Alexei Glazkov

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</aside>Template:MainQuote**Michael "Mike" Ehrmantraut** was a former corrupt police officer who, after being forced to leave the police department, used his connections in the criminal underworld to eventually become [Fring|Gustavo Fring]'s right-hand man. Despite his responsibilities as the second-in-command of the mob, he occasionally carried out favours for his lawyer and old associate [Goodman|Saul Goodman] as a private investigator, cleaner, and fixer, out of loyalty to Saul (they had known each other for six years). Prior to his involvement in Gus's operation, Mike worked as parking ticket booth operator at a local courthouse, where he met Saul, then known as Jimmy McGill.

As a former beat cop and true professional, he maintained an extensive, up-to-date knowledge of forensic evidence, surveillance equipment, and police procedure. Mike was also well trained and calm in all types of combat situations, once using science and long strategy to take down a large number of hostiles with ease. A rough and rocky relationship between the young drug dealer [Pinkman|Jesse Pinkman] and Mike began, and although initially being frustrated at Gus chosing to go into business with Jesse against his advice, he learned to like him after Jesse saved Mike's life at a drug deal that was ambushed. Mike became a mentor to Jesse. However, Mike did not like Walt in the least, considering him to be selfish, arrogant, and egotistical.

He later becomes a reluctant partner in Walt and Jesse's [Pest|meth operation] after key members of the Albuquerque Mafia were either killed or imprisoned (including mob boss Gustavo Fring), still despising Walt and feeling depression over Jesse's choices. Mike is a calm and calculating individual who efficiently performed his duties for Gus, and he was the glue that held the Albuquerque Mafia together. He had extensive knowledge of how to operate on both sides of the law without detection.

Like Walt, Mike is a family man. He was married once and had a son named [Ehrmantraut|Matt] (who was also a cop and was killed by two of his coworkers), who with wife [Ehrmantraut|Stacey Ehrmantraut] produced a daughter, [Ehrmantraut|Kaylee Ehrmantraut], whom Mike enjoys a strong bond with. Mike's spouse has neither appeared nor been mentioned. He had an offshore account for $2 million held in his granddaughter's name, set up by Gustavo Fring, with no activity in the account. Mike was incredibly loyal and true to his word.

Following the assassination of Gus and the subsequent destruction of his empire as a result of Walt's actions, Mike, along with a majority of his fellow empire operatives would be exposed to the DEA and have their assets seized, with Mike only narrowly avoiding arrest for never having directly touched his money set up in his granddaughters name. Following this and his retirement from Walt's drug operation, Mike's assets would be seized a second time after the DEA caught his [Wachsberger|lawyer] and was left with no options but to flee. Before fleeing however, he would be unnecessarily shot by Walt after Mike brutally insulted him over creating the circumstances that led to his own downfall and would thus die without leaving his beloved family any money earned from his career as a professional criminal.

Mike serves as the secondary antagonist of Season 4 and the main antagonist of the first half of Season 5. He appears as the deuteragonist of the prequel series [Call Saul (TV series)|Better Call Saul].

## Murders committed by Mike

* **Officer [Hoffman|Troy Hoffman]**: Shot once in the head. Template:Crossref
* **Sergeant [Fensky|Jack Fensky]**: Shot twice in the chest, once in the neck and once in the head. Template:Crossref
* **[Cousins|Leonel Salamanca]**: Poisoned with unknown substance. Template:Crossref
* **4 Cartel Assassins**: All shot to death. Template:Crossref
* **2 Cartel Assassins**: Both shot to death. Template:Crossref
* **[[1]]**: Garroted to death. Template:Crossref
* **[Mara|Chris Mara]**: Shot to death. Template:Crossref

## Quotes

### *[Call Saul (TV series)|Better Call Saul]*

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> "*He wasn't dirty! God damn you! You get that through your head! My son wasn't dirty!*"
> ― Mike on the extremely rare case of losing his temper to Stacey.[source]
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> "*You know what a cop fears most? More than getting shot, more than anything? Prison. Getting locked up with everybody you put away. You threaten a cop with that, you make him dangerous, and that's what I told him. I talked sense. No one was getting hurt. But if you go to the I.A., if you even look like you're going. He had a wife, a kid, responsibilities. Take the money. Do something good with it. [chuckles wryly] Well I tried. I tried. But he wouldn't listen. My boy was stubborn. My boy was strong. And he was gonna get himself killed. So I told him... I told him I did it, too. That I was like Hoffman, getting by, and that's what you heard that night: me talking him down, him kicking and screaming until the fight went out of him. He put me up on a pedestal, and I had to show him that I was down in the gutter with the rest of 'em. [A beat. Tears fall down his face] Broke my boy. I broke my boy."*"
> ― Mike confesses his sin to Stacey.[source]
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> "*The way I figure, you saw that midlife crisis of a vehicle and wisely decided to cut ties with the man, and I don't blame you. I did, too. But then you ripped him off. And I'm sure those baseball cards looked like an easy way to make a few extra bucks off that idiot. Teach him a lesson, too. But you underestimated just how big an idiot you were dealing with.*"
> ― Mike confronting Nacho over the latter's actions against Daniel Wormald.[source]
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> "*You're sure about this? Killing your partner - that's a bell you don't un-ring.*"
> ― Mike to Nacho.[source]
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> "*I've got a problem I think you can help me with. I've got cash I can't spend. About $200,000. If anything happens to me, my family'll never see it. Now, it seems to me you opened this place to solve a similar problem.*"
> ― Mike begins his business relationship with Gus.[source]
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### *[Bad|Breaking Bad]*

> "*Any other drugs in the house? (A beat) Think hard. Your freedom depends on it.*"
> ― Mike tries to connect to Jesse in shock.[source]
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> "*You know, Walter, sometimes it doesn't hurt to have someone watching your back.*"
> ― Mike taking to Walter after removing the bugs from Walter's house.[source]
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> "*Keys, scumbag. It’s the universal symbol for keys.*"
> ― Mike to Jesse and Walter.[source]
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> "*You know, I can foresee a lot of possible outcomes to this thing, and not a single one of them involves 'Miller Time.'*"
> ― Mike to Jesse, Walter, and Old Joe.[source]
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> "*The next time you bring a gun to a job without telling me, I will stick it up your ass sideways. You understand?*"
> ― Mike chastising Todd[source]
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> "*We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch! We had Fring, we had a lab, we had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork! You could have shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed! It was perfect!* But no! *You just had to blow it up!* You*, and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man! If you’d done your job and known your place, we’d all be fine right now!*"
> ― Mike's angry rant at Walt.[source]
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> "*Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace.*"
> ― Mike's last words.[source]
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## Trivia

* Mike's debut as Saul's "cleaner" was originally written for Saul himself, but a scheduling conflict prevented [Odenkirk|Bob Odenkirk] from doing the scene. In addition to necessitating the creation of the character of Mike, this changed Saul's characterization going forward.
* Mike's surname "Ehrmantraut" was not revealed until episode 11 of [4|Season 4], Template:Ep. It was seen briefly on a shelf label in the medical tent, where bags of typed-and-matched blood for Gus, Mike, and Jesse were stored. It was never spoken until episode 2 of [5|Season 5], Template:Ep. Mike is called in for an interview by the DEA, to be conducted by Hank and Steve Gomez, and just before it begins, Hank asks Mike if it is pronounced "Air-min-trout", and Mike tells him "Close enough." Later, though, Mike himself pronounces it as "Er-min-trout."
	+ The name "Ehrmantraut" has appeared before in Vince Gilligan's works. In the Gilligan-penned X-Files episode "Tithonus" (6x10), a Ms. Ehrmantraut is the subject of one of Mulder and Scully's many dull background checks. Mulder: "In the time that you worked with Ms. Ehrmantraut, did you find her to be a trustworthy person?" "Punctual, huh? Yeah uh, punctual is good." See [to The X-Files|references to The X-Files].
	+ Ehrmantraut is a rather unique and old-fashioned German name. The words "Ehr" and "man" can be translated as "man of honor", while the suffix "traut" comes from the Middle High German trûen, trûwen ("to believe", "to trust", "to hope") closely related to "Treue" ("loyalty", "fidelity").
* It is entirely possible that Mike may have at one point been in U.S special forces for example, in Season 4 Episode 6 Template:Ep, Mike refers to men he wants hired as soldiers as "operators" which is what Tier 1 Special Forces soldiers are officially designated as. In the fourth episode of season 2 of *Better Call Saul*, Template:Ep, it's heavily implied that Mike was a Marine Scout Sniper during the Vietnam War.
* In an interview, Jonathan [Banks|Banks] stated that in his vision, Mike wouldn't have left [Ehrmantraut|Kaylee] in the playground when the DEA found him. But he accepted the scene as it was, since he respects the writers.
* Mike owns several cars throughout both series:
	+ [Chrysler Fifth Avenue|1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue] (Template:Ep - Template:Ep)
	+ [Chevrolet Caprice Estate|1987 Chevrolet Caprice Estate] (Template:Ep - Template:Ep)
	+ [Buick LeSabre|1992 Buick LeSabre] (Template:Ep - Template:Ep)
	+ [Buick Century|1990 Buick Century] Template:Crossref
	+ [Buick Century|1997 Buick Century] Template:Crossref

* Mike, along with [Goodman|Saul Goodman] and [Fring|Gustavo Fring], are the only three characters to be featured as main characters in both ***Better Call Saul*** and ***Breaking Bad***.
* In *Better Call Saul*, Mike has never yet met [Wexler|Kim Wexler] and [Hamlin|Howard Hamlin]. He shares a scene with [McGill|Chuck McGill] when he is sent by Jimmy to repair the front door of Chuck. Template:Crossref
* Mike seems to have at least a simple understanding of Spanish, as he was able to translate the message to Gus on the Pollos Hermanos container ("¿Estás listo para platicar?"), though it's possible he may have just had Tyrus translate it, who does speak Spanish Template:Crossref.

## Video

### Breaking Bad

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Template:BB Appearances

Template:BCS Appearances

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