For those not familiar with the show, Kim is played by actress Rhea Seehorn, and she is the breakout star of that series (with apologies to Nacho, and Gus, and Uncle Hector). In short, she is a fabulous actress and amazing discovery. Vince Gilligan and company do a spectacular job of casting truly special people. Aaron Paul in BREAKING BAD and Rhea Seehorn in BETTER CALL SAUL.
Like most really great characters in the BREAKING BAD universe, she slowly evolves and her character changes. It requires a subtlety and a level of skill few actors have. And she has it in spades. Also a mysterious side that's very intriguing.
As a result, I, along with just about every BETTER CALL SAUL fan fell in love with “Kim.” She had the best scene in this week’s episode and her confrontation with the scary drug king was the highlight of last season.
One of the many great things about Gilligan’s shows is that he builds genuine gut-wrenching suspense. He’s not above killing main characters. And since Kim never appeared in BREAKING BAD there is concern she doesn’t survive this season. Hopefully that’s not the case. There are however, clues that suggest she is still among the living. After all, we never saw Saul’s home life in BREAKING BAD. She could have been there all along feeding the fish. And in Saul’s new life with a new identity he’s in Omaha and Kim is from Nebraska. Might she be part of his new life? All of this is conjecture, and knowing the producers, the answer is something no one but them has thought of.
It’s so exciting to discover wonderful talent. I felt that with Aaron Paul (who was in a pilot of ours), also Bruce Willis (guesting on MIAMI VICE long ago) Kurtwood Smith (appearing in ROBOCOP), Tatiana Maslany, Jenna Elfman, Jodie Comer, David Hyde Pierce, Tim Oliphant, Edie Falco, Omar Sy, and now Rhea Seehorn.
If you’re not a fan of BETTER CALL SAUL look for her in other things. She’ll be easy to spot. She’s the one who without even trying steals the scene.
There's a writer who's been on Better Call Saul for a number of years billed Ariel Levine.
ReplyDeleteAny relation?
Ken: I'm curious what Omar Sy show made you add him to your list. I "discovered" him in Lupin, on Netflix, and was instantly hooked by the show and his performance. Is there some other show of his I should watch?
ReplyDeleteThere's a song called "Ariel". By Dean Friedman.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/ONXQbbJJLuM
And a laundry detergent !
https://www.ariel.co.uk/en-gb
Can someone advise as to how I post a link that is "clickable" on here ?
Can someone advise as to how I post a link that is "clickable" on here ?
ReplyDeletestandard HTML protocol
Let's hope.Kim in the one good thing in Saul's life.
ReplyDeleteThere's another possibility. Kim goes to prison, or is in witness protection. I don't know, maybe it's wishful thinking, but I can't see them killing her off in the end.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I look forward to seeing Rhea Seehorn in more things after this. Same with Michael Mando and Patrick Fabian.
Kim is definitely the character that I am most interested in learning their ultimate fate. Season 4 had an episode with an opening sequence of Jimmy/Saul destroying his office before calling the vacuum store. He gave his secretary Francesca a card for a lawyer to use when the police came to question her and told her to tell the party on the card that "Jimmy sent ya." The obvious implication is that this is Kim, but I am starting to wonder if this would turn out to be Howard instead. Can't wait to see.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what this Better Call Saul show is, but that's the actress from the best show ever: Whitney.
ReplyDeleteWhat a discovery that was!
Ken, I first noticed - and liked - Seehorn in a show you hated: WHITNEY. She played one of Whitney's two close friends. I note that the other friend was played by Zoe Lister-Jones, who has also gone on to further success (LIFE IN PIECES, for example, and I think I just saw a piece about some new project she's in).
ReplyDeleteSeehorn is indeed great in BETTER CALL SAUL.
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Apropos of Bruce Willis, he appeared in an episode of the first Twilight Zone reboot called SHATTERDAY (based on Harlan Ellison's short story) that is terrific.
ReplyDeleteJust in case anyone’s wondering, Rhea Seahorn’s first name is pronounced RAY. It rhymes with Shea, as in Shea Stadium.
ReplyDeleteJim
How could you overlook in your list Antonio and Lowell?
ReplyDeleteAny chance Kim visited the Vacuum store... And that is why Sail knew and had plans for himself.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I are re-watching ER as we didn't see about half of it due to newborn kids at the time so it's been a fantastic re-watch and discovery. The guest stars each episode are something else to see now. The list is too long but the relevant bit here is Aaron Paul guests on it one week and his character in ER isn't too far from his Breaking Bad character. He of course does a great job.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to go way, way back, Rhea Seehorn played Teri Polo's sister in I'm With Her, which creator Chris Henchy based on his life with wife Brooke Shields. It didn't make it past a first season.
ReplyDeletePilot episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cP7YCulyMrA
I saw Rhea Seehorn in a livestreamed reading of Bill Corbett's Hate Mail. She and Paul F. Tompkins were hysterical.
ReplyDeleteI had never even heard of Rhea Seehorn before this post, but just with those eyes and lips alone I'm sold.
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ReplyDeleteThis show is one of the few that is worthy of "predicting" - which for many (most) is no more than projecting ones desires for one character or another.
(Mad Men was another "worthy show" - and we rarely got what we wanted. Exception, Matt Weiner threw us a bone and finally hooked up Stan and Peggy)
(FWIW the Stan actor admitted that he always lusted for Peggy - even though THAT was not often "on the page". And FWIW - he exhibited a crush for a few episodes after his first)
As for projection, I might be envious, but I don't see a lot of Jimmy/Kim chemistry. Especially in the early seasons, they've seemed more like siblings.
A few seasons back Gilligan was said to have backed off running BCS. His partner is now doing day-to-day. Does anyone know of a new Gilligan project?
Will I have to avoid the comments sections until I binge "Better Call Saul" in a month? I hope everyone keeps spoilers out of non-related posts. I haven't read comments on the past few articles. I binged "Breaking Bad" - ALL of it - over one weekend in 2013. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteKen-
ReplyDeleteYou're in luck!
The Mansion section in Friday's (4/22/22) Wall Street Journal has a profile of Rhea.
She is fantastic but Nacho is also great. SAVE NACHO!
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