Warning: SPOILERS for Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11.
Devin Ratray, the actor who played Buzz in Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11, "Breaking Bad." The episode flashes between the Gene timeline and the Breaking Bad timeline as Jimmy, a.k.a. Gene Takavic (Bob Odenkirk), embarks on another scam, following the mall heist from the previous episode. Re-teaming with Jeff and Buddy, Jimmy uses Jeff's cab and some strong sedatives to pull off a lucrative identity theft scheme.
It's another of Slippin' Jimmy's beloved bar room scams, where he identifies an easy mark and gains their confidence over the course of a few drinks. The first victim of the latest of Jimmy's Gene-timeline grifts in season 6 of Better Call Saul is Alfred Hawthorne Hill, played by Devin Ratray, who is best known as Buzz in the first two Home Alone movies. Alfred is a typical bar room bore, who bullies and cons Jimmy into buying him drinks and embarrassing himself at karaoke. He even sets fire to Jimmy's jacket as they part ways, highlighting that Alfred deserves what he's got coming to him and that the actor who once played Kevin McAllister's bullying eldest brother is the perfect casting for the role.
Devin Ratray's ideal casting as Better Call Saul's bar bully follows on from season 6, episode 10's perfect casting of Parks and Recreation's Jim O'Heir as kindly and oblivious mall security guard Frank. In an episode where Breaking Bad's Walt and Jesse reappear, the scene with Ratray as Alfred may not seem important. However, the links that Better Call Saul season 6, episode 11 draws between Jimmy's new identity theft scam and his introduction, as Saul Goodman, to Walter White's criminal empire make it clear that the scene between Alfred and Gene is very important indeed. The casting of Devin Ratray makes this even better, as he has a history of playing bully characters, like Home Alone's Buzz, and easy marks like his character in 2019's Hustlers.
What Devin Ratray Has Done Since Home Alone
Devin Ratray's first role after Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was as Mickey in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace. Mickey isn't nearly as horrible as Buzz in Home Alone but, as the boyfriend of Dennis's babysitter (Natasha Lyonne), he does resort to unpleasant tactics to guarantee some alone time with his girlfriend. When Dennis keeps ringing their doorbell, Mickey tapes a thumbtack to the doorbell, though it's nothing compared to the self-defense tactics employed by Kevin McAllister in the Home Alone movies.
After that, Ratray appeared in a number of ing roles in film and TV, including two different characters in Law & Order a decade apart, as well as different characters in Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He also had a notable role in 2013's Blue Ruin as Ben, the gun fanatic friend of Macon Blair's reluctant revenge-seeking killer. Also released that year was Nebraska, in which he co-starred with Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk. With Better Call Saul's Gene timeline set in Omaha, Nebraska, the casting of Ratray in the role of Alfred also seems a nod to that movie.
Prior to his appearance as Alfred, he appeared as one of the marks in 2019's Hustle and had a brief recurring role as Tommy Burke in Chicago Med as well as a more substantial recurring role as Tinfoil Kevin in The Tick. He later reprised his role as Buzz McAllister in 2021's Home Sweet Home Alone as a long-suffering police officer dealing with his now adult brother Kevin's pranks. He also played Kevin, Zoe Kravitz's problematic stalker/savior who puts his life at risk in Steven Soderbergh's Kimi. While still best known for playing Buzz in Home Alone, Devin Ratray's role as Alfred in Better Call Saul is another memorable ing character on the actor's resume.
Better Call Saul continues Monday on AMC.