Review- With One Episode Left Mayor Of Kingstown Is Finally Getting To The Point

How it started and absolutely not how it’s going. L-R Kyle Chandler as Mitch McLusky, Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky, and Taylor Handley as Kyle McLusky. Photo courtesy of TVInsider.com

With the season finale just within reach, it seems the series has finally gone from a slow burn to a full-on meltdown, and it’s about time. This slow creep that focuses on Mike’s side-quests (including the unnecessary  Iris character) rather than what is actually going on in the prison has been extremely frustrating but with the inmates now in control we’re in show-down mode and it’s going to take a near miracle to end the war between the prisoners and the National Guard/local police force. With the way every episode has been building you can probably guess who that miracle is.

Photo courtesy of Mayor Of Kingstown IMDb.

Two guards are dead, one from the men’s and the women’s prisons, presumably as retaliation for a black prisoner getting shot in the yard after being stabbed by two white prisoners, and now those who are responsible for the death of Tim Weaver are being sent off to be investigated and charged for their crime. However, as officers Kyle McLusky and Ian are about to transport one of the prison’s most dangerous inmates and a co-conspirator to Weaver’s death P-Dog, all hell breaks loose.

P-Dog, with help from Milo of all people, winds up free with keys to every office and weapons room in the prison. Several guards are killed in the process but Kyle and Ian are just beaten unconscious, which is good since Kyle has a lot going on right now. He just found out that very morning that his wife is having a boy which prompted Kye to pledge to his loving wife that he’s going to be a better husband so he can be a better father, and he’s decided to take a safer job (that pays far more than his current) with another law enforcement agency on the other side of the state. Unfortunately, he, along with Ian, are now trapped in the penitentiary with prisoners who are armed, angry, and on a killing spree. They are also trapped in a very old worn-out storyline that’s going to need something weird to happen to make it less eye-rolling and more heart-stopping.

Photo courtesy of Youtube

While all of that is going on, Mike finds himself again rescuing Iris and getting further drawn into her deeply problematic life. When the Russian mafia is done with her, Iris is sold to an associate of Mikes as a personal sex slave who then sells her to someone else when they get bored of her, which turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Iris, badly beaten, finds her way back to Mike who then takes her to his cabin in the woods so she can somewhat physically heal before they plan their next move. On the way up to the cabin Iris and Mike bond a bit over stories of personal loss, the depravity of humans, and how fun it is to watch your phone go from having service to not having service while driving through the backroads of Michigian.

Ok, why not.

While at the cabin, Iris and Mike continue their weird bonding experience, with Iris insisting Mike be present while she takes her bath so her nudity can be de-sexualized and asking Mike to hold her as she sobs hysterically while they are laying on his bed. Considering how her character has been written that isn’t much of a stretch but it’s an unnecessary side-story that has no way of ending well and doesn’t really add much to the rest of the main story except as an excuse to kill characters off. We’ll just have to wait and see how things comprehensibly pull together for both Mike and Iris and the series as a whole but at this point, the series looks to end in a firey shit-show for all involved.

Series finale premieres January 9th, 2022 with all episodes available on Paramount + streaming platform.