Not from the people that brought you Mare of Easttown comes the new Paramount+ show Mayor of Kingstown, which premiered its first 2 episodes on Sunday. Set in Kingstown, Michigan, where the only big business is its prison system, it centers on the McLusky family, who unofficially run things. Brothers Mitch (Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights) and Mike (Jeremy Renner, The Avengers) serve as fixers, maintaining a balance between local law enforcement, gangs, prisoners, guards, and the rest of the town. For Mike especially, it’s not necessarily the life he wants, but it’s not one that’s easy to walk away from.
The show is another gritty drama with a familiar cast of characters for fans of Sheridan’s work. Along with the executive producer Antoine Fuqua, the show was created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, who you may recognize as Sheriff Haskell from Sheridan’s other highly successful project, Yellowstone. If the first 2-episodes are any indication, the series is going to be heavy on violence, sex, and symbolism. It’s prepared to present systemic issues like racial injustice, corruption, and the harsh realities of life in prison as part of its narrative, but it remains to be seen whether it is trying to say anything of note about any of it or if it’s just the backdrop for the chaos that envelops this family.
There is a good bit of exposition narrated by Mike explaining the town and mostly talking about how everyone, himself included, is miserable and hopeless, but that he also helps to keep things together. He even goes as far as to end the opening scene before the title credits by proclaiming, “I’m the Mayor of Kingstown,” which is a bit odd because he really wasn’t at the time, but whatever.
In the first episode, “The Mayor of Kingstown”, symbolism abounds, both in the lessons the brothers’ mom Miriam (Dianne Wiest, Law & Order) teaches to inmates at the prison and with Mike’s odd obsession with bears. Honestly, there is a story told about drowning dogs that is probably supposed to be foreshadowing, but it’s just depressing. Then, they really double down in the next episode, “The End Begins,” showing an inmate’s execution. If the object is to get the audience to feel the despair, mission accomplished.
The actual arc of the episodes, which sets the tone for the series, comes from imprisoned mobster Milo Sunter (Aidan Gillen, Game of Thrones), who finally makes a brief appearance in episode two. He sends his girl Vira (Elizaveta Neretin, The Flash) to ask Mitch to retrieve money that he had stashed before his incarceration. They’ll get a small kickback for their efforts and maintain the delicate balance of things in the process. Mike, along with their younger brother Kyle (Taylor Handley, Vegas), who works for the police department, retrieve the cash with the aid of a map, but someone else catches wind of things with devastating results.
Even though Yellowstone is far from uplifting, it is at least aided by its gorgeous setting. There is nothing to marvel at amongst the bleak circumstances playing out in Kingstown. There is some light-hearted and well-written banter with the guards and police officers before everyone has to discuss serious business, but outside of a small connection with nature that Mike fantasizes about at his cabin, the lighter moments early on come from Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa, The Witcher), the friendly neighborhood drug dealing leader of the Crips. He’s a genuinely funny guy when he’s not threatening you at gunpoint, and he understands the need for the service the “Mayor” provides. If anything, he seems to connect with Mike in the sense of feeling compelled as a product of circumstance.
While Mitch is calm and methodical, Mike, who has a criminal past, can be sensitive, but far more impetuous, which makes it harder for anyone to get a read on him. He is not easy to manipulate or control, which will make things interesting moving forward. Renner plays this type of character well, as he has in the past, and his interactions with his mother, who loathes the work her sons do, as well as how his scene at the execution plays out, show his range. He also gets to smash people in the head with glass and deliver lines like, “Everything my brother gave you, I can take away in an afternoon. Don’t ever threaten me again.” It just sounds badass.
As it stands now, the series is very well acted and directed, and even if a strip club was the most attractive setting they have had to work with thus far, they shot the shit out of it. Hopefully the show will continue to explore the family history, especially the rift between Miriam and her sons. Also, you should expect more of Kyle’s involvement and that of some of the other interesting characters hinted at, including Emma Laird who is poised to enter the picture as Iris, called upon by Sunter as a way to get to Mike.
There are a lot of really wild dynamics at play throughout Mayor of Kingstown, as everyone tries to not drop the ball. As Mike is forced to become even more involved in the day-to-day operations of their business, the world continues to expand a little bit at a time, which makes the future direction of the show intriguing, especially when you consider the talented cast and prior success of those behind the series.
Mayor of Kingstown is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+
