Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 Episode 5 opened with a bang — literally, as Kyle joined Robert and the rest of SWAT for a practice drill.
Kyle was more impressive than the SWAT guys, so maybe there is hope for him if he goes through with his transfer. The powers that be saw as much potential as we did since they offered him a spot.
This episode dropped a lot of information while strategically covering events outside the prison. We got a lot of answers, and things are in place for viewers to have a dramatic second half of the third season.
We finally got definitive proof that Mike and Evelyn are indeed doing the deed.
Scandalous! Show of hands for those rooting for this relationship. This viewer is firmly aboard the Milyn train. Toot toot.
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As more drug overdoses happen around town, the word is out that dirty dope is circulating, and it’s pointing right toward the Russians.
This fact has become public info, including for the hotheaded order, order-happy gang leader Bunny. And Konstantin is Target Uno on Bunny’s list.
There was no Blue Bloods-style family diner scene in this episode, and it really lacked the brother-heavy ambiance we’ve started to adore this season.
Kyle showed up at the police station with the good news that he made it on SWAT, and Ian got word that his boss wanted a private conversation. It was a nice way to add some tension to the scene.
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While Mike struggles to reach Bunny, he’s busy arming his gang for an all-out war. At least Bun’s sergeant-in-arms thinks about collateral damage and talks his gang out of using grenades during their attack.
Sergeant in Arms: This right here. This is assault. It’s fast, it’s focus, it’s very lethal. 800 rounds of democracy permitting.
Bunny: This little pistol here?
Sergeant in Arms: Ah, ain’t nothing little about that.
Bunny: Aight, well, educate the brothers then. Lesson for today, fellahs. Shock and mf’ing awe.
Although a gun that can fire 800 rounds in the hands of inexperienced kids is utterly terrifying.
Iris enters the lion’s den while Kyle’s wife returns to work at the women’s correctional facility. This episode had a good balance of male-to-female scenes to balance out not seeing the other half of Mike’s work with the prison.
Seriously though, what the hell was going on with Konstantin ranting to himself? If anyone needs proof that drugs are bad for your body and your mind, there it is.
Now might not be the best time for Iris to do a “guess what, I’m here” surprise on an unhinged psychopath. He seemed to adore her, but we know how fast that can change. We remember what happened to Tatiana.
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Mike keeps hitting wall after wall while he’s on the search for Bunny. That’s not a good precursor for future events.
Iris seemed downright excited to welcome Konstantin back. Why go back when she was out and anonymous? She claims it’s to help Mike but does anyone believe that?
Back at the women’s prison, a scuffle with an inmate leads Kyle’s wife, Tracy, to discover that one of the inmates is pregnant, even though she’s been locked up for three years.
Duh-duh-da. Could it be the overattentive guard who assisted Tracy could be the baby daddy?
The entire conversation between Iris and Konstantin is still all wrong.
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Is she playing a game? Or trying to get back into the game since Milo is gone?
We thought Ian was in trouble with his boss, but he’s there to discuss letters Charlie (Kenny Johnson) sent praising Ian’s police work.
Despite Charlie being a serial killer, Ian has a repertoire with him and treats him with decency and humanity. We never expected the words good publicity to be associated with the crooked, bad cop Ian.
Mike shows up to talk with Konstantin, only to find Iris sitting with the Russian bad guy at the bar. He’s trying to make peace between the Russians and the Crypts.
Breathe, Michael. You must always remember to breathe. Why are you always so agitated?
Mike: Uh, can we talk for a minute?
Konstatin: Yeah, you can speak freely. There are no secrets here.
Mike: Okay, look. my job, my primary function is to create a balance in this town. You understand? I can’t do my job if you keep poisoning the drug supply.
Konstantin: Do I look like I peddle in street drugs?
Mike: No. You look like you’re undercutting your competitor. Okay? Now I’m here to tell you don’t. There’s plenty to go around.
Konstantin: I move product, Michael. I expand. I compete. And if someone can’t keep up, well, that’s for them to remedy.
Mike: Okay, well, I don’t really care about your business philosophies here, Konstantin. Back off Bunny Washington. Period. You understand?
But too little, too late.
Bunny’s guys opened fire on the club, with Mike inside. Ian is pissed when he shows up at the scene and discovers the shooting was Bunny’s call.
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Mike tries to talk him into putting Iris and Konstantin into protective custody, but we know that will not happen.
He also struck out with Konstantin when he tried to convince him not to strike back at Bunny for his attack.
Mike and Ian privately talk with Iris at the police station. She really is too much trouble at a time when there’s already more than enough crap going down.
If Mike McLusky had a soft spot, it would be for innocents he’s saved, like Iris.
Even when they’re too stupid to stay out of trouble to be safe.
Mike: So you have a fucking death wish, is that it?
Iris: That’s pretty rich coming from you.
Mike: Yeah. Hey knock it off.
Ian: It’s kind of funny.
Mike: What the fuck you thinking, Iris?
Iris: That he’s dangerous to you. And I know him better than anyone.
Mike: Oh yeah, and?
Iris: And he wants me to work for him.
Mike: Of course he does.
Iris: Front of house only, Mike. If I bail now, he’s going to wonder.
Ian: Mike, she got a point here.
Mike: So you’re going to be the new Tatiana. Is that it? Remember what happened to her. Ended up in a fucking dumpster. Is that what you want?
Iris: You said I could stay or I could go. Remember?
Mike: Uh huh.
Iris: Mm-hmm. So I’m staying. This justifies me staying.
Mike: If they find out you’re connected to me at all, they will kill you.
Iris: I bet anyone that knows that is dead.
The show’s soft spot was when Kyle held his sweet baby and announced he was now a SWAT officer.
Tracy handled the news well and even had some supportive words to explain why they lived somewhere dangerous.
And it’s all because of their mother Miriam.
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Mike finally sees his nephew, even if it is a brief glimpse, as he informs Kyle about Iris’s decision to go undercover with Konstantin.
We still haven’t heard anything about the baby from the dumpster in Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 Episode 3. At this point, maybe we won’t.
While Mike may be cool with Bunny, this fan still doesn’t trust him any further than a stone can roll. Especially when they roll up with a liquor bottle.
Angry, intoxicated people do not make a good combination. Bunny is getting more and more out of control by the season. It will be interesting to see if he makes it to the fourth season or gets replaced by one of his gang.
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It wouldn’t be surprising if something happened to him to escalate the war between the Crypts and the Russians further.
Bunny made his move on the bar. But we haven’t seen retaliation yet.
Mike: Look, you can do a lot of things, mother fucker, alright. But you can’t ghost me. You understand that? Hey. Don’t ghost me. You disappear. You’re rolling the fucking Russians. With no warning. And then you light em up. With an arsenal that sure as shit did not come from that gunshop. Are you crazy?
Bunny: Mother fucker spiked my supply.
Mike: Yeah.
Bunny: You push me, I’mma push back, Mike.
Mike: I know. I was there. At the club. When you fucking lit it up. You almost took me off the board.
Bunny: What the fuck you hiding with the Soviets for then?
Mike: I was trying to remedy your problem Bunny. I know what they did to your supply. You gotta let me do my job. Not fucking shoot at me.
Bunny: Comi mother fuckers don’t know the rules out here. Alright. They ain’t equals.
Mike: Yeah, well they think they fucking wrote the rules. They’re coming down like Moses with the tablets and the commandments or whatever the fuck it is.
Bunny: Well we’re going to send Moses right back up that fucking mountain, aight? Ain’t no tablets out here. I’m the New Testament. Yeah. Besides, I don’t see them making no fucking moves right now.
Mike: Yeah, well.
Bunny: So maybe my message done stuck.
Mike: Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Maybe I threw a block on your behalf. I don’t know. Either way, Bunny. No one is resting easy.
Might Konstantin’s future strikeback have anything to do with the barber shop and the woman we saw flirting with Mike earlier? Bunny seems to have a soft spot for her.
In this episode, Mike struggles to get anyone to listen to him. He can’t get Bunny to back off his decision to wage war, and now he can’t get Iris to change her mind about going undercover with Konstantin.
Is it a precursor to Mike having to swoop in and save her from herself and the bad guys once again?
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A woman will do what she wants to do, even if Mike wishes he could stop her.
He even blames Ian for putting the idea in Iris’s head. But Ian refuses to say it was a bad idea. Using her as a spy makes sense, especially when Mike is a target for so many bad guys.
At least Konstantin seems to have a soft spot for Iris, so she may be safe for a bit. As long as he doesn’t learn that she’s there to protect Mike.
This viewer predicted earlier in the season that Iris would go back to using drugs. Did she really do a line with Konstantin? Or fake it to make him think she’s a user?
Ian asks the same question to Mike that viewers have wondered for all three seasons. Why does Mike care so much about Iris? The theory is that he has a hero complex like their mom.
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While Mike and Ian hide in the car, watching a party at Konstantin’s yacht, we see how Konstantin’s organization works. The night ends anticlimactic for their party.
And Iris’s state of sobriety is declared. She’s spun out. All of Mike’s work to get her clean was for naught.
Overall, this episode was a slow simmer that set up the show for one hell of a second half if the two sides go to war.
There’s no way an OG like Konstantin will let Bunny’s declaration of war go unanswered.
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We can only hope Mike — and his family — are up to the challenge of bringing peace to Kingstown.
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Sara Trimble is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow her on X.