The Mayor of Kingstown, the story begins with a young boy (Roman Pesino) playing tennis. He hits the tennis ball and Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) catches it. He tells the lad, “Good Job” and gives him some money and his tennis ball back before leaving. He talks to himself, “This is never what I wanted, never what I thought I’d be, but then I’d never been anywhere else.” When he was sent away, he was brought back to his hometown. The boy hits the tennis ball into a nearby prison yard, where male inmates are hanging out.

At the prison, a guard picks notices the tennis ball. Mike McLusky refers to the prison as every family’s “Kingstown home.” An inmate picks up and gives the tennis ball to another inmate. He says it is now his job to keep the rats in the cage. The inmate cuts open the tennis ball and remove the contents.

Kingstown has seven prisons, with 20,000 inmates in a 10-mile radius.

Two days prior, Walter Riggins (Wayne Ward) is complaining to the mayor, Mitch McLusky (Kyle Chandler) about too many guards hanging out in front of his son’s cell. He is demanding his son be transferred. He fractured a guard’s jaw. He throws out a threat, as Mike walks in. He asks about the threat. Walter apologizes. Mike says his son has a big mouth and little common sense. He is in Ad-Seg for his own protection. He has another five years on his sentence for cooking meth in the Caraway Campground. Walter leaves and Mike calls him a “jackass”. Mike says they have a meeting scheduled at the Carriage House if he wants to talk about Walter’s son.

Mitch tells the secretary they will be back in an hour. Before they leave, she says Milo Sunter’s wife is at the prison and walks to talk to them. Mitch remains behind to talk to Milo’s wife as Mike leaves. Vera Sunter (Elizaveta Neretin) enters the room. She says Milo is counting the days he has left. Mitch says it is a bit early for that. She says Milo wants something moved, so she can take it to Estonia with her. Milo will pay Mitch $10K for moving it. Mitch questions her statement and wants to talk to Milo first. He will call Mitch at 3pm. She gives him a map and says no electronics.

The prison secretary brings Mitch a copy of the map. He agrees to get it tomorrow. She thanks him and leaves. Alberto makes a sexist remark about the women at the prison.

Kingstown has 40,000 people watching over 20,000 inmates. He arrives at The Red Carriage, where he meets with prison guards, Tim Weaver (Jason E. Kelley) and Robert (Hamish Allan-Headley). He orders coffee. They laugh about one of the men’s ex-wives, Agnes. He asks if she was riding the brass pole at the Elephant. She was with a worker at the public defender’s office. He hopes they will get married. Tim says his nephew, Sam got hit by an inmate who buddied up with him because another inmate blocked his mail. Tim gives Mike a file for the Crips gang member who attacked Sam. Mike said he would get the letter back and everyone needs to be ready. Robert says the guards are on board and run the place except for SIS. Mike says he doesn’t want any sweeps and Sam will have a target on his back for a while. When everything is cleared up, he will put Sam in the tower. He assures Tim that he will handle it. Mike says it will cost him to get the job done.

Back at the prison, Mariam McLusky (Dianne Wiest) is teaching a class to a group of female prisoners. She is teaching the inmates about slavery. An inmate tells Miriam her parents were from Pine Ridge. She begins to ask for a cousin who is scheduled to be brought to the prison. Mariam angrily tells her to never mention her sons to her again. She said she wasn’t being disrespectful. Mariam forcibly tells her to leave.

Mike is in his car when he receives a phone call from Mitch. He tells him they have a major problem. They schedule to meet at the beach. Mitch tells Mike about Milo’s plans to move something for $10K. Mike wants to bring Kyle McLusky (Taylor Handley) in on the move. He tells Mitch about Tim’s nephew mailing a letter to a low-level Crips member. He isn’t sure if it was sanctioned. Mitch looks concerned. They head off to see Deverin “Bunny” Washington (Tobi Bamtefa).

They arrive in the hood. Bunny asks them why they are dressed like cops. They ask him why he is wearing a coat in October. He said it holds all his stuff. He sends his guys away to talk to Mike and Mitch in private. They tell him about a Crips inmate hooking Tim’s nephew. Bunny admits to having the letter and asks them if they want to trade. He said they should kick his nephew out. He wants to trade the letter for a kilo move. They agree to move two ounces over for the letter. He agrees. Bunny says everyone would be dead if it weren’t for the McLusky family. He calls them “sorry-ass businessmen” because they ain’t getting paid”. He describes it as “co-dependent white man shit.”

Back at the prison, the inmates are ordered to their cells. Prison guards are locking up when Sam (Mandela Van Peebles) reaches cell 11, he is met by non-compliant Darryl Johnson (Horace Dodd). He tells Sam, he owns him because he sent the Crips $500 laced in coke and tar. He threatens Sam who says he was just trying to help him. Sam tells him he will not break the law. The inmate says the DA will get the letter tomorrow if he doesn’t comply with his request. Sam beats the inmate with his baton and bangs his head up against a wall. He begins to yell “officer down.” Darryl begins to beat Sam in the face. The guards come to his rescue. He is pulled out of the cells and one guard remains behind to beat Darryl. More guards join in on the beating.

Kyle McLusky (Taylor Handley) answers the phone and says, “I’m on my way.” He cocks his handgun before putting it in his pocket. Mariana is cooking with Tracy (Nishi Munshi). She asks Kyle why he is picking up another shift at the prison. He tells her to not start. She is sure his brothers are involved. He becomes upset when she tells him to be careful. He asks her why she would say such a thing to him. She says because his brothers are involved.

Kyle arrives at the police department. A group of officers is joking around and laughing hysterically. Kyle begins to laugh. He picks up Mitch. He tells Kyle to they are going to do the job for Milo. He buried something in Cottonwood Canyon. Kyle is concerned because Cottonwood Canyon is in the county. Mitch tells him if officers show up to tell them he is working on a tip. Kyle asks if Milo is okay with it. Mitch tells him that is the risk. Mitch will not take Kyle in his car. He tells him to go to the office and into the safe.

At a nudie bar, Alberto (Michael Reventar) is approached by female dancer, Vera Center. He wants her to dance for him.

At Cottonwood Canyon, Mike and Kyle are preparing to retrieve Milo’s thing. One of the men is trying to become a state trooper. He looked into a culinary school that teaches students to cook in Dutch ovens, with 100 percent job placement because he is a felon. They look around a bit and find a large rock covered in leaves. They recover the bag and put it in their car.

Back at the club, Vera meets with Alberto. She tells him $150 for three songs nude with touch or dressed and touch. She wants him to touch her. They go to the Jungle Room. She gives him a lap dance. He pays her and leaves, she doesn’t want him to go.

Sam is getting stitches. He tells Captain Moore (Michael Beach) what transpired in the inmate’s cell. He says the inmate refused to enter his cell, he pushed him. He was head-butted and pulled down. Tim listens to Sam’s version of the event. Captain Moore said he made the mistake of letting him in his personal space and not calling for backup. He tells him distance is his first resort. He asks about Darryl’s condition. He is at Kingstown General with two skull fractures. The doctor is concerned about brain swelling. Captain Moore asks if Darryl is affiliated. He is a Crips gang member. Sam is ordered to the tower for his protection. The guards are relieved about Sam going to the tower.

At the nudie bar, the dancer is escorted to her car by a bouncer, Owen. As she drives out of the parking lot, another car begins to follow. She enters her home and begins to remove her shoes and clothes. She is sitting on her bed watching TV and eating when Alberto walks into her bedroom. He says, “I know you from earlier, from the mayor’s office.” She denies seeing him. He asks why everyone calls Mitch “the mayor”. She says he runs the city. He tells her she owes him two dances. She tells him to come to the club tomorrow, she will give them to him. He wants them now. She reluctantly agrees and reaches over to pull a loaded handgun out of her nightstand drawer. She shoots at him, and he jumps on top of her and knocks her out. He enters her living room and finds some folded documents. He calls it the “motherlode” and takes ownership of it. He takes the documents and leaves, as the dancer’s body lies on her bedroom floor.

Kyle and Mike are at their office. He tells Mike to hurry because he has a “real shift” in an hour. They are in their car when the phone rings. Mitch is calling to see if they retrieved Milo’s money. He reminds him of Bunny’s FedEx shipment.

Mitch walks into his office as a gun is put to his head. At gunpoint, Alberto asks him about the map. He says it belongs to someone you do not want to steal from. He orders him to open the safe. Mitch opens the safe, tosses Alberto Milo’s money, and is shot from behind.

Mike arrives to talk to Bunny. They are upset because Darryl is in the hospital on life support. Mike says they never break a deal, and he will talk to Mitch to see what went wrong. Everyone needs to trust each other, or it will not work. He jumps in his car and calls Mitch who doesn’t answer his phone. He frantically yells where is Mitch. He leaves Mitch a message, saying the Crips almost killed him. Their office is surrounded by law enforcement. He jumps out of the car and Ian (Hugh Dillon) pulls him off to the side. Mike goes into the office, where everyone is upset about Mitch’s death. Ian tells Mike about Vera being raped and strangled to death. He says the feds and state will be in on the investigation.

Mike goes into the room, where Mitch was murdered. He sits in a chair and wrings his hands. He joins Kyle who calls the people they help “parasites.” Kyle tells Mike to hold it together for everyone else. He says it is inevitable and he knew this would happen, but thought it would happen to Mike, not Mitch.

Mariana educates the female inmates about the Cherokee Indians. She is alerted about Mitch’s death.

SWAT has Alberto’s home surrounded. Mike pulls up and jumps out of his car. Ian will not let him go into the house. If he goes to prison, he will be protected. Ian says if he is alone in the house, he will not get off the couch.

Alberto is lying on his sofa smoking a bong when SWAT breaks in. They order him to pick up his pistol by the handle and point it up in the air. He is ordered to point the gun toward the SWAT team. They shoot him to death. A SWAT officer says “thank you” before they are ordered to leave the house. Ian tells Mike, it went how he wanted it to, he saw it coming.

Mike is at a bar when he is approached by Joseph the Russian (George Tchortov). He asks him how it happened and who has the money. Mike cannot get the money from the police. He says that is going to be a problem for you. Mike jumps up out of his seat, breaks his glass, and shoves Joseph’s head into the bar. He draws his gun and says, “They killed Milo’s wife, they found the map, then they killed by bleeping’ brother.” He says Mitch was off-limits. He will have Milo killed in his cell if he blames the McLusky family for what happened. He tells him everything Mitch gave him will be taken away in an afternoon. He tells him to never threaten him again.

Mike is in his car when he receives a phone call, which he ignores. He speeds over 100MPH and screams. He is inside a cabin in the woods. He gets another beer out of the refrigerator. He spots a bear eating out of a metal trashcan lid. He grabs his gun and lays it back down and watches from the porch.

Mariana is alone in her home. As Mike walks in, she says “dawn.” She asks him if he ever arrived home before dawn. She says there is nothing to say, “he’s gone” and it is the way he will go as well. He says they don’t break the law they bend it. She blames their father for inventing their activities and he worked hard for absolutely nothing. She calls them “couriers” and “part-time gangsters.” She tells him to go. She is startled by Mike slamming the door.

Back at the office, Mitch’s blood is still on the safe. He opens the safe and pulls out a bundle of cash. As he is leaving his office, he is approached by a woman who says her daughter is an inmate at the woman’s prison. Her daughter is in trouble and she wanted her to see Mike because he is now the “mayor.” Mike says she is wrong. She is frantically yelling that her daughter is in trouble. She doesn’t know what they will do to her. Kyle tells him to go, it isn’t for him. Mike asks her name, and the episode comes to an end.

The Mayor of Kingstown Review

The show has a lot going on but is still unnecessarily prolonged. If you do not pay close attention, you will get confused fairly quickly. Another fantastic role for Jeremy Renner who played Jeffrey Dahmer and some other big roles. I was disappointed Taylor Handley was taken out of the show so quickly. The woke prison education is enough to make you throw up in your mouth. How is the connection between the Cherokee Indians and dogs and Columbus and slavery going to decrease the recidivism rate? How are these topics going to help inmates acclimate back into society? Well, this is a TV show, after all, hope this isn’t the case in the real world. The show deserves a 7.

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