'Better Call Saul' stars on Kim, Jimmy and what happens next - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

‘Better Call Saul’: Kim and Jimmy got married. But what’s next for Kim?

Share via

“Better Call Saul” might focus on Jimmy McGill, who now goes by Saul Goodman (and who is played by Bob Odenkirk), and his endless legal schemes, but it would be a very different show without his main squeeze, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). The pair met in the mail room of a law office years ago, became lawyers, fell in love and — this season — finally wed.

Still, like many things “Saul,” their relationship is both central to the story and a slow-burning mystery. After all, Kim is nowhere to be seen in the “Breaking Bad” future. Dialed in on a video call, Odenkirk and Seehorn discussed where Kim is heading, the couple’s sex life — and whom they’d “better call” if they need legal assistance.

Five seasoned entertainment journalists predict the shows and performances the Television Academy will honor with Emmys; do you agree with their picks?

Sept. 16, 2020

Since Kim isn’t part of “Breaking Bad,” do you ever speculate on where they’re both headed?

Advertisement

Odenkirk: As an executive producer, I could go into the writers room and find out what the whole season is going to be about. I do go visit the writers — but I never look at the [story] board. I don’t want to know. I want to do the scene I’m in and that’s it.

Though you do know about Jimmy/Saul’s future, because of “Breaking Bad.”

Odenkirk: I do and I don’t. I mean, what do I know? We never saw Saul go home [on “Bad”]. We don’t know if he takes off the suit and tie and is living with Kim and they have a kid. I don’t think that’s the case — I think she’s out of his life. Dead or married and living across town and it’s driving him crazy.

Advertisement

Seehorn: I was a bit more obsessive about wanting to know [early on]. I’d get each new script and make sure I wasn’t dead. But that’s an actor’s response to not wanting the party to be over yet. And I let it go. It was good for me to be reminded that you need to play what’s in the moment.

“Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn sits down with Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Times to talk about her show and looking forward to filming Season 5.

After five years, how has your working relationship evolved?

Advertisement

Odenkirk: It’s all about trust. We mentally approach this thing with a similar degree of seriousness, appreciation and focus. There’s a lot to look for in these scripts. It’s worth your effort to take the script apart and explore the subtext of it.

Seehorn: I trust Bob’s endgame. He’s trying to tell the best story he can while he creates his character, and I’m doing the same.

Does it tickle you that fans have such granular discussions about the show?

Seehorn: It’s thrilling that people are worried about my character. It’s a kind of pinch-yourself moment to have both critics and fans be kind. They’re excessive, but they’re smart.

Odenkirk: Maybe not all things [fans] notice have a value, but the majority of little details that stick out end up being purposefully chosen, and then have resonance later. This is the reason we could never have done our show the way we’ve done it if it wasn’t for “Breaking Bad.” The show taught the audience to watch closely. They have the patience for our show.

Inspired by the Season 4 finale of “Better Call Saul,” star Bob Odenkirk reveals the secret to performing karaoke -- even if you can’t sing.

Advertisement

Jimmy and Kim are married now, but they have what is described as a nontraditional TV romance. As in, not a lot of physical contact.

Odenkirk: If I was to sit in your house and watch you and your husband, would I see a lot of making out going on?

Well, the show of me and my husband has not been greenlighted yet. And TV tends to be a heightened reality.

Odenkirk: The show is not about how much sex they have. It’s about other aspects of their personality. But I’ll grant you that they do seem like colleagues more than anything.

Seehorn: I have people talk to me about how real the relationship looks. That that has to do with being able to sit silently while they eat takeout food or watch TV. There is a realness to them.

Odenkirk: Kim once asked Jimmy to go to a therapist, and he said he would. Then later, he just looks at her and says, “I don’t think this is what will work for me.” She says, “I understand.” I said to [co-showrunner] Peter [Gould], “Holy ...! That’s a relationship that can last.”

Advertisement

Seehorn: I’m incredibly thankful, especially as a woman in this business, that this relationship is about so many more interesting things than [physicality]. There’s an episode where you see partial nudity, and [Jimmy] says, “I have to tell you something.” The intimacy of that scene has nothing to do with how many clothes they finally took off. That resonates with people.

If either of you were in need of legal help in real life, would you hire Jimmy or Kim?

Seehorn: I would hire Kim Wexler for sure. But I’d want to get a drink with both of them.

Odenkirk: I wouldn’t go near Jimmy or Saul. I’d smell him from across the room. I would know he’s a shifty dude, and I don’t believe people like that. I don’t vote for them for high office, and I don’t go near them.

Teaser trailer for “Better Call Saul” Season 5.

When “Better Call Saul” ended its fourth season, Bob Odenkirk’s resourceful, disbarred lawyer Jimmy McGill had been reinstated, announcing to long-suffering legal and life partner Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) that he intended to now practice law under the name Saul Goodman.

April 8, 2019

Advertisement