Mike Ehrmantraut died in Season 5, Episode 7 of Breaking Bad. The cool and calculated hitman and cleaner was killed by his business partner named, Walter White.
Mike’s death was a major turning point in Breaking Bad as he was one of the major characters and his demise left people conflicted. While some felt that it shouldn’t have happened, others accepted that it was in keeping with the theme of the series, where people reap the rewards of their bad actions.
What Episode Does Mike Die in Breaking Bad?
Mike died in Season 5 Episode 7 of Breaking Bad titled ‘Say My Name’, which aired on the 26th of August 2012. The episode comes in multiple parts, but one central theme strings it all together: Mike trying to get out of his drug dealings with Walt in exchange for millions of dollars as a final payoff.
Ironically, the DEA, who has been monitoring their operations, ramp up their plans to capture Mike. With the noose seemingly tightening around his neck, he is killed, not by the authorities but by his business partner, Walt White.
How Does Mike Die in Breaking Bad?
Mike dies after being shot in the stomach by Walt in Episode 7 Season 5 of Breaking Bad. Walt is incensed by the fact that the DEA is closing in on Mike’s associates and demands their names so that he can presumably take them out and contain the risk. Mike refuses to go along with such a plan and exchanges words with Walt, blaming him for their predicament.
He gets into his car to drive away, and Walt shoots him with his (Mike’s) own pistol. Mike, nevertheless, manages to drive away to the banks of a nearby river, where he gets out of his car and sits by the side of the water, waiting for death to come. Walt, who instantly regretted his actions, follows Mike in hot pursuit and catches up with him. He tries to apologize, and Mike asks him to shut up so that he can die in peace. He eventually dies, and his body is later dissolved in acid.
Who Killed Mike in Breaking Bad?
Walter White, also known as Walt, was the person that killed Mike in Breaking Bad. Walter is the protagonist of Breaking Bad. He is a high school chemistry teacher who is underpaid and unmotivated. He is later diagnosed with a terminal disease and takes to cooking and distributing meth to build a fortune that he will leave to his family.
Mike got to know Walt while working as a hitman for a Chilean drug lord named Gus. Walt later kills Gus, and while Mike is none too happy with Walt about this, they and Jesse, one of Walt’s students, go into the drug business together.
Despite the fact that they worked together, there was no love lost between Mike and Walt. Mike hated Walt’s egoistical and prideful manners and felt that if he had simply kept his head down and focused on the drugs business, they wouldn’t have gotten into all the troubles that they did.
How is Mike Still Alive in Better Call Saul?
Mike is still alive in Better Call Saul because the series is both a prequel and sequel to Breaking Bad, where he died. Breaking Bad initially aired from 2008 to 2013, with Mike dying in Season 5, which originally aired in 2012. Following the successful conclusion of the show as well as the massive love from fans and critics alike, the makers of the show decided to come back with a prequel (a series of events that take place before the events in Breaking Bad) titled Better Call Saul, which ran from 2015 to 2022.
The prequel focuses on one of the minor characters in Breaking Bad, a lawyer named Saul Goodman, and the chain of events that made him become the shady lawyer that we now see in Breaking Bad. Mike is, thus, still alive in Better Call Saul as the events take place before Breaking Bad, where he was eventually killed.
Despite being killed on Breaking Bad in 2012, Mike still appeared in El Camino: The Breaking Bad Movie, which debuted in 2019. This time around, there is no avoiding the fact that he has already died. As such, his appearance in the film is limited to a flashback scene where he advises Jesse on where to go if he chooses to get out of the drug business.
Who Plays Mike in Breaking Bad?
Veteran Hollywood actor Jonathan Banks plays Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad. Jonathan Banks hails from Washington, D.C., and was born in 1947. He studied drama in college and, by his late 20s, was already laying the foundation for his career in Hollywood.
Minor roles in several movies, TV series, and TV films followed, but it was only in 1987, when he hit age 40, that he became known for playing Frank McPike, a senior officer in an FBI covert agency, on the crime drama series titled Wiseguy. He appeared in the show for four years and received an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.
Banks has since built an impressive filmography, but his best work is in the Breaking Bad empire. He not only appeared in Breaking Bad but the prequel, Better Call Saul, and the sequel movie, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019).
Banks has since disclosed that he based his Breaking Bad character on an unlikely inspiration, and that is his mother. His late mom reportedly worked as a secretary in some top government offices, including the CIA, and she informed him that whenever there was a troubling situation, that was when the officers would become even more collected and not lose their heads. He, therefore, made sure to portray Mike as a cool, calm, and level-headed cleaner.
Jonathan Banks’ Age in Real Life Compared To Mike Ehrmantraut’s Age
Jonathan Banks first appeared in Season 2 of Breaking Bad in 2009 and was 62 years old at the time, having been born on January 31, 1947. This places him in the same age bracket as the character that he portrays.
Mike Ehrmantraut is billed as a former Vietnam War veteran who was born between 1940 and 1944. He was, therefore, about 60 to 64 years old when he first made his appearance. By the time he died, he was between 65 to 69 years old.
