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WhileBreaking Badmade a name for itself, other television dramas succumbed to the risk of getting overshadowed by a series that was a blip on the radar at the time of release. The crime drama created by Vince Gilligan was a one-in-a-million project that rose to the occasion and became a hit cult classic after finding a home at the streamer service of Netflix.
Meanwhile, actors like Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Bob Odenkirk, and Jonathan Banks found a second shot at fame in an industry that largely relegated them to temporary guest roles. Cranston, for one, showed his true mettle after transforming into the villainous and terrifying druglord from his previously cartoonish character arc of Hal inMalcolm in the Middle.
However, it was the supporting characters in the show who truly rose to epic heights on the foundation of their respective storylines, often ascending from a goon with a 5-minute arc to a full-blown fan-favorite villain who has fans campaigning for his very own titular series. One such character was Jonathan Banks’s Mike Ehrmantraut who appeared in ‘ABQ’ – the Season 2 finale.
Breaking BadDelivers an All-Time Favorite Goon
Jonathan Banks‘s filmography was a brilliant one that often failed to raise him in the pop culture space as a noteworthy talent. The actor was nominated for an Emmy for his role in the crime drama series,Wiseguywhich ran in the late ’80s. Despite his talent, Banks was largely erased from the public eye until his arrival inBreaking Badas a sidepiece of a supporting actor in Season 3 of the show.
Since his entry, however, Banks captured the audience’s attention via his aloof yet fascinating villainous persona as Mike Ehremantraut, who was found available at the beck and call ofBob Odenkirk‘s caricaturish and morally challenged lawyer, Saul Goodman. Despite his line of work, the character quickly found himself being loved and adored by the entire population ofBreaking Bad(and laterBetter Call Saul) fanatics for his brilliant character growth.
“It’s painful”: Bryan Cranston’s Death Joke While Jonathan Banks Was Struggling to Hold Back Tears Left ‘Breaking Bad’ Cast Laughing
Working full-time for despicable career criminals, the cool and calculating goon operated within a morally justifiable framework and had his own guiding principles, despite the shady people that he served. In the end, Jonathan Banks became, by far, the most honorable character in theBreaking Baduniverse, who pulled at the heartstrings of the fans after his devastating and unnecessary death at the hands of a desperate and rage-fueled Walter White.
Jonathan Banks Didn’t Deserve the Writers’ Wrath
Thomas Schnauz – one of the best directors of theBreaking Baduniverse who crafted some of the most gripping, emotionally intense, tragic, terrifying, and narratively complex episodes of the crime drama (and later, its spin-off show) – first started at the job as a writer. With an eye for detail and an understanding of the world of meth, murders, and mayhem, Schnauz began building the arcs of characters like Mike Ehremantraut and Saul Goodman from the ground up.
When Jonathan Banks arrived at the scene, his concern for the role he was cast to play turned him into a headache for the writers instead. Constantly irked by the syntax errors in his dialogues, Banks transformed into a full-blown Grammar Nazi by correcting the writers before narrating his lines in each scene.
During an appearance on the late-night talk showConan, in the presence of the primary cast ofBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul, the host called out Jonathan Banks for his habit of correcting the writers’ mistakes, saying:“You’ve been known to argue with the writers over grammar. It was important to you that your character speak with correct grammar.”
The actor snarkily replied,“I thought Mike should help them with the big words”and proceeded to give an example. Recalling one such scene and an eventual fight he had with the writer Thomas Schnauz, he claimed that the line –Who killed who?– was technically incorrect.
Well, [it should be] “Who killed whom?” because I believe it’s an object preposition. And Schnauz refused! Schnauz wouldn’t change it. I said,“Tom, don’t dumb Mike down. Just correct it.” They wouldn’t do it.
As was expected ofBryan Cranston, he immediately chirped in from the back,“Whom didn’t?”– purposely saying it wrong to irk Banks by referring to the debate he had over the who-whom confusion.
“He whines about it to this day”: Jonathan Banks Landed His Breaking Bad Job by Slapping 1 Co-Star That Sealed the Deal
Jonathan Banks’s arc ended in a devastating tragedy when was killed on-screen by his partner-in-crime, Walter White, in Season 5 Episode 7Say My Nameover a list of names that the latter refused to hand over. He later resumed his role in the spinoff series,Better Call Saul, and in a flashback scene in the carryover filmEl Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.
Breaking BadandBetter Call Saulis available for streaming on Netflix.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2409
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
