Mike Ehrmantraut: Parking Attendant to Lethal Enforcer

When we first met Mike in Breaking Bad, he was Gus’ clean-up guy and lethal enforcer. When we first met him in Better Call Saul, he was a grouchy parking attendant. In this video, we deep dive into the major events which transformed Mike into the man who would eventually work for Gus as a soldier.

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[rickbelden]

It’s so sad that Mike basically sold his soul so that his family could have a better life and in the end it was all taken away.

[JonAddisonFilms]

I love how all of Mike's journey is built around his statement in Breaking Bad, "No half measures". Which, of course, also leads to his death.

[Qwaizor]

The death of that German engineer was actually tragic one of the only characters in the “game” that were honest working man

[mattterway]

unlike Walter, everything Mike does really is for his family

[Xehanort]

4:08 Watching Better Call Saul makes you realise Hector deserved every bit of the suffering Gus put him through in Breaking Bad.

[DFGok]

This dude honestly deserves so much more attention for these types of videos. Keep it up 👍

[tempvee]

Jonathan Banks' performance at 14:50 is incredible. You can really feel the emotions Mike's going through just from the way his voice wavers while talking about his family.

[faarisalam]

Holy shit, I never even realised that Mike had a desire to constantly build. Now that you've pointed that out, it seems so obvious now and makes total sense so thanks for that. Another one of the many great details in this show

[jonsrecordcollection]

The scene where Mike sends off the rest of the foreign construction crew is pivotal too. Two of the members of the crew talk back to Mike. One says that it was good Mike killed Ziegler, because Ziegler was too soft. The second bravely looks Mike in the eye & says that Werner Ziegler was worth more than 30 Mike Ehrmantrauts. Mike punches out the former, but not the latter guy who insulted him for being 1/30 the man Ziegler was. The reason is that Mike basically agrees with the second guy. It's proof that Mike hates himself for having to kill Ziegler. Mike could have defied Fring & allowed Ziegler to live, but Mike has the ethos of "when you're hired to do a job, you do that job" that leads him to do things he doesn't morally agree with.

[irezumi]

I knew from BB that Mike was simply someone you didn’t want to mess with. But after watching BCS, learning his back story, seeing everything he knew about investigating someone, knowing how to use gadgets, being able to take on groups of people on his own- I was still blown away during the shootout in Mexico with the cartel. At first I thought it was the Salamanca brothers who were protecting the money for Lalos bail (not Saul), but after seeing it was mike, seeing how in a way he does care about Saul, saving his life, and helping him survive in the desert just makes him an ultimate survivor. Stuff that he learned in the military and while being a cop. He was one of my favorite characters in BB, but after watching him in BCS I was just completely blown away with his character.

[PTPalmer_NPC]

The interesting thing to me is that Mike seems to actually be what Walter tells himself he is… He ACTUALLY does it for his family, and I think his history with Werner Ziegler and empathy for the lie Walter tells himself and others about his motivation are probably the reason that Mike takes a half measure by telling walter to not take half measures…

[TenSecondSongs]

My favorite character of any show period. I wish I had his demeanor. I'm too much of an emotional mess lol

[oldpharaoh]

Dude. The editing. 3:01 he syncs his quote up with the actual scene. Whoever's editing these pay them well, please. <3

[iamdjwp]

That “in the game” phrase reminds me so much of Omar from The Wire.

[nont]

After all these trials and tribulations, Mike is finally at peace by going on a trip to Belize.

[yume]

Mike is my favorite character out of both these shows. Such a great character and the acting makes him so enjoyable to watch him do literally anything.

[WlatPziupp]

When Saul asks how long it takes for the trauma from Bagman to end, Mike repeats what his daughter in law says pretty much word for word. Back then it absolutely enraged him, then he comes to accept that it's a healthy way of getting over trauma. Mike learns a lot of good lessons in this show

[actually-will]

These videos have been great for building my hype for season 6

[drhexagonapus]

Idk why but I love the scenes of Mike looking through a sniper scope. I could watch an entire show of just him as a sniper.

[vitorokuhara]

Mike's death is one of the few things in the BB universe that I wish that was different. He was such an effective stalker and was sneak attacked by an asshole that couldn't throw a fucking vase into a glass wall.