Man, this episode was intense. The deaths felt so real and personal. I know people have died before in Kingstown, but you need a strong heart to get over that devastating loss in the end. The cries of that baby are still ringing in my ears. A spoiler warning for those who haven’t yet watched the eighth episode of Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, as I come bearing some really sad news. Tracy is no more. Merle Callahan killed her in cold blood to have his vengeance. The house that once belonged to Mike’s mother is no more. Callahan burned it to the ground to erase the legacy of the McLusky family. This time, Mike hasn’t just been hit. He has been forced through a nightmare that’s going to haunt him forever. It will break Kyle to a point no one can imagine. And even though we know that Mike will have his revenge, things are not going to be the same for Kyle again. Is the world really preparing him to become the next Mike McLusky, a cold, heartless individual whose only motive is to survive? Or will Kyle fulfill the promise he had made to Tracy and leave Kingstown for the sake of his young kid? We don’t know just yet, but a lot of other things happened in episode 8, which are slowly preparing us for an explosive finale. So, allow me to give you a detailed breakdown of these events and the impact they will have on the next episode.
LJ Is Dead
You know, this episode was so well-written that it left me wondering whether I should feel bad for Mike McLusky or not. If you take the past two episodes into consideration, Mike is responsible for the death of three major characters: Frank Moses’ right-hand, LJ, Robert Sawyer, and David Torres. I know that the last two deaths haven’t yet been confirmed in the show, but you get the gist. Prison is not just a part of Kingstown; it’s the heart of it. And Mike’s the mayor of this ghoulish underworld. Mike’s a tragic hero. He’s Hades himself, who has to deal with death every passing second, and sadly he doesn’t have a choice like the others. We can definitely feel sad about Kyle for losing his wife. I may have been a little heartbroken myself when Lamar shot LJ point-blank. No matter how cruel and calculative Moses has been, LJ was his best buddy. The two had a chemistry unmatched by any of the other characters in the show. And I know Robert’s wife and kid will be devastated when they hear the news of his demise. But you are still not allowed to feel sorry for Mike McLusky. It’s his job to kill some and lose some. His role is to maintain the balance in town, and he’ll have to do it irrespective of the price he will have to pay for it. And sorry for taking up so much of your time with this very subjective discussion, but I think it was needed to better understand why some men in the show can have the luxury of feeling sad or shedding a tear for their lost ones, but not Mike McLusky. His job is to move on and punish the ones who dared to hurt people around him.
In the previous episode, Mike had informed Bunny that it was Moses who tried to take him out, most likely because he wanted to assume control of his territory. And as soon as Bunny heard the news, he decided to declare war on his new business partner, but Mike advised him otherwise. The reason being, they were already getting a lot of heat from the cartel, and having beef with another powerful enemy wouldn’t have been a wise decision. They needed to take down Moses tactfully, so he couldn’t do any more damage than he already had. I hope you remember Mike’s deal with Evelyn. He had promised her Moses in exchange for Kyle’s release. So what Mike tried to do in this episode was break Moses from within. He knew that LJ was more than just his sidekick. He was one of the strongest pillars of Moses’ vast empire, and killing him would shake the very foundation of his organization. The thing is, Moses doesn’t trust anyone the way he trusted LJ, and such friendships are built and nurtured over a long period of time. In short, LJ is irreplaceable, and his loss is irrevocable. Now, no matter how strong the rest of Moses’ army is, without their general, they are just useless. So I think you understand why Mike targeted LJ and not the King of Detroit himself.
And the way Mike got rid of LJ deserves a round of applause. He didn’t get his own hands dirty, but instead hired the same snitch Moses had planted in Bunny’s gang to take him down. In this episode, Mike paid a visit to Lamar, Bunny’s driver who had leaked his location to the shooters who tried to kill the big man. Mike confronted Lamar about his betrayal and told him that if Bunny ever found out about it, then he would kill him in the most brutal way imaginable. Actually, Mike had already told Bunny, and the reason Bunny hadn’t taken any action against Lamar was because they first wanted Lamar to do the job for them. So Mike cracked a deal with Lamar to shoot LJ in exchange for his life.
In episode 8’s ending, Lamar executed Mike’s command and gunned LJ down on the street. And even though LJ was facing death himself, all he cared about was the safety of his best friend. His last word was “Frank,” to warn Moses of the danger he was in. LJ’s death is quite symbolic. He wished for easier times. He warned Moses that there needed to be a finish line. But Moses wouldn’t listen. He is too ignorant to learn from the past or from the death of his former buddies. The limits of his ambition will continue to grow until there’s no one left by his side. But thankfully, Bunny learned this much needed-lesson. He understands the fact that ambition comes at a cost. It’s something that gets you killed in the end. In Bunny’s case, he had Mike by his side to show him the right path, but Moses isn’t as lucky as our big man. The only man who can save him from himself has bit the dust. Also, in this episode, Mike had told Lamar that Bunny would let him live or leave Kingstown if he did this one job for them, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Bunny’s eventually going to serve Lamar the death sentence, not only because he deserves it, but also to make sure Moses never finds out the truth about LJ’s death.
Moses Is Gonna Hit The Colombians
When Moses and LJ paid Bunny a visit in the hospital, Mike, while walking them out, told them that one of the Colombian hitters had already been taken out at Anchor Bay. Now, as far as I remember, we didn’t see any of these cartel shooters going down in this episode or the previous one. It could be possible that Mike was talking about Torres, but if he wasn’t, then I think he purposely lied to Moses to set him up for what was about to come. This piece of information might convince Moses that it was the Colombians who targeted his right-hand man to settle the score. And this will force Moses to go all guns blazing on the cartel in the next episode. Yes, that was Mike’s real plan to begin with: to make his enemies fight against each other to the death, and if any of them managed to survive the bloodbath, then he would send KPD or Bunny’s men to finish the job. I know that Mike’s trying really hard to get Moses arrested legally, but at the end of the day, you have to ask the question: who’s it all for exactly? For Kyle, right? But now with his wife dead under Mike’s watch, will he still want his brother’s help? I guess not. And if Robert’s dead too, then Mike will have no obligation to hold up his deal with Evelyn, so maybe in the end, Mike will enlist Lamar’s help to get rid of Moses the same way he slaughtered LJ? Or maybe none of it will go down as Mike has planned, and Moses will escape Kingstown to rebuild his army and return with a better plan to take down his rivals, which will include Mike, Bunny, and the cartel.
David Torres Is Likely Dead
I know many of you might believe that Torres is still out there somewhere, but I think the episode dropped enough hints to suggest otherwise. First of all, as soon as Hobbs walked into the office, she turned Torres’ nameplate over, implying he might not be coming back. Hobbs feels guilty about Torres’ situation, because she was the one who gave his name to Cortez and blamed him for the loss of their shipment. And I know she told Mike that Torres had called in sick, but the way Mike comforted her in the end by saying that she did the right thing may hint that Cortez could have actually killed Torres for his oversight. Or maybe I am reading too much into these details, and Torres might still be alive and return to the show in the next episode? He might just be sick or bruised, right? However, I seriously want him dead, because that would make things easier for Mike. You noticed how, in Torres’ absence, Mike regained his influence over Anchor Bay and walked into the prison twice in this episode. Additionally, if Torres is gone for good, then I think Kevin Jackson can breathe a huge sigh of relief, at least for some time.
Hobbs Suspects Cindy
I found it really amusing when Hobbs told CO Cindy Stephens that men smell weakness and take advantage of you. I mean, we all saw how Mike played Hobbs in the previous episode; so, I don’t think Hobbs should be giving lessons on how to safeguard oneself from this mind manipulation when she herself had been a recent victim of it. Or maybe she’s too ignorant to accept that she has been tricked. Nevertheless, this episode further pointed out that Hobbs suspects that Cindy might be seeing Mike outside of prison. Her suspicions arose from the fact that Cindy got all worked up when Kyle went missing from his cell. It was quite unusual for a CO to worry about an inmate who had been recently transferred to Ad Seg, which made Hobbs believe Cindy might be hiding something from her, and if she continues favoring Kyle or leaking information to Mike, then Hobbs might be forced to take serious action against her.
Robert’s Death Is Still A Mystery
So, episode 8 takes place just a day after the events of episode 7, meaning it’s still too early to jump to conclusions. Ian passed by Robert’s house, but he couldn’t gather the courage to check on him. Also, he couldn’t be the one to raise the alarm because he doesn’t want anyone, especially Evelyn, to suspect his involvement in Robert’s death. I think, in the end, it’s Robert’s wife who is going to find his corpse, if he really is dead. But if he somehow managed to survive, then Mike and Ian can add one more psycho to their never-ending list of enemies.
Callahan Unleashes His Wrath Upon His Foes
Well, Mike was right. Callahan isn’t the kind of criminal mastermind who would bust out of prison without a plan. Sitting in the dark cell, he had made a list of all the people who had betrayed the Brotherhood or refused to acknowledge his authority. The first one on his hit list was Todd Shaver, the one managing the business from outside the prison. But Shaver wasn’t loyal. We have seen in the previous season how he started shivering the moment Mike walked through the door. He could have thrown his own brothers under the bus to save himself from an arrest. In short, he couldn’t be trusted, but only a leader could punish another, right? So as soon as Callahan broke out of prison, he paid Shaver a visit to serve him his punishment.
However, Callahan wasn’t out in the wild to hunt down this harmless prey. There was a reason why he brought a pyromaniac, Pete McDonough, with him. Mike was, indeed, at the top of Callahan’s hit list, but he didn’t want to hurt Mike physically. He wanted to drain him emotionally. He wanted to see him suffer and to break his spirit so that Mike would beg for his own death. Callahan stole some travel money from Shaver, not because he wanted to skip town, but to drive to where Tracy was hiding. However, this is the moment you should ask how Callahan found out where Tracy was. Honestly, at first I thought it was Breen who was stalking Tracy, but now that I think about it, I guess it was Callahan’s men all along. The moment Kyle walked into Ad Seg, Callahan might have ordered one of his men to keep an eye on Kyle’s wife so he could manipulate him into joining the Brotherhood, but that plan didn’t work. Mike had sent Tracy to her sister’s place in Belleville, which is also the title of the episode. It’s likely that Callahan’s men followed her to Ohio, or that they found out her whereabouts through the calls she’d been making to Kyle inside the prison. And while Callahan was on his way to Tracy, he sent someone to ransack Mike’s office, and dispatched Pyro Pete to Mariam’s vacant house to burn it to the ground. Actually, everything Callahan had planned for the McLusky brothers, he had already warned Kyle about. Tracy might still have been alive if Kyle had just accepted Callahan’s offer and joined the Brotherhood, but he refused to shake hands with the devil. Instead, Kyle overstepped and picked up a fight with the psycho, and it was Tracy who had to face the devil’s wrath.
Tracy Is Dead
In episode 8’s ending, as soon as Mike called Ian to send a crime scene team to his office, he informed Mike that that wouldn’t be necessary, as they had already located one of the escapees, that is, the firebug. Pete had set fire to Mike’s family house and then got trapped inside. Ian asked Mike not to intervene, but Mike couldn’t let him die, not until he had told him where his nemesis was. However, by the time Pete opened his mouth, it was late. Callahan had already made it to Tracy’s house. At gunpoint, he asked Tracy to call her husband on the phone, or he would hurt her kid. Callahan wanted to let Kyle know that this was the punishment one gets when they turn their back on him, or refuse to bend the knee to him. This is the nightmare Kyle would have to live with for the rest of his life. But what was Tracy’s fault in all this? She really didn’t deserve to die this way. Callahan’s rivalry was with Mike, and maybe with Kyle, but targeting one’s family to exact your revenge is just a sign of weakness. Callahan didn’t have the guts to face Mike, which was why he picked on the weakest link in the family. Callahan, Milo, and Moses; they are all the same. They are demons carved from the same rock. They throw huge biblical references at us to convince us that they are good Samaritans. But at the end of the day, they are nothing but the devil incarnate. And if it’s not obvious by now, then let me state this plainly: Callahan’s going to suffer the most gruesome death in the show so far, and will likely be killed by none other than Kyle. Mike won’t touch him. He’s going to save Callahan for Kyle so he can get some closure for Tracy.
Kyle’s Gonna Hate Mike Forever
Shortly after Kyle received the news of Tracy’s death, he tried to kill himself in his cell, but thankfully he didn’t succeed in his attempt. For the time being, he was okay. He refused sedation, but people were looking after him. Kyle knows that he has to survive this for his kid. However, what I am concerned about is the long-term consequences of Tracy’s death. It’s obvious that Kyle will hold Mike responsible for not being able to protect his wife. And that’s going to put a dent in their relationship. Now, there are two possibilities here. Either Kyle is going to act like a grown man and understand that none of it was Mike’s fault, or he’ll end up becoming another Robert Sawyer, and that will make things messy between them. But that’s what Callahan wanted. He wanted to pit one brother against another, to punish Mike for betraying the Brotherhood. He wants to hurt Mike and leave him all lonely and vulnerable. To be honest, Mike doesn’t care. He’s the god of this hellish underworld, and he has chosen this damnation for himself. So whatever Callahan was up to, he wouldn’t succeed. For the time being, Callahan may try to lay low or travel across the border, but Mike will find him and drag him out from any corner of the world. And once he does, you know what’s going to happen next. Nevertheless, I think Mike will be able to sort out his differences with Kyle some way or another in the next episode. And lastly, how many of you noticed that the ending scene of this episode was eerily similar to the last shot of Casablanca? Well, I am not saying that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Mike and Hobbs, but who knows? Now that Torres is gone, maybe Mike will become her shadow and help her save her daughter from the cartel. Mike knows that she’s not the real enemy and has extended the hand of friendship numerous times. So, hopefully in the end, Hobbs will see the benefit of being friends with the mayor of Kingstown. Now, these are my thoughts on episode 8, but if you have anything else to share, please be my guest.
