Abhiroop Das
Co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, Paramount+’s ‘Mayor of Kingstown‘ begins with Mike McLusky becoming the de facto leader of the eponymous town, making sure that the fragile balance between the various constituents of its prison ecosystem remains unharmed. However, with enemies flanking him from every side, Mike is forced to become crafty in his handling of business. What ensues is a series of bloodbaths that end with Mike more powerful than ever, but also just as lost. His arch nemesis since the inaugural season, Milo, meets his end in the season finale, but victory comes at a great cost. Not long after, Mike’s relationship with two of his biggest allies, Kareem and Iris, is fractured beyond repair. While the former sacrifices himself in a desperate attempt to provide for his family, Iris’s fate takes on a much more ambiguous form, initiating an inquiry into whether one can truly escape the cycle of crime and violence. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Iris’s Dead Body is Found in a Bus Outside Kingstown’s Jurisdiction
In the season four premiere of ‘Mayor of Kingstown,’ Lieutenant Ian Ferguson learns that an unidentified woman has been found dead inside a bus not so far away from Kingstown. A closer look at the picture and details confirms the dead woman to be none other than Iris, leaving Ferguson at a loss for words. Alongside Mike McLusky, the police officer has been the one person positively invested in Iris’s journey to self-discovery and freedom, but seeing her life end so quickly brings a whole new angle to the tragedy. While it feels instinctive to inform Mike of this tragedy, Ferguson holds back, realizing that this news could likely serve as his final straw. In the previous season’s finale, Mike bid her goodbye, hoping she would find something to live for outside the bounds of Kingstown. To that end, he sees a part of himself in the young woman and channels his deep desire to leave the town and its shackles behind through her. As such, Iris’s death can flip his entire belief system on its head, for the worse.
Determined not to include Mike in the equation any time soon, Ferguson ponders the best way to give her a respectful goodbye. When his fellow officers bring up the urgent possibility of her being unceremoniously sent to a morgue, the lieutenant decides to pay for her funeral costs herself, setting up another potential arc. The show thus far has been defined by its tragedies and how each iteration brings Mike one step closer to a complete downward spiral. Ferguson’s call, as such, is a double-edged sword, at once protecting his friend while also delaying the inevitable. Regardless of whether Mike ultimately comes to know the truth, what remains unchanged is the fact that a person he deeply cared about is now gone forever.
Iris’s Tragic Demise Changes the Flow of the Narrative
Iris’s death is presented with enough ambiguity to allow for multiple interpretations, and while it is possible that she overdosed on her drugs, a case can also be made for her dying by suicide. With Milo gone and Mike asking her to leave the town behind, Iris has no place to call home and no real connections to return to. To that end, her potential decision to take her own life can be seen as one final act of agency, choosing to leave her twisted life behind instead of continuing. However, given the show’s consistent use of irony as a narrative device, the idea that she died from a simple, avoidable mistake also works with the larger thematic structure, where an individual’s actions are calculated as the sum of several societal factors. Iris’s death darkens the story by several shades, and Ferguson’s discovery of her body in the present can be seen as the start of a complete psychological collapse for several characters, as well as the town at large.
The lingering presence of the Russian mafia in season four suggests that Iris’s overarching role in the story is far from over, as there is a strong possibility that some of her abusers are still alive and in Kingstown. Thus, the fourth season might see Mike coming to terms with his new reality and doing everything in his power to bring justice to her. Although Iris’s death is bound to take a toll on his psyche, it can also be a moment of clarity for him, showing how the way out of this toxic cycle cannot be reduced to leaving the town, as several systemic and psychological changes are needed to ensure that Iris’s harrowing tragedy is never repeated. Additionally, there is also a possibility of the news of her death creating a rift between Mike and Ferguson, given the latter’s decision to hide the truth from his friend.
Read More: Who Dies and Who Survives in Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 Finale?
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