10 Best Performances In Better Call Saul
4. Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut)
Similar to his criminal supervisor Gus, Mike Ehrmantraut is even more effective a character in Better Call Saul than in its parent series. Mike serves as a mirror to Jimmy, an individual with basically good - at least understandable - intentions who finds himself drawn to the dark side, as criminality slowly chips away at that core of decency.
Jonathan Banks was a revelation in Breaking Bad, his work improving year by year, and he’s even better in the prequel. There can be few actors with comparable ability to keep the audience onside in spite of a series of dreadful deeds. Mike is a killer, acting only for money at the behest of his boss, but his principles and professionalism as embodied by Banks makes him surprisingly sympathetic.
Banks can switch the character on a dime - avuncular and warm around his granddaughter, chilling and taciturn when dealing with underlings or foes. We know where Mike is going - there doesn’t seem to be too much to come from him - but that gruesome inevitability takes nothing away from a character and a performance that continues to grow and mature.