So, Mike McLusky starts his day by telling the whole world that he’s going to make sure Frank Moses rots in prison for the rest of his life. And I am not kidding. Mike really shared this news with around 3 people in this episode, which, honestly, startled me a little. But you know how things are in Kingstown, right? News travels fast here. So, when you start announcing your grand plans to so many people around town, then you are just setting that plan up to fail. We all know that taking down the King of Detroit won’t be an easy task. We are not even sure if we are going to see Moses behind bars in this season or not. But what I am certain of is that as soon as Frank Moses gets wind of Mike’s plan, he’ll come after him. And not just him, but all his best buddies, and that sounds like a problem to me. This is the reason I believe Mike should have been a little more discreet, but more on that later. The seventh episode of Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 turns the tide in Mike’s favor. I know it looked like a sudden jump in the narrative, but it is what it is. Mike’s not afraid of the warden anymore, because now he’s the one who’s pulling all the strings. On the other hand, there’s a major character death which I am so eager to talk about, so with a spoiler warning, let’s jump straight into the breakdown of episode 7.
Callahan Escapes Prison
In the previous episode, Mike had cut a deal with the warden, Nina Hobbs, that he would get Frank Moses arrested in exchange for his brother’s safety. Nina and her deputy, David Torres, were making Kyle’s life a living hell in order to force Mike to give in to their demands, and in the sixth episode, they eventually revealed that it was Moses they were after. Nevertheless, a part of this deal was that Nina would transfer Merle Callahan to Gen Pop, and for some reason I believed Hobbs wouldn’t fulfill this part of the bargain, but surprisingly she did. The seventh episode began with Callahan being transferred to gen pop; however, before leaving Ad Seg, he did warn Kyle what was coming for him.
As Callahan was getting moved out of his cell, he stopped in front of Kyle’s cell to share a few words of wisdom, but it quickly escalated into a heated argument. I won’t bore you with the details here, but in a nutshell, Callahan wanted Kyle to join the Brotherhood, but Kyle turned down his request. By now, Kyle has understood the fact that he’s on his own, and there’s no backup on the way. Actually, inside the prison, no one’s willing to help anyone until and unless they can get something in return. So, Kyle just accepts the fact that he needs to look out for himself and focus on each day as it comes.
Additionally, throughout this conversation, Callahan dropped numerous hints that he was going to break out of prison. Well, he was singing “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” so that was your biggest clue, and later he told Kyle that he could walk through walls. However, if you are still wondering why Callahan left prison all of a sudden, then the reason is simple. The Aryans are a shadow of their former glory, and Callahan fears for his life. He’s aware that Mike got him transferred to gen pop so he could take another shot at him, and Callahan can’t take any chances. So for his safety, he escaped before Mike could make another move against him. There’s one more interesting thing that turned up during this conversation. The leader of the White gang told Kyle that he would say hello to Mike when he saw him. Well, it’s apparent that Callahan will be going after Mike, but we all know this isn’t going to end well for him. The mayor of Kingstown doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Or to be particular, he doesn’t miss the same target twice. And if you remember, Kyle has already predicted his fate. Also, the way Callahan broke out of the prison so easily, I don’t think Hobbs and Torres are doing a great job holding down the fort. They are only focused on the cartel and the Colombians, which speaks volumes of their inefficiency.
Mike Wins Hobbs’ Trust
I think most of you might have noticed that Mike, who’d been so helpless in the previous episodes, has suddenly become all fearless and invincible. I am not complaining here, because this is the Mike McLusky we know, but the way it happened looked a bit random to me. Nevertheless, the seventh episode revealed that Mike has upped his game and is now playing both Frank Moses and Nina Hobbs. Mike didn’t expect that the cartel would send a shooter to take out Moses in police custody, though he had figured out that they were up to something, because Hobbs had made a very sudden demand to get Moses arrested. By eliminating Moses, Hobbs wanted to earn some brownie points from the cartel, but unfortunately, Moses survived the attack. Later, Mike asked Ian to keep him in protective custody so he could win the warden’s trust and show her that he was still on her side, even though she and her cartel friends didn’t trust him at all. You see, this is important, because the cartel knows Mike is a good friend of Bunny’s, and it was Bunny’s growing relationship with Moses that has them worried. The Colombians didn’t want Bunny to get close to Moses because they were aware of his modus operandi. The King of Detroit is quite brutal in his approach. He doesn’t let competition thrive or survive in his territory, and this is also the reason why Moses tried to have Bunny killed. He had been eyeing Bunny’s territory, his men, and his trade. Mike knew from day one that Moses wanted absolute control of Kingstown, and he tried to warn Bunny, but he didn’t listen to him. Nevertheless, when Mike paid Hobbs a visit the next morning, he just clarified that he wasn’t in bed with Moses, and the only thing he was after was his brother’s safety and the peace of the town. Thankfully, Hobbs took the bait, so the next time Moses attacked the cartel’s shipment, Hobbs didn’t suspect Mike’s involvement in it. Well, that was Mike’s plan all along.
Mike Cracks a Deal With Evelyn
Okay, as we saw in the previous episode, Ian and Robert had gotten rid of the new witness Evelyn had, which meant she was back to square one, and had no evidence against them. In short, she was in a fix, and this was why the mayor of Kingstown paid her a visit to help a friend in need. Or should I say, help all his friends, including his brother. In the fifth episode, Mike had asked, “What’s it going to take to get Kyle out?” to which she replied, “Al Capone.” She wanted a prosecution and a conviction of an evil greater than Robert Sawyer. So, here we are. Mike had his mind racing, and came up with an offer Evelyn couldn’t refuse. He offered her the biggest conviction of her career, Frank Moses, the Al Capone of Detroit, in exchange for Kyle, Robert, and Ian. Later, Mike told Ian and Bunny about his deal with Evelyn, because he would need their help to set a trap for Moses and bring him down “legally.” But that’s easier said than done and like Kyle said, you can’t have your hopes high when it comes to Mike. He may surprise us, but so far, he’s only been a disappointment. And here I want to quote Kyle again: “Mike’s trying… often gets people killed.” So we know that Moses won’t go down without a fight, no matter how flawless Mike’s plan is.
Moses Attacks the Cartel’s Shipment
Being the mayor of Kingstown, Mike’s well aware that both the cartel and Frank Moses are bad news, and he needs to get rid of them to bring back the peace and balance in town. But the thing is, Mike isn’t powerful enough to drive these enemies out alone, so what he’s doing is playing one against the other. In episode 7, when Mike visited Moses in police custody, he purposely told him that he was certain that it was the cartel that shot their common friend Bunny, while in reality, we all know that Mike was aware it was Moses who tried to kill Bunny. Mike even played the emotional card, telling Moses that Bunny might not see another sunrise, and even though Moses wanted to say something at this point, he kept his mouth shut so as not to expose his involvement. You see, Mike’s getting good at playing these mind games. And while Moses was still processing this information, Mike quickly fed him the idea of attacking the cartel’s shipment, the same way they hit theirs. In the previous episode, CO Kevin Jackson had found out that the Colombians had been smuggling drugs through the fuel tankers, and in this episode, he found out when the next shipment was due. He shared the details with Mike, and Mike handed them over to Moses so he could exact his revenge. However, in reality, it wasn’t a win for Moses as much as it was for Mike. Through these attacks, he’s weakening his enemies so they drop the idea of taking over Kingstown and go back to the place they belong.
Mike played Nina
As I mentioned previously, Mike planted this idea in Moses’ head that he needed to attack the cartel’s upcoming shipment to settle the score with them. For Moses, Mike helped him get his revenge, but Mike’s real plan was larger than that. He knew that the cartel would hold Hobbs and Torres responsible for losing their stuff, which meant they needed to point the finger at someone else to protect themselves. And from what we know of Torres, he would figure out sooner or later that it was Kevin Jackson who leaked the information, thereby sending Cortez after him, the same way Torres dealt with Carney. However, Mike had promised Kevin that he would take care of him, so in order to fulfill his promise, Mike played another trump card. After the attack on the shipment, he bombarded Hobbs’ phone with calls to turn her against Torres. Mike told her that someone had taken the fall for the lost shipment… someone who’s not her. Mike didn’t take Torres’ name, but he planted the idea in her head that she needed to do some damage control if she wanted to see another sunrise. Mike assumed that only Hobbs and Torres were aware of the cartel’s operation, so in order to protect herself, Hobbs will be obliged to pin the entire blame on Torres, because he was the only person who knew the exact time and date of the next delivery.
In episode 7’s ending, when Cortez paid Hobbs a visit at her home to make her realize the gravity of the situation, Hobbs, in a fit of fear, told him that it was Torres who made the mistake. She said, “he wasn’t being careful,” to which Cortez replied that he would pay him a visit. I guess you know what that means. Either Cortez is going to beat the hell out of Torres, or he’s going to simply shoot him dead to set an example so that Hobbs won’t let this mistake happen again. And I think it won’t, because that is what Mike assured her. So even though Kevin will somehow find out about the next shipment, Mike won’t share the details with Moses, because he has already achieved what he had set out to do, that is, remove Torres out of the equation. You see, Hobbs is not the real threat here. She’s popping anxiety pills like crazy; Mike’s already aware that the cartel has some kind of leverage on her. In this case, it’s her daughter, whom she has likely sent to Singapore to protect her from the cartel. We saw some incoming calls on her number. So, long story short, Mike knew that Hobbs could easily be handled; however, it was Torres he had to take care of. By getting rid of him, Mike solved two problems with one solution. Firstly, Torres would no longer be a threat to Kevin’s life, as he wouldn’t be around to investigate his involvement. Secondly, with Torres out of the picture, Mike might be able to reestablish his influence inside the prison. Also, to be very clear, I am making these assumptions based on the possibility that Cortez will get rid of Torres, but if he doesn’t, then I’ll have a different story to tell in the next episode.
Robert Is Likely Dead
It’s no longer a surprise that Robert Sawyer has reached his breaking point. He holds Mike responsible for losing his job and for not being able to see his wife and kid. In short, Robert’s pretty unstable. In episode 7, he told Ian that Mike was the root of every problem in their lives, and everything will turn back to normal the day Mike McLusky passes away. Yes, he did hint that he wanted to get rid of Mike the same way he dealt with Evelyn’s new witness. Ian’s whole body went pale as soon as he heard those words. He knew that Robert had lost his mind, and there was no way to bring him back. They could no longer bear the burden he posed, and cutting him loose was the only solution. In the episode, Mike told Ian that they couldn’t look after the man anymore. That was the hint for Ian to do what was needed.
In episode 7’s ending, Ian took Robert to a bar to get him drunk. The way he kept pouring him one drink after another, it wouldn’t take a genius to guess what Ian was actually up to. Later, he drove Robert to his house, parked the vehicle in his garage, and made the inebriated Robert sit in the driver’s seat. Next, he ignited the engine and rolled down the windows so Robert would breathe in all that carbon monoxide coming out of the exhaust. You can already spot some smoke in the scene while Ian fled the garage. Now, it’s a possibility that Robert may die of CO poisoning and his death will be ruled an accident. But I won’t declare him dead so soon, not until we have seen the corpse, because we all are aware how clumsy Ian has been in his previous adventures. So if Robert somehow survives this attempted murder, then all hell is going to break loose for Mike and Ian. Robert won’t stop until he has shot his friends down for conspiring against him. However, if Robert dies here, then I think we can breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Breen Is Losing His Temper
Okay, I am going to keep this one short, because everything that’s been happening with Breen isn’t part of the main plot. Breen had been trying very hard to impress Cindy Stephens, but things were not looking good. An inmate in Ad Seg had just exposed him and his past actions to Cindy, and even though she didn’t completely understand what the inmate was talking about, Breen felt that he had ruined his chances with Cindy, which I believe would force him to cross the line. We already know that he’s a rapist who sexually assaulted some prisoners in a women’s penitentiary, so he might end up attacking Cindy in a similar way, but this time he wouldn’t be able to get away with his crimes. Breen’s not aware of the fact that Cindy is seeing the mayor of Kingstown, and while Mike may have let him go with a warning previously, he won’t make the same mistake again. Also, if you might have noticed, there were some distortions on the phoneline while Kyle was talking to Tracy. For some reason, I believe it was the work of this monster, or maybe I am reading too much into it, and it was just an isolated incident.
Bunny Finally Wakes Up
In episode 7’s ending, Bunny finally woke up with a thirst for retribution against the cartel who tried to have him killed. However, Mike quickly informed him that it wasn’t the Colombians, but his new business partner, Moses, who hit him, and they couldn’t declare war on such a powerful monster without proper planning. They have to play it smart. They have to trick him and lure him into the trap so that they can take him down legally. So, I believe Mike is planning to get Moses arrested with some incriminating evidence, like drugs or firearms, which will buy him some jail time, and once he’s inside the prison, Bunny will finish the job. But like I said earlier, none of it is going to be as easy as it sounds, and if Moses gets wind of the fact that Mike and Bunny are conspiring against him, then their plan could backfire. And please stop me from writing the script for the next episode and allow me to end this breakdown here. With that said, these are my thoughts on the seventh episode of season 4. If you have anything to add or share, please feel free to drop a comment below.
