In the third episode of MobLand, Richie blew up Kevin’s house, but no one was hurt because Kevin and Eddie were in the Cotswolds while Bella was at a hotel. Harry knew that his number was next. So, he put up Jan and Gina at his friend Mike’s boathouse and went off to postpone the gang war that was brewing. Since Eddie was dismissive about his involvement in Tommy’s death, Harry had to create a scapegoat in order to stop Richie from turning London upside down. He set his sights on Valjon and told him that if he took the fall for Eddie, he’d ensure that no harm befalls his family. Valjon was in a sticky situation; hence, he took Harry’s word for it and admitted in front of Richie that he was the one who had killed Tommy. Amidst all this chaos, Maeve loudly proclaimed how much she adored Eddie and Brendan. And then Archie’s body was found really randomly, which got me thinking that maybe Maeve was conspiring against Harry and Conrad. Guess what? The fourth episode of MobLand gives a really clear indication that Maeve and Eddie were behind Tommy’s death. To what end? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Harry Meets Antoine
As promised to Bella at the end of last week’s episode, Harry opens MobLand episode 4 by retrieving the sting video of Lord Pennock from Antoine, all copies of it, in his signature intimidating but hilarious way. Also, he makes sure that Antoine never even thinks about doing business with Bella again, let alone betraying her trust. Antoine stupidly tries to bribe Harry and ends up getting only a taste of the punishment the latter is capable of inflicting. Now, yes, this is a perfect way to tie the scene from episode 3 to today’s episode. But the hard cash that Antoine has and the multiple copies of the sting video that he has made… What’s that all about? Is he a French spy or a French journalist who is trying to expose the UK government? Would a spy or a journalist sleep so soundly and allow someone like Harry to get so close to him? Or is he a nobody who has been hired by someone to get some dirt on Bella and the Harrigans? Right now, I am going with the third theory; I think Antoine has been hired by the police or some old enemy to stir up some trouble amongst the Harrigans. And while the Harrigans get busy with saving Bella and their own reputation, whoever has hired Antoine will make their move. Harry has averted that scenario for the time being, but maybe Antoine and his employer are going to show up again.
Jan Doesn’t Like Harry’s Job
Harry reunites with Jan and Gina, and Jan is really adamant about knowing what her husband has been up to in the last 12 or so hours. So, Harry gives her a brief recap of the events of last week’s episode and even mentions the part about Maria. Jan immediately flips and tells him that she doesn’t want to know what his work entails exactly because it stresses her out. When Jan asks Harry how he got the old-age home to take in Maria’s mother, he says that since he has just asked him to not talk about his job, and the information about how he convinced the manager of the old-age home is a part of his job, he won’t talk about it. By the way, this little exchange perfectly underscores the fact that the Da Souzas are enjoying this privileged life because of Harry’s association with the Harrigans. Without that, they’d be nobodies. And the downside of it is that Harry is not always present as a husband and as a father. Can he abandon the Harrigans and be a regular dad and hubby? I don’t think so. He knows too much about the Harrigans to jump ship; he’ll be killed. Then what would the family’s source of income be? I’ve not seen Jan doing anything other than going to therapy and sitting at home. Sure, Harry must have some money stashed away somewhere, but is that going to sustain the Da Souzas for this lifetime? No. Does Jan know that? Yes. Does she still whine about this to her therapist just because there’s a confidentiality clause in place? Yes. Well, then that leads to a pretty big issue.
Maeve Casts Doubt On The Da Souzas
In the Cotswolds, Conrad learns that the police have found Archie’s dead body. This does lead to a pretty hilarious exchange between Conrad and Paul as the latter asks him how the police know for sure that the cadaver is actually Archie, thereby causing Conrad to freak out. He did something similar right after Archie was killed, and he asked Harry why Conrad killed Archie, to which Harry replied something along the lines that he doesn’t care. Now, although Paul is being portrayed as this simple-minded fellow who is just too innocent for this world, has anyone checked if he is wearing a wire and asking these questions to collect information about the crimes that Harry and the Harrigans’ are committing? That’s some food for thought right there. If that’s too bland, don’t worry, Maeve is here to spice things up. So, when Conrad says that he is confused about how the police learned about the location of Archie’s body, especially since he himself and Harry are the only two people who had that information, Maeve’s gears start to turn. She says that both of them know that Conrad isn’t a “grass,” and that leaves out Harry. Last week, I said that Maeve wants Harry gone because he solves every issue that the Harrigans face within a matter of hours, thereby keeping her from truly stirring the pot and dethroning Conrad. Seeing her be so adamant about proving that Harry is working with the police to take the Harrigans down and insist that he leaked information about Archie’s dead body when DS Fisk arrested him pretty much confirms the theory that Maeve is the real villain up here. However, since Conrad trusts Harry enough to not fall for Maeve’s poisonous words, he directs his suspicions towards Jan, and he tells Paul to track her movements.
Donnie Enters the Picture
Harry reaches the yard to sit down with Kevin, waiting to see if Valjon cracks or Richie buys the ruse and lets the Harrigans off the hook. Meanwhile, Zosia gets a visit from a mysterious guy called Donnie, who claims that Harry knows him. Zosia claims that she doesn’t know Harry in order to get Donnie out of her hair. So, Donnie leaves his phone number, poses when Zosia takes his pic, and even identifies Zosia by her name even though she hasn’t shared that information with him. As soon as Donnie is out of the picture (for now), Zosia calls up Harry to check if he actually knows this guy, and Harry draws a blank. I don’t know if that’s the truth or not. The show’s Wikipedia page has listed Donnie as Harry’s “adversary.” It’s unclear whether this is an old adversary, in which case Harry is lying about being unfamiliar with this guy, or a new one, in which case Harry is telling the truth about being unfamiliar with this guy. But it’s obvious that Donnie is going to be a major presence in the show going forward. By the way, when Harry asks Kevin if he remembers a guy called Rusby, the abusive guard from their time in the juvie, Kevin says that he doesn’t. Based on a scene from much later in today’s episode, it becomes clear that Kevin obviously knows who Rusby is, because he’s the guy who sodomized him in prison. But why doesn’t he want to acknowledge the fact that he knows Rusby? I mean, Harry apparently wants to know what happened to Rusby after he and Kevin left juvie and whether or not the elderly guy in the old-age home is actually him. Once he gets the confirmation, I suppose Harry is going to give old-man Rusby a taste of his own medicine. However, why is Kevin in denial? Well, I guess he is still traumatized by that incident, and he has trouble confiding in those around him; yes, even Harry.
Conrad and Bella used to be lovers.
While Kevin is undoubtedly uncomfortable talking about what Rusby did to him, he casually tells Harry about how Conrad had a physical relationship with Bella, which is why she doesn’t hang out with the Harrigans. Yeah, if that made your jaw drop, you’re not alone. So, when Conrad was in his 50s and Bella was in her 20s, she became one of the seven girls that he used to fornicate with on a regular basis. Bella apparently rose up the ranks and became Conrad’s #1 girl, but Maeve put a stop to that, for reasons known only to her. Instead of cutting Bella out of the lives of the Harrigans, Conrad chose to introduce Kevin to her. Kevin fell in love with Bella, they had Eddie, and the matter wasn’t brought up until one night Maeve got really angry and blurted it all out to Kevin. Kevin confronted Bella, and she didn’t deny it. They didn’t break up either. The couple just compartmentalized that aspect of their life and moved on. I don’t know about Bella, but Kevin admits that he hasn’t actually moved on. He has been carrying the weight of this fact of his life for a really long time, and he feels comfortable telling it to Harry. The two joke about how “medieval” this whole thing is, which probably helps Kevin a lot. Now, am I the only one who thinks that Harry knows everything there is to know about Bella and Conrad’s relationship? I mean, the guy pretty much says that Conrad is more heinous than Henry VIII, who married six times. So, there’s no way that Harry didn’t know about Bella’s past, especially because the two were also probably romantically involved before or after she met Kevin. MobLand is doing a great job of portraying Harry as this “necessary evil” type of guy, but it’ll be a real shocker if Maeve ends up being right about him being the traitor who is destroying the Harrigans from the inside out. Even if Harry is not a turncoat, since Maeve has planted the seed of suspicion in Conrad’s head, he’ll suspect Harry till his dying day. That’s the thing about doubt; once it gets into your head, it spreads like a virus, killing you and everything you love. And this volatile situation is only exacerbated by an honest blunder on Jan’s part.
Conrad Meets Jan
Conrad knows that Jan has been going for therapy sessions, and that means two things: she is probably discussing Harry’s work-life balance with a complete stranger, and her trips to the therapist are probably becoming a cause of concern for Harry. So, Conrad essentially corners Jan and intimidates her into putting a stop to both of those things. He is of the opinion that Jan’s shakiness is making Harry shaky, and that can distract him from the job at hand, i.e., serving the Harrigans. Jan thinks that Harry prioritizes the Harrigans over his own family, but Conrad wants to put those thoughts on the back burner so that Harry can serve the Harrigans and the Da Souzas to the best of his abilities without having to think about what his wife is talking about behind his back. And Conrad conveys all this in a manner that’ll make any adult soil their pants, with the effectiveness of this scene being taken to the stratosphere by Pierce Brosnan’s insanely scary performance. Jan clearly knows what Conrad is capable of, and if she isn’t secretly a hardened criminal, she will heed his advice, especially after Conrad’s opinions are echoed by Harry without even consulting Conrad. Now, when Harry learns about Conrad’s personal visit, he shows fear. However, I think his emotions will shift to the other end of the scale—by that, I mean anger—if he learns that Conrad put his hands on Jan to make his point. In doing so, will he be playing into Maeve’s trap? Let’s see.
Maeve Got Eddie To Kill Tommy
Ever since the first episode of MobLand, I have been saying that there’s something fishy about Maeve, and now it has been officially confirmed that she and Eddie had conspired to kill Tommy. Eddie wanted to corner Tommy during their night out, which was delayed by the arrival of Tommy’s friends and the stabbing of Hughie Campbell at the club. After running out of there, Eddie did call Valjon, who took him and Tommy to the club, where Eddie killed Tommy and then paid Valjon to cut the lad into pieces. But what’s the purpose of all this? Well, as far as I could decipher from Maeve’s cryptic statements, she is sick and tired of Conrad’s passiveness. He used to be more active, and now, as per Maeve, all he does is delegate his work to Harry, Kevin, or Paul. And Maeve feels that that’s the main reason why the Harrigans are “running out of steam,” while the Stevensons are getting “fatter.” So, Maeve either wants this whole churning between the two crime families to resurrect the old Conrad, or, once Conrad slips up, she wants to kick him off the throne and crown Eddie as the leader of the Harrigans. I think she is grossly overestimating Eddie’s ability to lead as well as her own ability to puppeteer Eddie from behind the curtain. As soon as that blonde idiot gets a taste of true power, he is going to leave his beloved grandmother in the dust and use his 15 minutes of fame to engage in all kinds of debauchery. Maybe that’s when Maeve will learn the difference between experience and youthful vigor. With all that said, who is the one person who can stop Maeve from doing all this? That’s right, Harry. So, yes, I still think that Maeve is working with Fisk’s team, which apparently also has Alice (Jan’s friend from therapy) in it, to cast doubt on the Da Souzas. If Maeve manages to insinuate that either Jan or Harry is a rat, Conrad will dismiss them, thereby making the Queen Bee’s plan of replacing Conrad with Eddie all the easier. I guess, just for safe measure, Maeve has asked Alice to honeytrap Conrad, because Maeve is aware of Conrad’s promiscuity, thereby causing the old timer to take his eye off the ball. Will Conrad fall for all this? We’ll have to wait and watch.
Richie Invites The Harrigans To Tommy’s Funeral
At the end of MobLand episode 4, before heading over to Richie’s for a private chat, Harry goes to Bella’s hotel room to deliver the copies of Lord Pennock’s sting video. He is miffed at the fact that Bella still wants to conduct business with Antoine. But as soon as Bella reminds him that he is her employee because she is a Harrigan, he backs off and leaves the room. On his way out, Harry crosses paths with Kevin, who has come to the hotel to meet his wife and is surprised to see Harry there. Harry lies about how he was meeting Bella to inform her that she should go to the Cotswolds for her safety. Kevin apparently believes Harry, because why wouldn’t he? However, just to be sure that Kevin doesn’t suspect that something fishy is going on between Harry and Bella, Harry tries to contact Bella to tell her what she needs to tell Kevin about his visit. Since Bella is busy talking to Antoine, she doesn’t get the message. Luckily, Bella doesn’t say anything damning, and Kevin, instead of wondering what Bella and Harry have talked about, focuses on convincing his wife to shift to the Cotswolds so that the Stevensons can’t take the upper hand by kidnapping or harming her. Bella’s past with Conrad is still fresh on her mind; hence, she rejects the request.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Bella not moving to the Cotswolds is going to be the least of the Harrigans’ worries after what Harry learns from his meeting with Richie. So, first of all, Richie claims that he has accepted Valjon’s statement, and he believes that he is the one who has killed Tommy. Just to be sure that Valjon isn’t doing what he is doing for Harry or the Harrigans, Richie asks Harry to kill Valjon, which he does pretty convincingly. Secondly, Richie says that he wants the Harrigans to attend Tommy’s funeral. Which means that Richie isn’t entirely convinced that the Harrigans are innocent. He has put the Harrigans in a spot, because if they don’t arrive at the funeral, that’ll prove that they are guilty of something (which Eddie and Maeve actually are). If they arrive at the funeral, then they’ll be vulnerable to an all-out slaughter. Harry knows there’s no way around it. Kevin knows there’s no way around it. And based on some of the press photos, it seems like the Harrigans will, in fact, be attending Tommy’s funeral. How’s that going to go down? Well, I know that it’s going to be an incredibly tense and awkward affair. Will there be bloodshed? I think so. If things go south, will it upset Maeve’s plans? If Richie goes for Conrad’s head, then Maeve’s scheme will be fast-tracked automatically. If Richie goes for Eddie’s head, then Maeve probably has to prepare Brendan for the ascension program. And if Richie goes for all the Harrigans and Harry, then she has to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Either way, I’m extremely excited for next week’s episode. What about you? Let me know in the comments section below.
