The Breaking Bad universe has many incredible characters that have become part of pop culture and will be remembered fondly for years to come, one of those is Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). A man of many trades, Mike Ehrmantraut is often used to clean up the mess someone else caused. While he became one of the most popular characters on Breaking Bad, he almost wasn’t part of the show at all.
It is hard to imagine Breaking Bad without Ehrmantraut, and how he was written into the show makes it hard to believe he was never part of the story from the start. What is even more unusual to discover is the reason why he was added to the show and how it has unintentionally become part of the Breaking Bad history and story. Let’s take a look at Mike Ehrmantraut, the character that was never meant to be.
How I Met Your Mother Created Mike Ehrmantraut
In addition to his work as Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) in Breaking Bad, Bob Odenkirk also played the character of Arthur Hobbs in How I Met Your Mother during the same time period. This led to scheduling conflicts while the finale of Breaking Bad season 2 was being filmed. Because of this, the writers decided to create a brand new character to fill scenes originally intended for Odenkirk, with the character of Mike eventually being added to the story.
The original script called for Goodman to help Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) clean up the room after the death of his girlfriend, Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter). Instead, Mike showed up and was introduced to viewers as an employee of Goodman. His stone-faced appearance and no-nonsense attitude made him an instant hit with fans. It is hard to believe that Mike Ehrmantraut was a fluke and was never intended to be part of the story considering how big of a role he would go on to have in the Breaking Bad universe.
Why Mike Ehrmantraut Remained In The Breaking Bad Universe
The character of Mike would go on to become one of the most important in the Breaking Bad universe. Due to his immediate popularity, Mike was written into season 3 and remained in the show for the rest of its duration, dying at the hands of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) shortly before the show’s finale. His background in law enforcement added a new twist to the criminal enterprises of Goodman and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) due to his knowledge of how to evade the police. His father-figure demeanor helped Pinkman open up and give viewers greater insight into his weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Mike’s involvement with both Goodman and Fring allowed the character to return in the prequel series Better Call Saul. In fact, Mike Ehrmantraut is one of only five characters in the Breaking Bad universe to appear in Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, and the sequel movie El Camino. Although he is dead by the time the events of El Camino begin, he appears in a flashback scene with Jesse. The other characters to appear in all three shows are Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Ed Galbraith (Robert Forster), and Austin Ramey (Todd Terry).
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