‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 2 Episode 8 Recap: “Santa Jesus”

By
Rebecca Murray
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Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky and Callie Thorne as Allison in ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ season 2 episode 8 (Photo Credit: Dennis P. Mong Jr. / Paramount + © 2022 Viacom International Inc)

Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season two episode eight wastes no time in revealing nothing nefarious has happened to Mike. Episode seven ended with Kyle calling his bro to tell him he found Iris…a call that Mike didn’t pick up. Instead, viewers were shown an open bottle and a glass of booze on Mike’s desk while his cell phone was heard vibrating.

It turns out Mike (Jeremy Renner) is just taking some time off to reset. He’s drinking – a lot – and wandering the streets of Kingstown while his mom and Kyle worry something’s happened. Mike dropped off his keys at a bar bright and early, forcing the bartender to swear she wouldn’t return them. He also had her lock up his gun in the bar’s safe.

Life continues around town during Mike’s little walkabout. Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) buys Raf a keyboard to make up for the fact that he’s getting out of prison today. (Mike finally got the job done.) Miriam (Dianne Wiest) is antsy because the kid she connected with at juvie needs Mike to weave his magic so that he won’t get attacked after he’s moved to prison. And Milo (Aidan Gillen) is having sex, while over at the prison, Charlie the serial killer (Kenny Johnson) cracked his tooth to earn a trip to the dentist. There, we’re all caught up.

Bunny’s released, and his crew greet him outside the prison gate. His return as king is cause for celebration, and they party on the roof of the cell phone store and in the streets. Bunny leaves a message for Mike, asking, “Where you at, Santa Jesus?” and inviting him to the celebration.

The wrong McLusky brother, Kyle (Taylor Handley), shows up at Bunny’s party and gets the reception you’d expect when a white cop rolls up uninvited. (None of Bunny’s guys know Kyle, nor does Bunny.) Kyle asks for a minute alone with Bunny and confesses he’s really worried Mike’s gone missing and won’t answer his phone. Kyle points out that the Mexican leader’s dead, and the AB and Bloods leaders are still locked up. Only Bunny’s been released.

Bunny thinks it’s possible they put a target on Mike and promises to check around. He hasn’t heard anything about a hit being put on Mike.

Ian (Hugh Dillon) picks up Charlie for a ride to the dentist which it turns out is actually a ride to SWAT Officer Ben Morrissey’s house. Ian and Charlie don shower caps and booties, and then Ian brings Charlie inside in handcuffs. He hands Ben Charlie’s record, and Ben’s shocked this serial killer and rapist is in his home. Ian suggests that Ben should recant his statement to the DA since Charlie knows where he lives.

Ian has Ben make the call to the DA and inform the prosecutors he’s not going to testify against Robert and the team while he listens in. When Ian’s leaving, Ben warns him that the next innocent person Robert kills is on his head. He then calls Charlie a rapist-killer psycho guard dog, and Charlie breaks his neck before Ian can stop him.

Ian’s ill-advised plan just went to hell.

They drag the body inside and make the place look like he was killed during a robbery. All of this is going down in broad daylight in sight of any neighbor who happens to look outside.

Meanwhile, Mike continues his pub crawl and stops at a cop bar for a whiskey on the rocks. (He jokes that he needs to stay hydrated.)

Iris (Emma Laird) is taken to see Milo and he’s impressed she earns so much for doing so little. He knows her current work is beneath her, but she’s disappointed him and he no longer trusts her.

Miriam shows up for her 5:30pm visit with Jacob and learns he’s already been moved out of juvie.

Mike wanders into a restaurant with a bar, and now he’s noticeably drunk. He takes a seat next to Allison, a deceased prison guard named Terry’s widow, and she matches his state of inebriation. He’s sorry her husband died in the riot, and she insists he should actually be sorry for her. Allison asks if he’s still playing both sides, and Mike confesses he’s terrible at keeping both sides quiet. (Mike speaks the truth.)

They wind up in bed and spend the night together.

Ian’s bought Charlie an iced drink, and they’ve stopped in an isolated location where Charlie’s relaxing and getting some fresh air. Charlie tells Ian he shouldn’t talk to people like he talked to Ben, and Ian’s about to shoot him in the head from behind when Charlie thanks him for the drink and the nice day out. Ian reconsiders and puts his gun away.

Night falls, and Kyle hangs out at a bar drinking and shooting pool with Robert and the guys. Robert received a call that it’s all good and that the case against him and the SWAT team has been dropped. Neither Robert nor Kyle knows what happened, and both think Mike might have talked Ben out of testifying.

Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
Tobi Bamtefa as Deverin “Bunny” Washington in ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ season 2 episode 8 (Photo Credit: Dennis P. Mong Jr. / Paramount + © 2022 Viacom International Inc)

Bunny calls Kyle, interrupting his pool game with news that he called around and no one placed a target on Mike. Stevie suggests maybe Mike’s in the hospital just as Ian arrives. Ian keeps what just happened to himself and only offers that he spent the day taking a serial killer to the dentist. They tell him the case has been dropped and he pretends to know nothing about this turn of events.

They toast to the end of their problem.

Mike wakes up and is ready to start the day when Allison offers him coffee. (She just got off the phone with someone and confirmed Mike was with her.) As Mike leaves, she tells him to take care of himself.

Mike’s barely 100 feet from her house when a car starts shadowing him.

Ian and Kyle are hungover and drink coffee in Mike’s waiting room, hoping he’ll show up soon. They still haven’t heard from him and neither has Rebecca. Rhonda barges in needing to fetch the mayor for Bunny and doesn’t believe they don’t know where he is. Just then Ian hears something and follows the sound to discover Mike’s cell phone in one of Mike’s desk drawers. Kyle answers it because it’s his mom, and they’re both frustrated and worried they can’t locate Mike.

The car continues following Mike as he walks to the bar where he left his gun and car keys. The bartender retrieves his gun but refuses to hand over the keys. (He told her not to, no matter what he said.) Mike insists that was only meant for yesterday and today he’s sober. He finally admits she’s right and warns her to lock all her doors.

Mike steps outside the bar, and the car roars up. Mike takes off running and the car follows, trying to run him down. Mike stops and fires off multiple rounds into the windshield, hitting the driver. The car crashes and it turns out the driver is CO Davidson, the AB-sympathizing guard he ordered to stand down.

Mike walks off and eventually takes a seat on a bus bench, gun still in his hand. And talk about your weird coincidences… Milo wanders up and says, “I heard you’ve been looking for me.”




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