Mike Ehrmantraut

Lore & Background

According to Banks, Mike is a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Vietnam War. Mike's military service is implied in the Better Call Saul second-season episode "Gloves Off" when he mentions his familiarity with a black market sniper rifle he intends to buy. He subsequently became a beat officer in the Philadelphia Police Department. Mike responded to domestic abuse cases and frequently dealt with a particular man named Gordie, an alcoholic who regularly beat his wife. Every weekend, Mike and his partner would be called to their house, place the woman in the care of EMTs, take her husband to the drunk tank for the night, and send him back home in the morning when he sobered up, since his wife was too afraid to press charges. Eventually, one night, Mike became so furious over the abuse that he put his revolver in Gordie's mouth and was about to kill him, but relented when he begged for his life, and gave him a warning instead. Mike came to regret his decision, however, when Gordie murdered his wife two weeks later. From that point on, Mike resolved to never take half measures. He recounts the incident to Walt in the Breaking Bad episode "Half Measures", in an attempt to teach him the lesson. Mike was married for 22 years, as he mentions in season 4 of Better Call Saul. His former wife's name and fate are never revealed. Mike had one son, Matt, who also became a police officer. Matt married Stacey and they had a daughter, Kaylee. In an extended flashback in the Better Call Saul episode "Five-O", Mike is revealed to have been a corrupt police officer who took bribes; his first he took in 1984. Matt was approached by other corrupt officers and asked Mike for advice; Mike advised Matt that not taking the money would label him a whistleblower, and endanger his life and family, so Matt very reluctantly took it. However, Matt's partner and another officer, Jack Fensky and Troy Hoffman, killed Matt anyway because his hesitation caused them to think he might turn them in. Stacey and Kaylee left Philadelphia for Albuquerque after Matt's funeral, while Mike retired from the police department. Mike identified Hoffman and Fensky as Matt's killers, and arranged an ambush to both confirm and kill them. After this, he left for Albuquerque, allowing him to watch over Stacey and Kaylee. Upon first arriving he makes contact with Dr. Caldera, a veterinarian with ties to the local criminal underworld.

In Their Own Story

Mike works as a parking lot attendant at the courthouse. He has frequent encounters with Jimmy McGill, dealing with him when leaving the parking lot, consistently irritated with Mike's demands for payment or the right number of validation stickers. In the aftermath of a physical conflict between the two, Mike decides not to press charges when he learns that Jimmy believes that his clients, Betsy and Craig Kettleman, staged their own disappearance, which no one else believes. Mike then aids Jimmy by providing advice which allows him to prove this to be true. Philadelphia officers involved in the investigation of Hoffman and Fensky's murders interrogate Mike, who hires Jimmy to represent him. Mike has Jimmy create a diversion, enabling Mike to steal one detective's notepad to learn what they know. He finds that Stacey contacted them after finding money hidden in the lining of one of her suitcases. Mike admits to her that he was involved in corruption in Philadelphia, and confesses that he "broke" Matt by persuading him to go along. He reveals how Hoffman and Fensky killed him for fear he would report them, and that he retaliated by killing the two of them, and then moved to Albuquerque to be near Stacey and Kaylee. Stacey accepts Mike's explanation and consoles him. The detectives leave for Philadelphia, and one privately assures Mike that he has little to fear. Mike later pays Jimmy back for representing him by helping him recover and return the money the Kettlemans embezzled. Wanting more money to help support Stacey and Kaylee, Mike contacts Dr. Caldera to hook him up with security and "muscle" jobs. One of these jobs is protecting Daniel Wormald ("Pryce") during a drug deal with Nacho Varga. Mike does not bring a weapon, but remains calm and controlled. When the payment is $20 short, Mike insists that Nacho pay in full. After the deal is complete, Mike explains that he investigated Nacho beforehand and determined he was operating without the knowledge of his bosses in the Salamanca drug cartel, giving him an incentive to ensure that the transaction went smoothly.

Reader's Guide

Daniel buys a flashy Hummer with his drug money, so Mike refuses to go to the deal in such a conspicuous car, leading Daniel to go alone. Taking advantage of Mike's absence, Nacho finds Daniel's address and later breaks into his house, stealing his money and collection of baseball cards. Daniel reports the theft to the police, forcing Mike to intervene by convincing Nacho to return the cards and $10,000 to Daniel in exchange for the Hummer. To prevent Daniel from possibly implicating him, Mike has Jimmy represent him during his meeting with the police. Impressed by Mike's work for Daniel, Nacho approaches him with a request to kill his boss Tuco Salamanca. Nacho fears Tuco may learn about his outside drug deals and the potential consequences of his erratic behavior. Rather than kill Tuco, Mike engineers a public altercation so that Tuco is sentenced to prison for assault. Tuco's uncle Hector wants to reduce Tuco's prison sentence by having Mike tell the police that the gun Tuco was carrying was his. After Mike refuses, Hector eventually threatens Stacey and Kaylee so he will comply. Mike agrees to take responsibility for the gun in exchange for a $50,000 payment. Upset at Hector's threats, Mike attempts to disrupt Hector's drug trade by hijacking a Salamanca truck and stealing the $250,000 it carries, but leaving the driver, Ximenez Lecerda, tied up at the side of the road. He intended for the police to find the scene and therefore bring pressure down on the Salamanca operation; however, Nacho tells him that someone stopped to help, Ximenez called Hector, and Hector's crew killed the "good samaritan" and cleaned up the scene. Mike decides to kill Hector and procures a black market sniper rifle. As he prepares to fire, he is suddenly interrupted by the horn of his own car. Mike finds a branch wedged against the horn and a note on the windshield with a single word: "DON'T". Mike realizes that he is being tracked by a third party, and hastily uncovers trackers in his cars' gas caps. He thoroughly reverse engineers them in order to uncover the culprit, eventually bringing him to the restaurant Los Pollos Hermanos. He hires Jimmy to investigate inside, but results come up empty. Eventually Mike finds himself face-to-face with the one responsible, Gus Fring, the owner of the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant chain, which is part of the cartel's drug trafficking operation. Gus explains to Mike that he does not want Hector dead until he decides the time is right. However, he encourages Mike to continue to disrupt Hector's drug trafficking, and provides him resources which he uses to cause the Salamancas' legitimate ice cream shop used as a front to be raided by the DEA. Gus attempts to pay him for the job, but Mike does not accept the money, impressing Gus even more. Later, Mike asks for help to launder the $250,000 he stole, and Gus obliges by arranging for Madrigal Electromotive, the parent company of Los Pollos and a participant in its drug activities, to hire Mike as a contracted security expert and pay him monthly consulting fees.

Did You Know?

• Mike was created as a substitute for Saul Goodman when actor Bob Odenkirk was unavailable for the Breaking Bad season 2 finale "ABQ" due to a commitment to appear in How I Met Your Mother.
• Jonathan Banks was cast because the writers admired his work in the 1980s police drama Wiseguy.
• Mike is one of only five characters to appear in Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, the other four being Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Ed Galbraith and Austin Ramey.
• Mike's first bribe as a corrupt police officer was taken in 1984, as revealed in the Better Call Saul episode "Five-O".
• Mike stole $250,000 from a Salamanca truck and later had Gus Fring help launder it through Madrigal Electromotive.