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.

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.