The premiere of Better Call Saul season 6 provides a better explanation for Mike Ehrmantraut’s (Jonathan Banks) treatment of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) in Breaking Bad. While Mike earns a reputation in Breaking Bad as Gustavo Fring’s coldblooded right-hand man, Better Call Saul offers a closer look at Mike’s less prominent persona, the compassionate family man and ex-cop grappling with the ethics of his day job while providing future financial stability for his granddaughter, Kaylee. As Better Call Saul enters its sixth and final season, Mike’s arc throughout the prequel series can shed some light on how Mike evolves into a father figure for Jesse.
After Nacho assisted with Lalo’s attempted assassination in season 5, Better Call Saul season 6 begins with Nacho on the run in Mexico. When Better Call Saul's Don Eladio labels Nacho as a rat and orders his assassination, Nacho is directed to head to a motel as part of an elaborate plan devised by Fring to get Nacho killed in a shootout with the Salamancas, therefore covering up Fring's role in the incident. When Nacho discovers that Fring is having him watched in episode 2 “Carrot and Stick,” Nacho is able to evade being captured by Leonel and Marco Salamanca. After learning that Nacho escaped, Mike offers to cross the border himself with a team to recover Nacho before Lalo finds him first. Mike’s instinct to protect Nacho and his father, even at his own risk, can provide some insight into Mike’s similarly protective behavior towards Jesse.
While Mike inflicts violence upon various gang members throughout Breaking Bad, Mike is still navigating his moral limits as Gus’ henchman in Better Call Saul. When Fring has Mike kill Werner Ziegler in Better Call Saul, his death weighs on Mike’s conscience, causing him to rethink his employment with Fring. Fring’s comment that Mike understands revenge in the episode “Dedicado a Max” reminds Mike not of the revenge he gained, but rather of the person he lost. Mike's son, Matt, died under similar circumstances as Ziegler: as a casualty of someone else’s crimes. Mike is then motivated, not to help Fring attain revenge against the Salamancas, but to defend the innocent few caught in the middle of the Fring-Salamanca rivalry. In “Bagman,” Mike saves Jimmy by singlehandedly assassinating a cartel gang. Throughout season 5, Mike consistently advocates for Nacho to be released from his role as Fring’s mole in the Salamanca gang. In Better Call Saul season 6, Mike's continued efforts to save Nacho reaffirm Mike’s moral code, which resurfaces in Breaking Bad through his relationship with Jesse.
Mike’s defense of Nacho reveals that he and Jesse share some of the same qualities. Because both Jesse and Nacho start out as low-level members who aren't as ruthless as the major players in Albuquerque's criminal drug underworld, Nacho Varga is essentially the Jesse Pinkman of Better Call Saul. Mike first begins to trust Jesse and Nacho after they prove their loyalty. In Breaking Bad season 4, Jesse proves his loyalty after he passes Fring’s test by returning for Mike after escaping a fake shootout at a dead drop. For his part, Nacho gains Mike’s respect after he fulfills every request they ask of him as Fring’s mole. Similar to the way Walt mistreats Jesse in Breaking Bad, Mike doesn’t approve of Fring’s treatment of Nacho in Better Call Saul season 6.
Despite Mike’s efforts to save him, Nacho’s possible death in Better Call Saul season 6 might also explain why Mike cares about Jesse. At the end of “Carrot and Stick,” Nacho’s situation is very reminiscent of Werner Ziegler’s: being pursued by both Fring’s people and Lalo because of the information he possesses about Fring’s secret operations. While Mike certainly won’t be the one to commit the act himself, if the Salamancas or another member of Fring’s outfit were to kill Nacho and yet another innocent person were to die on his watch, it would explain why Mike later found it necessary to take Jesse Pinkman under his wing in Breaking Bad, as if to redeem himself for not helping Ziegler, Nacho, or his own son sooner.
Better Call Saul releases new episodes Mondays on AMC.