*Spoilers ahead for both this show and Breaking Bad.*
Mike Ehrmantraut has always been a closed off person, it’s part of what made him one of the fan-favorites on Breaking Bad. As a result, Mike always ended up being a bit of a mystery in terms of backstory. We knew he was once a cop and that he had a granddaughter that he loved more than anything but that was about it, until this week anyway.
Better Call Saul takes a slight detour from Jimmy this week (he’s only in about 10 minutes) and puts the focus squarely on Mike. It’s a move that pays off tremendously as we get a look at the tragic story that leads Mike to New Mexico. Mike has played a fairly minimal part in the story of Jimmy McGill, the future Saul Goodman, so far so it makes sense to focus most of this week on him.
The episode switches between past and present on a whim and it makes the story more powerful, even if you know where it’s heading. We open with Mike’s arrival to Albuquerque, he seems to have moved out there to be closer to his granddaughter and to attempt to be there for his daughter-in-law after his son’s death. Mike had a son, Matt, who we learn was a cop just like him. Matt was murdered and it sent Mike into a bit of a spiral, he claims he’s out of it though although he didn’t leave Philly without getting a bullet wound in his shoulder.
Cut to present day and Mike is insisting on having his lawyer present. Cue Jimmy McGill, still in his chic Matlock attire, who strides into the room confident that the business cards he made are paying off. Mike informs him that he only needs him here to spill the cup of coffee he had him get on one of the officers so Mike can grab their notepad. It all happens just as planned but not before Jimmy finds out that not only was Mike’s son killed, but his partners Hoffman and Fenske were also killed.
Mike finds out from the notebook that Matt’s widow, Stacy, was the one who called the cops out here as she suspects Matt might have been dirty after finding a couple thousand stored away in a bag. Mike becomes extremely angry at that suggestion and we’re treated to another flashback.
This time it’s back in Philly and Mike is at the bar. He staggers over to Hoffman and Fenske and informs them that he knows what they did. He stays at the bar and attempts to drunkenly fumble home before being given a lift by the two cops. The duo plan on killing Mike and making it look like a suicide, Mike’s prepared however and murders the two before heading off.
In the heartbreaking final scene, Mike tells it all to Stacy and reveals that Matt’s death was his fault. Everyone in the precinct, including Mike, was dirty, except Matt, when he discovered his partners were getting money from a gang he considered reporting them but Mike told him to “go along to get along.” However, the two cops were suspicious and killed Matt anyway. Where in the previous scene we are shocked to see Mike operate in pure anger this scene shocks us further by showing him laid emotionally bare. Jonathan Banks gives a rousing performance this week that deserves all the Emmy talks it is getting. This episode hings on him and he sells it completely.
This is easily the best episode of the series yet and it shows us all that this isn’t going to be an unworthy successor to Breaking Bad if this is what the show can accomplish in it’s first season, imagine where it can go from here?
Bits ‘n Pieces
- I loved the noir feel of Mike’s backstory. The Breaking Bad universe, if you want to call it that, is always at it’s best when it embraces it’s pulpier elements.
- It’s telling that even with just a few scenes in the episode Bob Odenkirk still manages to be the most lively guy.
- Seriously, you don’t have a heart if Mike’s voice cracking when he says he “broke his boy” didn’t get you.
- I don’t rate my reviews, mainly because my words should be able to give you a look into my feelings on an episode. That said, this was a definite 10 out of 10.
- “You look like Matlock.”
“No, I look like a young Paul Newman dressed as Matlock.”
If you’d like to give me feedback or just chat about Better Call Saul you can email me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter @JesseSwanson