Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season four opens with a brutal scene involving a train and four bound and gagged men. We never get to know them before they become the first deaths of the new season, which, if episode one is any indication, won’t be backing down on the action or violence.
(The following is recap of season four, episode one, and there are spoilers ahead!)
Kyle (Taylor Handley) is facing time in jail after shooting Robert to keep him from executing a suspect during the third season’s finale. He agrees to a deal that would set a two-year sentence, meaning he’d be out in six months with good behavior. However, he’ll have to be paraded into jail, like everyone else. There’s no getting around it no matter how much Mike (Jeremy Renner) insists there is. Kyle’s lawyer, Barry Chester (Mackenzie Astin), reminds Mike that he got the sentence knocked down from 15-20 years and should be satisfied with that.
Kyle’s okay with serving time because he knows the shooting was justified. He also knows Mike will be looking out for him inside.
Ian (Hugh Dillon) provides a distraction from family matters by bringing Mike in on the train track murders. The train decapitated the four men, and syringes were found not far away. Mike believes someone was cleaning up Konstantin’s mess because the men are Russian. Neither Ian nor Mike thinks Bunny was behind it, meaning there’s a new player in town.
Nina Hobbs (Edie Falco), the new warden replacing the deceased Kareem Moore (we’re going to miss you, Michael Beach), introduces herself to the guards and confirms she’s run five prisons over the last 10 years. She believes Anchor Bay Prison is flawed and she’s going to fix it.
Although Hobbs has an assistant, Torres (Clayton Cardenas), Carney (Lane Garrison) immediately steps up and suggests he can be her right-hand man, just like he was to Moore. She’s unimpressed and describes Moore as unbalanced and inept. “I will not abide any lingering loyalty,” Hobbs warns. She also fires a shot across Bunny’s bow by reminding Kevin Jackson (Denny Love) that the DOC pays him and she now controls what he does at work and during his off hours.
Mike heads to Bunny’s to discuss the dead Russians, and Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) blows it off. He’s the king now and no one’s coming for him. As for Kyle’s upcoming incarceration, Bunny thinks Kyle should have killed Robert, not just wounded him. Bunny assures Mike that Raph will be watching over Kyle and making sure no one makes a move on him. Mike’s thankful, and Bunny reminds him that family is family.
Bunny admits he lost a lot of men during the shootout and has a lot of new men on his crew. He teases that he’s making big moves to ensure the streets stay quiet and under his control.
Over at Kyle’s, Tracy (Nishi Munshi) still can’t understand why Kyle’s being punished and Robert isn’t. Kyle hasn’t told the DA the real reason he shot Robert because he doesn’t want to violate their code. He can do six months if it means he keeps his family safe. Kyle will never be a cop again, and they plan on selling the house and leaving Kingstown for good when he’s released.
Raph (Daniel “D Smoke” Farris) and Roberto can’t agree on new terms on who handles the drugs coming into Anchor Bay. It looks like a brawl’s about to break out in the yard, but Carney manages to break it up before fists fly. Raph walks away, aware the Colombians are going to be a problem again.
Mike, Stevie (Derek Webster), and Ian pay a visit to Todd and the Aryan Brotherhood, and Shaver insists he didn’t have anything to do with the dead Russians. The Aryans claim not to have any plans to expand their business and are fine with the way things are. Mike orders Todd to make sure his people are under control while delivering a bloody nose to one who comes at him.
Todd swears Callahan’s no longer calling the shots.
Mike’s also worried about Robert and Ian confirms he’ll keep an eye on him. Mike needs to know if Robert’s going to make a move on anyone. Stevie’s shocked Kyle took the fall. He would have thrown Robert under the bus. After Mike leaves, Ian reminds Stevie that Kyle took the fall so that Robert wouldn’t give up everything he knows about all of them. Carney gives new guard Cindy Stephens (Laura Benanti) the rundown on Administrative Segregation (Ag Seg), which is the “Candy Land of prison.” The inmates there are on lockdown 23 hours a day. He describes them as the lowest of the low and warns her to stay five feet back from the bars or they’ll snatch her.
Carney also fills Cindy in on Kyle’s upcoming arrival and says he’s not to be screwed with. He’s a standup guy and they need to protect him with their lives.
Back at the station, Stevie gets a heads-up from a neighboring jurisdiction that Iris’ dead body was found. Ian knows she doesn’t have any next of kin, but they are not to ever tell Mike that she died. Ian promises to pay for her burial himself.
DA Evelyn Foley (Necar Zadegan) meets Ian outside the station and says if he gives her Robert Sawyer, Kyle will walk free and she’ll forget about Charlie and Morrissey. Ian can’t help her, and she warns him she has footage of the day Morrissey died.
Ian spots Robert (Hamish Allan-Headley) watching from a short distance away and can’t believe he’d get within 100 feet of Evelyn. Ian tells him to back off and reminds him Kyle went to prison for him. Robert doesn’t see it that way since Kyle shot him instead of letting him take down a suspect. Ian assures him Kyle won’t talk and that Mike is too concerned about the DA. Ian, hot off being threatened by Evelyn, hints that someone needs to do something about her.
Mike has his first meeting at the prison with Warden Hobbs, addressing his concern that Kyle has a “soft landing” in prison. If she takes care of Kyle, then Mike will take care of her. He can solve any problem she comes up against, but Hobbs doesn’t think his help will be necessary. She describes Anchor Bay as her new castle and seems to insinuate that he’s no longer the big cheese.
Hobbs says she’ll take care of Kyle, like all her prisoners. She refuses to assign Carney to Ad Seg and assures Mike that Callahan won’t get to Kyle. He’s practically dead and in the infirmary.
Mike cuts to the chase and issues a warning. “I have sway in these walls. If anything happens to my brother, there’s going to be consequences.”
Mike’s driving at dusk when he comes across a woman lying in the street. He approaches, gun out, and discovers she’s unresponsive.
Later, Rebecca (Nichole Galicia) refuses to let Evelyn into Mike’s office, blocking the doorway. But Mike lets her in, even though she’s not invited to take a seat. She swears she’s done all she can and wants him to beg Kyle to change his mind. Mike insists Kyle’s the only good man in town and she’s putting him away anyway. Evelyn promises she gave him the lightest sentence possible but can’t stop him from having to walk the gauntlet through the prisoners.
Mike orders her to leave, informing her she’s now dead to him.
Raph informs Bunny that the Colombians aren’t budging. If they don’t agree to stick with the terms for a last shipment, then they’ll brawl.
Morning arrives and Kyle hugs his wife goodbye. She cries as he leaves with Mike. They head to the bar and Kyle’s greeted with a round of applause. Mike asks Carney about Ad Seg, and he explains there’s a hot newbie that he’s told to take care of Kyle. Mike’s really worried about Kyle walking through the yard at 4pm when everyone’s out of their cells. It’s a long walk and anything could happen.
As Mike drives Kyle to the sheriff’s office, he warns his brother that he’ll only be safe in his cell. Every prisoner wants to kill a cop, so he’ll have a massive target on his back. Kyle shouldn’t trust anyone unless Mike tells him to do so. Mike’s certain someone will try to kill him, and if he’s attacked, he needs to defend himself as best he can.
Elsewhere, Bunny’s in the backseat of the lead car, with his men one car length behind when a car with out-of-state plates rolls up alongside them and starts shooting. The second car manages to rear-end the shooter’s vehicle, causing it to spin, while Bunny’s car races away.
Ian and Stevie are in hot pursuit when Ian calls Mike to tell him Bunny was shot at but is okay. Mike joins the pursuit even though Ian tells him not to.
Kyle’s prison bus pulls into Anchor Bay, and Kyle’s in chains like the other prisoners on board. He waits in line as the men in front of him are strip-searched. Prison guard Mullen escorts him through the yard as the prisoners catcall from behind the fence. Kyle doesn’t glance their way, staring straight ahead.
He’s brought into Ad Seg and almost immediately a prisoner appears and attacks the guard first and then Kyle.
While Kyle’s getting beaten, the car with the four Mexicans who shot up Bunny’s caravan is heading toward Mike, with Ian hot on their tail. Mike pulls his car in front of the fleeing vehicle, and they come out shooting. Ian and Stevie arrive quickly and take down three of them—with an assist from Mike. They pull one man out alive and uninjured from the backseat and place him under arrest.
An alarm sounds and guards rush to help Mullen and Kyle. Among them is the new female guard, Cindy, and she looks shocked at Kyle’s condition.
Later, after her shift, Cindy drives home, quickly tosses her uniform in the washer, and greets her three kids. She’s acting sketchy, but she’s a good mom.
Kyle refuses to go to the sick bay and suffers from the beating in his cell. Callahan talks to him from another cell, warning Kyle that he should never agree to go to the infirmary. Every con is after him and he’s only safe in his cell.
Mike and Ian have a drink at the bar and Ian says the Colombian they arrested isn’t talking. At least they now know the Colombians are operating in Kingstown and probably killed the Russians.
Carney calls Mike to deliver the bad news about Kyle’s attack. Carney says he’s okay but got worked over good and Mullen has a broken jaw. Mike hangs up and pounds his car, yelling in frustration and anger.
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