Mayor of Kingstown Season-Premiere Recap: Heads You Lose

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Welcome back to Kingstown! It’s always chilly and gloomy here, so bring a jacket. You’ll probably want to have cigarettes and snacks on hand, considering how many people you know are either in prison or work at Kingstown Prison. Also, please let us know which group you’re with when you return – are you connected to the Russian Mafia, Aryan Brotherhood, a Columbian group, the Crips, law enforcement, or something else?

As you’ll remember, the last season of Mayor of Kingstown was marked by significant loss. Several major characters died, including Warden Kareem, mob bosses Konstantin and Milo, and Iris, who Mike McLusky had been trying to help. The season also ended with Mike’s brother, Kyle, being arrested after shooting a fellow officer, Robert Sawyer, known for his violent behavior. It was a deadly season, and many important players are now gone.

So how does the show recover? First, by restocking the cast.

Mayor of Kingstown alternates between intense, action-filled episodes and slower, more character-driven ones. The season four premiere, “Coming ‘Round the Mountain,” leans towards the latter, with only brief moments of violence. The episode mainly focuses on introducing new characters and updating viewers on what familiar faces have been doing since the end of season three, a priority for head writer Dave Erickson.

Edie Falco, a four-time Emmy winner, joins the cast as Nina Hobbs, the new warden. Hobbs is a devout Christian known for turning around troubled organizations. She quickly establishes that she intends to run things very differently from the previous administration. She doesn’t seem to respect how things were handled before, and she doesn’t value the relationship between the prisoners, Mike, and the guard liaison, Carney. She also believes she can manage the power struggles within Kingstown without Mike’s help.

Falco immediately stands out as Hobbs, portraying her as direct and matter-of-fact, with a subtle but present faith. She delivers a memorable line when she challenges Carney’s claim that he owes nothing to Kareem, quipping, “Tell that to Jesus.” Even though this episode moves slowly, it effectively launches the prison-based storylines for season four.

Raphael, having been recaptured after his escape and unsuccessful attempt to kill white supremacist Merle Callahan, quickly clashes with the Colombian gangs now controlling the prison’s drug trade and imposing unfair rules on the Crips. It’s a chaotic first day for new arrival Hobbs, as trouble immediately begins.

Honestly, the most compelling storyline right now is definitely Kyle’s experience in prison after shooting Robert. It’s rough in there for anyone, but especially for a former cop, and even though Hobbs assures Mike she’ll look out for him, she’s complicated things by taking a lot of power away from Carney. Predictably, Kyle gets jumped on his very first day, beaten up by another inmate looking for revenge. To make matters worse, he ends up sharing a cell with Merle, who immediately tells him to keep quiet and skip getting medical attention. It’s setting up a really tense situation, and I’m hooked!

Hobbs explained to Mike that violence diminishes with each act, much like a sauce thickens and intensifies when reduced. Considering chefs concentrate flavors by reducing sauces, her point seems accurate.

Okay, so it’s not totally clear how much time has passed since season three, but Lieutenant Ferguson mentions sending Iris away on a bus a month ago, so I’m guessing that’s our timeframe. And things have been weirdly calm. Like, eerily quiet. Apparently, Mike made a deal with the Crips to handle most of the crime, and even Bunny Washington admits it’s been “pin-drop quiet.” I was surprised to see Mike even visit a hangout for a white supremacist gang, but they seemed content too, saying they’re still making money with the current setup – they’ve got their turf and they’re happy with that.

The main issue while we’ve been gone is the reaction from law enforcement. Kyle is being seen as a hero by his former colleagues because he’s refused to cooperate with the media or the District Attorney’s office, despite Evelyn’s attempts to get him to talk about Robert. This has made Robert, who is currently suspended from the force and keeping a low profile, extremely angry at both Kyle and Evelyn. He complained to Ian, bitterly asking, “He shoots me and I’m the bad guy?” Ian acknowledges Evelyn is a problem that Mike is unwilling to address, suggesting someone like Robert, a rogue and possibly violent officer, might be able to ‘handle’ her. He casually adds, “Just sayin’.”

Mike is also dissatisfied with Evelyn, despite her reducing Kyle’s sentence to six months. This episode mainly focuses on Kyle’s final day of freedom before starting his prison term, where he’s quickly attacked. As he says goodbye, Kyle promises his wife, Tracy, that they’ll sell their house, leave Kingstown, and start a new life once he’s released – a promise that seems unlikely to come true, given the circumstances. It’s clear things will get more complicated for them in the future.

There’s a significant exchange between Mike and Kyle where Mike shares hard-earned wisdom about prison life: “Don’t become like them just to survive.” This contrasts sharply with the advice their mother, Mariam, gave Mike before he went to prison – she told him to do anything necessary to stay alive, but then resented the person he had to become. While it’s unclear what Merle has in store for Kyle, it seems unlikely he’ll be able to simply hide and endure the next six months in his cell.

This week’s episode of Mayor of Kingstown introduces two new recurring characters, both played by excellent actors and showing potential. Laura Benanti plays Cindy Stephens, a prison guard we learn is a devoted mother, who now finds herself working amongst the most dangerous inmates in Kingstown – including Kyle.

This episode introduces Frank Moses, powerfully portrayed by Lennie James. He begins with a surprising speech about pennies—its materials and history—and then dramatically places a coin on the train tracks where four bound Russian mobsters lie. A train swiftly runs over them, and we don’t see Frank for the rest of the episode. The episode concludes with an attack on Bunny’s motorcade, and it’s unclear who’s responsible—perhaps the Colombians, or even Frank himself.

People are curious about the newcomer, Frank. Mike calls him a mysterious threat, while Bunny thinks he’s attracting attention for reasons unknown. He seems like he’s settling in for the long term, so hopefully he brought warm gloves!

Solitary Confinement

Ian mentions it’s been a month since he last saw Iris after hearing about her overdose – news that just arrived at the Kingstown police station. He’s currently holding back from telling Mike, but I’m eager to see that conversation. Honestly, I enjoy watching Mike, who believes he’s in control of everything in Kingstown, realize that his plans often fail.

Mike’s habit of helping people in need appears again in this episode when he discovers an unconscious woman lying in the street. The moment doesn’t resolve immediately, suggesting it will be important later.

Welcome back to our coverage of Mayor of Kingstown! The show is really interesting because it often builds slowly, like other shows created by Taylor Sheridan, and then suddenly explodes into violence. But it also does things differently. The creators, Hugh Dillon and the current showrunner, Erickson, are good at connecting storylines in a way that creates genuine suspense and keeps you hooked, even during the slower parts. Hopefully, we’ll see even more of that in the fourth season.

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2025-10-26 14:55