SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 3.

Of course Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 3 was going to be different after Carney’s shocking death. But what happens in “People Who Died” actually just makes everything surprisingly worse. This hour of the Paramount+ show is a series of bad decisions that ends in a literal fireball.

First things first: “People Who Died” doesn’t spend much time mourning Doug Carney after his murder. Actor Lane Garrison gets credit for showing up briefly as Carney’s body is recovered, and Mike McLusky refers to Carney as “one of us,” but the only scene of anyone seriously mourning is a glimpse of Carney’s father. It would have been nice if this episode devoted more to the emotion of Carney’s loss, to let both the characters and audience process it further and just have that moment of vulnerability. Instead, the bulk of the discussion is about how Carney’s murder does or doesn’t relate to Kyle McLusky’s situation. It’s strategic, not emotional.

Having said that, Jeremy Renner’s performance in this episode may be one of his most charged in Mayor of Kingstown. Mike is in a continuous state of being pissed off, snapping at everyone and going so far as to take shots at a drug dealer who’s on the wrong corner. When he tells Rebecca that “I want to shoot everybody,” viewers absolutely believe him. Mike is angry rather than grieving, unable to control himself as all of the people around him do the wrong thing. Renner’s ability to find that raw emotion has always been remarkable, and he powers the plot forward through anger rather than sadness. The only thing that’s missing is Mike lashing out at warden Nina Hobbs; fans have to settle for a very tense conversation as the two circle each other again.

“People Who Died” is basically a collection of moments in which characters try to hang onto what’s theirs in disastrous ways. Bunny loses some of his folks to the Colombians, and this is where Frank Moses asserts himself. It’s not in showing Bunny his drug smuggling operation; it’s telling Bunny—and Mike—that there’s no separation between him and Bunny anymore, and that he’s going to handle the response to the Colombians. Lennie James is perfect in that moment where Frank is taking control. Elsewhere, Robert has a chance meeting with Evelyn Foley that leads Ian Ferguson to discover just how far down Robert has fallen between seasons. And most worryingly, Kyle pops his first pill as he worries about both being safe and being able to protect anyone.

Kyle’s conversations with Mike and with Callahan are basically like the angel and the devil on his shoulders. Both of them do most of the talking. Mike responds to Kyle’s concerns about not being able to protect by reminding him that his presence in prison is protecting everyone, and tells him to “stay the course.” Conversely, Callahan speaks about the need to “remake” oneself in prison. And judging by Kyle taking that pill, he’s starting to tilt toward Callahan’s side. This isn’t wholly unexpected; everybody knew that Kyle would be tested going behind bars. And that shift in character gives actor Taylor Handley an arc to play. But it’s still disappointing—and worrisome, because fans know from last season what grip Callahan had on Mike. Now he’s got his hooks into the other McLusky brother.

Another problem audiences likely didn’t expect to see again is Will Breen, the corrections officer who preyed on Kyle’s wife Tracy McLusky in Season 3. Breen reappears in this episode for a brief conversation with Cindy Stephens (Laura Benanti), giving her advice that’s exactly opposite of what Carney would say. Does she now have to choose in the same way that Kyle does—listening to Carney or listening to Breen? And doesn’t Breen’s presence make fans appreciate Carney more? He may have been flawed, but at least he had a heart.

The episode ends with two men, presumably sent by Frank, literally setting fire to anyone they can find in a Colombian hideout. The fact that there’s a flamethrower involved makes this sequence stand out amongst the other violent scenes Mayor of Kingstown has painted. But it also is frustratingly flawed, because if these guys are indeed Frank’s people, they should be smarter (and there should probably be more of them). No one covers the back door, so several enemies escape unharmed. And the duo also don’t look behind them as they’re leaving—enabling the same person who murdered Carney to kill them, too. This turn of events is plenty intense, but those last moments are more dumbfounding than disturbing.

“People Who Died” doesn’t have as much heart as it could. Under the crime story, Mayor of Kingstown is at its best when it breaks the tough veneers of its characters and reminds everyone that, as Bunny says, this is a city that orbits around the prison. But there’s a lot here that can be seized upon for later: Kyle’s stumble, Frank wanting to speak for Bunny, Robert seeming to be on the verge of doing something terrible, the last olive branch offered by Mike to Hobbs, and the cops quickly realizing that Hobbs and Torres are up to no good. Everything in this episode is a mess, but that also creates foreshadowing, because the audience knows how badly all of this will end. There’s no such thing as a happy ending in Kingstown.

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.