Kim’s Moral Compass
Originally conceived of as a supporting character for Jimmy in Better Call Saul, Kim Wexler quickly became a fan favorite. And considering Rhea Seehorn’s masterful acting, Kim’s complex character arc, as well as her myriad twists and turns, it’s not hard to see why. The show’s creators, and actors, all see it too. So, what makes her so intriguing? She starts off as the show’s moral agent who inspires admiration and respect, in some ways representing the American Dream. She also fulfills ideals of the “good woman” trope, keeping her shyster friend and later lover in line. However, in season 2, we start to see a different side to her—as a sort of Bonnie to Jimmy’s Clyde. But still, it feels insufficient to say that it’s her dark side. By choosing not to flatten her character into light and dark, we can reveal more about her inner workings as well as her relatable environment, which makes us resonate with her. So here’s our Take on Kim Wexler’s deeper truth, her story arc, and what made her one of the most engaging characters on the show.
Her Origin Story
We meet Kim Wexler as a mailroom clerk at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill – a prominent law firm in early 2000s New Mexico. This is where Kim and Jimmy meet, and eventually go on to become lawyers themselves. Kim is a small-town girl from Nowheresville Nebraska, who came to Albuquerque because she wanted something else. But she’s not just a dreamer; she’s willing to work hard for her goals and is extremely dedicated and intelligent. And, she’s guided by ideals – both for herself and others. We see this through her fondness for the fictional lawyer Atticus Finch, who attractively represents justice via defending the underdog. Even though much of her legal work throughout the seasons helps corporations more than people – she always strives to make time for pro bono cases, the work she truly feels exuberant for and capable of.
And she’s motivated to become something, not only because she’s hard-working and independent but as a means of breaking free from her difficult upbringing. Through childhood flashbacks, we meet her mother, who she has a less-than-positive relationship with due to her drunken behavior and the poor example she sets. So while she may have once hoped someone would save her, she quickly learned that she was the only one who could—and it’s this self-determination that allowed her to pull herself up by the bootstraps. In a way, we come to understand her as something of a feminist icon: she might not be able to count on her peers in a male-dominated field, but she still strives to help others even more marginalized than her. Show writer Peter Gould said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “I think it’s important to Kim to feel that she’s not a passenger. She has pride in herself and pride in her ability to take care of herself and to make her own decisions, so I don’t think she ever wants to feel that she is playing second banana or following someone down a road.” So Kim pulled through adversity and accomplished the American Dream… What could go wrong? Well, a lot.
What Is Her True Alignment
What’s fascinating about Kim’s arc is how we can track the deterioration of her moral compass over time. Throughout the show, Kim becomes disillusioned with corporate legal work. She also cares for Jimmy and wants him to do well, but increasingly involves herself in his cons. But it’s not just Jimmy’s influence that changes her, and much less the first con they pull together, where they trick a rich man into buying them the most expensive tequila at the bar. Some may attribute her downfall to the thrill of the con, but if we look closely, it’s clear that Kim never was the “goody two shoes” that she may have at first appeared to be. Yet, she’s also not truly bad, either. She’s actually quite good, at least compared to everyone and everything around her.
One framework to better understand Kim is the Alignment System used in the game Dungeons & Dragons. Many fans have actually already made alignment charts with the show’s characters. Jimmy represents, at least in the beginning, Chaotic Good: He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations… He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society. On the other hand, his brother Chuck represents Lawful Evil. That is, he takes what he wants within the limits of the code of conduct, but without regard for whom it hurts. Watching Kim, it’s clear that she naturally cares for others and wants to help the underdog, thus making her Good. Early on in the show, we might have confused this with Lawfulness. But a careful analysis shows that she never really prioritized order. For example, many of Kim’s apparently moralistic appeals consider order but do not feel personally obligated to them, likely landing her in the category of Neutral Good, a place between lawful and chaotic. For example, when Jimmy fabricates evidence to help a client, Kim is upset not because he breaks the law, but because he’s putting his new job, and her reputation via connection to him, at risk. In response, Jimmy brings up the tequila con. Her response? They finish the conversation with her saying that she prefers to never hear about this sort of thing ever again, implying that she’s willing to turn a blind eye if Jimmy must keep up with his cons.
As the seasons develop, however, we see that Kim increasingly accepts unlawfulness from both Jimmy, moniker Saul and herself – as long as it furthers her visions for Good. And this is where viewers may start to see that Kim is good even when she’s bad because she’s doing “the right thing” even when she’s in the wrong in the eyes of the law. Though as she increasingly rejects her American Dream success, she slides more towards chaos and even disdain for her paid work, especially when she sees it maintains the elite’s power and continues to hurt the disenfranchised. When she’s tasked with talking a homeowner off his property so her firm’s client can build a call center there, the homeowner calls her out on exactly what she’s feeling conflicted about. She does confront him, with an argument that prioritizes Lawfulness. But when her colleagues congratulate her and she walks away, she says “I didn’t solve anything.” Here, it seems she’s increasingly resenting the sometimes negative way Lawfulness overrides her instinct for Good.
When She Veers Into Chaos
In Season 5, Kim’s ties to the corporate world fray at the edges even more. After almost losing Jimmy in a near-death situation, she quits her high-paying job and abandons Mesa Verde to do pro bono work full-time. However, this Atticus Finch work just doesn’t pay as well in our capitalist world. As she and Jimmy both grow in their love for each other and rejection of the Lawful Evil around them, Kim crafts a plan that brings her Neutral Good too close to Chaos.
Her plan is to basically ruin the career of erstwhile colleague, Howard Hamlin, which would force his firm to settle the Sandpiper case and give Jimmy $2 million. She and Jimmy hold resentment towards him for many reasons, which all essentially connect back to who he is and what he represents. Once described as a “Kennedy-esque lawyer who’s winning at life”, Howard represents Lawful Neutral: He was born into privilege and seeks to keep it, and will therefore not allow any basic Goodness to jeopardize his order in the world. In a powerful scene in season 4, Kim confronts Howard for the insensitivity he’s shown Jimmy in the wake of his brother’s death. She knows that the hardest thing for him to hear would be that he has no power in the situation. But even oft-Chaotic Saul thinks ruining his career might be taking it too far. He tells her it’s not like her to think like this, and that the real Kim wouldn’t be OK with it. Then, those famous last words: “Wouldn’t I?”
Setting someone up to ruin their career is not in itself Good, but Kim and Jimmy rationalize it by saying that the money they’ll win will allow Kim to do her low-paying pro bono work without worrying about the bills. This is not dissimilar to Walter White’s claim that he was making drugs to leave money for his family, but as we all know, it really was for his own ego all along – Chaotic Evil. Kim is much more loyal to her noble cause and again upholds her Goodness. But here, the thrill and disdain for privileged people and systemic issues spin her neutrality and flexibility with flawed rules too far toward chaos. We see her at her most enthusiastic – even too enthusiastic Howard is becoming increasingly desperate and Kim just doesn’t care. But when their scheming indirectly causes Howard’s murder, something snaps in Kim. She’s willing, at first, to do whatever she needs to protect herself and Jimmy, but she can’t practice law any more in good conscience. She can’t even be in Albuquerque, or with Jimmy, anymore. Without Kim, Jimmy spins even more into chaos, ending the prequel in the way we already tragically know. But in the final episodes, we see what Kim’s been up to: She’s reinvented her life in Florida, and prioritized dull order as if to repent. Ultimately, festering guilt drives her, over six years later, to admit what happened to Howard’s widow. She also gets word that Jimmy has been arrested and flies to see him in court. Then, that famous cry. They see each other in court, and Jimmy is encouraged by her, one last time, to swing closer to the law. She recognizes this, visits him in jail, and they share a cigarette one last time – or so we think. When she’s leaving, Jimmy does his signature handgun move, which Kim also did when she first hatched that plan to ruin Howard’s career. She doesn’t do it back, but if you look closely, her fingers seem to begin to.
CONCLUSION
If there ever were a lesson in how to make a likable, complicated character, it would be Kim Wexler. One of the things that makes her stand out in the show is that she’s incredibly selfless. She’s truly Good, and that’s perhaps why we love her so much. Alec Bojalad writes in Den of Geek, “She sacrifices her fun for the good of humanity…It’s her punishment, her penance. Every day that she spends eating Miracle Whip is a day that someone else isn’t getting hurt”. Still, we can’t help but wonder: does she need to endure endless dullness to truly repent? What better role can a person like Kim Wexler really have in this world? What Good could they help us see?
Sources:
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