''Mayor of Kingstown'' is an American

crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

television series created by

Taylor Sheridan Taylor Sheridan (born May 21, 1970) is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed David Hale (Sons of Anarchy), David Hale in the FX (TV channel), FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' and Danny Boyd in ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2007 ...

and

Hugh Dillon Hugh Dillon (born May 31, 1963) is a Canadian singer and actor who is the lead vocalist of rock band Headstones. He is also a film and television actor; his notable roles include Mike Sweeney in '' Durham County,'' Ed Lane in '' Flashpoint'' and ...

. The series premiered on November 14, 2021, on

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which is set to premiere on January 15, 2023.

Premise

According to the Paramount+ description of the series, "''Mayor of Kingstown'' follows the powerful McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption, and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither."

Cast

Main

Jeremy Renner Jeremy Lee Renner (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He began his career by appearing in independent films such as '' Dahmer'' (2002) and ''Neo Ned'' (2005), then supporting roles in bigger films, such as ''S.W.A.T.'' (2 ...

as Mike McLusky, originally starting off as right-hand man for his older brother Mitch, Mike takes over as "Mayor" after Mitch's death in the first episode. The middle McLusky brother, Mike spent his whole childhood dreaming of getting out of Kingstown. Later in the season, we learn that Mike was once an inmate in the Kingstown prison and rose to the rank of "Shot-Caller" for the White inmates. *

Dianne Wiest Dianne Evelyn Wiest (; born March 28, 1948) is an American actress. She has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for 1986’s ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' and 1994’s ''Bullets over Broadway'' (both of which were directed by Woody ...

as Miriam McLusky, the matriarch of the McLusky brothers. Miriam is a

college professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

who volunteers teaching inmates in the female prison. Miriam is fully aware of the activities that her sons take part in and has a deep animosity towards Mike. *

as Ian Ferguson, a seasoned, hard-nosed detective for the Kingstown Police Department and Kyle's partner * Tobi Bamtefa as Deverin "Bunny" Washington, leader of the

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

in Kingstown, Bunny spends his days sitting on a lawn chair selling drugs he has in coolers next to him out in the open. Bunny has a good relationship with Mike and is the closest thing to a friend that Mike has. *

Taylor Handley Taylor Laurence Handley (born June 1, 1984) is an American actor. Early years Handley was born in Santa Barbara, California. He attended Santa Monica City College. Career In 1998, Handley played Rory Buck in the movie ''Jack Frost''. In 200 ...

as Kyle McLusky, the youngest of the McLusky brothers. Kyle is a detective for the Kingstown Police Department. Kyle often battles with the choices he is forced to make assisting his two older brothers with their business dealings, as well as the questionable tactics his fellow officers employ on suspects. As a way to distance himself from the mayhem and corruption of working in Kingstown, Kyle is close to getting a transfer to the

Michigan State Police The Michigan State Police (MSP) is the state police agency for the U.S. state of Michigan. The MSP is a full-service law enforcement agency, with its sworn members having full police powers statewide. The department was founded in 1917 as a wart ...

. Kyle is also married to Tracy and is expecting their first son. *

Emma Laird Emma Laird is an English actress and former model. On television, she is known for her role in the Paramount+ series '' Mayor of Kingstown'' (2021–). Her films include '' A Haunting in Venice'' (2023). She was named a 2021 Brit to Watch by ''V ...

as Iris, a smooth-talking escort who works for Milo and the

Russian mafia Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...

to seduce and bribe government officials. Iris is originally brought into Kingstown in an attempt to control Mike. * Derek Webster as Stevie, a detective for the Kingstown Police Department and another ally to the McLusky brothers * Hamish Allan-Headley as Robert Sawyer, a police sergeant that leads an elite team of Kingstown SWAT officers. Robert is a force of nature who isn't afraid to do whatever is necessary to get the job done, which includes operating his team as more of a

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

. A former Army

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

soldier who deployed to Afghanistan. Robert is also the father of a young son. * Pha'rez Lass as P-Dog, the leader of the Crip inmates in the Kingstown Prison *

Aidan Gillen Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, a ...

as Milo Sunter, a Russian mobster who is spending life in prison after killing a few guards during an armored car robbery *

Kyle Chandler Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, '' Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story'', Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama '' Hom ...

as Mitch McLusky, the oldest of the McLusky brothers, Mitch took over the role of "Mayor" after their father, the original "Mayor", died * Nishi Munshi as Tracy McLusky (season 2; recurring season 1), Kyle's wife, who is pregnant with their son

Recurring

* James Jordan as Ed Simmons, a corrections sergeant who helps coordinate with Mike and Mitch in dealing with the inmates * Nichole Galicia as Rebecca, who works as a secretary for Mitch and then later for Mike *

Andrew Howard Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Training Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...

as Duke, leader of a

White Supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

Gang, who controls the White inmates inside the prison. Duke once served time alongside Mike in the Kingstown Prison, both as acting "Shot Callers" for the Whites. *

Jose Pablo Cantillo Jose Pablo Cantillo (born March 30, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Ricky Verona in '' Crank'', Miguel in ''Cleaner'' (2007), Pepe in ''Streets of Blood'' (2011), Detective Martinez in '' El Chicano'' (2018), Hector Sal ...

as Carlos Jiménez, A high-ranking leader in the

Mexican Mafia The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: ''Mafia Mexicana''), also known as ''La eMe'' (Spanish for "the M"), is a Mexican American criminal organization in the United States. Despite its name, the Mexican Mafia did not originate in Mexico, and is entirely ...

. Carlos also served time with Mike in the Kingstown prison back when he was a "Shot-Caller" for the whites. *

Michael Beach Michael Anthony Beach (born October 30, 1963) is an American actor. He has appeared in films '' Lean on Me'' (1989), ''One False Move'' (1992), ''Short Cuts'' (1993), ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995), ''A Family Thing'' (1996), ''Soul Food'' (1997), ...

as Captain Kareem Moore, leader of the Kingstown prison guards * Necar Zadegan as Evelyn Foley, district attorney for the City of Kingstown, who is, secretly, having an affair with Mike * Jason Kelley as Tim Weaver, a

corrections officer A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

who also helps Mike and Mitch. *

Mandela Van Peebles Mandela Van Peebles (born June 4, 1994) is an American rapper, film and television actor and producer who has appeared in films such as ''We the Party'', ''Baadasssss!'', and ''Jigsaw'', and the television series ''Reginald the Vampire''. Perso ...

as Sam, Tim's nephew, and a rookie corrections officer, whose actions cause chaos within and outside the prison * Rob Kirkland as Captain Walter, captain of police in the Kingstown Police Department * Rob Stewart as Captain Richard Heard, captain of detectives in the Kingstown Police Department * Natasha Marc as Cherry, a young 20-year-old inmate in the female prison and one of Miriam's students * Stacie Greenwell as Abby Steele, a seasoned corrections officer assigned to the female prison * Gratiela Brancusi as Tatiana (season 2) *

Lane Garrison Lane Edward Garrison (born May 23, 1980) is an American actor best known for the role of David "Tweener" Apolskis on the television series ''Prison Break''. He appeared in the pilot episode of the El Rey network's series ''From Dusk till Dawn''. ...

as Carney (season 2)

Episodes

Production

The project was first announced in January 2020, when

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

ordered the series. By February 2021, the series was transferred over to the

streaming service, with

cast to star. The next month,

joined the cast, with

, Derek Webster and

added in April. Series co-creator

joined the cast alongside Pha'rez Lass and Tobi Bamtefa in May.

was revealed to have joined the cast in August following the release of a teaser poster for the series, while

and Hamish Allan-Headley were added to the main cast. On February 1, 2022, Paramount+ renewed the series for a second season. Filming on the first season took place from May 17 to October 4, 2021 at Stratagem Studios in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

and in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

, mainly the

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

. In June 2022, filming for the second season took place at the Lampe Marina and

Presque Isle Bay Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is at an elevation of 571 ft (174 m) ...

near

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Andrew Lockington Andrew Lockington (born January 31, 1974) is a Canadian film score composer. Life and career Lockington was born in 1974 in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He has composed the complete scores for over three dozen films, including ''Journey to the ...

composed the music for the series.

Lakeshore Records Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...

has released the soundtrack.

Release

The 10-episode first season of ''Mayor of Kingstown'' premiered on November 14, 2021 on

. The first two episodes had their linear premiere on November 21 and 28, 2021 on

, where it was originally supposed to air. The second season is scheduled to premiere on January 15, 2023 on Paramount+.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports a 32% approval rating with an average rating of 5.8/10, based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Despite campaigning with a strong pedigree, ''Mayor of Kingstown'' botches its reelection chances by giving constituents too much gloom and grit and not enough reasons to care."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". During its debut in the US, which was simulcast on cable as a means of promotion, the series drew 2.6 million viewers linearly, making it Paramount Network's most-watched scripted premiere since 2018.

References

External links

* * * {{Paramount+ 2021 American television series debuts 2020s American crime drama television series 2020s prison television series English-language television shows American prison television series American thriller television series Crips Gangs in fiction Paramount+ original programming Television series about families Television series created by Taylor Sheridan Television shows filmed in Kingston, Ontario Television shows filmed in Hamilton, Ontario Television shows filmed in Pennsylvania Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Michigan Films shot in Erie, Pennsylvania Works about gangs Works about the Russian Mafia