Summary
Old alliances are reinstated and new ones are forged as Mike tries to pin the blame for the bombings on the Aryans.
Police forces the world over are famously intolerant of attacks on their own, so it isn’t much of a surprise that Episode 4 of Mayor of Kingstown Season 3, “Rag Doll”, opens with Ian Ferguson beating a potential informant half to death with brass knuckles.
The gloves are off, literally, because, at the end of Episode 3, a bunch of cars blew up outside the KPD. Until that matter is resolved, the city and its prisons are under partial lockdown. But it’s also a personal matter for Mike and Kyle McLusky since you’ll recall another bomb went off in the premiere – that one at their mother’s funeral.
Mike Tries To Prove The Aryans Planted The Bombs
The lead turned up from the two bombs that didn’t detonate is gunned down in a gas station bathroom, leaving Mike to go and have a sit-down with Merle personally. Kareem facilitates the meeting, in which Merle casually passes the blame to his dead predecessor, Gunner.
Mike isn’t having that, though, and demands a name within the next six hours. It’s imperative that he pin the bombings on the Aryans, but their only remaining witness is a drug addict named Macon who leads the police on a merry chase in vehicles and on foot with his associate, Stampler.
Kyle is eventually able to corner Stampler and talk him into surrendering, which he manages to pull off entirely without violence. Maybe there’s a career change in his future after all (though I still suspect it’ll prove fatal, but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.)
Mike Kills Macon
Stampler had split up from his buddy Macon during the chase, but as we’re always reminded, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Luckily, Mike knows Bunny and the Crips, who pick Macon up on their turf.
When Mike interrogates Macon on the roof of the building, he reveals nothing beyond being a loyal soldier for the Aryan Brotherhood, which is the kind of thing he’d be better off keeping to himself. Beyond that, though – nada.
Unfortunately for Macon, he makes the mistake of taunting Mike about his own time in prison, his previous relationship with Merle, and the bomb going off at Mariam’s funeral. In his frustration, Mike pushes him from the roof to his death.
Old and New Alliances
When Mike meets with Merle again, he blames the Crips for Macon’s death. But he also acknowledges – for the audience’s benefit, at least – his longstanding connection with Merle that dates back to his own time in prison.
Whatever arrangement Mike and Merle had in the past, Mike’s happy to reinstate it to a certain extent. Mike owes something to Merle and agrees to take his calls. Perhaps he’s hoping that if he scratches the Aryans’ backs, he’ll get closer to the truth of the bombings. But this is likely to put him at odds with Bunny and the Crips.
Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 Episode 4 ends with Merle making a call to Konstantin, who seem to have an alliance of their own.
One More Thing…
“Rag Doll” picks up a subplot from the previous episode, with Anna Fletcher being arraigned for killing her son’s murderer. She pleads guilty and expresses no remorse whatsoever. She’s looking at life in prison, which Mike isn’t happy about.
I’m not sure why we’ve checked back in here. Mike petitions Evelyn to try and stop Anna from getting a life sentence, but she’s too busy to get involved. However, returning to this story again suggests there’s still more to come from it in subsequent episodes, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there.
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