Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11 sees Gene slip back into Saul Goodman, but he also resurrects another alter ego from BCS season 2.
Better Call Saul season 6 brought back one of Gene's old alter egos in episode 11 - and we're not talking about Slippin' Jimmy or Saul Goodman. Bob Odenkirk's Better Call Saul character has burned through more pseudonyms and alter egos than he has ex-wives. Currently going by Gene Takavic - a name given to him by Ed the Disappearer - Jimmy McGill can slip into Slippin' Jimmy when he's wearing Marco's ring and scamming gullible civilians, or devolve fully into the criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.
Gene goes by a completely different moniker in Better Call Saul season 6's "Breaking Bad" episode. Working alongside Jeff and Buddy to drug wealthy targets and steal their personal details, Gene's job is to find the marks, make their acquaintance in a bar, then ply them with booze and nuts. He repeats this process on multiple single drinkers with cash to spare, but the name he always goes by when drinking with these victims is "Viktor." Although it seems obvious that he'd avoid using Gene, Saul or Jimmy when committing felonies, the Viktor alias packs a special relevance to Better Call Saul.
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Back in Better Call Saul season 2's "Switch," Jimmy McGill conned a belligerent financial advisor by pretending to be "Viktor St. Claire" - a man who recently acquired a large sum of inheritance. Kim joined the scam by posing as Giselle St. Claire, Viktor's sister, and this was the very first occasion they committed crime as a pair. The "Zafiro Añejo" con was also the night Jimmy and Kim's relationship finally became romantic, giving Viktor St. Claire a special place in the colorful pantheon of Jimmy's personas.
The Viktor St. Claire alias is so intrinsically rooted in Jimmy and Kim's relationship, its revival so late in Better Call Saul season 6 must have a deeper meaning. Most jilted divorcees would purge all reminders of their ex-spouse from their lives, but both Saul Goodman and Gene Takavic surround themselves with Kim-ementos, whether that be her old wooden desk in Saul's office, or Gene carrying a KC Royals lunch box to work. Reverting back to his Viktor alias when literally any other name would've sufficed is yet another example of the Cinnabon sinner torturing himself with memories of happier days.
Gene calling himself Viktor might also explain the motivation behind this latest criminal endeavor. Gene doesn't need the money, he'd already cut ties with Jeff, and he can't even spend the cash he does make for fear of being noticed. The impulse to start defrauding bankers only comes to Gene after an attempt to phone Kim gets ugly. Falling back into the Viktor alias might prove that this entire enterprise is just Gene's way of numbing the pain from his latest personal setback.
Whichever way you interpret Viktor's surprise comeback in Better Call Saul season 6, the name resurfacing serves as further proof (if further proof were actually needed) that Gene is still very much in love with Kim Wexler, and that getting back together would represent his idyllic happy ending. With only two chapters remaining in his story, Gene is rapidly running out of opportunities to quit the cute callbacks and make sure Kim knows she never left his heart.
More: How Better Call Saul’s Walt & Jesse Cameos Connect To Gene
Better Call Saul continues Monday on AMC.
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