Abhiroop Das
Created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, Paramount+’s ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ centers around Mike McLusky, who rules over the eponymous prison town through good times and bad. However, after weathering the storm for three seasons straight, Mike is now at his lowest point. His brother, Kyle, is in Anchor Bay prison, and with the cartel invading the town bit by bit, Mike has to bring together everything he has in his arsenal for one final charge. In the previous episode, titled ‘#081693,’ Bunny is shot in broad daylight and battles death in the hospital. However, with Kyle being pulled out of Ad Seg and nearly being assaulted, Mike has a hard time choosing his priorities. After bending the knee and making a deal with Nina Hobbs, he plans to bring Moses down, only for a cartel member to open fire in the police station, hoping to take out Moses. This episode, titled ‘My Way,’ explores the direct aftermath of this unexpected turn and what it means for Mike’s end goal. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Callahan and Kyle’s Time as Neighbors Reaches Its Bitter End
‘Mayor of Kingstown’ season 4 episode 7 begins with a reversal in Callahan and Kyle’s dynamic, as it is now the former who is being pulled out of Ad Seg and into the general bull pen. This comes after Mike’s hard-fought deal with Hobbs, in which he got his brother back to the safety of four walls in exchange for taking down Frank Moses. However, everything still appears to be within Callahan’s calculations, and on his way out, he offers Kyle one final chance at partnership. When he is turned down, he adopts a more vicious approach, berating the youngest McLusky brother for repeating his predecessors’ mistakes. When he brings up Mitch and Mariam’s death, Kyle finally snaps and lunges at the bars before hitting Callahan with his own dwindling legacy. The crux of their argument lies in who will get out first, but with his brother struggling on the outside, Kyle’s chances look slimmer by the second.
This brings us to Mike, who is still reeling from the news of the assassination attempt on Moses. With the drug kingpin now on high alert, Mike and Ian’s carefully constructed plan is almost in jeopardy, and the cartel is to blame. Now that Hobbs’ involvement with them is an open secret, he realizes that this entire orchestration was just one more thing she kept from him. In their latest conversation, Mike clears the air, trying to convince her that they are indeed on the same page, despite cartel enmity. Still, the onus of trapping Moses is now back on him, and he has to think of a whole new plan. With that in mind, Mike shows up at Evelyn’s office, proposing the biggest hunt of her life. In return for handing Moses on a silver platter, he demands Kyle’s freedom, and although hesitant at first, Evelyn gives in.
Sawyer Threatens to Bring Mike’s Entire Operation Down
While things are on high gear in Kingstown, Sawyer’s life has hardly improved. Still a raging alcoholic, he struggles to rebuild his relations with his family, but that appears to be a dead end. When his ex-wife asks him about his reinstatement, Sawyer lies, realizing in the back of his mind that he is nearly at the point of no return and must act. Meanwhile, at Anchor Bay, Kyle has a new neighboring inmate, this time far more ordinary than Callahan. However, the inmate appears to know a thing or two about Officer Breene, who is on duty with Cindy. As it turns out, Breene may have a history of sexual abuse at the women’s penitentiary, and his violently bashing the inmate’s head to prevent him from speaking only adds to the mystery. On the other end of the facility, Jackson spies on the shipment records, knowing that they coincide with the comings and goings of cartel drugs. Despite it being a close call, his mission is a success.
Later that evening, Mike visits the station, where Moses is still being kept for his own safety. He is as flustered as he is suspicious, and Mike’s best attempts at painting the whole event as a cartel freak hit don’t convince the hardened criminal all that much. Still, Mike reorients him towards the cartel instead, and a big shipment attack is in order. Right after this, Ian is called home by Sawyer, who proceeds to have a meltdown about the growing list of failures in his life. It appears that he has shifted the target of his hatred from Evelyn to Mike, and that spells trouble for Ian, too. Although the detective manages to hold Sawyer down for the time being, he realizes just how much danger he is in, especially as a co-conspirator in the murder of Evelyn’s prime witness. Meanwhile, Jackson relays the timings of the shipment to Mike, who then delivers that information to Moses, putting a timestamp on their counterattack.
The Cartel War Proves to be Too Much For Hobbs
At Anchor Bay, the nervous tension between Breene and Cindy is palpable, given that the latter has been hinted at as a sex offender. This calls back to his perverse attraction towards her thus far, and Cindy is wise enough to keep her distance. Meanwhile, Callahan is welcomed back to the bullpen with open arms and doesn’t waste a single minute in concocting a new plan, likely against the McLuskys. Elsewhere, Ian and Mike finally have a chat about the chaos they have endured in the past week alone. While the possibility of Kyle being released comes as a grace, there is still the Herculean task of bringing down Moses. With Sawyer proving to be too much of a loose cannon, Mike suggests cutting him off for good, leaving Ian to handle the specifics. Meanwhile, Moses’ crew ambushes the cartel shipment as planned, burning it to a crisp as payback for everything so far.
Fear and panic take over the warden’s office at Anchor Bay when news about the failed shipment spreads. This is Hobbs’ first shipment failure, and with the cartel breathing down her neck, she realizes that her luck might be running out. This fear turns out to be partly true, as back at her home, she is jumped by none other than the Cartel’s chosen hitman, Cortez. Using her daughter as leverage, he demands names, and in a desperate bid, she pins the blame on Torres. While Cortez leaves her with what is most likely the final warning, she is tasked with finding out the mole amongst them and taking care of them. Before she can do any of that, she realizes that the game of chess with Mike must stop, and agrees to call a truce meeting. Moses’ takedown is to go ahead as planned, while Mike and Hobbs finally decide to meet halfway. However, knowing how tenacious both of them are, a big showdown is all but inevitable, putting Kyle’s life in danger yet again.
Ian Might Have Signed Sawyer’s Death Warrant
That night, Ian and Sawyer meet at Morrison’s, and the latter begins another one of his drinking cycles. Only this time, Ian encourages him to drink his heart out, and secretly throws his own share of drinks onto the floor. In the end, Sawyer is a drunken mess, and that seemingly gives Ian the perfect chance to pull off a dark plan after driving Sawyer to his own garage, which is already covered in smoke due to the exhaust. Ian pulls him out of the passenger seat, only to push him back onto the driver’s seat. With the gas now steadily seeping into the car, he keeps the windows pulled down and closes the garage door before walking out.
While this may be a harmless end to Sawyer’s day, Ian might have just set up a slow death, depending on how the rest of the night flows. On the other end of town, Bunny is awake at last and seemingly out of danger. Mike rushes to the scene in joy, but soon has to get down to business. Although Bunny is eager to hunt down his enemies, for now, the duo must bide their time and dismantle Moses’ criminal empire the legal way. However, in the scenario where Kyle walks out of prison and Moses walks in, the ground is open for Bunny to take revenge.
Read More: Is Mayor of Kingstown Based on a True Story?
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