Cooler Than Jesus

The coolest character on Breaking Bad is Mike Ehrmantraut, played by Jonathan Banks.

He plays one of those impossibly cool, tough and intimidating guys who almost always knows what to do, knows how to improvise when unsure and is intimidating to the max. A guy who knows exactly who he is and doesn't take shit from anybody.

He projects a soft spoken menace. Screaming insanity is good. Psychotic behavior works when distributing or combating evil. But soft spoken menace is the most intimidating because it comes from the gut. Quietly fueled by fearful self confidence.

You know, the kind of guy we all long to be.

Mike Ehrmantraut is a former Philadelphia police officer who works for Gustavo Frink, a major league drug lord. He also works occasionally for Saul Goodman, a slick and slimy low level lawyer with his fingers in everything illegal.

Mike's philosophy comes from his experience as a cop. Once as a cop he decided at the last second not to murder a wife-beating husband, only to later arrest that man for smashing his wife's head in.

His mantra became "never take half measures."

You know this about him, he exudes it. When you are face to face with Mike you know he will carry out whatever threat he tortures you with.

I had a few interviews with a liquor commission exec who bore a passing resemblance to Jonathan Banks. It amused me because he was a typical spineless, corporate weasel who worked hard to project a tough image.

It didn't work. The thinness of his character leaked through the facade.

If you are working your way through the history of Breaking Bad, do not read the rest of this captivating column.

Mike was cool to the end. Exceptionally cool.

He dies at the end of season 5. Walt shoots him in his car. Mike manages to get out of the car and walk to the edge of a river, where he sits on a stump, bleeding profusely and gazing out over the flowing water. Walt realizes too late that he didn't have to kill Mike, that he could have gotten the information he wanted from somebody else.

He frantically tries to explain, tries to apologize.

Mike says: "Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace."

Seconds later he does.

Even Jesus whined: "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Mike Ehrmantraut - cooler than  Jesus.