The first episode of MobLand largely revolved around Harry Da Souza dealing with the repercussions of Eddie Harrigan’s night out with Tommy Stevenson and a few of his other mates, Alfie King and Mink Borsay. Eddie stabbing a guy at a club because he was high out of his mind wasn’t a major problem. The big issue was that, after doing said stabbing, Eddie and Tommy ran out of the club, and only Eddie returned home, while Tommy was nowhere to be found. Now, the Harrigans and the Stevensons were like the snake and the mongoose. So, it was of utmost importance that Tommy was returned to his family in one piece, or else it’d lead to an all-out gang war. Richie Stevenson gave Harry about 18 hours to do so, failing which he’d mop the floors of London with the corpses of the Harrigans. While Harry was working on that, an internal matter between the Harrigans came to a boil after Maeve Harrigan suggested that Archie Hammond was working with Richie to hamper Conrad Harrigan’s plans to expand his business’ horizons with fentanyl. Conrad didn’t question Maeve’s allegations and straight-up shot Archie in the chest. The second episode of MobLand has Harry not only tracking down Tommy, but also working out why Conrad killed Archie. Did he succeed in either of those ventures? Well, kind of.
Spoiler Alert
Richie Confronts Kevin
Episode 2 of MobLand opens with Harry, Paul, Zosia, and Kiko getting rid of the evidence of Conrad’s crime while Kevin gives a brief recap of what transpired before his dad decided to pull the trigger on his own best friend. Paul asks Harry the question that’s on everyone’s mind: Why did Conrad do it? And Harry basically says that that’s above his pay grade, which is made all the more comedic by Tom Hardy’s quietly hilarious performance, and he focuses on putting Archie in a body bag. Meanwhile, in the master bedroom, Conrad laments killing Archie, but Maeve assures him that he did the right thing. Conrad also casts doubt on whether they should go ahead with the fentanyl business, and Maeve backs up that decision of his as well. The topic of Tommy and Eddie doesn’t even come up, which shows that that’s something they don’t really care about. I guess they trust Harry to solve that. Speaking of Harry, he returns home after disposing of Archie’s corpse and reminisces about the first time he met Kevin in juvie.
The reason behind it can be either of the two: Harry is either regretting befriending Kevin and getting into this mess, or he is wondering what Kevin is going through because of his son’s actions. Anyway, as soon as Harry hits the hay, armed police barge in, led by DS Ivan Fisk, and take away Harry for questioning regarding Archie. This obviously causes a hitch in his investigation into the whereabouts of Tommy, and Richie apparently knows that. He is aware of the fact that Harry won’t be able to fulfill his promise. So, Richie takes some of his men, corners Kevin on his way to his workplace, and warns him that if he doesn’t deliver Tommy, Richie is going to start a war against the Harrigans. Kevin, in his signature sardonic manner, assures Richie that Harry will get the job done as soon as the family lawyer, O’Hara Delaney, gets him out of Fisk’s clutches. Once Richie is out of his hair, Kevin tells his wife, Bella, to immediately send Eddie over to the Cotswolds, which is where Conrad and Maeve reside, so that Richie can’t hurt the kid. Kevin knows that even if O’Hara frees Harry, he won’t have enough time to solve the mystery around Tommy’s disappearance. Since Richie is already so jumpy, Kevin is right in thinking that Eddie should be as far away as possible from Richie.
Fisk Plays Harry
At the police station, we get a hilarious scene between Fisk and Harry, where the former is trying to extract some information on Archie from Harry. Both of them know that it’s a stalemate, but while Fisk does his job, Harry hilariously pokes holes in the metaphors the detective is using. I would’ve loved to see them take swipes at each other all day, but O’Hara arrives and takes Harry with her. Kevin informs Harry that Eddie has been picked up by Zosia and Kiko, and he is on his way to the Cotswolds; so, he says that they’ll rendezvous over there. On their trip to Conrad’s place, Harry and O’Hara theorize about what Fisk actually knows. They wonder if Archie was working for the police (“grass” is a British slang for police informant). They doubt Maeve’s intentions behind calling Archie a traitor. And they also question if Conrad is losing his grip on things.
However, Harry’s train of thought is interrupted by Jan because he has broken his promise (that he had made in the first episode) he’d go with her for a couple’s therapy session. Harry gives her a half-hearted apology and focuses on the matter at hand again. Now, since Harry is so convinced that Fisk actually knows something that he doesn’t know, he doesn’t even consider the possibility that Fisk is bluffing. If he did, he would be right, because Fisk doesn’t know anything. He brought in Harry to sow the seed of doubt in his mind, and he intends to tail him as he conducts an internal investigation to find the mole who has been working with the police. So, in a way, Fisk has gotten Harry to unknowingly work for him, and if Harry doesn’t realize that he is being played by Fisk, he is going to end up being the reason for the Harrigans’ undoing.
Richie Almost Gets Eddie Killed
We get a momentary break from this whole Harrigan-Stevenson-Archie affair and witness a really awkward conversation between Seraphina and Brendan as the latter wants to reenter Conrad’s good books with his mind-blowing business proposal, which is shot down by Seraphina. Right after that, we get a glimpse of another subplot that’s taking shape, which involves Bella, Bella’s dad (who is a minister in the government), a Frenchman named Antoine, and a lot of money. When Harry learns about this, he advises Bella to not go forward with this because it’s risky, and since he has a lot on his plate already, he won’t be able to help Bella if the deal with Antoine and her father goes south. It doesn’t seem like Bella will take Harry’s advice, and, as per usual, Harry will need to clean up her mess. By the way, it seems like Bella and Harry have had an affair in the past, and Bella still fancies Harry. Maybe Harry knew that Kevin liked Bella, and that was why he didn’t pursue her romantically and instead chose to marry Jan and settle down.
That could be one of the reasons why Bella and Harry’s respective families are falling apart, with Bella feeling that Eddie has strayed down the wrong path because of her, while Harry continues to be an absent husband and father. Speaking of Eddie, while being transported to the Cotswolds by Zosia and Kiko, they are attacked by Richie’s men because Harry has already failed to honor his end of the deal. Also, Eddie, Zosia, and Kiko address the fact that Richie’s men are not trying to apprehend Eddie so that they can question him about Tommy; they are going for the kill, which can mean one of two things: Richie either knows that his son is dead, and that’s why he wants Eddie dead, or Richie wants to use Tommy’s disappearance as an excuse to hurt the Harrigans. Whatever the case may be, due to Zosia and Kiko’s quick thinking, they manage to beat Richie’s men and reach the Harrigan residence with Eddie in one piece. Zosia and Kiko get a pat on the back from Conrad for risking their lives for Eddie.
Kevin doubts Conrad
When O’Hara and Harry get to the Cotswolds, they notice that the security has been understandably beefed up. Conrad is worried that they might have to retaliate because of what Richie has done, which will lead to a gang war, but Harry doesn’t even address that. Instead, he takes Conrad aside and shares his theory that Archie might’ve been a police informant. Now Conrad says that he needs proof about Archie’s alleged dealings with the police. He didn’t need proof when Maeve told him that Archie was a traitor. But, oh, now he needs proof. Harry says that if there’s any evidence that proves that Archie was a backstabber, he’ll bring it. In the meantime, he goes off to deal with the Eddie-Tommy situation again. So far, Eddie has been lying about going out with Tommy and two other mates of his. After the murder attempt, I guess the brat has realized that things have gotten really serious. Hence, he tells Harry the truth and points him in Alfie and Mink’s direction.
On his way out, Harry briefly greets Kevin, who has just arrived, and then hits the road. Kevin goes in to talk to Conrad, and after informing him that Bella isn’t coming (because she’s busy making a deal with Antoine), Conrad brings up the topic of Archie being a police informant. Kevin realizes that that means Conrad doesn’t really know why he killed Archie, but before they can discuss it any further, Maeve walks in. Given how she interrupts the conversation between the father and son just to say that three generations of Harrigans are currently under the same roof, I think she was eavesdropping. She probably suspected that Conrad and Kevin were this close to figuring out that Maeve told Conrad to pull the trigger for no concrete reason, and that’s why she cut them off. By the way, given how MobLand is casting doubt on Maeve’s intentions so early on in the game, this could be a red herring. I suppose we’ll learn more about what Maeve is up to in the upcoming weeks.
Richie Threatens Harry
Harry goes to Richie’s HQ to reassure him that even though he has gone past the deadline, he is going to deliver Tommy. Richie gives Harry an ultimatum: if he doesn’t bring Tommy to him, Richie is going to hurt Gina (Harry’s daughter). It’s a really simple but amazing scene because Guy Ritchie lets Geoff Bell do all the talking while using Tom Hardy’s face to paint a detailed image of everything that Harry is going to do to Richie for even threatening to hurt his daughter. Yes, regardless of the outcome of Harry’s investigation, I think Richie has signed his death warrant. Sure, Harry doesn’t do anything to Richie at the moment, and he goes back home to ensure that Gina and Jan are fine, but I bet he will make Richie pay, one way or another, for sending his men to photograph Gina while she was going about her day. Of course, Jan is really angry at Harry for not going to therapy, and I guess she tries to tell her husband that she wants a divorce.
However, Harry shuts Jan down because, even though it’s unclear whether he loves her or not, he cares enough for her and their daughter to keep them under his protection. Jan senses that things in Harry’s professional sphere have escalated, but Harry lies to her that it’s all fine just to keep her calm. Harry then proceeds to have a short but hilarious conversation with Alfie and Mink, where he learns that Eddie apparently “knows” Valjon, the manager of the club where the stabbing incident happened. Now, instead of going directly to the scene between Harry and Valjon, we get two scenes with Maeve. In the first one, Maeve encourages Eddie to be a cocaine-snorting brat. In the second scene, she tells Conrad how Eddie is a true Harrigan and that she was pivotal in making the Harrigans who they are today, while Conrad retorts by saying that he is still the shot-caller of the family. These moments seem odd, but when you couple them with the final revelation of the episode, I think it’ll make sense.
Tommy Is Dead
So, at the end of MobLand episode 2, Harry meets Valjon and beats the living hell out of him—seemingly taking out all the frustration he has accumulated after his conversation with Richie—until he reveals where Tommy is. Unable to take it anymore, Valjon takes Harry to a secret section of the club where the butchered remains of Tommy have been kept in a box. Valjon reveals that he has done said butchering because his father was a butcher, but he doesn’t say that he is the one who has killed Tommy. So, who did it? There are a few ways things could’ve gone down. The first possibility is that Eddie and Tommy’s afterparty could’ve gone wilder than either of them expected it to. Maybe Eddie and Tommy got into an argument about their families, and it ended with Eddie killing Tommy. As mentioned before, Eddie “knows” Valjon. Hence, Eddie asked Valjon to take care of Tommy’s corpse, and that’s why we have the Stevenson kid in bits and pieces.
The second possibility is that—and this is where Maeve’s scenes come into play—Eddie was out with Tommy on Maeve’s orders. Maeve probably wants to start a gang war between the Harrigans and the Stevensons so that they cannibalize each other, thereby giving her a straight path to the throne. And the best way to do that was to kill Tommy. So, maybe she told Eddie to kill Tommy and then asked Valjon to “take care” of the Stevenson kid. The third possibility, and this is based on the fact that Eddie hasn’t even given the slightest of hints about his involvement in Tommy’s death, is that Maeve had Tommy killed. I think Valjon informed her that Eddie was out with Tommy. When Eddie and Tommy went their separate ways, Valjon, on Maeve’s orders, killed the Stevenson kid, thereby kicking off the first phase of the gang war between Conrad and Richie. Conrad is emotionally unstable after Archie’s death. The same can be said about Kevin. Harry is worried about his daughter. Richie is going to be distraught about the death of his son. The other two kids are not even in the picture. So, yeah, I think Maeve wants to be the Queen of London, and she is the one who is pitting the Harrigans against the Stevensons to make way for her ascension. Well, those are just my thoughts on MobLand episode 2. What are your thoughts on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.
