“Mayor of Kingstown” has hit the ground running premiering its first three episodes on Paramount+ and ending the first episode with a major character death.
*Spoilers from here*
The politically corrupt thriller takes place in a small, isolated area aptly named Kingstown. The first episode kicks off with eery cinematography, dimly lit, featuring the town surrounded by water. The town is seemingly trapped in itself. Jeremy Renner, who plays Mike McLusky, is the first thing a viewer hears as he opens the show with an off-screen monologue preparing the viewers for what really goes on in Kingstown.
It is stated throughout the show that law is not broken by the political McLusky brothers, but bent. Everything seems to be on a grayscale in regards to the law, even the men bending the law, are the law themselves.
Kyle Chandler plays Mitch McLusky, the mayor of the town and their younger brother is a police officer, Kyle Mclusky played by Taylor Handley.
The two older brothers are seen working side by side as the episode begins handling shady busy to ultimately help someone. They have an estranged relationship with their mother that is seen from almost the start of the episode, and by the end becomes even more heartbreaking. The business they are in today was started by their father, which has caused tension between them and their mother.
In Kingstown, incarceration is the business. Shady dealings and law-bending all happen to protect or hurt someone behind the bars as it seems that everyone in town has someone they love behind bars. Everything in the episode is motivated to either get someone out of trouble, or keep the peace, but the actions taken by the McLusky’s or the other characters aren’t always legal.
The show kicked off with a heavy dose of violence both in the prison system and on the streets, showing that no one in this town is immune to the dark treatment. A few murders and brutal beatings happen in the first episode, which is only setting the tone for where the series can go. Brother and Mayor, Mitch Mclusky is murdered in the first episode.
The portrayal of the Law Enforcement corruption “for good” noticeably stands out as the police go and avenge Mitch’s death.
The death transitions the characters into the second episode, Mitch’s death is avenged in unethical ways, Mike has now taken his spot as Mayor and running the corrupt town. He is trying to keep the balance between the prison world, and the outside world all the while trying to keep law and order while he bends the rules.
Mike is seen trying to find his footing as the new Mayor while cleaning up the mess made by his brother’s death. His brother was transporting Money for a prisoner while he was killed and now the prisoner is trying to collect.
In the second episode, you find out that Mitch was on the Fed’s payroll as an informant and now Mike is doing the same, cashing the checks with a smile on his face. Mike is taking charge, and doing his best to help.
The drug dealer Milo, who is missing the money, calls for an attractive woman to be brought to Kingstown to help facilitate with Mike, her name is Iris, and will likely be an important figure.
The second episode tackles hard issues that people in the prison system face, like the death penalty. Mike helps a family whose son will be executed by going with them and doing his best to help ease their pain while the son is dying in front of them. He doesn’t choose sides, but very calmly takes them through the process. By the end of the episode, viewers see the toll Mike’s job has on him, and what humanity in a town like this looks like.
The third episode opens with a horrific death scene of a child and mother that leads the characters down an even worse moral rabbit hole. The guys in charge immediately decide the man responsible for killing the child needs to die. The killing of a murderer has happened before in the show, by the SWAT team. However, this time the guys in charge of the law decide he should die at the prisoner’s hands after he is arrested. Mike becomes the only voice of reason voting against this decision.
Mike spends the entire episode explaining that doing that will cost the men in charge everything by giving the prisoners that much wiggle room. In doing so they will lose authority in the town and prison. Mike tries to convince the police that just shooting him onsite would be the best course of action but everyone else has their mind made up. Mike does his best to protect his morals by trying to have the man legally processed and held until court, but unfortunately, the will of the masses wins. The man is ultimately beaten to death in prison.
This episode was just as complicated as the others but presented more moral dilemmas in one sitting. The viewers also learn that Mike was arrested for a time as well, now he has chosen to stay and run the family business. As complicated as the episode is, especially with the family dynamics, the youngest brother Kyle learns that he will be a father. He learns this after a very hard day at work, and work the scene shows that even happy moments don’t always happen the way you may expect them to.
The show is very dark and brutally honest. Most definitely not for the faint of heart, but past the violence are many lessons to learn from.
One of the show’s creators, Hugh Dillon also works alongside Renner on screen as the character Ian. The show also might contain small easter eggs about Renner and his other roles, like when Mike purchases a bow and arrow and is seen using it in the woods. That could be a reference to Renner’s show, ‘Hawkeye’ on Disney Plus.
“Mayor of Kingstown” releases episodes every Sunday on Paramount Plus. Tune in to see the ever-changing dynamics and antics in the town of Kingstown.
Written by Jadeen Mercado
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Big mistake in “The End Begins” with the lethal injection part, as Michigan has no death penalty, and has never executed anyone in its entire history. In fact, it was the first English speaking jurisdiction on earth to outlaw it.