Michael is very protective of his younger half-brother Bug, to whom he is effectively a parent, and Dukie, who is often ridiculed by his peers for his poverty and poor hygiene.

Michael's mother Raylene is a drug addict, and he avoids discussing his home life because of his precarious family situation.

As he grows older, Michael pushes away many of his peers and acquaintances, including his boxing coach Cutty, and eventually his friends Randy and Dukie.

Regardless, Marlo is impressed with Michael's strength of character in denying a handout and not budging, even after Stanfield personally confronts and insults him.

In order to provide new school supplies for himself and his brother, Michael temporarily takes over Namond's job as a runner for drug dealer Bodie Broadus.

Michael does not confide in his teacher but begins to work harder in the class, completing his homework, and is a quick study when Pryzbylewski uses games of cards and dice to teach probability.

When Namond is attacked by rival drug dealers (including Bubbles' protégé Sherrod), Michael is there to support his friend.

This is hinted by Michael's distrust in adult males, the negative attitude he displays when subjects involving sexuality are brought up, and his interactions with Raylene.

It is confirmed later in "Took" (season 5, episode 7), when Bunk comes across Devar's prison record and says, "Look at you, you baby-bumping motherfucker"; and later, while grilling Michael, he says, "Look at you...not even blinking.

Now in debt to Marlo's protection, Michael becomes a soldier in his drug operation, and evolves from soft-spoken introvert to cold-blooded killer.

When Michael questions the necessity of the murder, since Junebug has not been confirmed as the origin of the rumors, Snoop angrily retorts that hearsay matters more than facts in protecting Marlo's reputation.

Once inside, the older enforcers kill three adults, but a small child runs out the back door past Michael, who cannot bring himself to shoot the boy.

After killing Savino Bratton (a former Barksdale enforcer who later became employed within the Stanfield Organization), Omar gets the drop on Michael on his corner, telling him to send a message to Marlo.

A suspicious Michael, following Chris' advice to check out any scene early, catches Snoop talking to the supposed target.

Michael tries to convince her that he didn’t say anything to the police, but is also informed by Snoop that it was also because of how he acted around them, always apart from the group and constantly questioning orders.

Accepting her fate, Snoop asks Michael how her hair looks, to which he responds by reassuring her that she looks good (another thing he picked up from Chris) and then shoots her in the head and flees the scene.

Dukie tries to make light of the situation by reminiscing about the day they threw water balloons filled with urine at terrace children, but Michael coldly responds that he doesn't remember it, and the two friends part ways.