Better Call Saul just aired its mid-season finale, and it was a very dramatic episode that sets up what is expected to be a thrilling final run of episodes. In a new interview, Kim Wexler actress Rhea Seehorn discusses the compelling events of "Plan and Execution" and also touches on the possibility of a Kim Wexler spin-off sometime down the road.
BETTER CALL SAUL SPOILERS BELOW
At the end of Better Call Saul's mid-season finale, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) is murdered by Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) in Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim's apartment. Howard had come to see Jimmy and Kim to confront them about their scheme to undermine and interrupt his life, and he just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when Lalo showed up to meet with Jimmy. Lalo uses a silenced pistol to shoot Howard through the head, and in this moment, Jimmy and Kim's actions finally catch up with them, in a deadly way.
Speaking to Deadline, Seehorn said this scene represents a "seismic shift" in the character arcs of Jimmy and Kim. "This is the embodiment of what Kim and Jimmy have been pretending is not true this whole season--that there are no consequences to their actions," she said. "That they're not actually harming anyone, and now a person is dying at their feet, and I think that is a seismic shift that would happen in somebody when that goes down. It remains to be seen where Kim will go with that, what she will do with it. It's traumatic."
Seehorn also commented that it was a particularly difficult scene because Fabian, who plays Howard, was like a big brother to her.
"We're very close and I love him, and it also was just another side of like oh, right, the show is actually ending. Like for real. Like they're not going to take this back. It's happening. It was sad," Seehorn said.
Howard's role on Better Call Saul expanded in Season 6, and he became a fan-favorite. Seehorn said that, even though he was killed off, he went out with a bang--quite literally.
"I was thrilled that they gave him so much to do in these last couple of moments because I think he's a tremendous actor and I knew he would not only rise to the occasion but surpass it. So, that's the part we'd have to celebrate. It's like okay, if you got to go, at least you're going to go in fashion," she said.
Howard's death was not the only shocker in Better Call Saul's final season, as another fan-favorite character, Nacho (Michael Mando), died in a similarly dramatic and unexpected way in an earlier episode. Both Howard and Nacho do not appear in Breaking Bad, which is set after Better Call Saul, so fans had speculated that something might happen to one or both of them.
Kim, too, also does not appear in Breaking Bad, and some are fearing the worst for her. Her fate remains unknown, but she's so popular among fans that many have called for a Kim Wexler spin-off. Seehorn said in the interview that co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould do have ideas for additional stories to tell for Kim and other characters, but they also want to "step away from this franchise for a beat."
"So, that's all I can say about that. You'd have to ask them for specifics beyond that. Nobody is being coy about anything, but I'm also very grateful that they and fans feel like there is an ellipse to who Kim is and who Kim was," Seehorn said.
Better Call Saul returns for the second half of its final season in July. Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will appear in the final run of episodes as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, respectively.