Better Call Saul season 6 – why did Kim break up with Jimmy?

By Daniel Hart - July 19, 2022 (Last updated: October 1, 2024)
better-call-saul-season-6-why-did-kim-break-up-with-jimmy
By Daniel Hart - July 19, 2022 (Last updated: October 1, 2024)

This article discusses “why did Kim break up with Jimmy,” so it will contain spoilers for Better Call Saul season 6. 

There’s always been a consistent line of questioning regarding Better Call Saul. What will be the fate of Kim Wexler? She does not appear in Breaking Bad, leaving fans wondering if there’s a more deadly reason for Kim’s absence. After episode 9 of season 6, we seemingly get our answer. Kim Wexler breaks up with Jimmy before he fully forms into the Saul Goodman that we know in the sequel. It’s a headlining moment that has required patience from viewers, as Kim has to make a rather strong and heartbreaking decision.

Better Call Saul season 6 – why did Kim break up with Jimmy?

It’s not a surprise that Kim has broken up with Jimmy. In fact, it’s the likeliest reason we do not see Kim in the future. Another theory is that she got killed by the cartel, but that has seemingly been squashed for now by episode 9.

In the end, Kim saw the monster she had become. She found being with Jimmy was fun, with all their scheming and plotting. It brought out a side of her she did not recognize. Together they were poison, and she admits that to Jimmy’s face. You can see the pain in her face when she realizes she has to leave Jimmy. The murder of Howard, which in reality, happened because of her and Jimmy, was the breaking point for Kim. She couldn’t forget that night, even though Jimmy insisted she could.

There were too many consequences for their actions. After plotting so aggressively against Howard, which eventually led the lawyer to their place and killed in cold blood by Lalo, brought a sense of reality that Kim needed. Kim may have died if she had stayed with Jimmy. Every person they came across suffered due to their dynamic. A dynamic that was addictive and absorbing. Together, Kim and Jimmy learned how to be monsters, but they were unstable; they didn’t know how to wield the power of being monsters. It was always chaotic and damaging.

It wasn’t that Kim fell out of love with Jimmy. You can sense how difficult it was for her to leave. The only way to break the addiction was to leave the relationship. Their compatibility was evil.

But, leaving created a new Jimmy. One where Jimmy becomes the fully formed Saul Goodman we all grew to know in Breaking Bad. Essentially, it was love and heartbreak that led Jimmy to be Saul Goodman and attach himself to a man, ultimately leading to his downfall. Monsters attract monsters, and Jimmy met his match when he became connected to Walter White.

Whether we’ll see Kim in subsequent episodes remains to be seen. If we don’t, we wouldn’t be surprised. It would be equally powerful for writers to leave her out, allowing Saul Goodman to prosper in his newfound rich life. Saul Goodman has everything but love, and that’s the point.

If anything, Better Call Saul is a tragic love story. It’s layered writing in the best way.

You can watch this series on AMC.

AMC, Channels and Networks, TV, TV Explainers