'Mayor of Kingstown' Season 2 Episode 1 Review: Jeremy Renner's Mike McLusky proves to be WISEST of 'em all
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Marvel's actor, Jeremy Renner has recently been in the headlines but for an extremely unfortunate reason. The actor was seen making every outlet's headlines because of the recent accident that Renner was in. However, the wait is over for the highly-anticipated second season of 'Mayor of Kingstown.' The Renner starring crime thriller television series was created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon and premiered on November 14, 2021.
After the last season which showcased there was still the matter of Renner's Mike's missing bearer bonds and the busload full of corpses, there was plenty of material to develop and unpack in a second season here, and finally, the time for the big reveal is here. 'Mayor of Kingstown' follows the powerful McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption, and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.
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After the first season's drama, the series' characters are struggling to return to a sense of normalcy and can’t accept that the riot turned their whole world upside down. The episode starts with Renner's McLusky walking a blindfolded Iris (Emma Laird) to the water and sweeping her away to a borrowed sailboat seemed just like another day of washing away the sins of the day. Mike was pulling the wool over his own eyes because moments later, Captain Moore's trials told an entirely different story. Thirty-three guards were murdered in the riots, and the rest were raped with their own billy clubs. The prisoners left standing after the riots were left without phones, drugs, or money and had taken to beating the crap out of each other to pass the time. It's mind-boggling that the prison system allows for that stuff in the first place, but the inside and outside are so interconnected that it's the only way to keep the peace for which he warns Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) not to continue with his territory grab. Renner's Mike also tries to get a safe space for Iris but she acts stubborn as she didn't want to leave.
Furthermore, by the end of the episode we see, Dianne Wiest's Miriam McLusky purchases alcohol at a store and is brutally attacked before she can get in her car. The mugger punches her multiple times in the face, knocking her to the ground. She’s bleeding as she begs him to just take the money and leave the wallet. He does and flees. She clutches a photo of her son that fell out of her wallet. However, the burglar is caught although the cops are ready to evict him, Miriam didn't press any charges. Looks like, this season Mike has his work cut out for him in more ways than one, although he came very close to getting Iris to safety, but clearly the storyline had other plans. Sure, Mike has a thing for Iris and even killed for her, but with so much on his plate, the last thing he needed was to protect her 24/7 with Milo on the loose. However, what's a drama without piling on more than the main character can bear?
