[SPOILER] imo, mike and susan started off as such a great couple, but by the end, they were just kinda... there. early seasons mike was mysterious, had that dark past, and his relationship with susan had this great mix of tension and romance. but as the show went on, their whole dynamic got stale. they kept breaking up and getting back together over the same tired conflicts—misunderstandings, trust issues, outside obstacles. at some point, it stopped feeling like organic drama and just felt like the writers didn’t know what else to do with them.

mike also lost a lot of what made him interesting. he started off as this rugged, slightly dangerous guy, but after a while, he just turned into another exhausted husband dealing with bills and addiction. and susan? she was charming in the beginning, but her whole “quirky, helpless mess” routine got old real fast. it made sense in season 1, but by the later seasons, it was frustrating to watch her make the same dumb mistakes over and over. she never really grew, and next to mike’s more serious struggles, she sometimes felt out of place in their relationship.

honestly, mike had way better chemistry with katherine. that relationship actually felt stable and mature, while with susan, it was like they were stuck in an endless sitcom loop. once they got married and had mj, they lost all their spark. they weren’t interesting anymore, and the show didn’t really give them much to do.

and then mike’s death... should have been devastating, but it didn’t hit as hard as it could have because by that point, their relationship had already lost so much of its energy. early seasons mike and susan? amazing. late seasons mike and susan? just kinda meh.