Spoilers for the Season 4 finale of Mayor of Kingstown are ahead! Read with caution, and catch up by streaming the series with a Paramount+ subscription.
Unlike the Season 3 finale of Mayor of Kingstown, the Season 4 finale ended with some closure, as Mike and Kyle were able to hug and finally walk away from Merle. However, that only happened because Taylor Handley’s McLusky brother killed the big bad. So, if this series gets renewed for a fifth season, I’ll be curious to see how this situation impacts him and Jeremy Renner’s older McLusky brother going forward. With that in mind, I asked Handley and Richard Brake (Merle) about all this.
Taylor Handley Explains How Kyle Killing Merle Could Impact His Character
Now, considering Kyle is the one who lived through this situation, I had to ask Taylor Handley how his character will move forward after this monumental moment. While it’s amazing that Merle is out of the picture, Kyle now has to live with killing someone. To that point, Handley told me:
It's a turning point, it's a fork in the road. Will he? Will he not? You know? And I think that that's what's been great about the entire arc of Kyle, you know, starting off as a fresh-faced detective in Season 1, and then all the tragedies he incurs along the way. And then you're hoping for him. You're hoping that this guy doesn't, you know, fall completely off the edge.
He’s right, this scene is a major turning point. It also is a reminder of just how much Kyle has been through, especially this season. After spending pretty much all of Season 4 in prison next to Merle, Handley’s character left a changed man who had been seriously tormented and traumatized. Then, he finally got some closure with this death.
However, as we’ve discussed and as Handley noted, it’s unclear if a person can come back from an experience like that. He said:
I don't know how a person comes back from all that, but yeah, that's what's going to be exciting. Whatever the writers and the creators come up with, I'm up for it.
I agree, seeing how Kyle moves forward from this is what makes me excited for Season 5 (if it happens). I want to see how he adjusts back to life, especially since his wife died this season at the hands of Merle, and I’ll be curious to see how the bad guy and his actions affect Kyle.
Richard Brake Told Me How Merle Could Continue To Haunt Mike And Kyle
That leads us to what Richard Brake told CinemaBlend about the episode that aired on the 2025 TV schedule. The actor, who has played Merle for two seasons on Kingstown, told me that while his character is dead, he does not think his presence will be absent. In fact, he thinks it’s very possible that Merle will continue to haunt both Kyle and Mike as this show goes on. In his words:
Mike kept talking about how bad he was, but we never really saw it until towards the end. And I think that's gonna haunt them. That's Merle’s, you know, that's his legacy. He’s haunting Mike. He’s gonna definitely haunt Kyle. And it's just, you know, they're stuck with him.
Brake also spoke about the “devastating evil” that was Merle. Slowly, he developed into one of the show’s scariest big bads, and I don’t think that’s something Kyle and Mike can just get over.
So, if Mayor of Kingstown gets a Season 5 and returns on the 2026 TV schedule, I hope the repercussions and consequences of this final death are explored. That’s because, like Richard Brake, I really think Kyle and Mike will not be able to shake this guy, even though he’s dead.
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