Who Was Kerry Condon in 'Better Call Saul'?
With her recent turn as Siobhán in The Banshees of Inisherin, Irish actress Kerry Condon has earned countless nominations and made several award show appearances. As a result, many might be struggling to remember where they've seen Condon before. Fans of Vince Gilligan will recall that she played Stacey Ehrmantraut in the Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul. Stacey is the widow of Matt Ehrmantraut (son of Jonathan Banks' Mike) and the mother of Mike's granddaughter Kaylee, to whom Mike plans on leaving his fortune.
Despite the enormous worldwide success of Breaking Bad, Condon admitted to having never seen the show when she was cast in its prequel. Stacey made one appearance in Breaking Bad's episode "Full Measure," played by an unknown actor with no dialogue. Stacey's backstory was interestingly inspired by none other than Banks himself. While filming "Full Measure," Banks suggested to Vince Gilligan that "[Kaylee]'s my granddaughter" but "[Stacey] is not my daughter." This idea from the actor inspired Gilligan and Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould to create Stacey's complex and interesting backstory in the prequel, warranting an actor of Condon's caliber.
Better Call Saul follows Breaking Bad's criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) back when he was known as Jimmy McGill, documenting the events that led him down the path of criminality. It also follows another Breaking Bad favorite on a similar journey, Jonathan Banks' fixer Mike. Mike is revealed to have been a corrupt police officer in Philadelphia whose honorable son was killed by other corrupt cops to keep their secret. Mike then avenged his son's death before moving to Albuquerque, where he could be closer to his daughter-in-law Stacey and granddaughter Kaylee.
Stacey Is Cold and Stoic at the Beginning of 'Better Call Saul'
Stacey is seen in scrubs, implying a career in medicine or caregiving. This, combined with Condon's layered performance, immediately tells the audience that she is the archetype of a nurturing mother, able to provide a modest but respectable life for her daughter. She begins Better Call Saul as a cold and stoic character in mourning for her husband. After Mike follows her to Albuquerque, she asks him how long he intends to stay, suggesting her conflicting feelings about his intention of providing for Kaylee. She later concedes that a few days before Matt was killed, he was on a heated phone call that she believes was with Mike. Mike initially denies this, further distancing him and Stacey emotionally.
When Stacey finds a large amount of cash in the lining of a suitcase, she calls the Philadelphia Police, fearing Matt may have been involved in something illegal. After this throws a spanner in the works for Mike's main storyline, he is forced to explain everything to Stacey, as Condon's face shows us all the worrying theories that Stacey is imagining. In an impeccable monologue that earned Jonathan Banks an Emmy nomination, he insists that Matt "wasn't dirty" and subsequently breaks down, explaining that Matt's hesitation in taking dirty money was what turned the corrupt cops against him. "I broke my boy!" Stacey then asks, "If they killed Matty, who killed them?" to which Mike replies, "You know what happened. The question is, can you live with it?"
Knowing Mike Is a Killer Changes Stacey
Appreciating the respect Mike showed her in admitting to his involvement in Matt's demise, Stacey finally invites Mike to babysit Kaylee — not only that, but when she returns, she even asks for his advice. Life is getting expensive for her as a single mother, and Mike's encouragement to spend Matt's dirty money validates her instincts. And so begins their complex relationship, in which both characters represent moral guides for the other, validating their less-than-honorable decisions from time to time.
To further cement how Mike uses the seemingly innocent Stacey to his advantage as a criminal, he adopts a dog in order to liaise with vet-cum-middleman Dr. Caldera (Joe DeRosa), and asks Stacey to be the dog's owner. It could be argued that Mike's relationship with Stacey makes for a more interesting take on the "anti-hero's wife" archetype than Walt and Skyler's (Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn) or even Jimmy and Kim's (Rhea Seehorn).
Does Stacey Use Mike to Her Advantage?
Stacey turns down subsequent envelopes of cash from Mike, despite Mike's growing presence in her and Kaylee's lives. Instead, Stacey asks to be relocated to a nicer neighborhood, having heard gunshots in the night. Mike secretly camps overnight in his car outside to survey the area but no gunshots are heard. The next day, Stacey shows Mike a small dent in the wall, claiming to have heard gunshots again. Mike knows this not to be the case but doesn't challenge her. Grateful enough to be in Kaylee's life, he relents. Is this all in Stacey's head, or is she using Mike's loyalty and income to her advantage? Condon beautifully weaves the possibilities in her performance, leading us to question whether either option is more moral than the other, given Mike's means of earning cash.
The pendulum swings in the other direction for Stacey's influence on Mike too. She and Mike visit a support group in which they discuss coping with Matt's death. She also volunteers his services to build a playground for children, recounting Matt's fond memories of helping Mike pour concrete as a child. Condon also has an Emmy-worthy monologue of her own when Stacey describes her first morning without thinking about Matt. This tragic yet beautiful speech, unfortunately, triggers a dark and resentful reaction from Mike, for which he later apologizes. This is a prime example of how Condon's Stacey was a perfect addition to both support and counteract Mike's story in Better Call Saul.
Kerry Condon Is a Perfect Foil for Jonathan Banks
Condon's character serves as the personification of Mike's complicated family life, and a living reminder of how he broke his son with his corruption. Condon plays Stacey with an emotional subtlety that allows Mike and the viewers to project onto her the various possibilities of how she digests the information Mike tells her at the end of Season 1. She embodies purity so well that it takes both Mike and the audience a while to clock that Stacey is using him to her advantage. Mike gives in nonetheless, going above and beyond within the criminal underworld in order to provide Stacey and Kaylee with not only the quality of life Matt would have given them but an even better one.
Stacey, and Condon's performance in particular, leads us to question whether this is a selfish manipulation of Mike's loyalty, or whether it's the only way of justifying his already-tarnished morality, therefore beneficial for all involved. She is, in a way, both his redemption and his reason to continue down the path of criminality. Enormous credit for making this complex character relationship feel so grounded in real emotion should be given to the performances — of course, to Jonathan Banks, but also, in no small part to Academy Award Nominee Kerry Condon.
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