Just finished S1:E6. Reminded why Mike is my favorite character

^{long read so get comfy}

The reason why I liked Mike so much from Breaking Bad was because of his "no bullshit" attitude. He was a professional at what he did and what he did was wrapped in a lot of dirty business. He got the job done with no more or no less than what was requested. IIRC, Walter was begging Mike to spare his life in one scene and Mike responded with a roll of the eyes explaining that he had a job to do, completely detached from any emotion that might come with it. But despite his field of work, he was always able to put everything away and dust himself off in time to play with his granddaughter, who seemed to be the only thing good and pure in his life. But there was the mother who always kept a watchful eye over him spending time with the granddaughter, always making sure he didn't spend too much time with her. Exit Breaking Bad (with a lot of missing details about him).

Enter Better Call Saul's S1:E6. Here, we see a diversion from the main storyline that can better explain Mike's story for the hardcore Breaking Bad fans. We learn that Mike was on the force in Philadelphia for 30 years, a noble position in contrast to what he was up to in Breaking Bad. We learn that he had a son Matty who followed in Mike's footsteps and became a cop because he put Mike on a pedestal. But we soon find out that Mike's police work wasn't all that clean, but only for the sake of protection for his own family, for a young Matty.

The saddest part of the episode was when Mike reveals that he explained the harsh reality of police work to Matty and convinced Matty to follow follow suit for his own safety. Although disappointed in his father and feeling lied to, Matty takes the money from a fellow cop and gets killed anyways. A lose-lose for Mike: poisoned his son who was the cop that Mike never was and he got killed regardless.

The mother mentioned in the episode that the granddaughter still asks where her father is, still kept unaware of his fate. Mike turns over a new leaf in Breaking Bad and keeps his demons in check this time around in order to be present and a loving role to his granddaughter.

TL;DR Mike has such a deep story, but his quiet nature in comparison to the rest of the characters shows that he'd never tell it to you.

Submitted April 27, 2018 at 06:39PM by redditnathaniel https://ift.tt/2jegbtK