@Courtesy of Pramount +

After a first season realized with undeniable depth and a second that instead leaned lazily on what had been produced earlier, the TV series created by Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon and produced for Paramount +, lifts its artistic fortunes with a third season that returns to the narrative strength of crime/prison drama, even if in the end it turns out to be less cohesive and emotionally powerful than it could have. 

The strategy of the new episodes of Major of Kingstown aims to make the protagonist Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) an even more Shakespearean figure, primarily employing a voice-off that effectively insists on a very specific concept, casting a melancholy side over the nature of this anti-hero. The management of the social order within and especially outside the walls of the various prisons that McLusky continues to oversee is put in very severe jeopardy by new antagonists, the main among them represented by inmate Merle Callahan (Richard Brake), an exponent of the Aryan supremacy and onetime mentor of Mike himself when he, too, was incarcerated. But as usual, the criminal factions attempting to control the territory continue to do battle, spilling blood and pain on the streets and behind the walls of the penitentiary. 

The episodes of the third season of Major of Kingstown demonstrate from the very first chapter that they possess a better narrative organicity than those of the previous one, focusing on the effectiveness of the story and the development of the characters instead of on the spectacular action scenes which in many cases were far too much just a tool used to hide the lack of ideas, as happened precisely in Season 2. The series thus returns to offering moments where the tension and drama related to the relationships between the characters once again become the common thread, the emotional link that connects the episodes. We are not at the levels of the beginnings, but the improvement from Season 2 is clear and consequently appreciable. The glue of course remains, and it could not be otherwise, a Jeremy Renner who is at his own, complete ease in this role, eager as before at exploring not only the gritty dimension but also the more human and perfectible sides of Mike.  

Alongside him is the usual roster of unquestionably effective actors, who fill their respective roles with performances as raw and sharp as the characters. The arrival of the always-effective Paula Malcomson (Deadwood, Ray Donovan) is a remarkable addition to the cast and thus to the show. The presence of Richard Brake then elevates the dramatic tone of the scenes in which he appears: his definition of the classic criminal “mastermind” who employs words instead of hands to produce violence is of the highest level. The actor seen in many roles like this paints a personality capable of repulsion but impossible to ignore, a worthy counterbalance to Renner’s charisma. Their repeated confrontations recount with fullness a complex relationship, harsh though based on a mutual respect of subtle ambiguity. It is Callahan’s “new entry” that makes McLusky an even more complex and chiaroscuro figure.

If the third season of Mayor of Kingstown does not reach the overall level of the first one, it is because everything worthwhile built up is almost completely ruined by the last two episodes, composed of unnecessary twists and turns that only serve to make everything more complex, detracting the strength of certain characters, first and foremost Iris played by Emma Laird. As always, season finales are used to dispose of side figures, ineffective villains, or cast members who have decided not to renew their contracts for the series. This also happens in the case of the Mayor of Kingstown, organized, however, in a hasty and quite illogical manner. Too bad indeed.

Rate: C+

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here’s the trailer for Mayor of Kingstown Season 3: