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

One scene in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 3 doesn’t last very long, and doesn’t have any impact beyond one room. But the exchange between Ian and Robert is surprisingly poignant and carries a lot more meaning than it appears. This is another example of how the Paramount+ show is outdoing itself this season.

In “People Who Died,” Robert Sawyer (actor Hamish Allan-Headley) happens to cross paths with Evelyn Foley (played by Necar Zadegan). It’s no shock at all that Robert and Evelyn have a very public argument; they’re both incredibly stubborn people, on exactly opposite sides. Later and after everyone else finds out about the fight, Ian Ferguson (Hugh Dillon) escorts Robert out of a bar and takes him home.

This scene could be almost completely irrelevant. Plot-wise, it serves merely as a reminder that Robert is still a problem for Ian, Mike and the rest of the core group. Yet anyone who’s watched Mayor of Kingstown prior to this knows that Robert has always been a problem. There’s not really any redemption for his character, especially not after his actions landed Kyle McLusky in prison. Everyone (both characters and viewers) loves Kyle, so Robert doesn’t have much goodwill at the moment. But that’s why this moment stands out.

This scene humanizes Robert. Audiences see him at an obvious low and learn even worse: he tells Ian that his wife Patty left and took their child after what happened at the end of Season 3. That doesn’t excuse any of his behavior; he still manages to be a difficult pain even in this vulnerable moment. But Mayor of Kingstown isn’t asking the viewer to sympathize with Robert in this moment. It’s just reminding them to see him as a person and not solely the problem. And the perfect person to play him off of to accomplish that is Ian Ferguson.

To quote Hugh Dillon in our interview, Ian himself has “a very difficult relationship with accountability.” He’s not a terrible person like one could argue Robert is, but he’s probably closer to that line than anyone else in the main cast. Evelyn wants to put Ian on the hook for murder. And Ian is the only person who can deal with Robert objectively. Mike has quite clearly had enough of him, Kyle obviously isn’t there (and had enough of him already), Carney is dead and Stevie is nowhere near as much of a hardass as his partner. When Ian says something, Robert’s going to listen. And so this scene is part welfare check, part warning and partly a chance to look at both of these characters for a moment.

While Robert pours himself another drink, Ian is hiding his gun and getting him a glass of water. He’s being the friend that Robert doesn’t have and desperately needs at that moment. That says a lot about his character. Ian is himself deeply flawed and would easily admit it, but he shows compassion for a man who doesn’t need to be reamed out a second time. Sure, it’s good business for Ian to make sure Robert is contained. But that beat in which Hugh Dillon pauses says something beyond just covering everyone’s bases. It says that he can clearly tell how hard Robert has fallen and chooses to leave it at that. That Ian knows, no matter how much Mike threatens, there’s nothing anyone could do to Robert that’s worse than what he’s doing to himself.

This scene creates more layers to both Ian and Robert. It only lasts a few minutes, but the audience sees through Robert’s perspective after so long of everyone else talking about Robert. And Ian, who’s under the most direct pressure because Evelyn wants to use him to get to Robert, has a choice. He specifically tells Stevie in the Season 4 premiere that Robert is the agent of everyone else’s destruction. If Robert goes down, they all go down, which is why Kyle is unnecessarily in prison. Ian could say anything he wants; he’s never held his tongue. He could do anything he wants. He chooses to help, and while there’s self-interest in that, the recognition of pain is there too. Because everyone in the city of Kingstown, regardless of what side they’re on, has been through pain. Ian is the only person who’d make the compassionate choice.

There are even potential plot ramifications in the future. Robert tells Evelyn that he’s trying to get reinstated, and it’s clear from their scene and from how he is in private with Ian that his job is so much of his identity—that’s the issue in the first place. If that doesn’t work out, or if Evelyn continues pushing buttons, does Robert go after Evelyn and become so much of a liability that Ian or Mike has to finally act and get this walking Sword of Damocles away from everyone’s heads? This bit spells out everything Robert would have in terms of motive. Does Ian look at Robert and see a bad version of his future, should Evelyn keep chasing him? After all, he’s the next one in the line of fire.

Mayor of KIngstown takes what should be a plot aside—in fact, it didn’t even have to be in Episode 3 at all—and makes it say something about two characters who aren’t talked about often enough. The Robert storyline has to be resolved eventually, and Season 4, Episode 3 quietly starts that process, with this one small sequence that starts in a bar and ends in the most lonely place.

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.