Better Call Saul's Julie Ann Emery Finally Addresses Those Karen Comparisons
This article contains some spoilers for "Better Call Saul" Season 6, Episodes 1 and 2.
AMC's "Better Call Saul"' has finally returned from its long hiatus to the excitement of its adoring audience. This season, the series will conclude, providing an ending to the evolving story of chicanerous lawyer Jimmy McGill, who eventually becomes slick local celebrity Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk).
Among the many people who Jimmy/Saul has tried to help but ultimately hindered during his time practicing in New Mexico are Betsy (Julie Ann Emery) and Craig (Jeremy Shamos) Kettleman. Craig is a white-collar crook who embezzles $1 million from his treasury job, and the Kettlemans call on Jimmy to prove Craig's innocence. Jimmy tries to do so, while Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) urges them to take a plea deal, which Betsy refuses to do, all the while proclaiming Craig's innocence. But Jimmy ultimately catches them hiding a duffel bag filled with cash, proving Craig's guilt. After some manipulation on Jimmy's part, Craig ends up taking Kim's plea deal and goes to prison.
The twosome shocked fans by resurfacing during the Season 6 premiere. The Kettlemans have definitely come down in the world a little bit. Their kids are going to public school, for heaven's sake! So after some manipulation, they board Jimmy and Kim's plan to get revenge on Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) by ruining his life and reputation with accusations that he's a drug addict, in exchange for an exoneration for Craig.
That's some pretty cold behavior — perhaps, some might say, even Karenesque. And with that in mind, Emery weighed in on fan's notion that Betsy is a "Karen" — defined by the BBC as "a specific type of middle-class white woman, who exhibits behaviors that stem from privilege."
Julie Ann Emery finds those Karen comparisons apt for Betsy
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Julie Ann Emery says that she can understand why fans see some Karen-like behaviors in her Betsy Kettleman character. That's because she also notices them.
"Watching the internet over the last few years and seeing the rise of the 'Karens' has been really shocking to me. Maybe these people have always existed, but they're just coming out of the woodwork and making themselves very vocal on the internet," the actress said. "But there are these people that feel entitled to whatever they deem good for their lives and their families." She subsequently admitted, "that's very much Betsy. So she doesn't see the law as her barometer." It's all about trying to get the family out of its financial scrape, by any means necessary.
Will Betsy and Craig make it through to the "Better Call Saul" series finale? Fans will have to find out by tuning in every Monday night at 9 p.m. EST.