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Second time Mike has inadvertently gotten an innocent person killed?

posted 6 years ago by rootvegetables (1670)
10 replies | jump to latest

There was the truck driver that Hector shot.
Now the poor young man working at TravelWire. It's not a given, but it looks like Lalo killed him. Don't think Lalo would want him as a witness.
Both died as an unintended consequences of Mike's illicit work.

And then there is Werner. Not an innocent man, considering he agreed to do a construction job that was obviously sponsored by a powerful criminal. Nevertheless, a sweet, good man who just enjoys the art and science of his work, enjoys a challenge and wants to get along with people. He is the Gale Boetticher of this story arc.
Mike hated to do it but he murdered him. Yes, he made sure Werner's wife was safe. Yes, he gave him a clean quick death. But he still had to murder a man who simply made a naive and fatal mistake.

And why? All because Mike chose to involve himself in a criminal empire.

A theme that carries over from breaking bad is this: no matter how much you plan, how pure your intentions (or product) are, how careful you are, how methodical... and regardless of the original purpose you had in mind... once you break bad and the law of unintended consequences kicks in... horrible things will happen as a result. As a direct OR INDIRECT result of your original actions.

Walt did not intend for Drew Sharp to die. He did not intend for plane passengers to die.
Mike didn't want the TravelWire kid to die.
Neither man even conceived of these scenarios when they first took action, or even when they arose on those particular mornings. And these are guys who think of everything. They are thorough, careful, detail-oriented and methodical.

But they can't control the universe. And they chose to break bad.
Since these are the ultimate survivors, many (who had no choice in the matter and who are not natural sharks) will suffer before the end.

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[–] Manowar2010 (77) 6 years ago

You could also argue that his shady dealings as a cop may have contributed to his son's death although his son may have died even if Mike was completely clean. I guess one could argue by allowing that stuff to happen he created an environment where someone a ethical as his son was would pay the price.

[–] rootvegetables (1670) 6 years ago

Mike is tough. Not because of his old-school exterior toughness, strength, bravery, ability to take pain, etc.
But rather because he actually manages (presumably) to sleep at night with all those of his demons haunting him.
Wouldn't wanna know the guy, but I feel for him.

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[–] Bolchevik (377) 6 years ago

It's no excuse but if Mike wasn't there, someone would have taken his place and things would have been probably worst.

Just take Werner for example. Without Mike, Werner's wife would have been killed too. Werner's death would have been probably much painful (bag of plastic on the head for example). Maybe even the whole construction team would have been killed at the end.

[–] Manowar2010 (77) 6 years ago

I don't think Werner would have gotten the plastic bag treatment unless he was setting an example to the rest of the crew but it wouldn't have been effective on them. I think Gus used the bag on that Salamanca guy to set an example for Nacho and to disguise his cause of death for the staged highway attack. It's a good thing the twins aren't crime scene investigators.

[–] jriley555 (8125) 6 years ago

it will be hard to let the crew go home, given what's gone down with werner. he hired these people, knew them, they all had strong bonds.

i think their fate, if not already sealed, is now.

they probably will readily figure that out, which should make for some interesting stories next season.

mike is a thug. how he makes such bargains with himself is a mystery. we know from bb it doesnt turn out well.

[–] rootvegetables (1670) 6 years ago

That's sort of the point.
All these people (Walt, Mike, Jesse, Skylar, Jimmy, Mike and maybe even Gus) have compelling and sympathetic motivations (at least at the onset). But their choices to break bad lead to a slippery moral slope and consequences with are out of their control. People suffer, they themselves suffer and bad things happen.
And many of their actions are justified when you judge them IN THE MOMENT. For example, Mike killing Werner is understandable IN THAT MOMENT because he knows Werner is marked for death anyway; at least he can give him a quick death, protect his wife and so forth. It's a bad choice, but his best and probably only choice.
BUT, if we step outside the moment and go back in time to when Mike made a choice to do work for Gus (and other small time criminals before that and going on the take in Philly before that). Had he not inserted himself into this criminal world, he would never have been in a position to murder Werner (or even know him).
Same with Walt. So many of his choices are necessary in the moment in order for him to survive. But he would never be in those situations had he never gotten into the crystal meth business.

These people all chose to break bad. And... tragically... things went bad as a result.

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[–] KutWrite (1302) 6 years ago

This post and the above comments are all excellent.

My respects to you all.

[–] rootvegetables (1670) 6 years ago

Thanks! Appreciate it...

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[–] donotwantto (17) 4 years ago

When watching the show I've been thinking that it's Mike's actions during the show much more than Jimmy's that basically enable Breaking Bad, more than any other it's when he decides to get Tuco sent to prison instead of killing him like Ignacio wants. I assume it's during that prison time Tuco meets Skinny Pete and he is the one who introduces Jesse and Walter to Tuco in Breaking Bad.

Mike getting Tuco sent to prison leads to Hector knowing about Mike, making threats against his family so Mike will comply, that leads to Mike sabotaging Salamanca's business, that leads to Gus noticing Mike. If Mike hadn't gotten in contact with Gus then Jimmy (or Saul as he calls himself by then) wouldn't be able to help Walter and Jesse make contact with Gus which would mean the deal that leads to them getting $480 000 each would never happen, and then Jesse and Jane wouldn't blackmail Walter to get him to give Jesse his half of the money and they wouldn't celebrate getting the money by getting so high that Jane chokes on her vomit and dies, her father wouldn't break down and cause the planes to collide.

It's also because of Tuco Walter meets Hector and without him he probably wouldn't be able to kill Gus which leads to his entire organisation crumbling, which among other things leads to all the money Mike had made being seized by the authorities. Without working for Gus he wouldn't have made as much money of course but with some help from Saul he probably could launder the money he had made and actually get it to his granddaughter.

Then of course Walter ends up killing Mike as well.

So Mike, this super duper hard man, chosing a softer approach at one particular moment is what sets the stage for a lot of death, literally hundreds of innocent people dead, as well as his own death without his granddaughter getting a single cent of the money he worked so hard to make for her. Bummer.

Shouldn't have gone for a half measure.

[–] rootvegetables (1670) 4 years ago

That is true... Mike took a half-measure with Tuco, you're right. I don't think it was out of any sense of mercy, as it was when he was a beat cop and chose to spare the life of a wife-beater, leading to tragic results. I think that, with Tuco, he just thought it was the smarter play, the safer play, the better strategy. The right choice would have been to not get involved at all. Failing that, the better play would have probably been to take a full measure and kill his target. Then again, that too would have probably carried with it some unintended consequences. Tuco in jail or Tuco dead - either way - means Lalo showing up on the scene. And that guy... well that guy misses nothing. He would have picked up on some detail, obsessively pursued it and it would have lead him to Mike.

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