ADVANCE REVIEW: Mayor of Kingstown Wants to be More Than a Police Drama, But Isn’t There Yet
The McLusky family is the most powerful family in Kingstown, Michigan. Led by siblings, Mitch McLusky (Kyle Chandler) and Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner), the McLusky brothers act as power brokers in their small town. With the prison being the only lucrative business in town, it is up to the brothers to keep the peace between those in prison, and those out of prison. However, when lines begin to be crossed, the brothers will find it harder to keep the peace in Kingstown in Paramount+’s new series, Mayor of Kingstown.
Taylor Sheridan, who created the hit series, Yellowstone, has teamed up with Hugh Dillon to create this new series. Sheridan and Dillon’s focuses in this series are on systemic racism and corruption, but, ultimately, the show feels like another police drama. After watching the first three episodes, I ultimately decided to not continue watching. The show was not my cup of tea. It may of been because there were too many players involved in the storyline, which made a lot of things hard to keep track of as each episode progressed. It also could of been because each episode felt like a brand new storyline rather than a story that helped propel the overall storyline.
Renner is great as Mike McLusky, but the material given to him lacks. His best scenes are the scenes when he is conversing with gang leader, Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa). Whenever these two are on screen together, you can tell they respect each other, no matter what is going on. It is those scenes I wish Sheridan and Dillon had focused more on rather than some of the other scenes. Chandler plays Mike’s brother, Mitch and is good, but this is really Renner’s story.
Dillon does double duty on this series as he also plays one of the detectives in Kingstown, Ian. His character is intriguing and you are left wondering who’s side he is really on. But, as I said earlier, there is not enough of him to really leave you wanting more. Dianne Wiest and Taylor Handley round out the cast as Miriam McLusky and Kyle McLusky, respectively, and of the two of them, it is West’s character that left me wanting to learn more about. You don’t get a good feel on her in the first three episodes. It will be interesting to see how Sheridan and Dillon handle her character and her connection to the storyline, besides by blood.
There is a very nice twist in the first episode that leaves you wanting to come back for more, but the momentum stops in the second episode. The story became less engaging and more choppy. Maybe as the series progresses it begins to its rhythm, but, based on the first three episodes, I am not sold.