Kim wasn't doing it for the thrill of the scam. She was arguing against Jimmy's underhanded tactics, his outright illegal way of getting justice, his shortcuts to doing what needs to be done. We saw it as Jimmy said with Mesa Verde, with Huell's assault case, to finally bring down and break down Chuck. Kim does not vacillate in what she attempts to achieve. Her purpose and moral line is clearly delineated for justice, it is what drove Kim to the law, and Jimmy followed for her.
He has done much of it for her, and she has helped him in kind, his way, and the conflict with her was brewing underneath already, even as she wanted to do it again to set things right. But at the end of last season she felt first hand the deception in her bones from a person she trusts and was put off.
That is why she is trying to resist Jimmy's dishonesty, it is inherently antithetical to her purpose.
Yet Jimmy's methods work to achieve their end, she understands and feels the power of it, is tempted by it to overcome the stupidity that goes along with her type of clientele, and Kim is angry at the reality of it. She wants to achieve justice and is angry that she has to be dishonest to get it done, more than once now, the slippery slope of Slippin' Jimmy.
None of that suggests to me that she is going to go to prison or die. She might get disbarred or just perhaps might get disgusted enough and leave it all to hell. Not repulsed by Jimmy, she has been through a lot with him, she has stood by him no matter what, she has his back. She might end up disillusioned with herself and what she is capable of doing in the name of justice. We have seen her get awful close to that point already.
God I love Kim, what a fantastic character brought to life.
www.rollingstone.com
