SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers from Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 1.

Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 is going scorched earth—and that’s what makes it the best season yet. Things look wildly different in Kingstown, and yet as the pieces of Mike McLusky’s world come tumbling down, it’s never been more emotionally compelling to watch. By destroying what had been built, the creative team have brought the show back around to what matters most: family and community.

The Paramount+ series took an unfathomable risk at the end of Season 3, when it killed off several major characters. Captain Kareem Moore, in one of the best performances of Michael Beach’s career, died in a mob inside Anchor Bay prison. Emma Laird’s character Iris chose to end her life on her terms, not long after escaping Kingstown. And after making an unwelcome reappearance, Aiden Gillen’s villain Milo Sunter finally got what he deserved. All of these deaths were shocking not only in how they happened—but that the show was willing to part with so many of its key players and the talented actors who played them. That was a choice that could have also killed Mayor of Kingstown.

As heartbreaking as it was when Mariam McLusky was shot in Season 2, the violent housecleaning in Season 3 was worse. The creative team said farewell to Mike’s nemesis, his potential love interest and one of his necessary allies in a short span. It lost the talents of Beach, Laird and Gillen as a result, and created major holes that needed not just to be filled, but filled in the right way. Mayor of Kingstown is a very intense world that requires not only characters who are tough, but actors who can maintain that level of intensity. This level of turnover risked turning the show into a shadow of its former self. But leave it to series creators Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, and showrunner Dave Erickson, to take that gamble because they saw a brilliant opportunity on the other side.

The Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 premiere illustrated that the jaw-dropping end to Season 3 was just the beginning. Erickson’s premiere script threaded the needle brilliantly. The show didn’t just burn itself half down for drama’s sake; it had a plan all along. Or at least that’s how it feels to take in the events of the premiere, which dismantles so much of what Mike has built for himself—and cuts right back to the core of Jeremy Renner’s character. Renner, for his part, has never been better than he is playing an antihero who has the odds stacked against him both literally and emotionally.

“Coming ‘Round the Mountain” is primarily reminiscent of the Spike Lee and David Benioff film 25th Hour. The episode’s main plot revolves around Kyle McLusky’s last hours of freedom before entering Anchor Bay—having accepted a prison sentence for his actions in the shootout that also ended Season 3—and Mike’s efforts to ensure that his brother is protected within those walls. But that protection isn’t just physical, and the performances of both Handley and Renner showcase how the McLusky brothers are still the heart of Mayor of Kingstown. In Season 4, Kyle has become the mirror that Mike has to look into.

Mayor of Kingstown began with Mike as the black sheep of the family, with his own prison bid weighing on his shoulders. He only stepped into the titular position due to the murder of his older brother Mitch; he wasn’t supposed to carry that responsibility. He was just Mitch’s right-hand man, who wanted to get the hell out of Kingstown anyway. The Season 4 premiere is stark proof of how much Mike has changed. His whole identity now revolves around being the “mayor of Kingstown,” and his commitment to the city and the people in it can’t possibly be questioned. The only thing Mike has outside being the mayor is his family—so that’s what Erickson comes back around to, and puts under direct threat.

Underneath the shootouts and scheming, Mayor of Kingstown is at its best when it focuses on family. That’s what separates it from other TV crime dramas. Mike and Kyle’s story—both together and individually—is the heartbeat of the show. Season 4 completes the downfall of Kyle McLusky. When Mike says that Kyle is the “one good man” in the city, he’s spelling it out: Kyle has always been the white hat, whether he’s been a Kingstown detective or a state trooper. Even in Season 4, he’s only going to prison because he’s taking the fall to protect everybody else. But now he is where Mike was, in more ways than one; the person in the next cell is Mike’s old friend-turned-enemy, Merle Callahan.

Mike and Kyle have reversed positions. Kyle is the one behind bars with Callahan whispering in his ear. Mike is the one who has built up a strong reputation in the community. Will Kyle turn into who Mike used to be? That certainly is on Mike’s mind, based on how desperate he is to protect his brother. It’s not just about their being family; it’s all of Mike’s life experience coming to bear. It’s that he wants Kyle to still be better than him. Putting Kyle in harm’s way is an excellent approach to seeing how far Mike has come—or how far he may backslide, depending on what he’s willing to do for Kyle and for Tracy and baby Mitch.

Renner plays Mike as constantly aware of the emotional stakes, not just the literal ones. The fear he feels for Kyle, the anger at the situation, the frustration at not having an answer that can fix everything this time. Because what he does is fix things in Kingstown, but if he can’t do that for the person he loves most, what does that say about him as an individual? Renner has mastered the duality of Mike McLusky; he may be the toughest person in the room, but his vulnerability runs deep and just underneath the surface. Nobody else could play this role, able to shift so abruptly between painfully real one scene and intimidating the next.

Handley is also getting to explore a darker side of Kyle than has been seen before. Kyle knows all about what happens in Kingstown, and he’s no saint, but there’s a world of difference when he’s actually first-hand being victimized by that darkness. Because that’s what’s happening to him, and to Tracy and their son: they’re being hurt by his choice to fall on his sword. Audiences would expect nothing less from Kyle, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less hard to watch him suffer. And this plot is the natural next level of Mayor of Kingstown.

The whole ethos of the series is that Kingstown is never going to get better. There are good moments, but the city isn’t going to transform into a happier place, and everybody knows that… including viewers. Hope is a precious commodity. What keeps audiences coming back is how the characters navigate this seemingly impossible reality, and what the actors are able to do with that kind of material. Mayor of Kingstown has slowly eroded Mike’s world, starting with the death of Mariam, which put more pressure on both siblings. Season 3 took away the woman he cared about, possibly his most important ally, and the nemesis who haunted him. And now in Season 4, that dark cloud has claimed Kyle. Plus, his remaining friends are all bricked in some way: Ian is under threat from Evelyn, Carney has been made inert, and Bunny can’t see the forest for the trees. So who the heck is Mike McLusky when almost all of the relationships that have defined him and driven him are gone?

This story couldn’t be told until Season 4. Audiences needed to see Mike’s growth and watch him make enough progress for there to be something to lose—and enough to give him a different perspective on the world. And as bewildering as it seemed at the time to lose Kareem and Iris, this would resonate a lot less with either of them in play. To truly re-examine Mike, Mike has to stand on his own. Mike has to be forced to look within himself. Mike has to be made more vulnerable than he’s ever been. The introductions of directly opposing characters like Frank Moses and Nina Hobbs are ways to get under Mike’s skin via an external threat. And the story of Mike, in a sense, is also the story of Kingstown, since he’s supposed to be the one keeping the peace. Or at least trying to.

By the fourth season, many TV shows can become stagnant. They’ve played a lot of their best ideas. They know what works and what doesn’t and it’s easy to stick with the formula that emerges as a result. Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 strips everything away to get back to the core of the series. The confrontations and arguments may be dramatically entertaining, but all of that action is hollow if there’s not character giving it meaning. Breaking everything down keeps the series from forgetting what got it here—just like Mike is about to take inventory of who he is and wants to be.

Mayor of Kingstown streams Sundays on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.