‘Mayor of Kingstown’ Co-Creator Teases Explosive Season Ahead

[Warning: This post contains spoilers about the newest episode of Mayor of Kingstown, “Guts.]

The title of the newest episode of Mayor of Kingstown couldn’t be more on the nose — or, to be precise, other parts of the body. Thanks to some poisoned drugs, several inmates connected to Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) fall violently ill and die with their insides seeping to the outside.

When Mike (Jeremy Renner) tries to investigate the source of the drug poisoning in “Guts”, Carney’s (Lane Garrison) decision to let him stroll on through the backdoor puts him at odds with the warden, Kareem (Michael Beach). Kareem has been struggling with the scars of his trauma during the prison riot, which led him to violently murder one inmate, but Carney has no patience for his pain. The two exchange words in the episode, and Carney makes it clear that he’s fully in the tank for Mike McLusky’s way of running things.

About Kareem’s plight this season, show creator and star Hugh Dillon said, “He was just the upfront personification of decency in the first season… Taylor [Sheridan] and I have always said, ‘Nothing is safe, and no one is sacred.’ … What Carney knows is this man is broken. I don’t want to give too much away, but this man is broken.”

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Elsewhere, Iris (Emma Laird) is arrested during a contentious traffic stop, which leaves Kyle (Taylor Handley) wondering where she’s at, while Mike is less bothered by her disappearance — in fact, he seems to hope for her to take off in their late mom’s car and leave Kingstown in the rearview. We’ll have to wait and see whether Iris is yet again entrapped after being freed from captivity last season.

Mentioned in passing in the episode is the explosion that seemed to kill Milo (Aiden Gillen). Mike briefly discusses who’s suspected to be behind the attack, but Milo’s fate remains unclear. (Remember that phone call?) And Dillon isn’t sharing whether that means Milo is dead or alive. However, he assures there will be a worthy resolution to that question.

“I’m not gonna step on that landmine,” he said when asked about Milo’s fate. “It’s a very good question, and the viewers will be rewarded.”

Dillon also shared that as the rest of the season unfolds, things will continue to intensify: “This season is explosive. It has an emotional velocity that you can’t look away. It is hypnotic. It is. If you’re a fan of the show, you will want more. If you’ve never seen the show, you’re experiencing the equivalent of a feature film with characters that are very deep and rich and hypnotic,” Dillon said.

Stay tuned for more from Hugh Dillon, including what the future of Mayor of Kingstown looks like.

Mayor of Kingstown, Sundays, Paramount+