As she got up to take a shower, Jimmy stammered, Kim, youre shing me, right?
What exactly just happened to one of prime-time’s most complicated and mesmerizing couples?
What line(s) did Kim just cross?
Credit: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
What was the biggest challenge in bringing this surprising, intriguing, off-kilter bond to life this season?
BOB ODENKIRK: It was a huge and challenging moment for sure.
And she proposes that they get married.
Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television
And it was very, very hard.
When we read it, both of us hesitated.
And she did it.
RHEA SEEHORN: The whole season was a twist.
As well as finger-pointing shooting in the finale I found incredibly challenging.
We have to navigate these things together.
But they were incredibly challenging.
In a good way.
ODENKIRK:We really work together to make that moment feel [honest].
You walk away from it unsure if it’s going to work.
One of the reasons is, Kim is cunning and there’s a lot of thought going into it.
I mean, you could see it and they give us the time to play that thinking.
So you know it’s not a proposal with a big smile on her face.
ODENKIRK:You just know it has a lot of logic behind it, of some kind.
And I knew that moment would be deadly if I gave myself the transition.
[Laughs] She prefers pragmatism and logic.
There has to be a right answer.
It’s solution-oriented thinking.
And we knew we needed to find a way to play that moment honestly.
Theres an ominous tone in the air when she answers, Wouldnt I?
[Laughs] It’s a lot to navigate those moments!
ODENKIRK:Yeah, it’s a very strange moment.
and give him a logic for why he becomes Saul Goodman.
So the show is really mutated into the question of Who is Kim Wexler?
That’s the real mystery that we have.
And that moment is the ultra-mysterious moment of all that we’ve seen.
They’ve set up, I guess, she could be that.
Another way to look at it is… maybe she’s crazier than he is.
[Laughs]
SEEHORN:Bobs right.
Its all of those things.
When I say we asked for rehearsal, its because it’s a lot.
It also makes the people more human.
Jimmy and Kim are more human and sometimes even accessible and they’re relationship-accessible because people do unpredictable things.
You see it in the scene that she has with Howard as well this people-need-to- tell-me-what’s-good-for-me kind of crap.
What if I have something else inside me?
Earlier in the episode, Jimmy had asked her, Am I bad for you?
And at the end of the episode when he looks stunned by the Wouldnt I?
comment and the finger guns, is that question burning in his brain even more?
ODENKIRK:I think he’s horrified!
Its almost like the rule about pulling a gun.
Everyone watching has wondered, Who is she, really?
What’s her past?
And we saw a little glimpse of it, but we really don’t know who she is.
Now that, to me, is the mystery of the show that you want sorted out.
I think there’s two mysteries: Who is she really?
And what happens to Gene after all thisBreaking Badstuff happens?
He can’t stay undercover, hidden, obviously, so what happens to him?
SEEHORN:I’ve always been attracted to that [Gene] story.
I love watching the black-and-white pieces they do about Gene and answering those questions.
As far as, What is really happening in that scene?
in the finale and Jimmys reaction to Kim and what Kims doing, the Wouldnt I?
She’s actually purposely obscuring some part of whether or not it’s completely truthful.
To what level is she playing a game?
And I agree with Bob.
I don’t think that the writers are ever so manipulative that they’re just like, Oh!
She said she was an ax murderer, but she was kidding!
I don’t think that they would be that ridiculous.
But yeah, I thought Bob looked horrified.
Do you think she has in it in her?
And it’s going to become something.
Because they don’t reveal moments like that just to tease the audience.
SEEHORN:Something’s there and something is amiss or suppressed or revealing itself….
These people that didn’t make their own way are in her mind stepping on the little people.
There’s definitely truth to the sentiment, and I think they mean to ratchet it up.
In episode 9, Kim was improvising a bit when she was defusing the Lalo situation for Jimmy.
How long do you think shes been mulling over this Sandpiper scheme?
SEEHORN:That’s absolutely a fair observation.
And then it’s six.
And then it’s nine.
The script read [that] she’s less halting, although they keep one-upping each other.
They were fun, but they weren’t necessary to understand why Peter ultimately didn’t use him….
I don’t know how long she’s been mulling it over.
ODENKIRK:I think it’s nuts!
I think it’s kind of scary.
You see a little fear on Jimmys face as she walks away and does the playful gun shooting.
[Both laugh] But I look at Saul the same way.
Saul is someone to avoid in real life and someone to enjoy on the screen.
SEEHORN:Thats true.
Wasn’t that funny?
It’s a bit menacing to do that, even playfully.
There’s something very odd about it.
What were the intentions of that moment?
SEEHORN:I think you nailed it on the head.
He’s thinking about, Maybe we should separate.
And I think it’s because of what happened in the desert.
It was not a joke what happened to him at the desert; it was life-threatening and frightening.
So I love that they give him this growth in self-awareness.
The last images of the season were Lalo marching off with determination, knowing he’s been betrayed.
How worried should Nacho be?
is surely a legitimate question, but also what about Jimmy and Kim?
ODENKIRK:Oh man!
Everybody should be f-out-of-their mind scared!
SEEHORN:One hundred percent.
I mean, its really frightening.
I think the audience should be terrified for them.
Jimmy and Kim’s relationship has become one of TV’s most complex, intriguing and unpredictable relationships.
What are you two rooting for?
Do you want them to end up together, even though obviously we don’t see her inBreaking Bad?
These guys don’t make people die just to be dramatic.
It’s almost easy to make Kim die and then that’s a huge shock to their system.
SEEHORN:Its so hard to say.
As an actor, I don’t want to get out of the sandbox.
I love them together, but Im also incredibly frustrated by them together.
What early hints can you drop about season 6?
There’s a plan that’s seemingly about to be hatched…
SEEHORN:I know nothing.
ODENKIRK:I don’t know a thing.
SEEHORN:The writers just started reassembling.
ODENKIRK:So they’re moving along real well.
I’ll say this about season 6: I hope we get to shoot it!
[Laughs] I hope we figure out a way.
SEEHORN:I hope we dont do it over Zoom.
And how would Jimmy and Kim do in quarantine?
Jimmy wouldn’t last a week in quarantine.
That guy would be out there doing stupid stuff.
I’m doing pretty good.
[Both laugh]
SEEHORN:I mean, the good news is they like each others company.
But they both have itches to scratch.
ODENKIRK: They’re antsy, antsy people.
