“ | Kim, one more thing. This fellow, McGill, or Goodman, whatever... You could do a whole lot better.
|
„ |
― Kevin Wachtell to Kim Wexler about Jimmy McGill. |
Kevin Wachtell is the CEO of Mesa Verde Bank and Trust. He took over the bank from his father Don in the early 2000s and presides over its expansion into a large regional institution.
History[]
Background[]
Kevin is the son of Don Wachtell and took over Mesa Verde after his father's death in the early 2000s, and presides over its expansion into a large regional institution. He is an Eagle Scout. According to Sobchak, he got a DUI in college during Homecoming Weekend around 1970. ("Dedicado a Max")
Better Call Saul[]
Season 2[]
After Kim Wexler successfully persuades Mesa Verde to take the legal services of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill, both Kevin and Mesa Verde's senior counsel, Paige Novick, meet Kim and Howard Hamlin in HHM's lobby. After a successful meeting, Kim offers to draw up a list of associates to help Mesa Verde as they plan to open a branch in Scottsdale, Arizona. ("Rebecca")
After Kim leaves HHM to start her own firm with Jimmy McGill, she offers to take on Mesa Verde as her exclusive clients. Kevin and Paige initially agree, but are dissuaded by Howard and Jimmy's estranged brother Chuck to stay with HHM. ("Fifi")
Mesa Verde's hearing before the New Mexico Banking Board is derailed when Chuck's legal documentsāpreviously doctored by Jimmyāshow an incorrect address for the Scottsdale branch. Kevin is frustrated at Chuck's refusal to believe that he has seemingly made a mistake, as well as the six-week delay caused by the incorrect paperwork. Mesa Verde subsequently returns to Kim. ("Nailed")
Season 3[]
When Kim manages to correct Mesa Verde's paperwork and have their next hearing moved to a closer date, Paige tells her that Kevin will be relieved. After a more successful meeting with the Banking Board, Kim informs Kevin and Paige of Chuck's allegations that Jimmy forged the documents before the previous hearing. Kevin expresses disbelief in Chuck's claims and thinks he is out to "screw me out of the best damned outside counsel I've ever had." ("Mabel", "Chicanery")
Kevin and Paige later have a lunch meeting with Kim to discuss a new branch in Utah and Kevin and Kim banter back and forth about golf. Kevin reveals he has a friend in Texas who needs legal help and wants Kim to take him on as a client. Kim is reluctant as she promised them that Mesa Verde would be her only client before they are interrupted by Howard Hamlin. Afterwards, Kim agrees to have Kevin send her his friend's information. ("Slip")
Season 4[]
A while after being injured in a car accident, Kim returns to work at Mesa Verde with a new paralegal, Viola Goto. During a meeting with Paige discussing Mesa Verde's pending acquisitions, Kevin enters the room. Kevin greets Kim, offers his condolences about Chuck, and asks how Jimmy is handling his death. Kim claims that he's "getting through it." She is then shown a room with architectural models of Mesa Verde's many planned branches and realizes that the bank is expanding much further than she may be able to handle. In the lobby, Kim feels overwhelmed by her task ahead and asks Viola to get started on the new Mesa Verde filings instead of her. She further asks to be driven to the courthouse instead of home. ("Something Beautiful")
Later on, at Schweikart and Cokely, a bored Kim meets with Paige, Kevin, and one of Kim's associates. Kevin, noting that Mesa Verde's Tucumcari branch gets more foot traffic because of the building's "eye-catching" design, wants to use a similar design for their planned branch in Lubbock, Texas. However, Kim agrees with Paige that a proposed redesign is not feasible, given that it would require starting the months-long approval process over again. Kevin accepts their opinion, changing the topic to a proposed branch in Wyoming, bringing up Yellowstone as he does so. ("Coushatta")
Season 5[]
Kim attends a meeting at Mesa Verde regarding the Tucumcari call center, during which she suggests that they move construction to another lot and allow Everett Acker to continue living in his house. Paige expresses doubts, but Kim rebuts her with the research and a PowerPoint presentation that she composed ahead of the meeting, earlier through the phone. Although Kim argues the "reputational risk" to Mesa Verde of ousting Acker from his house, Kevin insists that the bank is lawfully entitled to the land. Kim is disillusioned by the decision. ("Namaste")
Jimmy meets with Kim, Rich, Kevin and Paige at S&C to negotiate Ackerās settlement, stunning everyone in the room by demanding $4 million. When Kevin balks this demand, Jimmy shows them his video, which consists of rough cuts of television commercials seeking plaintiffs for class-action lawsuits against Mesa Verde, including outrageous accusations against both the bank and Kevinās father. Jimmy also takes advantage of Kimās insight into the photos taken from inside Kevin's house: Mesa Verdeās cowboy logo is based on a photo which the bank did not obtain permission to use; on top of the lawsuits, Jimmy threatens an injunction against displaying the logo.
After Jimmy leaves, Kevin's legal team struggles to figure out how they can deal with his threats. Kevin excuses himself from the conference room to surreptitiously make a phone call to Jimmy and agree to a deal. Meeting with Kevin in a parking garage, Jimmy lays out his terms: Acker is allowed to keep his house, receives $75,000, and a public apology from Mesa Verde; while the photographer receives $100,000 for future use and credit for the bank's logo. In exchange, Jimmy agrees to never broadcast the commercials attacking Mesa Verde. ("Wexler v. Goodman")
Season 6[]
Jimmy and Kim sit in the rented Taurus and surveil Howard and Cliff as they play at a golf course; Kim estimates that Jimmy has forty-five minutes to enact his part of their plan. Jimmy walks into the country club and begins to take a tour. Things nearly get foiled when, in the main lounge, he's spotted by Kevin, who has some private words with Norm Wakely, Jimmy's tour guide, and tries to have him kicked out. Instead of leaving, Jimmy instead confronts Norm and proceeds to make a scene in the lounge, accusing the country club (on account of his fake surname "Goodman") of engaging in anti-Semitic discrimination. Kevin is drawn into the argument and is nearly provoked into coming to blows with Jimmy. Angered, Kevin leaves. Feigning stress, Jimmy has Norm give him the directions to the men's locker room. ("Wine and Roses")
Personality and traits[]
- "If there's one thing I cannot abide, it's a man who won't own up to his mistakes.""
- ―Kevin to Kim Wexler
Above anything else, Kevin appreciates and admires bluntness and honesty, preferring to be told straight how he or someone else screwed up. He's also a very hardy and ambitious business man, wishing to expand far out of Albuquerque even setting up blueprints for Mesa Verde banks in Utah. Kevin does seem to suffer from stress and anger problems however, especially when his father's integrity is brought up as he is visibly and vocally angered at Jimmy during his presentation. He almost resorts to physical violence in the Albuquerque Country Club when Jimmy makes a fool of him but is able to resist and excuse himself due to stress.
Kevin also starts to have a feud with Jimmy, having virtually no respect to him as both a lawyer and person, considering him a "third-rate huckster who'd sell your own mother's organs to get what you want". Kevin is very suspicious with anything he does, like when Jimmy goes to a country club in which Kevin is a well known member where he forces Norm Wakely to refuse giving Jimmy a membership and believes Jimmy is planning to put up a lawsuit against the country club.
Quotes[]
- "If there's one thing I cannot abide, it's a man who won't own up to his mistakes."
- ―Kevin to Kim Wexler.
- "So Billy's fired the guy, but now he doesn't know whether to shit or wind his watch, pardon my French."
- ―Kevin talking about Billy.
- "Kim, one more thing. This fellow, McGill, or Goodman, whatever... You could do a whole lot better."
- ―Kevin to Kim about Jimmy McGill.
- "My dad never, ever did anything like that! (...) Doesn't matter, this trash airs, our reputation is in the toilet!"
- ―Kevin's anger at Jimmy's commercial containing false allegations against Mesa Verde.
- Jimmy: "There it is, folks! Anti-Semitism, alive and well right here in Albuquerque! (...) Oh good. Well, you met your quota then. Gold star for you."
- Kevin: "Hold on. That's gotta be the biggest load of horse crap I've ever heard in my life. Go crawl back in your hole, McGill or Goodman ā whatever you're calling yourself. What are you up to, anyway? Ginning up another one of your put-up job lawsuits? You two-faced, blackmailing, money-grubbing son of a bitchā"
- Jimmy: "Money-grubbing! You're saying the quiet part out loud, I think."
- Kevin: "You know damn well that's not what I meant!"
- Jimmy: "In this day and age, I'd hoped and prayed we'd be beyond this."
- Kevin: "You're about as Jewish as my Aunt Fannie!"
- Jimmy: "Five-thousand years and it never ends! [Kevin tries to take a swing at Jimmy, but is held back by his golf buddies.] Here it is! Violence! It always comes to this!"
- Kevin: "You go to hell, you lying sack of shit."
- ―Jimmy and Kevin's argument in the Albuquerque Country Club.[src]
Appearances[]
Better Call Saul[]
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Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
Season 5 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||
Season 6 | ✔ |