Keep Breathing on Netflix: Who is Mike?
The drama pays tribute to Mike Banas before its closing credits, but who is he?
Those of you who raced through all six episodes of Netflix survival drama Keep Breathing will need a stiff drink and a lie down after watching Liv fight tooth and nail for survival in the Canadian wilderness. Melissa Barrera's character was served a conveyor belt of challenges, her life hanging in the balance after the small plane she was travelling on failed to reach Inuvik due to a catastrophic crash.
The craft plummeted into a lake, with the pilot George and his business partner Sam dying as a result of their injuries, but Liv miraculously survived the accident.
At the end of the series, you will have noticed the title card that appears just before the closing credits, which pays tribute to a man called Mike.
What is his connection to the show? And what happened to him?
Mike Banas was an editor who worked on a number of different titles throughout his career.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Keep Breathing co-creator Martin Gero explained that Banas focused on episodes 4, 5 and briefly 6 of the drama. But sadly, this was his final project due to his cancer diagnosis.
He was just 53 when he died in Los Angeles back in February 2022.
"He was giving notes from his hospital bed to get this across the line," said Gero. "He's a huge part of our creative life and this is such an editorial show. There's little dialogue and super visual. One of the first days of shooting he called me and was like, 'I got a shot of a girl tying her shoes for 20 minutes. What do I do with this?' and I was like, 'A lot of this is going to get made in the room.'
"It was an acknowledgment of his extraordinary contribution, not only on [Keep Breathing], but everything that had gotten us to this point.'"
Banas had worked with Gero and his creative partner Brendan Gall on previous projects. His credits include Blindspot, Continuum, The LA Complex, The Dead Zone, Dead Like Me and, most notably, Stargate.
In an online tribute from producer and showrunner Joseph Mallozzi, who also worked on Stargate, he wrote: "Heartbroken to learn of the passing of Mike Banas, who was such an integral part of the Stargate franchise, its successes and its lasting impression on sci-fi television.
"Mike was an editor and the very best at what he did, displaying his unparalleled skills on such seminal episodes as Vegas, Time, Malice, and the SGU openers (Air I and II) and closer (Gauntlet). These were among the 30+ Stargate episodes on which he left his mark.
"I've often said that good editors are the unsung heroes of any production, capable of single-handedly saving bad episodes and gifted with the ability to make very good episodes great, and Mike made it seem effortless."
Keep Breathing is streaming now on Netflix. Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix – or see what else is on with our TV Guide. Visit our Drama hub for all the latest news.
Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
