Breaking Bad: 10 Best Characters Who Appeared After Season One
7. Mike Ehrmantraut
The gravitas of Jonathan Banks’ performance, and his relative decency compared with many of his colleagues, makes Mike far more interesting than the legion of gruff, veteran killers who’ve filled our screens before him. His Better Call Saul material fills in even more gaps for the guy, but his Breaking Bad evolution alone makes Mike an eternal fan favourite.
He’s introduced at the end of season two as a fixer for Gus Fring, but is slowly revealed to be more than just a hitter. He’s the hyper competent, always collected voice of reason for Gus, and later a reluctant partner to Walter, in many ways his polar opposite.
Mike’s a bad guy for good reasons, with a granddaughter to provide for. While this character has been seen before, we’re given to understand a lot more about Mike, whose tough life has hardened him against the ultimately cruel world. If everyone else is getting a piece from crime, why shouldn’t he?
In due course, he becomes something close to a hero, mentoring Jesse and attempting to reason with the increasingly volatile Walter, but it’s all for nought. He dies a gunslinger’s death - it’s what he would have wanted.