Better Call Saul: Why The Item Kim Took From Her Office Is So Significant

Contains spoilers for Better Call Saul season 5, episode 9, "Bad Choice Road"

Kim Wexler left a lot of things behind on the latest episode of Better Call Saul season 5, but the one thing she didn't may foreshadow the fate of the show's moral compass and biggest mystery.

Episode 9, "Bad Choice Road," saw Kim (Rhea Seehorn) juggle making a shocking career move with tending to and eventually saving her new husband, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). After Jimmy returns scorched, bruised, and hiding a secret following a semi-failed $7 million-dollar bagman assignment, Kim makes one of the most significant decisions of her life. Kim has committed herself to taking down her client, the large regional bank Mesa Verde, from the inside, but on episode 9 of season 5, she quits her job as partner and head of Schweikart & Cokely's banking division.

Freed of her corporate shackles, Kim can now do the kind of pro-bono work her moral heart demands. But as she walks out, seemingly leaving everything in her office behind, she suddenly doubles back to her desk and takes the Zafiro Anejo tequila bottle stopper she was keeping in a drawer. The souvenir dates back to Better Call Saul season 3, when she and Jimmy conned obnoxious stockbroker Ken Wins (Kyle Bornheimer). 

Kim has left behind the Mesa Verde account — her first solo client and something she fought hard for after resigning from Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill on season 3. Her work there, while not always aligned with her beliefs, embodied her dedication and work ethic. The decision to leave is a considerable character turn on its own, but it becomes more interesting in light of the Zafiro Anejo tequila's role in the larger Breaking Bad universe.

On Better Call Saul season 5, episode 8, "Bagman," Kim reaches out to Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) when Jimmy doesn't return home from his bag run. The Juárez Cartel leader shrugs her off, but the moment unknowingly seals Kim's connection to the drug underworld. That's made clear in the final moments of "Bad Choice Road," as the events of Jimmy's ill-fated trip to retrieve Lalo's bail money comes to light. Arriving at Kim and Jimmy's apartment with a gun in hand, Lalo forces Jimmy to recount what happened.

In a stunning twist, a noticeably terrified Kim goes toe-to-toe with the gun-swinging drug lord and weaves a story that ultimately saves Jimmy's life. While the episode's other twist for Kim is arguably more significant than its first, that tequila bottle stopper remains the linchpin between them. Her taking it from her desk is an important scene because of what it represents for her.

The fictional premium tequila makes its first appearance on Better Call Saul's second season, when Kim and Jimmy pose as siblings looking to invest an inheritance. After tricking Ken into buying them drinks — priced at a chest-burning $50 a shot — they finish off the bottle of Zafiro Anejo and leave him with the bill. It's a comedic moment that's also representative of Kim's craft and desire to stick it to the big man. Kim left the firm because she was defending influential people who were wielding their power over the less so, and she left Ken's table after turning the man's manipulative and predatory tactics on him.

That tequila topper is a memory of what side she's on and who she's ready to fight for — whether it's working alongside Jimmy or against men like Ken and Lalo.

Kim going back for the stopper feels like a moment of empowerment, but the tequila's other appearances in the Breaking Bad universe signal a bad omen. A darker reading of its season 5 return feels particularly relevant for a Better Call Saul prequel character who, unlike her husband, never appears on Breaking Bad.

While the tequila made its first Better Call Saul cameo on season 2, it made a rather deadly splash during a season 4 Breaking Bad scene. In "Salud," Los Pollos Hermanos proprietor and drug kingpin Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) used it to poison the Juárez Cartel and its then-leader Don Eladio (Steven Bauer). Gus went after Don for killing his close associate decades ago, though it was Lalo's uncle, Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis), who carried out the murder. Breaking Bad fans know Gus remained in a bloody standoff with Hector throughout that series before meeting his end by Salmanaca's hand. 

To add tequila to the fire, the other times the premium liquor appeared on Better Call Saul, death also loomed. On season 3, Jimmy buys Zafiro Anejo to celebrate a win against a fraudulent nursing home. But when Jimmy invites Kim to drinks, she chooses to meet with a new client first, and on her way, gets into a near-death crash. On season 4, the two eventually get around to sharing a bottle, yet it's not for celebratory shots. They're drinking to remember Jimmy's older brother Chuck after he dies by suicide.

All of this — coupled with Kim now being intertwined with the Salmanacas, something Jimmy said he wanted her to avoid in "Bad Choice Road," the Zafiro Anejo tequila bottle stopper could be foreshadowing something significant about her new pro-bono path.