The Reason Better Call Saul Fans Think Kim Wexler Was In Breaking Bad
To date, Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul has aired a total of 50 episodes over its five seasons on AMC. By the time its final episode hits the airwaves, Better Call Saul will have been around longer than its predecessor. Some might even argue Better Call Saul is the better show. And yet, like the lawyer and burgeoning criminal mastermind at its center, the series remains egregiously overlooked, perpetually stuck in the shadow of something far more prominent.
Part of that is because Better Call Saul is a prequel in every way to Breaking Bad, which became a cultural touchstone during its run on AMC. As Better Call Saul seeks to flesh out very specific pre-game stories from that era-defining drama, a certain level of homage is not just expected, but also necessary given that certain characters and storylines from Breaking Bad were in motion before Walter White (Bryan Cranston) rose to power as the meth-making Heisenberg.
Indeed, the first five seasons of Better Call Saul – which tracks the transformation of Bob Odenkirk's con-loving Jimmy McGill into Breaking Bad's ambulance chasing money launderer Saul Goodman — have seen homage a-plenty through dozens of subtle and not-so-subtle nods towards the iconic series that preceded it. One of the slyer winks came on Better Call Saul's second season, during a scene that found Jimmy and his partner Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) running game on a hot-shot banker in a local bar. Ultimately, they hustled the guy to the tune of a $10,000 check, which Jimmy insisted be made out to "Ice Station Zebra Associates."
That name should have bells going off in the heads of Breaking Bad fans. Its mention has even led some to think Kim — who never appeared on the OG series — might've been working on the periphery of Breaking Bad's narrative all along.
Better Call Saul's "Ice Station Zebra Associates" reference might be more than just a clever callback to Breaking Bad
On Breaking Bad, "Ice Station Zebra Associates" is the name of the phony holding company Saul Goodman used to launder cash. Its name-drop on Better Call Saul initially seemed like a clever callback to Jimmy's future endeavors, but it may also signal a far more compelling twist for Kim and Jimmy.
As it is, fans have wondered since Better Call Saul's pilot episode not if but when things would go bad for the pair, with many assuming Jimmy's escalating malfeasance would eventually result in Kim cutting and running. Though Kim has frequently played voice of reason for Jimmy, she's also shown a propensity for breaking bad herself, as evidenced by her helping hustle that $10,000 check. The duo never cashed it, but Kim clearly got a serious buzz from merely obtaining it, and has since undertaken several more increasingly daring schemes with Jimmy. She also just married Jimmy, even as he continues spiral into moral and ethical oblivion before her very eyes.
Combined with the "Ice Station Zebra Associates" tease, theories now abound that after going all in with Jimmy, the danger-loving Kim herself might've ended up running point on Jimmy's money laundering schemes. That would indeed be a dramatic, even heartbreaking shift for the generally noble-hearted Kim Wexler. It would also add to the tragedy of Jimmy McGill's morally vacuous narrative if he'd left her behind or even scapegoated her when he ran off and took on the Gene Takavic identity after the events of Breaking Bad — even more so if Kim ended up in prison as a result.
As the end of Better Call Saul is officially on the horizon, fans will learn the truth soon enough. The real question now becomes just how badly Vince Gilligan wants to break their hearts.