Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul is an American television crime drama series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. It is a spin-off prequel of Gilligan's prior series "Breaking Bad". Set in the early 2000s, "Better Call Saul" follows the story of con-man turned small-time lawyer, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), six years before the events of "Breaking Bad", showing his transformation into the persona of criminal-for-hire Saul Goodman. Jimmy becomes the lawyer for former beat cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), whose relevant skill set allows him to enter the criminal underworld of drug trafficking in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The show premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015. The 10-episode fourth season aired between August and October, 2018. The show has been renewed for a fifth season.
List of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul characters
Mike Ehrmantraut (played by Jonathan Banks) is a former Philadelphia police officer who works for Gus—and, on occasion, Saul—as a private investigator, head of security, cleaner, and hit man. In the "Better Call Saul" episode "Gloves Off", it is implied that Mike is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. His reasons for leaving the Philadelphia police are never specified during "Breaking Bad", but given his story to Walt about missing a chance to kill an abusive perpetrator who eventually murdered a victim Mike was trying to help, and Hank's refusal to bring up the reason for Mike's departure from the police, it is implied that Mike decided to take revenge against the abuser, which resulted in Mike's departure. As a result, one of the lessons Mike employed in his criminal activities was to not take "half measures." The prequel series "Better Call Saul" revealed that Mike, a crooked cop, murdered two other crooked cops who had killed his son Matt, also a police officer, after Matt hesitated to involve himself in corruption. The next day (circa 2002) Mike fled to Albuquerque to be near his granddaughter Kaylee (played by Kaija Roze Bales) and daughter in law Stacey. He initially worked as a parking attendant at the Albuquerque Courthouse, where the evening and night hours often enabled him to take part in criminal activities during the day. Mike is a calm and calculating individual who efficiently performs his duties for Gus, using his extensive knowledge of police procedure to do so without detection. Prior to his murder of Werner Ziegler he is shown to go to extreme lengths to avoid killing anyone or targeting innocent bystanders.