SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 5.

The world of Mayor of Kingstown has never been pretty. But Season 4, Episode 5, “Damned” is particularly ugly. The Paramount+ show tosses in some plot twists that will make viewers reconsider their stance on a few characters. Others are more predictable, but this is still an episode that the audience will look back on later as a turning point.

They should, because “Damned” is the official halfway mark of Season 4. Things have to get worse in this episode in order for them to start getting better. As such, there are two major plotlines that both take sharp turns: Mike McLusky is trying to deal with the Merle Callahan of it all, and Ian Ferguson continues his quest for self-preservation by going after the witness who can incriminate him. Neither plot ends well, and anyone who’s watched Mayor of Kingstown before this moment would not have expected them to.

The facts of both storylines are obvious in the script by Wendy Riss. Nina Hobbs is not going to genuinely show up at Mike’s office, tell him “you won” and capitulate to him. When she tells him that she is indeed going to separate Mike’s brother Kyle McLusky from Callahan, everyone knows that means Kyle is going into Anchor Bay’s general population. That’s the one thing nobody wanted from the start of Season 4, so of couse it’s going to happen. And as soon as Ian recruits Robert to help him intimidate the witness, obviously Robert is going to turn violent. This is the same guy so off the handle that Kyle shot him at the end of Season 3; he’s not going to have magically learned his lesson in the bottom of a beer bottle.

The reason that it’s okay to have such straightforward plots is that the meat of the episode isn’t in what happens; it’s in how everyone reacts to it. The best example comes early on, when Mike comes to visit Kyle at Anchor Bay specifically to tell him Callahan is his mystery friend. Taylor Handley is brilliant in how he reacts to everything Kyle goes through in this episode, whether it’s the shock in that moment, the frustration when Kyle tries to lie to Callahan later on, or the fear when Kyle is taken out of his Ad Seg cell and thrown to the wolves. This move is clearly going to test who Kyle will listen to—Mike or Callahan, both of whom give him their own versions of rally speeches. And Handley plays every scene with Kyle’s heart on his sleeve. Viewers feel everything Kyle is feeling, because they can see it.

The Ian and Robert storyline is the walking equivalent of a dumpster fire. It proves that the line between Robert and Ian is getting narrower by the day. When their attempt to intimidate the witness fails, Robert shoots him and then tells Ian to shoot him, which Ian does. That’s the second murder in two seasons Ian has been responsible for; he’s just doubled his problem. Ian Ferguson has never been a choir boy, but in this episode there’s absolutely no grey area for his behavior. At least this seems to be the excuse for why Evelyn Foley won’t be able to put him behind bars, since it’s hard to see her getting an indictment sans her star witness. But even though that may service Mayor of KIngstown in the long run, it’s still hard to see Ian find new depths to fall into.

“Damned” also has an important moment between Mike and Kyle’s wife Tracy McLusky, which is a reminder of Tracy’s existence as more than just the worried spouse sitting at home with the baby. She unloads all of her pent-up anger on Mike, even name-checking his late mother and brother, but it’s clear she just needs to get it out. And to Mike’s credit, he’s still there to comfort her even as much as those words wound. The dynamic between Mike and Tracy has never been given enough credit; those two play very well off each other. And if Tracy does indeed just get shuffled off to Ohio for the rest of the season, this won’t be the same show.

There are a few weak spots: the absence of Lennie James is felt, but that’s just because he’s Lennie James and he’s that good. And having Cindy Stephens turn up to cuddle with Mike feels a little too convenient, like the writers forgot they were trying to make that relationship happen and so circled back around to it at the end. Yet the repeated cuts to establish the contrast between their cute would-be couple moment and Kyle’s slow walk into hell are still effective, even if the setup isn’t perfect. Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, Episode 5 ends with a flaming train, which is a metaphor as much as a plot twist, and Cindy reacting to Mike’s reaction is very telling. She’s just glimpsed the darkness in him. And as everyone else is falling further into theirs, will he go back into his, too?

“Damned” is not the most action-packed story and it may not have the most surprises, but it does pile a whole lot of pain on everyone’s shoulders. The person who has the best go of it is Evelyn, and she’s sitting at home doing not much after her stint at the hospital. When that’s a great episode for your character, that says something about how tough the show is. Mayor of Kingstown is really pushing harder than it has before, and this episode creates several holes that people probably won’t be able to dig out of. Even if they survive literally, fans will be able to look back at this episode and know where the scars came from.

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.