Then he died.
Shot by an as-yet-unknown assailant, Max bled out on the floor in front of Michael Westen, but not before telling Michael his wife is going to be pissed and asking him to say goodbye to her for him. And I cared. Which means show creator Matt Nix and his crew did their job.
You see, before the episode entitled "No Good Deed," which was highlighted by Max's unexpected demise, we were unsure how exactly we were supposed to feel about him as a character. Sure, he was another CIA operative who worked with Michael throughout the first three episodes, but Michael's various attempts (see: seasons one through four) to get back into the intelligence community have been thwarted by a number of characters who were supposed to be helping him. For all we knew, Max was simply the next baddie to step off the assembly line. There was never a moment where he had to make a choice or partake in an action that made us say, 'OK, he's definitely one of the good guys.'
Until midway through the episode in which he was killed.
Michael needs government-level resources to help thwart a hacker who was aiming to financially cripple a slew of south Florida teachers, and who does he turn to? Max. And Max obliges. The act itself wasn't the selling point, though. The selling point comes later, when Michael and Max break into an office building (posing as air conditioner repair men) to steal files, when a somewhat witty banter breaks out between the pair. Max basically assures Michael that he can count on him to help out with similar endeavors in the future, if need be.
Of course, this didn't necessarily have to paint Max as the next Pope, for plenty of villains lie to the good guy to appear like they aren't the bad guy. But this didn't have that feel to it. Max's offering seemed genuine, which immediately wiped any possibility of him being a villain clean away. I now cared about Max as a character, the same way I came to care about Jesse as a character in the previous season. Sure, Max might not have been anointed as the next member of Michael's seemingly unstoppable team, but clearly he was on the right side.
Shortly after this telltale moment, he was dead. And I cared about it.
Well-played, Mr. Nix. Well-played.
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