Abhiroop Das
Created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, Paramount+’s ‘Mayor of Kingstown,’ traces the ups and downs in Mike McLusky’s life as they sync up with the fate of the eponymous town. As the de facto leader, he has to find the right balance between Anchor Bay prison and the numerous institutions, businesses, and livelihoods that depend on it, one way or another. However, with a murky past of his own, Mike has more enemies than allies, and that makes his present all the more challenging. In season 4 of this crime thriller series, Mike’s brother, Kyle, is sent to prison, only to find a neighbor in Merle Callahan, the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood and Mike’s arch nemesis. As Callahan decides to go after the McLusky family at its most vulnerable, more violence and chaos follow. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Trace is Tragically Killed in Callahan’s Feud With the McLuskys
Season 4 episode 8 of ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ ends with Callahan killing Trace McLusky as revenge against Kyle and Mike. While much of the episode is spent from Mike’s perspective, where he looks into every nook and cranny of Kingstown to locate his sworn enemy, the sequence in Belleville, Ohio, flips that entire framework on its head. Upon learning of Trace’s exact whereabouts, Callahan drives up to the town all by himself and ambushes her in the dead of the night. Following this, he forces her to make a phone call to Kyle in Anchor Bay, and instead takes the phone for himself. While this entire orchestration is a part of his plan to psychologically torture his former neighbor in prison, it is also driven by Callahan’s long-term hatred for the McLuskys in general, peaking with his animosity towards Mike. As it becomes clear to both Kyle and Trace that the Aryan Brotherhood leader is here to draw blood, the exchange takes a much grimmer turn, with Trace making a last-ditch move to save her son.
Initially, Trace tries to reason with Callahan by urging him to redirect his attention to Mike and kill him as the original source of all these troubles. However, Callahan counters by claiming that his hatred extends towards the entire McLusky bloodline. Thus, with no other way to save Mitch, Trace lunges in the direction of Callahan in the hopes of taking him down before he can pull the trigger. While the rest of the sequence is cut and replaced by an exterior shot of the house, it is implied that she failed and was likely killed with a single shot. However, Callahan then chooses not to kill Mitch, and we last see him coldly leave the house, while the baby cries in the background. The news about Trace’s death serves as the final straw in the narrative, and Kyle resorts to self-harm and has to be controlled by force. Mike is consumed by guilt, as Trace’s foreboding rebuke of him being a magnet for trouble now rings truer than ever.
Nishi Munshi’s Time With Mayor of Kingstown Has Likely Come to an End
Given that Trace McLusky is killed in the final few moments of episode 8, actor Nishi Munshi is unlikely to reprise her role for the following episodes and potential seasons. While ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ is no stranger to death, it does not feature flashbacks as a major narrative device, nor are hallucinations or creative visualizations a part of its storytelling arsenal. In such a scenario, it is increasingly improbable for actors to return to the show. However, so far, Trace’s death has only been hinted at by subtle clues. To that end, it is possible that we might see her one last time in the coming episodes, especially if there’s a funeral commemoration written for this season. This pattern has been established a number of times in the show, with the most recent example being the death of Carney, where actor Lane Garrison returned for a single, death-confirming sequence in the follow-up episode.
While it is possible that Munshi might step into the role briefly for a parting performance, she is not likely to return as an active participant in the story. Still, her thematic footprint continues to be in her relationship with Kyle, which brought to life the precarious work-life balance that the McLusky brothers have across the board. It is this intermingling of the two fronts that ultimately leads to her demise, bringing a close to Munshi’s journey with ‘Mayor of Kingstown.’ The actor has been a part of the cast since the series premiere and has taken her skills as a performer to greater heights over the years. In an episode of Kingstown Kickback, she explained that season 4, and Trace’s role in it, echo how dark life in the town can be, adding that “you don’t know the answers till you are in the moment handling those situations.”
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