wolves and sheep: a jimmy/kim dynamic analysis, primarily centered around the masks they wear and the roles we see fluctuating between them. (please take this with a grain of salt, these are just my personal viewpoints and what i see as far as canon goes, as well as what i've been able to knit together into what i believe to be reasonable assumptions.)
"there is no greater love than the love the wolf feels for the lamb-it-doesn't-eat." ─── hélène cixous, stigmata: escaping texts.
jimmy and kim begin in the mailroom together: one settling for the simplicity of taking bets and delivering mail, and the other paying her dues to get where she wants to be. in the flashback we see to kim and jimmy in the mailroom, we are able to get a glimpse at the ways kim has always propelled jimmy forward throughout the years. jimmy seemingly has no want to leave the mailroom at this point in time, until he witnesses howard and chuck discussing how that will be kim soon. in this moment, we see the realization striking jimmy that she will be moving forward, moving on, and by extension, away from him. by the time we see this scene unfold, we already have an understanding that later in the timeline, jimmy pursues a law degree and passes the bar. one part in want to appease and impress his brother, but in my opinion, another because jimmy’s want for kim surpassed his want to simply settle and exist in the comfortable realm he’d previously been alright with.
we see very early on in the series that jimmy has no issue with settling: running “ slippin’ jimmy “ schemes to be able to simply breeze through life but not at a particularly extravagant rate. but as we progress through the series, where kim goes, jimmy follows: no matter where it ends up. the most prominent display of this is jimmy taking the job at davis & main. we know that jimmy has no real want to play by the rules, or to suit up and work in such a setting without ulterior motivation behind it. with hamlin hamlin and mcgill, jimmy’s motivation to want to work there was driven by his want to be accepted by his brother. yet, with davis & main, we see the same drive that set jimmy in motion toward his law degree: one part about his brother, the other primarily about kim. even when jimmy doctors the documents to sabotage chuck, it’s for kim – but i would argue that this isn’t as significant as his transition to davis & main, because it still aligns with who jimmy is as a person. he cuts corners, wins by any means, and in contrast, davis & main was the opposite of who jimmy was, yet still was pursued because of his love and respect for kim.
this love and respect extends even more so when “ giselle “ and “ viktor “ come into play. these alternate versions of self that they use to con people allow jimmy’s old dream ( to work with chuck / be accepted and established as a refined lawyer ) to die, and a new one to blossom. he now sees this world of possibilities with kim, and whilst he knows that she wouldn’t ever pursue a life of conning full time with him, it’s something that he respects even more. jimmy can’t con his way in or out of anything with kim in the way he does the rest of his life, ( although at points he does try ) and it makes her all the more desirable when they con together. as these moments of crime progress from simple bar schemes into much more, jimmy is blinded by his excitement of the moments and joy of having a partner in crime that he loves so much. even still, most things that kim does are for “ the greater good, “ and gives jimmy quite a bit to admire. but as things travel down more dangerous paths, reality begins to sink in: one little moment at a time.
as we transition through the timeline, kim and jimmy have held this mischievous relationship for a while now, but as things move on, what once were portrayed as small moments of excitement and fun begin to transform into much more serious crime. jimmy still goes the extra mile for kim at any cost, but now the price to pay is much higher as the cartel becomes involved. still, jimmy is too blinded to really see what is happening within kim. even when she begins to suggest the plot against howard, jimmy is unsure, yet still refuses to see. jimmy’s hesitance is clearly shown in these moments, not fully committing or jumping into things with kim as she may have expected. regardless, we see kim propel jimmy forward once more – however unintentional it may be.
much earlier on, way back in season two, chuck warns kim in front of jimmy. he even says that jimmy has “ ruined “ kim. these words circle back to jimmy as he sees kim put the wheels in motion for howard's destruction, and cause great hesitance and truly, concern. he even says to kim that “ this isn’t her, “ but is brushed off. we see this parallel here, reminiscent of something chuck says in earlier episodes: jimmy can’t help himself. even when jimmy hesitates when going to plant the coke on howard, and kim asks if he’s alright, it is enough to make him feel justified in some sense. because kim wants this too, right? he didn’t ruin her: he’s her partner, and she is his, in every sense of the word. this hesitation is a brief flicker of recognition, seeing something he's been avoiding looking towards or at, yet still choosing to dismiss it to further justify and extend the context of their relationship. was this always somewhere in kim? maybe, perhaps. would it have happened without jimmy? we’ll never truly know. but what we do know, is that without him, she may still be the law abiding, successful and renowned lawyer he admired so deeply. instead, in the framework of this scene, we see the deep desire and want and refusal to let go manifesting in visible damage and outward effects that can no longer be denied.
i believe the moment where jimmy’s eyes are truly opened, is in the interaction with the kettlemans. ( carrot and stick: season six / episode 2. ) we see jimmy offering money to the kettlemans, and when denied, kim steps in. she blackmails them clearly, confidently, and brutally. she gets what she wants, and then leaves: with jimmy still lingering behind, before eventually following. this is representative of jimmy’s life. jimmy leads, kim follows. kim leaves, jimmy follows. as we watch this scene with the kettlemans, we see jimmy fold inward. he doesn’t speak, or even make eye contact with anyone in the room. i believe it’s because jimmy is seeing, for the first time, the effects he’s had on her without any kind of buffer or filter to deny it. chuck’s words circle back around once more, and this time there is no justification or denial in the world that can help him.
when jimmy leaves and meets kim in the car, she mentions that he gave them the money that was originally offered, ( although, now not needed to incentivise the kettlemans to stay quiet. ) and jimmy doesn’t respond: instead saying “ wolves and sheep, “ calling back to a flashback scene ( in season two ) with jimmy and his father, where a con man ( who has just conned his father out of ten dollars ) explains that there are two kinds of people in the world. wolves, and sheep. in the beginning, when this scene is shown, we are still of the understanding that jimmy turns out to be a wolf, and kim is a sheep. here, with jimmy’s eyes to the ground and kim brutally blackmailing the kettlemans, the roles have reversed. jimmy parallels his father ( referred to as a sheep ) by giving the kettlemans the money, and a sense of doubt sparks that the wolf jimmy has portrayed himself as has ever existed. when we consider his father’s endless do-good outlook, and arguably, naivety, we also have to ask: did jimmy simply wear a wolf’s mask to survive despite inwardly, being a sheep himself?
earlier in season five, we are given another glimpse at this portrayal of kim as a wolf. when lalo shows up at their apartment and tries to intimidate jimmy into saying the truth of the story in the desert, jimmy is feeble and stutters his way through his story several times. in contrast, kim steps in, and similar to the way she defends jimmy in the confrontation with chuck about mesa verde, she defends him now. she challenges lalo, looks him in the eye and even whilst knowing he’s a cartel member, still argues against him. jimmy stands in the background, quiet, as she does so: the same way that he did as she ruthlessly defended him in the confrontation with chuck, ( and similarly how we see her behave in carrot and stick ) except now, the threat is twenty times what was in her argument with chuck. now, their lives are on the line.
still, kim is outwardly fearless, going toe to toe with lalo. this portrayal of kim is something we’ve seen before, but the stakes are much higher and incredibly more dangerous. and yet, as a wolf does, she grits her teeth and stands her ground. this conversation occurs right after jimmy tries to warn kim of going down a “ bad choice road “ as he has done, and as mike has discussed with him. jimmy is shown, almost directly after the conversation with kim, that those warnings are far too late now. there is no going back. kim has made choices, the same as jimmy, and whether or not he influenced them isn’t the point anymore: the reality is that the choices that led to lalo at their door were ones that only kim could prevent the consequences of. jimmy does not save them, kim does. again, and again, in these later seasons, we begin to see that jimmy wears the mask of saul: a wolf. but underneath it all is simply a sheep refusing to accept its own existence. over time, we see that kim is wearing the mask of a sheep, while underneath there is nothing but the wolf that jimmy aspires to be.
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