Mayor of Kingstown: Jeremy Renner Explains [Spoiler]’s Death in Season 4 Finale

Jeremy Renner recently opened up about the Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 finale and took a moment to explain a major character’s death. Renner plays Mike McLusky, a power broker trying to bring about order and justice in Kingstown. Created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, Episode 1 of the show’s fourth season came out on October 26, 2025, with the finale episode streaming on December 29, 2025.

Jeremy Renner explains Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 finale’s major death

Jeremy Renner recently sat down for an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he talked about the end of another season of Mayor of Kingstown. The show, which quickly became a massive hit among audiences, saw the death of a major character in its season finale.

Renner revealed his thoughts on Merle Callahan’s death, and why it was important for his character’s brother, Kyle McLusky to be the one to pull the trigger. “That’s one way to sort of… not really protect, but help forge a path for healing because of what [Merle] did,” Renner explained. “There was no other pathway.”

During the eighth episode of Season 4, Merle kills Kyle’s wife Tracy after escaping Anchor Bay. He later surrenders himself at the local police station, after which Captain Walter leaves the fate of Merle in the hands of Det. Ian Ferguson.

The detective then drives Merle to the railroad tracks for a showdown with the McLuskys. Here, Kyle shoots Merle, killing him, and continuing to fire bullets at his dead body. This leads to the Mike comforting his younger brother after an emotional rollercoaster.

“The beautiful end of it all is at least they [Mike and Kyle] have each other,” said Renner. “That was something I really had to fight for [at] the end of this show. It was very, very, very important to at least give the audience that. Give them something good,” he added.

Further, the Hawkeye actor noted, “The beautiful part for us is the release of that toxic character and then the two brothers falling into each other — and at least they have each other through it all. So that’s some kind of hope, right?”

Originally reported by Elton Fernandes on ComingSoon.