Abhiroop Das
Created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, the second season of Paramount+’s ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ follows Mike McLusky as he once again heads the violent network of crimes in the eponymous city to maintain a warped balance. However, new enemies emerge at every turn, and this time, the threat is bigger than ever, with his brother, Kyle, being sent to Anchor Bay prison. The previous episode ends with Bunny’s newest shipment of ammunition being targeted by the cartel in a grand fashion, and Kyle is pulled out of Ad Seg and into general prison. Forced into a two-pronged battle, with his closest ones’ lives in danger, Mike has to make choices that might change his life as he sees it forever. The sixth episode, titled ‘#081693’, picks up this thread and brings things to a boiling point as the blood on Mike’s team finally spills one drop too many. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bunny is Shot in Broad Daylight, and the Entire Town Begins to Crumble
Season 4, episode 6 of ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ begins with the fallout of the train burning that happened at the end of the previous episode. While the police, along with Ian, are already on site, Mike and Moses watch from a safe distance, contemplating the best course of action. Bunny, meanwhile, is on his way, thinking up all the ways he will exact revenge, when the cartel itself ambushes him in the middle of the road. In a puzzling decision, Bunny’s driver, Lamar, stops the car and chooses to head out and engage the assailants, which leaves the leader of the Crips open to the heavy onslaught of bullets that follows. Shot multiple times, he struggles to get out of the car, with Lamar finally realizing the gravity of what has happened. The news quickly reaches Ian, who relays it to Mike, sending him into a state of chaos. While Moses wishes to start an all-out war, Mike asks him to hold off till the situation is completely assessed.
Meanwhile, a wholly different crisis unfolds at Anchor Bay, starting with Torres finding out Jackson’s secret phone. Now that his identity as a triple informant is out in the open, he has no choice but to trim down his conversations with Mike and the Crips and focus on appeasing Hobbs. Her plan to defeat Mike is working flawlessly, and Kyle spends every waking moment in dread as he is pulled out of the ad seg and into the general ward, where seemingly everyone is an enemy in the making. While being lined up, one inmate nearly recognizes Kyle, but he is quick to knock that man out. However, this puts a spotlight on him, getting the attention of Bogota and the rest of his gang.
Outside of Anchor Bay, Mike sets out to work on plans of his own, which means questioning the person most likely connected to all these strange attacks: Cortez. Sitting leisurely at a diner, he continues to give the police the cold shoulder, but his temperament changes with Mike’s arrival in the game. Calling him “the mayor,” Cortez reveals a deeper understanding of how the town works. This, in turn, ties up with his gang’s greater goals: To rid the place of its kings, mayors, as well as the pawns, which is how he describes Bunny. Although Mike tries his best to poke at the young assassin’s weaknesses, specifically targeting how he is treated as an expendable asset. However, Cortez refuses to change his ways, and in the future, he might become an even bigger problem. Meanwhile, Raph, who is technically the interim leader of the Crips, tries to force Jackson back into submission, but the young officer proves to be a tougher nut to crack.
Kyle Has Yet Another Close Call With Death
At the court, Evelyn eagerly waits for her star witness, who is key to winning the case against Ian. However, with the man suddenly missing, she is left with more questions than answers. Cindy Stephens is left in a similar state of confusion at Anchor Bay as she walks up to Kyle’s cell, only for it to be completely empty. Alarmed, she immediately sets off to inform Torres about the situation, who feigns ignorance and promises to fix things. From there, Cindy calls Mike, letting him know that things might have gone from bad to worse. Realizing what is about to happen, he gives up on everything at once and reverses the gears, racing back to the hospital. On his way, he is called by none other than Kyle himself, who is using the open cell phone to explain how precarious his fate is. Mike, well-versed in prison life, forbids his brother from going anywhere without Raph and the Crips. By then, however, it is already too late, as Mike hears his brother being escorted away by two policemen, who are seemingly there to return Kyle to Ad Seg.
Although Kyle initially agrees to being ushered around by two cops, his wonderment soon turns into horror when he realizes he is not being taken to a safe location. Instead, he is forcefully dragged into a dingy room, where Bogot and many of his men are waiting for an abuse and humiliation ritual. Kyle is injured and nearly sexually assaulted in the moment, but is saved just in time by a mysterious group of prisoners, who identify themselves as Callahan’s associates, likely belonging to the Aryan Brotherhood. On the other end, Mike storms into the prison, picking a fight with several guards along the way to demand an audience with Hobbs. The battle’s outcome is clear now, and her pressure tactics appear to have worked. In return for Mike’s compliance, she explains her singular demand: the arrest of Frank Moses. Mike agrees to the job, as he has his own concerns about the mysterious criminal and his entire gang.
Ian Saves His Own Enemy From the Cartel
As Kyle is still shaken by the incident, he chooses not to come face-to-face with Mike. This news is relayed by Cindy, who reassures him that his brother is safe and unharmed. However, while one of Mike’s deal points with Hobbs is the removal of Callahan from Ad Seg, this episode shows that he might be the only person capable of keeping Kyle alive in these trying times. Without wasting a beat, Mike gets into action, telling Moses that the police will likely be picking him up to maintain appearances, as the burnt train’s depot traces back to him. This, in turn, appears to be a veiled tactic by Mike and Ian to both keep Moses’ guard down and temporarily please Hobbs. Still, with his instincts sharper than ever, Mike quizzes Lamar, Bunny’s driver, during the crash. Although Lamar unloaded two whole clips, he failed to land a single blow. This suggests that Lamar might be working against Bunny and, potentially, with Moses, further alerting Mike.
Ian plans to arrest Moses in the dead of night and calmly bring him back to the station. However, while the first half of the plan goes flawlessly, problems arise towards the end. At the station, Ian briefly locks eyes with a suspicious-looking man, and his hunches prove to be right. Without warning, the man shoots his gun in Moses’ direction, but narrowly misses thanks to police intervention. Ian lodges the final bullet in the man’s head before confirming that he is another one of the cartel’s men. As such, as the latter half of the season comes into play, the enemies show no sign of, nor interest in, slowing down. This, in turn, means that Mike and Ian have to tune up their respective approaches to this upcoming bloodbath, as it can either bring peace or utter ruin to the town they call home. In the final scene, Mike chooses to sit by a hospitalized Bunny, not as a business partner, but as a dear friend.
Read More: Is Mayor of Kingstown Based on a True Story?
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