a powerful player in the legal game. And instead of trying to stop the fun, she sometimes gets in on scams and cons with Jimmy.
I don't think I've ever seen a couple in any show or film that had better chemistry. I utterly believed their attraction to each other and those short moments when they got along and things were going well felt so good. Jim and Kim were why I watched the show.
I think the acting makes it work and the chemistry between the actors, but just going off of the script I dont think it works very well. Jimmy is manipulative and mentally abusive to a degree in how he uses Kim and Kim is aware of it but still goes along with it. Based on her skill level and intelligence along with her abusive mother, I dont actually find it reasonable for her to find Jimmy attractive.
@@bloopboop9320 If you don't think people marry people who abuse them in a similar fashion to the way their parents did, then you must be living under a rock.
@@gregorybrown9101 thank you for your entirely useless and redundant counter argument.
Just because people do that doesnt mean it makes it logical within the context of the show. Kim is constantly an over-achiever and bases her self-worth off of helping people and being "good" while Jimmy is selfish and self-loathing who lies to her consistently during their relationship.
@@bloopboop9320 Again, if you don't think people harm their own best interests, you're living under a rock.
@@gregorybrown9101 again, congrats on not being able to argue or discuss a point.
The issue isnt self destructive, the issue is that it is directly against her personality and interest at the same time. People will bend their standards in one area, but people rarely bend their standards in nearly all areas of their life.
For example, the two of them getting married almost made me quit the show altogether. Quite literally right after Kim says "our relationship is over because you keep on manipulating me and lying to me" she then says "let's get married."
That's gimmicky writing because the writer's wrote themselves into a corner and then had to 180 it due to the rule of everything having to be unexpected in the Breaking Bad universe. 90% of Better Call Saul's dialogue scenes are simple reversals of expectations, but it happens so often that it becomes expected. It isnt bad writing per say, but it's predictable.
kim was a freaking hypocrite, acting like she was the voice of the less priviliged , while destroying howard's life for her own benefit. I lost much respect for jimmy and kim when they started destroying howard's life for their own gain, especially kim. And honestly, their outcomes suit them.
Not exactly, at least Jimmy didn’t get away with it. Kim got away with everything.
I agree, I can’t think of a single character in this universe who wasn’t a hypocrite.
@Mr. Melendez Mike isn't really a hypocrite. He's not a good man and he doesn't pretend to be. But he has values that he holds on to. I wouldn't call him a hypocrite because he doesn't pretend to be anything he's not
@@Yougotcaged102 Mike absolutely pretends to be a good person. He acts as if he's the honorable thief, when he's just as morally wrong as the salamancas
@@Yougotcaged102 he’s let innocent people die at his hands and let’s himself become a murder for hire hit man. As a cop he said he was out for the “bad guys” but is he really all that better than those bad guys in the end? He wants his daughter in law and Kailey out of their bad neighborhood while he contributes to the drug trade elsewhere.
He lets himself become an essential cog in Gus Frings meth empire. Maybe not an outright hypocrite but he goes against his own proclaimed values on multiple occasions.
Agreed with you on Kim's darker side. Jimmy at least got his motives clear, but Kim? I really don't know. Her eventual confession to Howard's wife just can not cover the damages that She & Jimmy did to Howard. To show his regret & love for Kim, Jimmy spends the rest of his life in jail, where is Kim's part of regrets?
Uh what do you want her to do? Work as a free maid?
Both Kim and Skyler got off easy at the end without doing any jail time
@@freddiesimmons1394 Maybe not being to practice law again for her crimes.
And yet in the end of the story, she just got back to her pro bono work, never have to receive the consequences of her actions because Jimmy had it all covered for her. Howard died for nothing.
@@ruggedland At least Skyler was forced to live in her shitty apartment, losing her job and had half of her family wiped out.
Kim still has
- A nice cozy house.
- A stable job.
- A good husband.
- Good friends.
- Not facing any jail time and the prospect of grand civil lawsuit is so unclear that it might of might not happen at all.
- Become a lawyer again (I’m talking about the scene before DA Suzanne called her).
She had it easier than anyone because she doesn’t lose anything that matters to her. Her only suffering was that she felt sad for 6 years and cried a lot but other than that, she’s fine and the audience loves it because she’s a fan favorite character.
@@nont18411 what crimes did she do that would be worth being disbarred?
I'm pretty sure a lifetime of emotional scarring and being with someone who she doesn't satisfy her as much as Jimmy both count as consequences
I think the best scene played by Kim in the history of mankind, for me, would be the waterfalls in the bus scenes, the way she nods 3 times before totally exploding into tears, not bursting, literally EXPLODING INTO TEARS, that definitely depicted how long she has held it together and pushed it to the ultimate end and even further. Kim is one badass bitch actor! I fucking love her!
one badass bitch actor? what a great compliment
Yeah now that you mention it, why didn't the character of Kim wexler attract more attention. To me her character is the perfect representation of what the "strong independent woman" should be. She never had to say that she was, she just did.
A perfect example of show don’t tell. She Hulk could learn a thing or two
@@MisterzzYT Did you expect she hulk to be anything other than the dumbest thing possible? i mean.... its a show called She Hulk.
Its because most people who champion strong female characters can only identify them in an environment of weak or incompetent male characters ie they believe for a woman to be strong the man has to be weak. In actuality calling for strong female leads shines brighter when her male counterpoints are idiots, I give you Kim Wexler.
Because the writing in these shows are real.. they are real character with real development in 10years +
not a money grabing hollywood travesty of forced inclusion.
@@MisterzzYT I hope not. the only salvation for that piece of crap is getting canceled.
Chuck may’ve helped jimmy become Saul, but Kim held him there, and in the end chuck was somewhat right, jimmy couldn’t change for good, even when he’s a top ranking lawyer, he still went back too his old ways
Kim and Jimmy were ultimately so bad for each other and it kept both of them as pretty terrible people. Sad.
I think part of the reason Kim is such a popular character for women as well as men is because we live in a time of so much awareness of addiction, and Jimmy/saul has an obvious addiction to being in the game. At least for me, I related to her so much for genuinely loving and caring for someone you know isnt making the right choices, knowing you won't be able to fix them and maybe not even wanting to at all, but you wanna live a life with them still. Covering for them is a thrill, its Us vs The World, and you may even be the only exception they would never consciously try to scam. So that can feel so great. When jimmy is willing to throw himself down for her in the end, able to admit honestly to her what he did and ACCEPT consequences no not just accept but force the legal system to give him the harshest consequences, christ if the scammer I loved in my life could do such a thing I would fill their commercary and visiting time whenever possible even after so long with no contact.
Love the use of season 6 music here. Stargazing and Lament for Howard are some of the best tracks in the show. Season 6 had some really good music. Also want to point out that a lot of Kim's actions that got her spiraling into the criminal world came from a need inside her to save Jimmy. This enabled him. She tried to save Jimmy from Chuck multiple times which enabled his schemes against his brother. She got back into scheming to save Jimmy in saving Huel (and their drifting relationship). She saved him from Lalo. She saved him from further interrogation by Cheryl. And I think she kept quiet about Howard's death throughout the 6 years to protect Jimmy from Mike, Fring and the Salamancas.
She always wants to save everyone and clean up their messes, but especially Jimmy. Definitely stemmed from her chaotic childhood with her mother. And thx, stargazing and lament for Howard are some of my favorites as well and I think I’ve used them in all three of my BCS vids lol.
I think Kim's actions are usually informed by a conscious drive to do good, and much of her defending Jimmy probably came from an inner moral justification to stand by someone she loved. The more unconscious and libidinal desire to partake in social taboos is probably what made their relationship last for so long and drew Kim into some insane moral bargaining to keep the thrill alive. From early on in childhood Kim was socialized to ignore the social construct of 'wrong' when in relation to loved ones as hinted at by her mother using her to shoplift items. For Kim true love always has to have this dual nature, where love is reaffirmed through acts of crime and taboo, just as love from her mother was always colored by crime and taboo. This is why we are led to believe her relationship in the modern timeline is unsatisfying. It's less that Kim is evil, or that she becomes evil, but that Jimmy pushed and encouraged Kim to dig into this part of her that was always there; both in ways which are clearly active like when he convinces her to con wealthy businessmen and more passively by allowing her to slip further for purely selfish reasons. The reversal that happens in the last few episodes is such a poignant way to end since it's through Kim's courage to accept responsibility and take actionable moral decisions that allows Jimmy to act on his own repressed drive to do good. It's through this inverse construction of their relationship that we're able to find clarity and actually understand what the two characters mean to each other.
Chuck caused all of Jimmy's issues . By telling him he couldnt change and scheming against him over and over , chuck made sure even if Jimmy wanted to change he wouldn't be allowed to . Chucks the big bad
At the same time, Chuck is mentally ill. It doesn’t excuse his actions and he was always an asshole who hated Jimmy, but I don’t think it’s fair to label him a “big bad” Definitely a foil and definitely an antagonist tho. Great comment.
@@MisterzzYT it would be interesting to see how Jimmy turned out if chuck had just backed him in HHM for the job . If he did then no saul . No saul means breaking bad would be so different ...keep up the great work btw
Ultimately, it's still Jimmy's fault. There were numerous points in the story where Jimmy pretty much had a dream job or significant wealth with no strings attached. Even if we're looking at it from the perspective of nurture, you still could say that when he saw his father get scammed, what he took away from it was for him to decide. He could have decided that it was his responsibility to be the wolf of the wolves. Hell, imagine prosecutor Jimmy taking out con-artists and criminals.
It was an affront to him that a con man who cut corners would become a partner in a firm he worked at. Howard didn't cut corners and did everything by the book. He also pointed out that Jimmy ultimately hurt everyone he is involved with.
Chuck is the big bad of the first half of the show (seasons 1 through 3), but Jimmy becomes the villain throughout the rest of the series. That's how I think of it.
Still a better love story than twilight
Never seen twilight but I think I could safely agree with you.
George Washington called he wants his joke back
@@AshVsEvilFred You just did the same, dumbassss.
Kim Wexler is not only the most complex person in the BB/BCS universe, but also one of the most complex and intriguing characters in all of TV history. Rhea Seehorn deserved much more critical acclaim and awards, especially since the show runners admit that Seehorn's performance was actually a driver in how the character developed. She was mesmerizing, couldn't take my eyes off her.
she was great, so underrated I dunno why she isn’t a big star after her performance in this show
No complexity at all. She was simply a bad person.
@@bowieupland6112 Shallow response from a clearly shallow thinker.
@@bowtoyoursensei554
You saw complexity in her, because you're simple.
@@bowieupland6112 🙄 mhm sure
Kim is the hidden evil while Hector and Tuco are bright neon signs in the middle of the night that say EVIL!!!
Never ceases to amaze me how people can even be convinced to... find joy in destroying people who haven't so much as harmed them. Feels like a waste of potencial for someone who might actually help a lot of people.
Surely owning up to the harm caused, in some way improves the world, but also imagine if they might somehow turn thier skills to decent ends. Sadly the corrupt people they've benefited, in working with, are not as easy to get off on tricking. Maybe they're always want the easy path of tricking idealists to feel superior
Skyler: Let’s kill Jesse, what’s one more?
Kim: let’s sabotage Howard’s career, I’m having too much fun.
@Edible lip scrubs they couldn't be comparable if they weren't different.
I have to say I hated kim’s character much more than skyler’s.
@@Adriana-eu6ty i love kim and like skyler. I think most people that hate skyler are probably gullible. The show purposely sets up skyler to look like a villain in order to TRICK the audience. In reality shes the only one in the show thats ACTUALLY doing everything for her family. She sacrifices her relationship with her son and relation ship with her sister and brother in law just so they dont have to feel the pain she feels. Her "cheating" was set up to only look like cheating from a far distance but then if you look even slightly closer she had already split with walter, got him out of the house and found out he was a criminal. I love kim for completely different reasons. Kim is objectively not a very good person (i dont think she is evil). She wants to do the right thing but constantly proves otherwise with her actions until she realizes that her actions effect other people more than she thought. But by then its too late. Its truly a tragic and incredibly complex story of morality and i love that about her.
@@Foeisudhxj yes, you are right. You wrote it down nicely.
I just lost my patience with kim as a character.
Just a note: there was nothing illegal about what Jimmy was doing with the phones, that was the whole point.
Great series and great analysis. Kim has such a way of getting you to like her that when she left Jimmy (after 5 whole seasons!) I felt something like a sense of loss.
Their romantic relationship went back to their days in the mailroom & was on & off for years, remaining friends the whole time. It didn't begin after the 1st bar scam - that's when it started up again.
8:48 he's not illegally selling phones. He's just selling phones in a spot that makes criminals feel more comfortable buying burner phones.
Since everyone propably pointed out most interesting stuff about Kim here, I just want to appreciate the show for showing and using some of childhood memories in a lot of cases and not make it "oh this person was evil from the start" but rather show how these past expierences ,even if small, changed the character of these people. Childhood is an extremely important part of life and especially in case of Kim, these important moments, even if few, pretty much shaped some of her traits. Children are a blank card and depending on how they grow up, different things may develop later and visualise themselves in not as usual ways as we sometimes expect. Better Call Saul doesn't just copy the same behavior from youth to adulthood but evolves it in an interesting way and also makes a point, that sometimes these things stay rooted very deeply in our minds and if we want to fight it, it's really hard, or it just straight up controls us. Not just trauma, but even how we were taught to live by our parent figure.
Great breakdown of Kim's character. I think the word "evil" might be a LITTLE strong to describe her, but that could be just because the BB/BCS universe is so full of TRULY "evil" characters, like Fring and the Salamancas. Over all, though, yeah her actions definitely lead to a ton of bad situations, more than enough to simply write it off as "misguided" haha. But yeah great video, dude!
Also, a bit of unsolicited advice in regards to the editing, but, miiiight be worth increasing the volume levels on all of your mixes, only because, I had to have this volume at MAX to be able to hear it normally. Tested this on both my PC and phone, and yeah, had to have volume at full just to hear, which is unfortunate when an ad comes on and absolutely blasts you with 100 decibal volume. ANYWAY, I don't mean any offense by this, just figured I'd offer a bit of friendly advice, keep it up, regardless!
Hey, really glad you enjoyed and will make the next video louder. Guess I overdid it this video because last video my volume was way too loud so I overcompensated a little on this one. Should be perfect next video. But yeah amazing comment, Kim isn’t necessarily evil, she just has hints of it. Might’ve exaggerated a little but that also might just be the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul Universe messing with my viewpoint. Glad you enjoyed though, can’t wait to see you in the next
Volume is totally fine for me, half volume and no issue hearing
Little strong? What about Howard? That was little! Was it now?
I definitely think it’s fair to call her evil, her actions arguably border on sadism, and even though she feels bad, it’s only when she’s directly confronted with the consequences. Furthermore she never turns herself in, and just goes off to live peacefully
Not evil - you don't get her at all.
Thank you guys so much for the support on my recent Better Call Saul videos. The love you guys have shown has been incredible and I truly cannot thank you guys enough. As stated in the video, this will likely be my last Better Call Saul video for a while besides one last “Ultimate Analysis” coming at the end of this year. I have so much planned for the future and I can’t wait to show you guys. So truly, Thank You ❤
Great video really enjoyed
Bro we have to thank you
So glad you enjoyed. Can’t wait to see you in my next videos
Haha idk you guys have been pretty amazing and shown incredible support.
Your videos are ass, please stop now and help us all. :)
Good video overall, but I take issue with your statement that Chuck "earned" Mesa Verde as a client. It was actually Kim who did all of the legwork. I think the series makes it pretty clear that the primary motivation for Chuck's convincing Mesa Verde not to stick with Kim (a sort of chicanery and conning on the post of Chuck), was done out of pride and spite towards Jimmy, as well as Kim given that she essentially chose Jimmy over HHM. But a small point really. Otherwise, great job!
I mean, Chuck did earn it. He didn't use shorthanded methods to convince them. He was intelligent and he used his wits the right way. So in that sense, he did earn it
@@errwhattheflip Nah, he stole it. He did 0 work in acquiring the client, chortling with Howard, until after Kim got them through the door. Sure, he did work for them afterwards, but he did not earn them.
Masterful stealing though, but that's just business.
I didn't find it realistic that Saul would confess just to please Kim, and we can see he is ready to change and take responsibility for what he's done. If he wanted to change, he could have done something good with his skills outside of prison. What was the point of choosing to rot in prison except for the writers to conclude his character arc?
i agree!
@Mr. Melendez To me it is a pat ending. I don't see Saul giving up his freedom just because she wants him to do that.
I can imagine him being incentivized to do it knowing that it allows him to come to terms with what he did.
Think about it like this: if he doesn't confess, he spends 7y alone. No Kim to visit him. A shameful prison life where he thinks about what he will do when he gets out.
But if he does confess, he can prove to her and himself that he can take accountability for his actions. That he can atone, and better: he can change. He can give a final F you to Chuck, and see Kim for the rest of his life, and he can think fondly of his life and reflect on it freely. Confessing is quite honestly just freedom for him, when he knows he'll just return to conning after 7y. He's too materialistic to stay away from unlawfulness, too talented at it and too entertained by it.
Choosing 86y was a net gain for him because of how it affected the quality of his life going forward, as opposed to choosing 7y of hiding from the truth and trying to forget Kim.
I don’t really agree with your assessment of Kim’s motivations. She does’t love the con because she loves success. She loves the con because she’s only ever wanted one thing: “More.”
Kim says this out loud in her interview with the rival firm. The motivations of her recurring grift are more akin to an addict than an over-achiever. Beyond this, she loves to ‘stick it to power’ and the rich / powerful people who have governed her & many of her pro bono client’s lives. It’s not just love for Jimmy, it’s resentment verging on hatred for nepo-baby America.
Better call Saul confused me a lot more than breaking bad all of the characters seemed like they were always lying I never knew what was the truth
You misremembered how Kim got put in Doc Review, not from Jimmy getting fired from Davis & Maine, but because she saw his unapproved TV advert without saying anything to HHM about it (because Jimmy lied to her about it being approved). He wasn't fired for that, though it was both strike one and strike two.
Such a great video! I remember that one scene from season 6 where after all this relationship building in the series, the first "I love you" drops. Not in some comfortable setting, but during Kim's break up with Jimmy. I don't think I've noticed any other time they said they loved each other throughout the whole series. That scene, that one scene has such a huge impact that it left me crying my eyes out for the solid hour.
My take is that Kim saw Jimmy's love for her as being dependent on her being able to enable what she thinks are his desires. She worries that if she wants to be totally straight laced, pushes him to do so or expresses judgement of him then Jimmy will cut her off and move on, much like he did with Chuck.
The purpose of showing her with her Mother in the scams, I think, is to show a previous situation where this has been the case, and that she believes people can't be changed. Her mother clearly only saw Kim as useful for her own schemes and likely dropped her cold after Kim stopped helping with them.
It's clear to me that Kim's whole dilema is her desire to do good in the world being thwarted by her need to be loved, alongside her abandonment issues.
I'm not so sure why some people are so desperate to paint her as the less dedicated of the two. Clearly, they both are dedicated to each other but have self-esteem issues that stop them from seeing that dedication from the other.
Kim broke up with Jimmy because the reality of the dangerous consequences of Jimmy's actions became brutally clear with the second Lalo encounter. Her ignoring of the immorality of their actions became impossible at that point and she seemed entirely sincere.
She's not blameless but Jimmy is equally to blame.
Great explanation. I missed that part where she saw he dismissed Chuck and therefore would dismiss her if she stopped him from being who he wanted. She saw him having no remorse or regret when his brother died and i think she reevaluated things from that moment, meaning she had to play his game to not loose him.
The scenes with her mom I feel we’re kind of showing why she had a shady side. She tried to not be her mom but kind of was.
Just one thing: Saul and Kim did speak once during those 6 years, when they divorced. They divorce sometime around the start of Breaking Bad, we know this because Emilio walks into Saul's office immediately after and Jesse tells Kim about it outside. This is immediately after Emilio is arrested in a drug bust during episode 1 of Breaking Bad. Otherwise, great analysis!
She’s the most evil. She knew she was wrong and has a conscience.
Legitimately the scene where they ruin Howards career and it cuts straight to them having sex...dude that actually made my sick to my stomach. I was so conflicted because they were both characters I loved and seeing them do that was hard to watch as it was but then seeing how much pleasure they got from it really screws with your head.
But they both had their reasons to exact revenge on howard. Sure it was petty, and the punishment was disproportionate to the crime, but still it's understandable from an emotional standpoint. Jimmy and Kim had both grown up in a bad environment, feeling powerless to influence their own fate, so of course being able to punish someone who had mistreated them felt good and empowering for both of them.
You’re naive thinking Howard is all good victim because he looked so vulnerable in the last season lol he didn’t deserve death but he kinda deserved to get scammed maybe little too much but he would’ve been fine
@@ilkkavierula6664 He was being manipulated by Chuck at points and maybe he could be a bit snobby in the 1st season, but overall, Howard was a decent man trying to do the right things and most certainly not deserving of a demented scheme to ruin his life. Even if Jimmy and Kim had bad upbringings that does not give them the right to destroy a man's life and cause misery for his wife and family.
@@smartwater598 Why would he deserve to be scammed? He felt guilty after Chuck's death (which was on Jimmy who drove him to suicide) and offered Jimmy a job only for Jimmy to throw bowling balls at his car and hire prostitutes to embarrass him in public.
If Howard was some evil scumbag like Hector or Tuco Salamanca, then I'd understand going along with Jimmy & Kim's scheme, but he was nothing of the sort, so it was just horrible to see them ruin this innocent man's life.
@@TheMrHavish Well, technically he didn't do anything wrong, but he insulted both Jimmy and Kim to the point they became vengeful. Jimmy felt humiliated, as he was taking care of Chuck, acting in good faith, getting him groceries while Chuck actively kept stabbing him in the back, trying to stop his career from advancing. Howard was aware of that, and not only let it happen, but actively contributed by acting as a cover for Chuck's actions. Of course Jimmy felt betrayed and humiliated and wanted to retaliate. Kim on the other hand was insulted by howard when she tried to adjust the direction of her career. It was shown she was unhappy with her work, and stressed to the point of crashing her car due to her job. When she tried to do what she wanted, Howard intervened, basically talking her down, saying her choices were caused by Jimmy's bad influence, essentially presenting her as Jimmy's victim, too powerless and stupid to decide about her own life. For that reason she set out to prove a point that she was just as capable of scheming and doing morally questionable things as Jimmy was. She set out to prove she was not some innocent goody-two-shoes girl who strayed from path of perfection because she was infatuated with a "bad boy".
The punishment that she inflicted on herself was the most terrible: Boredom. If she, out of guilt, had went to jail, commited suicide, forced herself to do heavy work, undergone physical torture... she would have felt that it wasn't ENOUGH, since she actually enjoys drama, pain and difficulties... She started in Florida the most horrible life for a character like her: bare of spark, meaning, fun, surprises, hard work, challenges...
For me, it was one of the most painful moments to watch...
Kim is really the only character that tries to do good, with her pro bono work. There are others that are lawful, or treat people they know better, but none actually try to make the world a better place.
Kim didn't had a great upbringing. She didn't had good parents and good role models. She did not had 'fun' in her childhood. And now she finally has fun. She started ruing Howard's live just for fun
I think that her upbringing without fun really played a huge role.
Bro first Skyler White, and now Kim Wexler, you know women can be evil or "bad" too? I guess it shows how well written these shows are when people internalize characters that much. I mean there's people who actually like Walter White as a person, so anythings possible.
Shoutout to Mike, the most complex yet minimally written character. A nam vet, street cop corrupted, a father whos son he blames for the death of the job that he followed in his fathers steps. Then a grandfather willing to save and enjoy the granddaughter while being dragged back into the life he tried to leave but couldn't. Not because it was obligation but because he couldn't resist the money making his daughter in law and grandchilds life better
Great video!
If you do end up making another Better call Soul video, could you do something on Nacho Varga?
Maybe the character isn't very deep, but he's cool and I love the actor.
Love Nacho, definitely one of my favorite characters, at least on the crime aspect of the show. I don’t know if there’s much for me to say that hasn’t already been said though. His story is absolutely heartbreaking, especially the end of it, but his actions led to that. He was super likable and a great character but honestly I feel like every video made on him says exactly how I feel about him and his story. The video “How Nacho Outsmarted Every Salamanca” is a phenomenal video, should definitely check it out if you haven’t. I’ll explore possible Nacho videos but can’t promise anything. Thank you though and glad you enjoyed it. Great comment and I love the suggestions. Michael Mando is an excellent actor (especially in Far Cry 3)
Lyle is also and arguably one of the most complex and compelling characters in the Break Bad universe.
Rumors have it that he might get his own spin off show.
Love the deadpan delivery of the Huell bit. Can't wait for his video!
Huell Rules vid coming soon
Kim (R.Seehorn) became a co-star. In some ways her and Lalo were upfront last two seasons. Incredible acting. Who would have thought this ended up almost a love story. My fav KW scene was with a Spanish version of 'My Way'.
17:09 Saul actually wanted to go to a North Carolina prison, not one in California.
Thank you! Finally somebody agrees the fact Kim Wexler was a red flag
I detested Kim during the Howard takedown. I was really hoping she got taken out, which is what a lot of people thought by her absence from BB. Alas, the plot armor was too thick. Great series anyway, and great recap of Kim.
Plot armor? When did she seem like she should die but didn't?
@@freddiesimmons1394 I think the minute Lalo knew she knew his identity she was as good as gone. Lalo killed everyone in his wake and that danger was part of the thrill of the show. The cartels keep their house as clean as possible. The “handle your business” scolding seemed like way too much of a departure from the reality of cartel assassins. I don’t think they’re easily steered by sharp tongued civilians. That’s when I knew 100% she was absolutely written in to be part of the ending. Similar plot line as Wendy Byrde on Ozark except that got even more ridiculous as she started putting out hits on people 😂
@@JT-LV I am surprised lalo let her be, but while he might have been offended in a "who is this bitch talking to me like this" sorta way, he just didn't see that as a reason to kill her. He does kill people in his way, she wasn't in his way. Just loud and a surprise.
I am also surprised Wendy made it out but I don't remember Ozark as well as thjs
@@freddiesimmons1394 yeah I was surprised also. Especially since the money was there and she wasn’t useful. She was actually a dangerous loose end. One of the greatest thrills of BB and BCS is the imminent danger and violence the cartels represent. It’s a big hook for the audience. But the writers put that aside for Kim’s character development in this instance. Not a believable stretch in my opinion. That’s when I knew the armor was thick. Still absolutely loved the series.
Ozark was several steps behind in quality.
Wow. Well done analysis. Thanks for sharing.
Next Please make a video on
Nacho Varga
Arguably the best character of better call Saul series
Her role model is her mother a con artist, she was her mother's helper & she loved the repeating this chicanery with Jimmy
She's not evil. It just got outta hand. It's really on Jimmy. He showed her the ropes of being the wolf and the benefits that comes with it. I could see my ex doing the same with me, we would've had a lot of fun but it wouldn't have gone that far. Hell, even if the roles were switched, we still would've done it. There's nothing more satisfying, more fun and more empowering than succeeding with that one special person. Great video man! I've watched a few of yours. They were all great!
This video is just women bad. He gives the men in this series a fair shake but gets super punitive when it comes to female characters.
Basically Jimmy MADE kim a bad person and then kim KEPT jimmy a bad person.
@@emmyturner7385 not true at all lol kim definitely gets a bit evil up until howard’s death.She literally brings up the idea to sabotage howard even though he’s not even that bad of a dude she just gets off on it jimmy isn’t perfect either but everyone knows this already
@@VinnyGuardino 🤡
@@emmyturner7385 Ok lol all ur comments on the channel are just talking about being misogynistic and hating on females.meanwhile the show paints the picture clearly kim gets pretty corrupt but ok
kim and jimmy being with eachother was so good :(
I’ve watched so many video analyses of characters from the BCS and BB universe and my main take away is that every main character is at least a little bit morally corrupt.
The entire BCS world is immoral. There’s just some worse than others, and good people are exceedingly rare.
@@MisterzzYT I don't think thats really all that fair. BCS and BB hyperfocus on criminals and criminal enterprise. ofc those people are largely immoral. Its part of the game
Kim's hate for Howard is justified, the way he discarded her so easily and talks down to her, but stooping down to Jimmy's level was stupid. She should have just started her own practice and stolen all of HHM's clients and gone head to head with Howard every chance she could get, or cut him off compeltely would hav ebeen the most healthy. She is the essential Devil's Advocate.
It feels like for the purpose of the video you cut out how much responsibility Saul has in this, he did make an active effort to push Kim into scamming and ultimately it was his actions that led to her spiraling into a monster, not some hidden maniacal evil deep in her psyche.
I was thinking the same thing. This guy has something against women.
@@emmyturner7385 I have no idea how any of what you watched implies this channel has anything against women... Jimmy and Kim were bad for each other. Remember that she was the one who wanted to ruin Howard, against Jimmy's initial judgment. Sure Jimmy helped feed the resentment she had building in her, but by the end she also pushed him into crueler stunts. They literally say it in the show, together they're poison. They both share responsibility for what happened to Howard.
@@emmyturner7385 Cant say bad things about women right?
@@emmyturner7385 Holding a woman accountable for her actions and not blaming it all on men = against women😅😂
It wasn't really "an active effort to push her" it was a gradual fall from grace on both of their parts
She loved the spontaneous excitement Jimmy would cause. She loved seeing him work his magic, but only through scams and tricking people.
Just keep making good interesting content that is worth watching and well... keep growing brother. I mean the truth of hte matter is there's a lot of 'content creators' reaping the benefits of gaming the algorithm and that seems to be the best path for success not actually putting out worthwhile content.
Good luck whatever you do and keep true to yourself.
Thank you and appreciate the advice. Will def prioritize my content over views
@@MisterzzYT Best of luck amigo.
I felt Better Call Saul was a love story. Especially on how far Kim went to be with Jimmy, she would go against her own instincts and do whatever she can to be close to Jimmy.
I agree about it being very much a love story, but i disagree about Kim going against her instincts. Kim is very much like Jimmy, that's why they fell in love on the first place. Kim is just hiding her true self. She is a classic overarchiever, a textbook example of "good girl syndrome". We are shown, despite her professional status and the power and wealth that comes with it, she feels deeply unsatisfied and unfulfilled with her work. With Jimmy, she can let go of all that, drop the facade and be herself. Look at the scene where they pull off their first bar scam. She is usually portrayed as very emotionless, almost robotic with stiff body language, but in that scene she smiles, laughs, her body language becomes relaxed. After it we can see for the first time her and Jimmy getting physically intimate on screen. She loves Jimmy because he is the only person in the show she can be herself with. This is also reinforced by how their relationship is presented on screen. Not with scenes of passionate intimacy, but with scenes where they brush teeth together, or them talking while Kim sits on a toilet etc. emphasizing how comfortable they are in front of eachother, which is kind of a more powerful expression of intimacy. There are also subtle cues about Kim's darker side that she keeps hidden, like the fact she keeps wearing the earrings her mother stole her, indicating they are a kind of trophy for her. A memento of her first con she pulled off with her mother's help. Also, have you noticed how Jimmy never smokes, except with Kim, and in those scenes it's always Kim who hands Jimmy a cigarette, never the other way round. Although subtle, this is also an indication how the characters participate in each other's vices.
Kim and Jimmy's story is the most romantic story I ever witnessed, even if they're not good people, they love each other and would literally kill for each other
Please never stop making these videos
I love how you said that Heull was the most complex character in television. I mean we all want Heull to be happy am I right?
Also I just found your channel and your content is great, i agree with not hammering bcs tho, it just ended and a lot of people are just realizing how great the show is. There are literally countless videos out now about the show. Its just youre right, same way the show came out slow and steady. No need to pump this content out quick because it takes time and should be respected
Thanks. I’ll likely be making a sort of “Ultimate Analysis” of BCS at the end of this year and that might be the only video I upload in all of December, but for a little I’d like to shift my focus away from BCS. Thanks for understanding and I really hope to see you in my next videos. Might revisit BCS in half a year or so but for now I’ve said most of what I’ve wanted to say. So again, thank you so much for supporting me and thanks for understanding.
And the new BCS and BrBa spin-off “Huell’s Rules” should be incredible
I don't usually comment. Well made video
Kim Wexler is the best written character in tv history aiding to the fact that BCS is the greatest tv show ever
best comment under the best video on youtube
fr
Kim reminds me of Walt in the sense that she was always this person. It’s just getting the chance to be enabled to do it, and feeling the freedom to continue.
The real antagonists of the show
Kim is my favourite character on this Show. Rhea Seehorn deserved that Emmy win!!!
Dude. This is the second I've watched from you. I'll watch other videos of yours, I watch a buttload of different shows, so I'd be happy to watch others.
I dig your insight.
The most important character in this show is the bottle cap(the same one that was on the bottle that killed 90% of the drug cartel in Breaking Bad).
It perfectly represents a morally neutral character slipping in an out of crime at moments notice and the cap becomes more and more prominent as the seasons go along until the midseason finally in 6(and we all know why).
Man just came across your channel yesterday, really like your vids. Keep it up you putting in a lot of work and it will pay off🙏🙏. Also have you ever seen the sopranos? If so i wonder if you’ll ever do any content around that. Anyways keep it up mate🫶🙏
Actually never watched the Soprano's, but I will one day. Appreciate it though, hoping for a last of us vid soon.
There’s going to be a spin off Kim Wexler !!! Just announced!
Just saw it. Apparently Rhea will be playing an actual hero rather than an anti hero now with gilligan directing it. Actually can't wait!
where did you hear this?
I puzzled over her character and actions throughout the show, looking for a heart of gold, seeing a glimmer here or there. Never made it to this final conclusion, but you are right. A truly perverse character.
What about the scene where Kim is being picked up by her mom from a store backroom after she'd shoplifted? Goes to show by far Jimmy wasn't the first one who instilled evil into Kim. The way the scene with Kim's mother goes after they leave the store implies it was actually a con her mom and her were running in my opinion.
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I love that Giselle and Viktor scam Ken - the same Ken whose “KENWINS” sports car later gets blown up by Heisenberg in Breaking Bad
Kim is hands down one of the best characters I’ve ever seen on the screen
😂
The "yup" guy
I was always secretly the most scared of her than any other character in Better Call Saul.
Is it me or is his volume too low?
It's really hard to listen to while driving
Brilliant work! I didn't thoroughly understand Kim before watching this video.
I greatly disliked that Kim suddenly grew consciousness and berated Jimmy even though she was the one that pushed him to destroy Howard. Jimmy tried to pull out multiple times but she just couldn't let it go because she enjoyed it so much. This is why the hypocrisy of her saying Jimmy needs to take responsibly angered me greatly. In the end Kim escaped without being punished for this scam and Jimmy takes all the blame on himself to protect her because he loves her. So Jimmy grows as a character by taking responsibility but Kim doesn't making it even more tragic.
I loathed Howard's memorial scene when Kim told Cheryl she caught Howard doing cocaine. I even screamed and startled my husband. I couldn't believe she would intentionally hurt Howard's grieving widow just to back up Jimmy's lies. I agree with you. Kim being relegated to living a drab existence in Florida isn't penance for her actions!
I think you're picking and choosing here when it comes to pointing fingers of immorality.
First off, they both "escaped" from that "scam". Jimmy ends up in Nebraska because of his "evil" (if we're gonna use that word) connections and collusion with the murderess drug cartels, both during Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. The fact that Howard got killed had to do exclusively with Jimmy, not Kim, and was incidental to their chicanery with Howard. Anyone who would have visited them that night would have been killed.
Jimmy's need for confession at court was not only to protect Kim from ancillary crimes she was not involved in, but was inspired by Kim's own confession.
Hypocrisy? Not so much. Did Kim become more and more addicted to Jimmy's duplicity and cons? Yes, and even went further than Jimmy in the BCS universe (but not the BB universe, Jimmy as Saul did that). If she had become sanctimonious *after* what they did to poor Howard then you might have a case.
I believe her many concerns with Jimmy's behavior in the first 4 seasons were genuine. Others might make the argument that Jimmy led Kim down this onerous path, and the ruin of Howard was all from the no good Jimmy. Which is of course equally baloney.
The writers did an amazing job of creating complex characters that were capable of both wanting to help others but also hurt others.
As an aging male dude, I can't help but see the misogynistic trope of blaming the "evil woman" for all the misdeeds of the male counterpart in some of these comments surrounding this particular video.
I'm hearing Santana's Evil Woman in my head right now.
1) clearly jimmy and Kim had slept together before episode 1, but they weren’t a couple yet.
2) the guy they first conned was also trying to con them
I love Kim she’s the best character in BCS tbh
I can comfortably say she’s my favorite character in the entirety of the BCS/Breaking Bad universe
@@MisterzzYT she’s the goat
Brilliant analysis, thanks. There’s to add, that this superb storyline and characterisation reflects the corruption to the core of the system. It’s nearly impossible to uphold high morality in it.