Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 2 Review: Staring at the Devil

After watching Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 2, it’s hard to imagine anyone would want to live in that awful town.

After the riots, things have escalated past the point of no return, and the only person who can untangle the mess is Mike.

But he needs help, and it comes at a price.

“Staring at the Devil” started off with a bang — a lot of bangs, which acted as the jumping-off point for Mike to circle the wagons, hoping they could stop the increasing carnage.

What they found inside that house was brutal, but what was outside wasn’t any better.

How can you live in a place where to survive a massacre means you’re gunned down while on the phone with 9-1-1, or you escape with your life only to die holding in your guts while talking to the authorities?

Kingstown is an ugly place, and if Mike’s plan to staunch the bleeding is unsuccessful, it will become overrun by the National Guard and become fodder for news organizations across the nation, probably the world.

Actually, it’s got to be at that point already. Killing dozens of people anywhere draws eyes, even if those gunned down aren’t really any better than those doing the shooting.

It was just one bad thing after another piling on that finally brought it all to a screeching halt with Mike’s cunning plan.

The first question that comes to mind is why the gangs’ leaders hadn’t thought of getting arrested and tossed into the clink so they could bring a sense of order to their people.

Bunny kind of addressed that with his concerns that the guards had to sign onto the deal the same as the others.

Kareem and his new second-in-command were happy enough to be in control of tent city, but how long would that last without the inmates again running the asylum?

All they needed to do was turn one guard for it all to fall to shit again. Who would feel safe in that house of cards?

Seeing how much the real people in charge respect Mike is always impressive. The whole power play was a scam to get leaders on the inside to clean up the mess and appoint new leadership they could subsequently leave behind.

Evelyn didn’t have to agree to drop the charges. Everyone at the meeting was already there of their own volition, and by the time the officers swarmed, it was too late for them to put up much of a fight.

But Evelyn will drop the charges once the houses are in order, and Bunny and the others will thank him for it when it’s all said and done.

Kingstown is a well-oiled machine in some respects. It is when the oil dries up that things go awry.

Because of that interconnected machine that runs Kingstown, nothing will ever change. When change occurs, it’s a nightmare.

Let’s step back from the riot and officers and the Mike of it all and look at Iris as an example.

Mike put himself on the line to save her. He even embedded her with his family, which was not in their best interests, for her safety while he dealt with the latest kerfluffle.

Where he failed was treating her like a sack of garbage that he could sling around without regard for her feelings.

It would have been best for her to take the WitSec deal, but she didn’t. Mike treats her like a kitten he’s sworn to protect, but how he talks about her while she’s listening expresses his true feelings.

Of course, he didn’t want to alert Kyle to the reality that he was dropping Iris off at his doorstep. Milo is after Iris, and Milo is a very bad man.

What sane person would want to invite him into their lives by protecting what he wanted?

Mike said he needed to drop “something” off more than once, which made me cringe every time. It didn’t evoke the warm fuzzies.

So Iris heard all of that, and although Mike probably thought he was doing what was in her best interests and caring for her, she was still on the outside looking in. Miriam called her a guest, but the damage was done by then.

So Iris is back with Milo, her head literally in his lap. How bad do things have to be that you walk straight into the arms of the man you were fleeing?

Life in Kingstown sucks out your soul.

On the other hand, it also teaches you some damn good life skills if you’ve got the shoulders to carry the burden.

Kyle has a good set of shoulders. He’s seen enough carnage to know how to carry himself to ensure the least amount of damage.

But nothing he could say to his dingbat partner made a difference for the guy. He kicked aside Kyle’s training, mocking him at every turn.

He’s not laughing now, is he?

Kyle wasn’t even on the job long enough to understand the area, and he’s already in the thick of it again.

If the prison rot leaked outside and into Kingstown after the riot, has Kingstown leaked outside of town limits, too?

Like Yellowstone, there must always be another fiasco around the corner. How long before it all falls to hell again, and what happens in the meantime — for the town and the show?

I’d love to hear from you. How do you watch Mayor of Kingstown? Will a calm after the storm be enough after all of this pain?

Share your thoughts below in the comments!

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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