Better Call Saul: Every Theory On Where Kim Is During Breaking Bad

Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) is a key part of Better Call Saul, so where could she be during Breaking Bad? While the prequel show features a lot of characters from Breaking Bad, one of its very best is an entirely original character, Kim. A lawyer and love interest of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), Kim has grown over the years into one of the most fascinating and complex characters in the entire Breaking Bad universe, with Seehorn consistently reaching new heights with her performances each season.

Although Kim has cemented herself as the heart of Better Call Saul, she is also a character in part defined by her absence from Breaking Bad. That fact that she is missing stems quite simply from the fact creator Vince Gilligan didn’t plan for the prequel when writing the parent show, but while that makes sense out of universe, it obviously doesn’t explain where she is in it. And so, Kim has always been a question waiting to be answered, a more worryingly a ticking time bomb ready to explode.

To the credit of the writers, they’ve kept the focus very much on building Kim’s arc rather than teasing too much of what comes next, but they have laid the groundwork for several possible outcomes, all of which have their own pros and cons. With Better Call Saul ending after season 6, it’ll soon be time to find out just where Kim is in Breaking Bad, and here are the various theories on that.

Kim Dies Before Breaking Bad

One of the most common theories throughout Better Call Saul‘s run has been that Kim will eventually die in the series, prior to the events of Breaking Bad. It’s easy to see why this theory gained traction, because it’s such an easy and convenient way of explaining her absence from the parent show, since it so neatly cuts her off from it. Rather than needing to write a potentially more convoluted or complex reason for her not being in Breaking Bad, it’d be simple to just have her be killed off. This also fits with both Jimmy and Saul – the former’s dealings in the criminal underworld could very much put her in the crosshairs (and already has with Lalo), while the latter’s persona in Breaking Bad could be a front that comes from suffering (and causing) the loss of Kim.

Better Call Saul has toyed with Kim’s fate before – her car crash in season 3 had viewers’ hearts in their mouths – and it’s still possible. Kim’s darker turn in season 5 pushed her into the criminal world more and thus put her in greater danger, and death would still be a tragic end, but it’s also somewhat reasonable to expect Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould to have something deeper and more emotionally complex in store for Kim, and killing her off would close the door for her appearing in the future storyline with Gene, which would feel like a waste.

Kim Is In Witness Protection (Or Ed Makes Her Disappear)

If Kim isn’t killed off, one of the most compelling ideas is that she either joins the witness protection programme, or is made to disappear by Ed Galbraith (the late, great Robert Forster). The logic here is similar to the idea of Kim dying – that as she gets pulled deeper into Saul Goodman’s criminal circle, the dangers around her will increase. Kim remains a potentially key player in the Lalo storyline, and if he were to face trial, then she could testify against him, which would then increase the need for her to get out of dodge with the cartel likely to come after her.

However, with Lalo’s arc perhaps going in a different, more explosive direction, then the even better twist on this notion is to have Ed make Kim disappear. It’s the kind of thing Jimmy would no doubt encourage, and Mike (Jonathan Banks) as well, assuming the tensions with the cartel escalate, which they absolutely will do after the failed attempt on Lalo’s life (even if Jimmy wasn’t a part of it). Introducing Ed at this point, even just showing his shop or van (unless there’s enough footage to bring Forster back), would explain how he and Saul know each other, and mean Kim’s ending mirrors Saul’s, which would be even sweeter if they then did meet up in Omaha.

Kim Decides To Leave Jimmy Before Breaking Bad (Or He Leaves Her)

Jimmy has long been the bad habit that Kim just can’t quit in Better Call Saul. Even though it’s long seemed like she was too good for him, and could do better than his methods of getting success as a lawyer, she’s always been pulled back in by him and clearly has some attraction to the life he offers her. That went further than ever before in Better Call Saul season 5, which saw Kim go beyond even what Jimmy thought reasonable in terms of cons with her plan to take down Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian). Still, it isn’t impossible that Kim will eventually come to her senses and realize just how toxic things have become for her, meaning she’d need to choose to finally leave Jimmy – no matter how hard it would be – to avoid both of them being dragged down. It’s easy to imagine Seehorn and Odenkirk playing this kind of break-up scene beautifully, and it would provide a poignant exit that still leaves the door open for a re-appearance.

That said, Kim breaking bad in season 5 does rather suggest it’ll be something even more difficult that pushes them apart, and so it’s another area where the expectation could be flipped: after so long of people thinking Kim could leave Jimmy, perhaps he is the one to leave her. That he sees the path she’s going down, and so forces himself to break away from her because while it may be too late for him, it isn’t for Kim. It’d be heartbreaking to watch Jimmy have to do that, but making a sacrificial choice to ultimately protect Kim would fit with where his character is. It might be straight-up and honest, or he might try to out-do her in the con stakes – more fully becoming Saul Goodman – to show her just how ugly that business is and help push her away for her own good.

Kim Is In Prison During Breaking Bad

With Kim making a more villainous turn in Better Call Saul season 5, it isn’t completely out of the question that she could end up in prison. After all, Kim is planning a major con-job against the head of a huge law firm, and if she were to go through with it then, depending on just what her plan entails, she could end up being charged with any number of different crimes. Her plan is, as per the title of the season 5 finale, “something unforgivable” that would be of serious cost to Howard personally and the HHM company – and if it’s unforgivable and she were found out, then there’d have to be a punishment. This does feel a little less likely than some of the other theories on where Kim is during Breaking Bad, but there would be a cruel irony in seeing the show’s best lawyer finding herself behind bars.

Kim IS In Breaking Bad (Viewers Just Don’t See Her)

The main reason for so much speculation on where Kim is during Breaking Bad is the fact that Vince Gilligan obviously didn’t have the prequel planned or the character of Kim created when writing that show, and so the natural assumption is that something must happen to her. That is very much likely to be the case, but there remains the opportunity for Gilligan & Gould to pull a fast one on viewers, and give the simplest of all explanations that no one is now expecting: Kim is in Jimmy’s life throughout Breaking Bad, we just simply don’t see her.

This, admittedly, is tricky to explain in a prequel that presumably won’t cross over too much with the parent series, but if Better Call Saul were to end with Jimmy and Kim somehow still together, and the timeline was brought up to around the point of Breaking Bad, then the implication would be that Kim was there all along, and it’d be left open to audiences to interpret just what she’s doing. It may not be the most satisfying, but Gilligan has left things open-ended and ambiguous before, so it’s possible he could do so again.

Kim Is Behind Saul Goodman’s Breaking Bad Company

A more tantalizing option if Better Call Saul decides to go down the route of Kim being involved in Saul’s Breaking Bad life, at least to a degree, is that Kim sets up Ice Station Zebra Associates, Saul’s company that he’s shown to use for tax purposes. Better Call Saul has already referenced ISZA, and what’s more shown that the inspiration for the name likely comes from Kim herself – she and Jimmy watch the movie Ice Station Zebra in season 2, which was one of her father’s favorites, and then later use the name when pulling a con. Kim setting up the business would be a means of her continuing to help Saul pull scams as she continues her own descent into criminality, meaning the pair could, at least for a time, have continued to work together as a law-breaking duo. It’s also possible that Kim could establish the company and still part ways with Jimmy – either in Better Call Saul or just at some point during Breaking Bad‘s run – but this would give a firmer connection to the original series for her.

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That the fate of Kim in Better Call Saul, and where she is during Breaking Bad, is such a compelling point of speculation is testament to the character Seehorn and the show’s creative team have crafted, who stands as one of the best in the show’s universe. With several options available, the best at this stage would, perhaps, be for Kim to be made to disappear before a brief return in the future-set scenes with Gene; the mirroring of Saul’s arc and possible hint at a reunion, or even just them seeing each other again and then walking away, would feel extremely powerful, and more satisfying than her being dead or sneakily in Breaking Bad all along. Of course, given the writers of Better Call Saulhave rarely gone wrong so far, whatever they choose will likely be the right decision.

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