‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 4 Review: Jeremy Renner Delivers the Best Season Yet of Taylor Sheridan’s Crime Drama

With numerous factions both within and outside the prisons of Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon‘s Mayor of Kingstown, the series boasts some of TV’s most nefarious villains. It’s a challenge to continue upping the ante in a show of this kind, but Season 4 sees protagonist Mike McClusky (Jeremy Renner) facing what may be his most dangerous circumstances yet. One of the series’ many exciting additions is The Sopranos star Edie Falco joining the cast, adding flawless TV criminal credentials to an already murky world. Season 4 is the most tense and emotional installment to date, building palpable threats for beloved characters, and Renner’s series has never been better.

What Is ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 4 About?

Mike McClusky (Renner) has a tenuous hold on establishing peace in Kingstown, and it’s tested in multiple directions in Season 4. On the one hand, new warden Nina Hobbs (Falco) is determined to root out his power within the prison’s walls, but it’s a particularly bad time for this to happen, given that Mike’s brother Kyle (Taylor Handley) is now serving time, while nemesis Merle Callahan (Richard Brake) is nearby with his heart set on revenge.

The Colombian cartel is also on the rise (thanks to a deadly new soldado), set to challenge the reign of Deverin “Bunny” Washington (Tobi Bamtefa), while the latter is also being courted with prospects of a dangerous new player from Detroit named Frank (Lennie James).

Edie Falco and Jeremy Renner Shine in ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 4

Jeremy Renner in Mayor of KingstownImage via Paramount

Mike McClusky spends Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 beset by hostile forces arguably beyond his control, and Renner delivers a strong performance for the overwhelmed but otherwise stoic protagonist. Mike’s concern over his brother Kyle’s safety is palpable, and it adds a constant layer of tension as he navigates a separate chess match between Bunny and challengers to his throne. Falco is a stellar presence in the season as well, with an air of authority that elevates her character’s every interaction. Handley adeptly showcases the peril of a good man who becomes a target in a hostile place.

As a whole, Season 4 is a remarkably strong turn for the series, challenging Mike McClusky at every turn from multiple dimensions. It’s also an emotional season, where conflict bleeds into the lives of many who have been relatively untouchable thus far. The stakes are actually high, allowing characters to truly reckon with regret, guilt, and fear. It’s also a smart installment, as McClusky has to navigate both new players and wildly upgraded ones, each with unique tactical advantages and high-tier goals. While Season 3 balanced significant action with a strong sense of threat, Season 4 still manages to wildly raise the stakes.

‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 4 Will Change the Television Landscape for the Better

Jeremy Renner standing in front of Edie Falco’s desk in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4.Image via Paramount+

It’s a rarity for a series to allow major characters to become expendable. Characters often end up like Marvel heroes — even when they surely seem doomed, they’re not. Without spoiling anything, Mayor of Kingstown actually allows serious consequences to befall major characters that will genuinely change the future of the show. There are small issues with plotting, such as moments where characters or factions are mysteriously silent for no other reason than plot convenience. That aside, it’s an impactful, albeit bleak, season that’s going to change the television landscape for the better.

The crux of Mayor of Kingstown is that its setting is little other than the prisons and the community that supports them. It’s all gang rivalries, corruption, and danger, all the time. That’s how the series is billed, but that’s never been truer than in Season 4. Everyone has an agenda, the danger is heightened, and characters have a reason to be afraid of multiple rhetorical sharks swimming in the waters. It’s a well-crafted season, anchored by solid performances, including newcomers Falco and James. Part of Mayor of Kingstown‘s success this go-around hinges on Sheridan and Dillon allowing the show’s characters to face genuine danger and suffer the consequences, which results in several surprising outcomes in an ultimately top-shelf Season 4.

Release Date

November 14, 2021

Network

Paramount+

Directors

Stephen Kay, Guy Ferland, Christoph Schrewe, Clark Johnson, Paul Cameron, Tasha Smith, Taylor Sheridan

Writers

James Arcega Tinsley

Pros & Cons

• Season 4 is tightly scripted with a host of dangerous new players in contention for Kingstown’s criminal underworld, creating a massive sense of danger.
• Sheridan smartly follows through on dangerous character situations, allowing characters to suffer real consequences, elevating tension in a way that’s uncommon in today’s TV landscape.
• Jeremy Renner and company, including Edie Falco, deliver excellent performances against these rising stakes.

• Some plot threads are sidelined at times that don’t make sense, and it’s evident that it’s for plot convenience alone.