Mike Ehrmantraut: You need 5 stickers

[Stratego]

I need help settling an argument about Mike's needy/greedy daughter-in-law (don't know her name).  Am I remembering this right?  In a previous episode, she told Mike that she hears gunshots around her house, that first house.  So Mike being Mike, he stakes out in front of her house all night long one night and nothing happens.  However, that morning his daughter-in-law calls him frantically, saying "it happened again last night" and showing him some tiny little chink in the corner of her house, "proof" that a bullet was shot at her house.  She then guilts Mike into moving her and Kaylee into a new, more expensive place with a pool.

 

I say that by her actions she totally blames Mike for her husband's death and is passive/aggressively sticking it to him, making him pay for a nicer home "for Kaylee's safety" but really for her.  And Mike goes along with it because he also believes he caused Matt's death and wants to atone for his sins.

 

Then the Salamanca twins show up at the new house and Mike freaks out and drags Kaylee out of the pool.  So now he has to buy her yet ANOTHER house because the Salamanca's know where they live.  That house with the beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows.  Did I get that right?  Sometimes I miss things.

Not exactly.  The "gunshots" were shown to be the "splat" of newspaper delivery as the paper hit the concrete--Mike was there.  Mike unilaterally made the decision that Stacey and Kaley should move to a new house.  They moved to a motel, with a pool, for temporary residence until a new house was purchased.  It was at the motel pool where Mike and Kaley were spotted by the Salamanca brothers.  

[Irlandesa]

There is debate about this but when Mike slept outside her house, he was woken up by the sound of newspapers hitting the sidewalk. They were loud and could possibly be mistaken for gunshots, especially for someone so jittery. I think that's the conclusion Mike reached and to make her feel better, he moved her to a hotel or apartment.

That was where the pool was. I think the intent all along was to move out of the place Mike had temporarily moved her to.

Eta...Stratego beat me to it.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Irlandesa

[scenario]

The pool scene was at a hotel they were staying at until they get a new house.

[RCharter]

So, here is a thing about the newspaper delivery.....Stacey said "it happened again last night," but IIRC the newspapers were being thrown at first light (I would imagine around 5am) which wouldn't be in the middle of the night.  And if there was gunshots in the middle of the night, wouldn't she have called the cops again?  She didn't know Mike was spending the night.

[scenario]

I tend to cut Stacy some slack. I'd bet she grew up in a nice suburban area with the white picket fences and everything. She's been told all her life not to go downtown or that section of town because its too dangerous. She moved into the best house she could afford but its in a lower middle class neighborhood. The type neighborhood her parents taught her to fear all her life. 

Her husband got murdered so her paranoia about the neighborhood is even more acute than it would have been. She is woken out of her sleep by a noise and convinces herself it is a gunshot. She tells Mike and in her paranoia, everything she hears when she is half asleep sounds dangerous to her. She believes that he has money and hopes that he'll help her get to a much safer place. 

She's manipulating him but not as a planned scam. More the more normal type manipulation that somewhat dysfunctional families tend to do. 

[Oosala]

Thanks everyone. I still don't like the daughter-in-law.  She knows where Mike works, right?  How the hell does she think Mike can afford a place for himself to live AND that new house which must be massive judging by the size of the living room.  So she knows Mike is getting under-the-table money from somewhere and she's more than happy to spend that money.  I know Mike insists she take it and repeatedly assures her that it's not a problem but whatever.  Her acceptance keeps Mike in harm's way and she must know that at some level.  Or maybe I'm just jealous that nobody's offering ME a massive house like that free of charge!

[scenario]

I just rewatched the scene with the newspapers. Mike was sleeping when the newspapers first hit. He opened the glove box and took out a gun. A few seconds later the paper guy drove up and it was clear it was the newspaper. When woken up even Mike wasn't totally sure what the sounds were. His DIL was frightened and much less used to gunshots. I can see her jumping at shadows whenever she hears a sound in the middle of the night. It was pitch black when the papers were delivered. If you don't look at a clock it could be just about any time. 

 

There's enough there that she could be a frightened woman who wants to move to a safer place for the safety of her family or it could be a woman who is trying to con her FIL into giving her money. Or it could be something in between. There's no way to be sure.

[Irlandesa]

Thanks everyone. I still don't like the daughter-in-law.  She knows where Mike works, right?  How the hell does she think Mike can afford a place for himself to live AND that new house which must be massive judging by the size of the living room.

She knows where Mike works but she also knew that Mike was a dirty cop in Philly.  I don't think she knows if it's new money he is giving her or money from his old life...the old life that ended up hurting her husband/his son.

[Umbelina]

Moving this over from the episode thread, since it seems to be mostly about Mike.

 

I think it's just odd writing.  During the gunshot episode I had no idea at all what the hell was going on, came here, read the responses, then read the recap, then watched twice more, and finally thought I got it.  From the way the scene was lit, or my TV settings, whatever it was, I didn't even know that WAS a newspaper they threw, it looked shadowed, and the first time I thought I saw a gun shape in there.  Then someone mentioned the podcast and I completely "got" something different.  So, whatever.  I think my opinion of her was more from BB anyway and how she was with Mike on that show.

 

I appreciated them getting into the backstory last season about just how guilty Mike really was when it came to his son's murder.  There are so many places Mike could have done something different and his son would still be alive.  Starting with, never being crooked himself, and doing the legal and right thing long, long ago.  After that?  Certainly discouraging his son from joining such a corrupt force, or cluing him in before he ever put on the badge just what he would be facing morally on the job.  It must tear Mike apart, and Mike's a very rich character, a whole person, on both shows.

 

I do have sympathy for Stacey either way though, no matter what she's up to.  I think her life was wrecked, and part of the reason is her father-in-law.  How terrifying to know that the man you love (because I think she still does love her slaughtered husband) was killed by the "good guys" wearing the badges, people she probably knew.  So, to me, if she does con Mike, good for her, he let his son walk into his death, and he could have stopped it.  The fact that he murdered the murderers so now more revenge murders may take place from friends or family of the cops Mike murdered must scare her silly.  Her benefactor, and her daughter's "Pop Pop" is another crooked cop, another murderer, just like the ones who killed Kaylee's daddy.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Umbelina

[PrincessSteel]

If I could somehow insert myself into a fictional universe, I would be the coffee shop waitress who waits on Mike and occasionally invites him home with her. And he would only have to say 'yes' once because: reruns!

[Bryce Lynch]

In episode 303 we got the first appearance of Mike's alter ego, "Dave Clark" (like the Dave Clark Five).  The name he gave the receptionist in the doctor's office was Mr. Clark.

In Breaking Bad 501 "Live Free or Die", Mike claimed to be "Postal Inspector Dave Clark", on the phone with the APD, when he was trying to find out where they were keeping Fring's laptop with the surveillance video on it.  

[PeterPirate]

Banks also had a couple lines in Airplane!.  

One was: "What an asshole".

Edited April 28, 2017 by PeterPirate

[ketose]

For the 10 people who watched "Fired Up" on NBC, he even had a catch phrase. "Oh yeah!"

[SignGuy77]

On April 25, 2017 at 0:52 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

In episode 303 we got the first appearance of Mike's alter ego, "Dave Clark" (like the Dave Clark Five).  The name he gave the receptionist in the doctor's office was Mr. Clark.

In Breaking Bad 501 "Live Free or Die", Mike claimed to be "Postal Inspector Dave Clark", on the phone with the APD, when he was trying to find out where they were keeping Fring's laptop with the surveillance video on it.  

Wait a minute! Wasn't that door repair man the same Mr Clark from the Mexican clinic? /sarcasm 

Mike and Gus' trajectories crossing was a long time coming, but so worth it. 

[PrincessSteel]

It is so in keeping with Gus' general awesomeness that he would recognize the genius of Mike and offer him a job. And Mike paid Gus the ultimate compliment of going beyond his usual terse explanation when he said he was just glad to have Salamanca out of his head. A real meeting of the minds. I swear I would watch a show called 'Mike & Gus Do Stuff'. 

[Bryce Lynch]

On 5/19/2017 at 11:07 PM, PrincessSteel said:

It is so in keeping with Gus' general awesomeness that he would recognize the genius of Mike and offer him a job. And Mike paid Gus the ultimate compliment of going beyond his usual terse explanation when he said he was just glad to have Salamanca out of his head. A real meeting of the minds. I swear I would watch a show called 'Mike & Gus Do Stuff'. 

I always thought it was a shame that Gus, Mike and Walt never really got to work together on the same team.  With their combined genius, and various complimentary skill sets, they could have taken over the world.  

[shapeshifter]

Today I saw a 40-something Jonathan Banks in a very short-lived but nonetheless effective role as an unrepentant cop killer out on parole in a Cagney and Lacey episode. His character was offed by a 40-something James Gammon (AKA Nash Bridges’ Dad) who played the vengeful partner of the victim of Jonathan Banks‘ character. I really really wish the de-aging software was available when BCS was being shot. Jonathan Banks moved and talked like a life-wearied older person even in his 40s, so just a little CGI is all they’d need. 

[Christina]

These are old but I hadn't seen them before. They are only a few minutes long and I walked away with the distinct impression that Mike doesn't like Lydia, at all, not even a widdle teansy bit.

Madrigal Electromotive Security Training Series

Lesson 1: “Employee Accountability”

Lesson 2: “Hiring Practices”

Lesson 3: “Perimeter Security”

Lesson 4: “Social Intelligence”

 (Vince Gilligan & Peter Gould make an animated appearance)

Lesson 5: “Information Security”

Lesson 6: “Professionalism”

Lesson 7: “Workplace safety”

Lesson 8: “Confidentiality”

Lesson 9: “Morale”

Lesson 10: "Chain of Command"

 

 

[Christina]

WOW!!! Amazing talent here:

 

[DrSparkles]

On 3/25/2020 at 10:13 PM, shapeshifter said:

Today I saw a 40-something Jonathan Banks in a very short-lived but nonetheless effective role as an unrepentant cop killer out on parole in a Cagney and Lacey episode. His character was offed by a 40-something James Gammon (AKA Nash Bridges’ Dad) who played the vengeful partner of the victim of Jonathan Banks‘ character. I really really wish the de-aging software was available when BCS was being shot. Jonathan Banks moved and talked like a life-wearied older person even in his 40s, so just a little CGI is all they’d need. 

Yeah, he’s really aged (which is natural!), it was super obvious in bagman/the desert. But god, he’s great!

[PeterPirate]

Just something rando. 

[Lalo Lives]

Rewatching BCS, and the question came to mind:

When Jimmy and Mike first interact (i.e.:  The Great Sticker Wars) had Mike started doing freelance work yet? Had he started working for Gus? Again, at that point?

just trying to get the timeline down.

[shapeshifter]

I was just watching an old episode of Designing Women (2.1 “101 Ways to Decorate a Gas Station,” 1987) and had to look up the guest star — who was a much younger Jonathan Banks, looking as he should have, IMO, for a BrBa prequel: