It's official! Mayor of Kingstown is returning to Paramount+ for its second season, and fans are already curious to know what's in store for Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) and the rest of the cast members of this chilling crime drama.
Mayor of Kingstown follows the criminals and the criminal justice system in an extremely harsh but honest light. McLusky, the series' lead, shows how he is the advocate of convicts and, at the same time, how he is brokering deals to sustain peace in this city where incarceration is a serious and thriving business.
Balancing the two is like walking on a tight rope 10 feet above the ground, but in the first season, one of the deals goes wrong, and McLusky finds himself on the wrong side of a Russian mobster named Milo (Aidan Gillen). Milo sends an escort named Iris (Emma Laird) to get close to Mike, but he doesn't take his bait, and Iris turns against Milo. This leads to Milo turning her over to a group of violent white supremacists who assaulted her before selling her to a rival gang. Iris is extremely traumatized by these events but finds solace in Mike's cabin in the woods.
Even though everything was so dark and grim, the first season still managed to end on a small note of hope. Iris discusses how she considered taking her life when Mike attended to the prison riot. She believed that her abusers took away a piece of her soul but went on to explain that she decided not to hurt herself because she wondered, "What if your soul can grow back?" Given this moment of slight hope and optimism in the season 1 finale, there are some things that we sincerely hope to see in the upcoming second season.
The season one finale made us feel tragic yet at the same time hopeful for Mike and Iris as they sat quietly together after the violent prison riot that went down. What can fans of the show expect, and how will the characters move forward?
A Time Jump
Based on everything that's happened in season 1, the storyline would benefit from a significant time jump. Through the first season, Mike has always expressed his desire to bid adieu to Kingstown so that he could attend culinary school, and Iris has always encouraged him that he's a great cook and should become a chef. The show could pay off Iris' hopefulness by jumping a bit into the future. They could both move to Ohio for him to attend culinary school while she settles into a life free of being an escort.
While the relationship may still be undefined, it would give them time to understand and learn to trust each other. This would further intensify their bond, regardless of whether they take a romantic or platonic path. A time jump would also benefit the other characters, allowing the prison riot's rawness to heal.
Far-Reaching Consequences
As great as a time jump would be, the showrunners will most likely take a much darker path than that. The prison riot was the definition of a complete meltdown. The inmates not only took over the prison but also were broadcasted on the news as they brutally assaulted and even murdered prison guards. This completely rocked Kingstown, considering the prison is one of the most critical places within the city.
With the rising tension between the inmates, prison guards, and cops, it's likely that this is just the start of the problems, and the worse is yet to come.
Milo Won't Give Up
There was already no reason for this Russian mobster to stop tormenting Mike. But now that we know that he managed to escape prison by donning a security guard uniform, and he's out in the open, he's more likely to come after Mike. Though we can't say for sure how and when that will happen, considering it was clear from the first season that he is a calculative and controlling type.
Season 2 Premiere Date
One thing is for sure that this crime thriller series is definitely coming back to our screens with its second season. Production Weekly revealed on December 23, 2021, that season 2 is in the works. Funnily though, Paramount+ and the creators of the show have still not announced its renewal.
Since there isn't any official update on when exactly the production will begin, there may be a considerable wait for the new season to drop. If everything goes according to plan, we can expect to see Mayor of Kingstown season 2 premiere sometime in late 2022 or early 2023.