Is Kim Wexler okay? The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul premieres on Monday, April 18 on AMC, considering the brutal final season of Breaking Bad, the final season of Better Call Saul is sure to come with deadly surprises. Or not? Maybe it will be nice and peaceful and everyone will walk hand in hand into the Albuquerque sunset and a title card will reveal that Breaking Bad was all a dream.
The fate of many characters on Better Call Saul has always been in question, considering these characters do not appear on Breaking Bad. What we do know leading up to the final season of Better Call Saul is that Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston will reprise their roles as Jesse Pinkman and Walter White. Gustavo Fring will survive because (spoiler alert) his face gets blown off by Hector Salamanca with the help of Walter White on Breaking Bad. While Mike Ehrmantraut lasts longer than Gus, he’ll also die at the hands of Walter White.
It’s been a long, painful two-year wait, but now that it’s here, I’m kind of mad that the adventures of Slippin’ Jimmy and Kim Wexler, the kinkiest couple on television, are almost over. Here is a guide to who will live and who will die on Better Call Saul season six.
Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman/Gene Takavic
Survival rate: It’s not all good, man
Jimmy McGill will die metaphorically speaking as he gets more absorbed in his criminal lawyer persona Saul Goodman. Saul Goodman’s impact on Jimmy’s personal life is the fate we’re most interested in watching unfold, considering it’s the entire premise of the show. After all these years of seeing Gene, the Omaha shopping mall Cinnabon manager who is paranoid about getting caught, chances are the end of the series won’t be smooth sailing for him. A fairy tale ending for Jimmy and Kim would be personally satisfying to me, but for Jimmy/Saul/Gene survival is not looking good, as Saul Goodman’s past could come to haunt Gene with characters from his past coming to get him. Or, alternatively, the law could find him and lock him up for his many, many crimes. And as a lowly Cinnabon manager on the run, he’s more powerless than ever.
Kim Wexler
Survival rate: Calm but cautious
Kim Wexler’s unknown fate is one of the most compelling mysteries Better Call Saul has always taken advantage of quite cruelly. Kim Wexler is a no-nonsense lawyer but is lured into nonsense when she’s with Jimmy McGill, her bestie, his on-and-off-again girlfriend, literal partner in crime, and eventual wife. While her complete absence from Breaking Bad doesn’t bode well for Kim, if she was going to die, she’d probably be dead already. In season five, the writers treated the audience cruelly by putting Kim face to face with dangerous people like Lalo Salamanca, but she proved she can handle it just as smoothly – perhaps even more smoothly – than her husband. The best argument for Kim’s death in Better Call Saul is her absence from Breaking Bad. The best argument for her survival is that Saul Goodman’s personal life is barely seen on Breaking Bad, so he could be married to Kim and thus, at the end of Breaking Bad, has to abandon her to start over. Personally, my toxic hope for Kim is that we discover she was married to Saul throughout the entire run of Breaking Bad, and that they have some sort of reunion in the future at Cinnabon.
Ignacio “Nacho” Varga
Survival rate: Screaming, crying, throwing up
Oh, sweet, sweet Nacho. There is little hope for the cunning right-hand man to cartel crime lords in the Salamanca family. Everything is always working against Nacho: he longs for a peaceful life free of crime, but just when he gets close to getting out, he’s pulled back in (very Italian of him!). Nacho has been in a vulnerable position for a while as a mole within the Salamanca family on behalf of Gustavo Fring. Nacho left season five in a precarious position: escaping Lalo’s house, where he had let assassins in to kill him. There’s a slim chance Nacho survives the season, let alone makes it back to Albuquerque. I am personally rooting for Nacho to grab the fake IDs in his safe so he and his father can live a peaceful life together far, far, away from all this. Nacho is mentioned on Breaking Bad in passing by Saul in his first episode, but it’s possible Saul is unaware of Nacho’s fate. Unfortunately, Nacho’s survival is about as likely as me marrying Oscar Isaac.
Lalo Salamanca
Survival rate: Looking good
Even in death, Lalo Salamanca – and Tony Dalton’s extraordinary performance – will live in our hearts and minds forever. At this point, things are coming up Lalo, so his fate seems pretty secure: he just escaped an assassination attempt and like Nacho, Lalo is mentioned by Saul on Breaking Bad, who is relieved when he finds out that Walter and Jesse aren’t working for Lalo. This line suggests that Lalo is alive, and it’s unlikely that the writers would rewrite their own history. The biggest question with Lalo is the biggest question with Kim Wexler: why is this character completely absent from Breaking Bad?
Howard Hamlin
Survival rate: 50/50
Howard Hamlin will most likely sail through the final season smoothly, but he could be a goner as a result of collateral damage or getting embroiled in something he doesn’t understand, such as Jimmy’s involvement with the cartel. Howard has always been an antagonist to Jimmy throughout the series, but a death — especially if it’s an indirect result of Jimmy’s involvement with the cartel and the Salamancas — could be the ultimate, unexpected gut punch.
Manuel Varga
Survival rate: Not looking good!
Hate to do this to you, hate to have this thought, but Nacho is not safe. If Nacho is not safe, neither is anyone close to him, including his innocent father Manuel who just wants to run his upholstery store in peace after being terrorized by the likes of Hector and Lalo Salamanca for years.
