Co-created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, Paramount+’s ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ sees Mike Mclusky facing his most significant challenge only for not one person but the entire Cartel to be after him. As the only person who can operate the checks and balances system of this prison town, Mike is pressured every day and also experiences the feeling of wanting to leave this life. Season four of this crime drama series finds Mike with new and old characters having a similar desire.
While there, also exist dark characters who want to come to the town secretly, and Mike is forced to play a guessing game about which of these forces might be his downfall. The past episode has a scene where Moses is sending two hitmen to a cartel hideout to eliminate them, but the plan doesn’t unfold as expected. In another location, Mike and Cindy seem to be having a date, and this means a great deal of new possibilities for both of these broken individuals.
Mike, Moses, and the Crips: Brewing a New Revenge Plot
Episode 4 of the series is called ‘Sins of Omission.’ It essentially revolves around the violent conflict between the Cartel and two individuals armed with flamethrowers. The main assassin of the Cartel after a while manages to kill the two guys and escape from the scene, however, a large amount of blood is spilled, and the whole place is burnt to the ground. Mike receives a call from Ian about this mess at dawn, and we understand that the mayor is not keeping company.
Cindy, shortly after, wakes up, and it appears that the two are now dating. Nevertheless, neither of them has time to talk about their possible love story as Mike dresses and goes to the place of the incident in a hurry. Police are already on the spot and have an idea about the person who stood behind the failed hit: Fran Moses.
Mike assures that he will handle this matter personally, but even Ian can perceive that there is a bigger conspiracy waiting in the background. At the same time, Kyle’s wife, Trace, had a shock waking up as the car door next to her was wide open and so was a window of the house which indicated that someone might have broken into their home.
The scene is back with Mike meeting Bunny and Moses at their hideout. The two expecting to get scolded are surprised that Mike instead agrees with their idea of an action and even as a third counselor suggests that the forces be divided between the inside of the prison and the outside. From his sources, Bunny has a little idea that Roberto Cruz might be the one behind these acts, and both Mike and Moses propose that he should be the one to take care of that part. Soon enough, the plan is made for Raph to dismantle Roberto’s crew entirely, just enough to calm the war and prevent it from escalating further. On his way outside, Mike receives a call from Trace informing him about the bizarre things happening in her house, and without a second thought, Mike rushes to her place. But when there is nothing suspicious, he thinks that it is probably the unsuccessful attempt of a petty thief and can be solved by some further police protection.
A Close Call: Evelyn Faces Death’s Shadow
Kyle remains at Anchor Bay suffering in pain, no medications and certainly not treated. Sleep is hard to come by but Callahan, his fellow inmate in the next bed has a trick: pretending you don’t believe in pain. Just outside the bars, Cindy is teamed up with Deputy Warden Torres yet again — except this time she’s moving a wheelchair-bound prisoner to ad-seg. Cindy is constantly dropping barely veiled comments about how she wants to resign from her job because Torres clearly has the hots for her, although Cindy herself could barely seem less interested.
Over on the other side of town, Mike calls Ian to get more security for help, and from that call we see Ian is standing on a bridge somewhere looking twitchy. He answers the call in a hurry, let’s Mike’s bargaining threaten his very life for if only a moment, and then gets back to what he really cares about: The cars moving below him. We, too, could see Evelyn driving the same route, when, out of nowhere, a deadly brick broke through the windshield, then knocking it in the process.
The folks in Anchor Bay have not been sitting idly by, as Raef gathers the strength of the Crip gang to unleash a bloodbath against the Colombians. Meanwhile, in the yard, Hobbs questions Callahan about his strange behavior of being in Ad Seg while he is supposed to be in the infirmary. Still, Hobbs knows that this is for Callahan’s own safety and lets things happen. Of course, there is a catch and Hobbs thinks that Callahan is going to deepen his relationship with Kyle.
In another place, Mike comes to see Evelyn at the hospital, where she is heavily bruised and full of questions. Mike thinks that this is a targeted attack and probably the first of many but he fails to convince Evelyn to stop her anti-police campaign. After recognizing that it is a futile effort, he turns his focus back to Sawyer who, drunk, denies any involvement in the attempted murder.
On the other hand, Mike is gradually shifting the blame of his mistrust towards Ian, who Evelyn is also investigating. Even though the officer vehemently denies such accusations, he is aware that it will not take long until the reality is revealed. Raph’s assassination plan spirals into a disaster at Anchor Bay, consequently, there is utter pandemonium. While the Crips succeed in killing a good number of Colombians with their attack, Roberto manages to wrestle Raph off just enough to save his life.
Although he is still on the verge of death in hospital, he is temporarily out of the game, which is exactly Bunny’s intention. In the meantime, Callahan and Kyle become more and more like each other, mostly because of their recent exchange of gifts: mirrors that allow them to watch their immediate surroundings, as well as each other’s faces. Callahan sees Ad Seg as a war of two sides, where one’s physical safety is almost completely sacrificed for psychological strength.
Mike and Bunny: Paths Poised to Cross Again Behind Bars
Mike and Bunny meet up for a nostalgic conversation without Moses this time. Bunny tells him about his new ideas for the Crip gang that included letting Raph be in charge of the drug business and taking the business to real estate. But Mike seems not to like the idea and he asks if Moses has already brainwashed one of his closest friends. Seeing that one of her dearest friends is being doubted, Bunny reacts in a way that Mike is the one who wants to get out of the system and not make it stronger, so that they are going to have different opinions. They still have a good relationship, but it is very close to being broken. Subsequently, Mike comes to see Evelyn again and finds her already at work. Soon it is evident that they are both just small parts of a big machine, in different ways. Somewhere at a bar, Ian opened to his teammates that he deliberately hit the passenger side of Evelyn’s car in order to win her over to a different case.
During the dead of night, Mike secretly meets with Jackson, a correctional officer who appears to be working for Bunny, Hobbs, and is the new leader of the town. Mike is pretty much tearing his hair out due to his lack of information, but Jackson at least saves the situation by spying on Torres, who turns out to be the one injecting drugs into the prison. When we look further, it turns out the Colombians are bringing in the things they need by the way of the charging trucks, and the warden is agreeing to it. Now Mike has everything to take down the warden, and even more assistance is coming from a place that he least expects it.
Cindy is the one who calls and tells that she has secretly written down the names of the inmates next to Kyle and one of the names she recognizes immediately makes Mike change color. As long as Callahan is still able to make things difficult for Mike, we cannot say for sure if he is their ally or not. The same is true for Frank Moses who is close to getting a complete understanding of Bunny’s mind, whether he realizes it or not.
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