Mayor of Kingstown (Season 2), Episode 2: With Jeremy Renner in the central role, ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ unravels the corrupt world of a fictional town. Known widely for his role as Hawkeye, the actor gets to play a relatively complex character in this series.
The new season, streaming on Paramount+, deals with the aftermath of a massive prison break incident. The harrowing crimes being committed due to this riot have shaken the police department to the core.
Prison guards, who are personally affected by this tragedy, choose to disregard the inmates’ concerns openly. So, as a liaison, Mike is concerned with bringing peace to the town.
Mayor of Kingstown (Season 2) Episode 2 Recap:
Titled ‘Staring at the Devil,’ the new episode is directed by Stephen Kay. The saga of mass shootings continues in Kingstown, where the lack of a clear gang leader creates a rise in anarchy. The episode opens with a prisoner beaten to death in the middle of the night. This happens in the middle of the night with no guards in sight to stop it. Meanwhile, on the outside, a mass shooting happens at a house. None of them stays alive in the end. Someone had demanded brutal murders of these victims.
Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) gets a call about this incident while he is caught in getting another matter sorted related to Iris (Emma Laird). In the previous episode, we see him trying to help her by offering her a new identity and an opportunity to start her life afresh. Both of them are afraid of the Russian mobster, Milo (Aidan Gillen), tracing them down to kill them.
On his way back from the boat, he calls his assistant- Rebecca (Nichole Galicia), who does not respond positively to his untimely call. He then calls his brother – Kyle (Taylor Handley), to ask for a favor. He turns up at Kyle’s house, hoping he will keep Iris safe for the time being. Kyle senses the danger and refuses to help in this matter.
They start arguing, and due to their commotion, their mother – Mariam (Dianne Wiest), and Kyle’s wife – Tracy (Nishi Munshi), come down from their rooms. Seeing this unfold, Iris tries to leave his place, but Mike forcefully stops her. Then, Mariam shuts off both her son and offers her support.
After leaving her there, Mike heads to the crime scene of the earlier shootout. He witnesses the bloodbath with Ian (Hugh Dillon) and other police officers at the crime scene. It is gruesome to the point where one of them starts throwing up. While looking around in the neighborhood, he finds one of the guys from the house hiding.
He is unsure about the purpose of this attack or who ordered it. But he guesses it is because of the uproar inside the prison. Because of not having clear gang leaders, the violence is growing rampantly on inside and outside the prison.
To get things under control, Mike meets Bunny (Tobi Babtefa) to discuss the current situation. Unlike Mike’s assumption, Bunny was not behind that attack. Bunny blames the prison guards for purposefully creating this ruckus and for putting everyone’s life in danger.
Since all the clamor is due to the lack of a clear leader, Mike creates a plan to form a truce. He asks Bunny to trust him with his idea and asks for three hours to work out the details.
On his way out, he calls Evelyn (Necar Zadegan) and asks for the gang leaders on the outside to be charged with false charges. Two of them are out on parole, and he is not certain about the status of the others. He is doing it so new leaders can be picked inside the prison.
Despite the reckless nature of his plan, Evelyn eventually agrees to do so. He meets Kareem (Michael Beach) and learns he has resumed working as a prison guard. He asks for support in his plan to stop the ongoing violence.
Mike then takes Kareem to a spot where he calls upon all the gang leaders to meet together. They show up there, including Bunny, and soon enough, Evelyn arrives there with more officers. All these leaders are placed under arrest with new charges for them to restore peace on the inside.
Only then will they be freed. In this way, Mike hopes to create a safer environment both inside and outside. Before they leave, he tells them to be well aware of their mission, upon which their freedom rests.
Mayor of Kingstown (Season 2), Episode 2, Ending, Explained
Where does Iris escape to?
Mike returns home and looks through the room to understand that she has run away from his place. We also get a glimpse into Kyle’s routine at his new job, where he is tailing a criminal with his partner. He is annoyed by his partner’s careless handling, who does not listen to his suggestion. After stopping the car, the partner gets out and heads to the driver’s seat without giving it a thought.
He gets shot at that very moment, which creates a moment of utter panic for Kyle. He then gets out himself and shoots both the driver and the passenger. Kyle calls for backup and to get medical attention to his wounded partner but cannot remember where they are. Upon reaching next to that car, he sees a young baby sitting in the backseat.
Meanwhile, Iris arrives at a church with a backpack. She enters it with determination and heads straight to the basement. It turns out she goes there to visit terrifying Milo, working on his laptop. She says that she has nowhere else to go. She asks for his help, and upon giving it some thought, he asks her to come closer and calms her down as if she is his child.
Meanwhile, gang leaders are driven back to prison. The inmates start cheering due to the announcement of their arrival. However, when Bunny leaves the van, everyone falls silent since they do not expect him to be present.
