Sumith Prasad
The two previous season finales of Paramount+’s crime drama series ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ end with startling developments one after the other. While the first installment concludes with a prison riot that leaves many unanswered questions, the second season’s ending stuns viewers with Mariam getting shot and Milo cheating death. The finale of the third installment is arguably the most explosive while considering all three of them. Several main characters fight for their lives, while some accept their deaths for various reasons. As another chapter of the Kingstown saga comes to a close, Mike bid adieus to his friends and enemies alike!
Mike McLusky: Survives
Mike’s survival is not a surprise. What is surprising is that he is the only one who engages in several battles all at once without ever confronting death at a short distance. After giving the green light to the war between the Crips and Russians, he rushes to see Milo, who chooses to negotiate with him instead of killing him. Despite learning that the Mayor tricked him into sending his men to their deaths, Konstantin decides not to try to seek vengeance as he accepts his impending death. Callahan hasn’t yet started his search for Mike or likely has not known the latter’s involvement in the plot to kill him to turn against the man. Thus, Mike remains alive and seeks comfort in the solitude of his cabin in the wilderness.
Iris: Dies
Iris’ death is nothing short of a tragedy. She is found dead in a bus after she seemingly kills herself. The former escort doesn’t process her departure from Mike and Kingstown, which is forced upon her by the Mayor, Konstantin, and Milo. Despite her persistence to stay in the town, she is asked to leave by her own protector, who forgets to consider her vulnerability. Without Mike beside her, Iris must have felt lost and hopeless, which convinces her to take her own life. At least her existence ceases according to her own terms, which may have been a first-time experience for her. She chooses to stop living over getting haunted by her past and the individuals who controlled it.
Milo Sunter: Dies
Milo returns to Kingstown because he has leverage: Iris. He knows that nobody will touch him as long as he can hurt her, including Konstantin, who asks her to kill him to save herself from the resurrected mobster. When Iris disappears, his life ends up in the hands of Mike. Rather than pleading for it, he provokes the Mayor enough, especially by talking about Mariam and the young girls he kills to scare his fellow mobster. Mike listens to Milo for a while, but when the latter’s vile tongue starts to name his mother, he loses control and shoots down his nemesis. The threat of Milo ends once and for all as he departs to a world where he cannot resurrect again.
Robert Sawyer: Survives
Robert’s impulses have always led him to trouble. Initially, he used to shoot down criminals to protect his colleagues and “brothers.” However, by the third season finale, his protective instincts turn murderous. He starts to kill people who surrender, which alarms Kyle. When he prepares to shoot down a random civilian who tries to protect his child, his colleague realizes he has seen enough. Kyle shoots at him multiple times, but the bullets end up in his vest and neck, which turns out to be inadequate to cause his death. He is alive and stable for now. As long as he doesn’t want to hurt Kyle as an act of revenge, the Mayor will allow him to breathe.
Kareem Moore: Dies
When his superiors force Kareem to resign from his position, they also kill his will to live. Without his job and the perks he receives because of his position, Kareem fails to see a future. He doesn’t want to save his life by destroying the life and career of Kevin, the guard who made the explosion in their prison possible, who is just another “victim” of Bunny’s “benevolence.” To not traumatize his wife and child by killing himself, the warden chooses another way to die. He provokes the Aryans, who are enraged after the explosion, only for their leader to kill him. By dying while doing his job, Kareem may have secured some benefits for his family to survive.
Konstantin Noskov: Dies
By the time Roman dies and Milo resurfaces, Konstantin loses his will to fight. He ends up at the gunpoint of his enemy upon suffering from a betrayal by Anna, his left-hand woman. The wound gets bigger when Milo reveals that Iris has been spying on him for Mike. Still, he wants her to open a new chapter of her life elsewhere. The Russian mobster has been struggling for a while, which is made evident by his drug usage to even sleep. When life gets harder for him, he must have realized that death is an option to consider, especially after several condemnable actions. Konstantin gives his blessing to Iris to kill him to ensure that she is allowed to walk away with freedom by Milo, who demands his death to let her go.
Kyle McLusky: Survives
Considering the fates of Mitch and Mariam, Kyle’s life is always hanging by a thread, which is a curse from which the McLuskys cannot escape. He joins his colleagues and rushes to a shootout scene, only for the “gunslingers” to target him and his team. Still, Kyle manages to remain alive. However, life is going to be tough for the police officer as he gets arrested for the attempted murder of Robert. Since he doesn’t shoot to save his life but another man’s, the cop cannot rely on self-defense. To avoid a conviction, Evelyn may extend him a chance to testify against Robert in the prison-riot case. But will Kyle turn against his “brother”? Only the yet-to-be-renewed fourth season can reveal.
Bunny Washington: Survives
Bunny is safe since he doesn’t engage in the battle himself. He merely sends his men to trap the Russians in a warehouse to kill them. As the war between the Crips, Aryans, and Russians reaches a crescendo, the leader of the former group stays away from the streets. Bunny being alive also means he will likely confront Mike regarding the men he lost due to the premature shootout, which was not part of their plans. His ambitions lead him to the war, only for the Russians to be eliminated, but at what cost, especially considering the Aryans need his blood?
Merle Callahan: Likely Survives
Callahan, the vicious leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, is not featured in the third season finale at all. In the ninth episode of the installment, he nearly escapes his death. He manages to leave his hospital room before Raphael kills him. However, he has been bleeding immensely. Callahan is not in his prime to deal with extensive blood loss without his life getting threatened. Still, he is alive for now, and he may remain the same until he provokes his followers for a final battle against the Crips. After Milo and Konstantin’s deaths, he can be one of Mike’s severe headaches in the potential fourth season.
Read More: Why Does Ian Kill Charlie? Did Kenny Johnson Leave Mayor of Kingstown?
