Marvel's The Punisher: [Spoiler] discusses that brutal death scene 

: [Spoiler] discusses that brutal death scene

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for the entire season of 

Poor Sam Stein (Michael Nathanson). Not only had his career at Homeland Security stalled by the time he became Dinah Madani’s (Amber Rose Revah) new partner, but he also had to struggle to win her trust — and just as he finally grew to be her confidante, he got murdered during a mission gone wrong.

In the final moments of episode 8, Stein nearly captures Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), but after unmasking him as one of players behind the conspiracy that killed Madani’s former partner in Kandahar, Billy gets the upper hand, stabbing Stein in the neck and letting him bleed out, until Madani finds him taking his last breath.

Nathanson hopped on the phone with EW to talk about his character’s final scenes, his dynamic with Madani, and the 

tradition that lead actor Jon Bernthal brought to the cast and crew.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you know you’d be killed off?

MICHAEL NATHANSON: When I got the part, they told me my breakdown of episodes, and I didn’t know exactly what the fate of Stein would be, but there was a lot of “Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, this is a one-season deal,” so I was like, “Okay, maybe

I don’t make it to the end.” It was really funny because at some point during filming, Steve [Lightfoot, the showrunner] called me up, and I think he had gotten nervous that I didn’t know. He was like, “Hey, I just want to make sure you know that this happens to you ….” And I was like, “Oh, I 

.” It was actually Election Day, so that was a very

Your death scene is brutal. It’s quite an intimate moment, really, between Stein and Billy, especially when Billy pulls him close to finish him off. In the next episode, Madani talks about how Stein had this look of surprise in his eyes as he died. Is that how you were directed to play it?

Oh, that’s interesting. Well first, Ben and I both knew pretty early on how I’d die, and I think he felt so bad. He would come over all the time and be like, “I’m so sorry,” and I was like, “It’s okay! It’s gonna be great for your character and my character. They’ll love me and hate you!” [

] In terms of how I played it with Ben, Stein had alluded to the fact that there is something off with this guy [from the beginning]. When he meets him at Anvil in episode 2, he gives him a look, and I think Sam has good instincts about people, so I don’t know if it’s necessarily surprise [in his eyes]. There was a level of surprise, but also a level of anger and defiance, you know?

It was sort of like, “This is how it ends? This is where it ends? I’m not ready to go.” The director and I talked about how this is a look of, “This fight is not over. You may be killing me right now, but I’m going to haunt you.”

How would you describe Sam’s relationship with Madani in the end? There’s clearly a mutual respect, but is it a brother-sister, collegial-type thing, or something more?

In that final moment where she’s leaning over my body, I did a whole thing where I brush her cheek and touch her face like there’s a sadness, but there’s also a hope. It’s almost like passing the torch to her in a way, like, “You are the beacon for truth and justice now that I’m gone.”

I think it starts off as, “Oh, here’s this cool, attractive woman showing her muscle,” who he thinks is a badass, but he also thinks it’s a little ridiculous because he’s seen how people get treated if they try to step out of line [at Homeland]. But I think by the time they’re in the hallway after they find the bug and have their heart-to-heart talk, I think on some level, he’s fallen in love with her. I think a lot of the comments that he makes about Billy are obviously spot-on, but I think he’s jealous. I think there’s a love there on some level. I don’t know that he’s totally conscious of it, but I think if this thing had played out, who knows where their relationship may have gone to? And for me, that’s how tragic it is, that he never gets a chance to tell her that.

And that last line from Billy just makes it so much worse. He had heard Stein say all the things about how he’s just a pretty face, so saying, “Who’s pretty now?” is a perfect kiss-off. 

I think that’s when Ben’s character truly becomes the villain, you know? It was always supposed to be very disturbing and intimate. It reminded me of Sean Connery in 

, and I definitely took some inspiration from that. … He realizes, in some ways, that he’s ready to sacrifice himself, and I think that’s how Sean Connery plays it in that movie. As violent as it is, and as horrible as it is for him, there’s peace, and he’s telling Madani, “You will be fine, and it will be okay.”

As an actor, what was it like to think about the violence of the series? Have you thought about how this show is so reflective of real-life gun violence?

I’ve thought about that a lot. It’s a tough burden for anyone who’s in a show that started out as one thing and then sort of gets met head-on with [the reality of] society. I think it speaks to the pathos and the importance of what this show means and represents. But this show isn’t 

violence, it’s about the choices we make and how violence is often a consequence of that, especially in our day and age. As violent as this show is, it’s not violence for violence’s sake. It’s violence that comes from a deep longing and regret and tragedy, and I think it’s time to have a conversation, period. As an artist, it’s an honor to work on a show that can actually open up that dialogue about what’s going on in our world, and to try to make things better.

And just to bring it back to your time on the show, what was it like leaving the cast? It was cool! So they had started this tradition on 

where they have these “death dinners” — I think it started in season 2, and Jon may have been the first one to have one — but they would have these honorary funeral dinners where someone would open their home up and have the cast come over for the person whose character got killed. Because I was the first major character to be killed on the show, Jon was so sweet and invited everyone to his house and had this lovely death dinner in my honor, and I felt very honored because I’ve been a big fan of his since he was on 

, this is so many worlds colliding in so many weird, cool ways!” It was worth dying to have a death dinner held by Jon Bernthal. [