All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. You Have Been Warned!
For the sequel, go here.
- Why do the Janitors send Richter to kill Jacket? Jacket's been doing a great job killing members of The Mafiya for them, so there's no reason to kill him off.
- My guess is that the Colonel (who's implied to have formed 50 Blessings) realized that Jacket was present when he went nuts, wore a skinned panther's skin as a mask and declared that all humans were just violent animals. While every other member of his squad was dead, Jacket could still eventually connect that night with the violent, sometimes patriotic assaults by people in animal masks, and decided to get rid of him before that happens.
- Why? Judging by the Colonel's dialogue elsewhere in Hawaii, it's quite clear he loves his men and has huge respect for them. Jacket fought alongside him in a war America lost. Why even use Jacket like that? It seems to me that the Colonel would want Jacket as a high-ranking killer of his operation rather than seeing him as a disposable pawn.
- They had to send him to Phonehom in an emergency. While he injured/drove off Biker, they have no way to debrief him and determine he didn't see anything he shouldn't have seen; as far as they know, he's on to them.
- Also, at that point in the story, Jacket has assassinated politicians and fought off cops; he's not just 'hot', he's positively radioactive. The cops are onto him too; they're at his apartment in time to save him, despite Richter shooting him with a silenced gun, indicating they're to some extent aware of who he is.
- He failed to kill Biker.
- My guess is that the Colonel (who's implied to have formed 50 Blessings) realized that Jacket was present when he went nuts, wore a skinned panther's skin as a mask and declared that all humans were just violent animals. While every other member of his squad was dead, Jacket could still eventually connect that night with the violent, sometimes patriotic assaults by people in animal masks, and decided to get rid of him before that happens.
- How does 50 Blessings do their recruiting?
- The prequel comics and Hotline Miami 2 imply that they only do it to people who have signed up for the 50 Blessings newsletter, and since there are several veterans of the Russo American war within 50 Blessings, there'd be no shortage of members capable of violence. The real question is how low their standards are, considering the presence of Jake and Richter who seem to have no military training or previous skill in the criminal underworld like Jacket and Biker did.
