credit: Mayor of Kingstown
Mayor of Kingstown season 2 has arrived, and it’s worth the wait. Jeremy Renner, who somehow doesn’t appear to get enough credit that often, portrays a character that’s enjoyable for a few reasons. As Mike McLusky, he’s the type of guy that a lot of people can relate to.
Mike is an ex-con and starts out as an assistant to his brother Mitch, the real mayor of Kingstown, their home. The story is that Mike has wanted to leave his hometown for a long time. But as it tends to happen, once a person gets used to a place, it’s tough to leave.
When Mitch was killed in the first season, Mike took over his duties as the new mayor of Kingstown. This isn’t exactly an official title. But Mitch was the guy that everyone went to and the go-between when it came to criminals and law enforcement. With his death, it fell to Mike to take on these responsibilities.
Mike still had every intention of leaving Kingstown near the end of the first season. But early on in season 2, it appears that his plans to leave with Iris are being derailed. The issues in Kingstown are far from solved, and his need to leave Iris to witness protection has mucked everything up.
credit: Mayor of Kingstown
Mike is the guy that can’t help but do the right thing
He’s not the greatest human being in the world. But Mike knows plenty of things about his town and how it runs, meaning he’s a vital character. Unfortunately, that means that he’s not entirely good and he’s not completely evil.
Instead, Mike is the guy that a lot of others look to and others tend to think is no good. His own mother holds a certain amount of resentment towards him for her own reasons. How he’s able to hold it all together is kind of tough to imagine. But he’s so hooked on his city that he might not have an identity anywhere else.
The unfortunate thing is that Kingstown would be a bigger mess without him. Mike is still in over his head, but he knows a few tricks that help him out occasionally. A life spent with Iris might not be a possibility, though.
Kingstown is kind of like the wild west
Season 1 was chaotic enough, but season 2 is already showing the fallout that was bound to happen. Season 1 showed the intense issues between the cops and the criminals, and season 2 is continuing that story. There’s no love lost between the authorities and the criminals, but there’s plenty of anger that’s spilled over. The crooks and the cops appear to leave other alone unless there’s a reason to mess with each other.
In season 1, though, it was evident that this reason was kind of fabricated and even exacerbated in ways that weren’t needed. Season 2 is showing the fallout of that decision, as the streets have become even more dangerous in just two episodes. Between the gang violence and the PTSD that a few of the cops are feeling, it’s amazing the streets aren’t a war zone.
credit: Mayor of Kingstown
The cops are just as bad as the criminals sometimes
Sadly, when authority figures in this show can’t figure out how to solve a problem, they get just as dirty as the crooks. This is seen in the second episode of the season when Mike’s mother is beaten and robbed. The cops that find the robber tune him up in turn, which has a reverse effect when she sees the crook.
She tells them to let the crook go since she won’t be pressing charges. After teaching inmates in a prison, it’s easy to see how Miriam McLusky would take a different view of criminals. Any arguments to the contrary are easy to make, but hard to make convincing. The cops in this show are out to serve the law, but it feels that they give up their humanity to do so at times.
Stuck in the middle as he is, Mike has no other recourse other than to do the best he can to broker peace. When both sides want what the other side won’t give, though, he’s stuck in a constant tug of war that doesn’t end.
Getting out of Kingstown would be the best move
It’s fair to think that Mike still wants out of Kingstown. But at this point, it’s also easy to state that it’s not going to happen. Jeremy Renner has done a great job in portraying a character that is hopelessly stuck in a situation that’s not one of his own design. He’s been lauded for this role by those he works with, and it’s easy to see why.
The character is easy to relate to, even if he’s not the best guy in the world.
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