Recap: Villains Get the Limelight In ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Season 3, Episode 3

In many ways, Episode 3 of Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 feels like a direct response to Episode 2, which narrowed its focus on Mike and his immediate associates while leaving key villains and other developing subplots to sit in the margins.

“Barbarians at the Gate” inverts the balance. Here, the key figures in the main plot take center stage, helping to give the season’s macro plot some shape, with side stories like Iris (and whatever is in her criminal record that she’d rather Mike not know about) and Kyle’s self-sabotaging career ambitions playing second fiddle.

So, let’s go over the villains both obvious and otherwise that Mike has to deal with in this episode (or may perhaps have to deal with in subsequent ones.)

Konstantin Noskov Makes An Impression

Konstantin Noskov in Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 Episode 3

First up, Milo’s replacement, Konstantin. If you recall, we met him briefly in the Season 3 premiere when he killed Tatiana, and Episode 3 picks up directly from there, with her body being discovered in a dumpster. Chillingly, her baby was thrown in there too, and prompt discovery by a homeless man is the only thing that kept the infant from being eaten alive by rats.

Mike is so annoyed by this that he just waltzes up to Konstantin, assaults several of his men, and threatens him directly. To be fair to Mike, Tatiana’s fate was pretty horrific, and the baby didn’t do anything to warrant being put in the garbage. But what he’s really worried about is Iris, who is still languishing in jail refusing to have her fingerprints taken, and could still be a target of the mob if she sticks her head above water.

For now, Iris remains in custody, endlessly secretive but otherwise safe. Mike, on the other hand, is at more immediate risk. When one of Konstantin’s goons tries to ambush him, Mike kills him and later once again turns up to harass Konstantin. This time, though, he seems to have developed a bit more respect for Mike, who he initially wrote off as one of Milo’s soft-touch employees (though he uses less politically correct phrasing.)

Merle’s Purpose

A more inscrutable operator is Aryan prison gang leader Merle, who has been mysteriously transferred from the lower-security Millhaven prison to the main Kingstown joint, for reasons that one can only assume will be fatal for several people, perhaps including himself.

What makes Merle especially dangerous is the fact he seems to have come to terms with this. In a great conversation with Kareem, who knows he’s up to something, he mentions offhandedly that he has settled on the idea that he will die in prison. To him, it’s a calling, a just fate for having accomplished his destiny, which in less lofty Nietzschean terms is probably just something very racist.

And deadly, obviously. Mustn’t forget that bit.

Barbarians Within

With all these proper villains milling around, it’s easy to forget that the most dangerous barbarians might already be in Mike’s inner circle, let alone waiting at the gates.

For instance, Robert Sawyer, who barbecued an Aryan base with little provocation in the premiere remains a sore spot for Evelyn. Sawyer isn’t a direct threat to Mike, but he’s certainly an indirect problem since Evelyn is adamant about investigating the death of the informant who was ratting on him. Plus, Sawyer’s just a liability in general.

And then there’s Bunny. I’m already on record suggesting that Mike having a falling out with Bunny will be a key plot, and I’m also nursing the somewhat out-there theory that one of them will key each other before we’re through. I’m imagining Mike having to reluctantly off Bunny, rather than the other way around, especially with Bunny’s growing frustrations over Mike taking Crip management into his own hands.

Episode 3 of Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 ends with a bunch of police cars blowing up outside the KPD, which seems to me like a pretty direct declaration of war. But who’s doing the declaring here? There are so many viable candidates – not to mention, by the way, that we never got proper confirmation of Milo’s death, did we? – that it’s almost impossible to say. Either way, Mike’s job is only going to get harder in the near future, and I, for one, am glad not to be one of his friends or relatives.

Read More: Mayor of Kingstown Season 3, Episode 4 Recap