Mobland just delivered another confusing mess of an episode that somehow manages to keep me hooked despite making zero sense half the time, episode 9 titled “Beggars Banquet” throws so much at the wall that I’m not even sure what is supposed to stick anymore now introduucing all mighty Kat that seems to be taking over and the Harrigans loosing all kind of grip starting with Maeve taking the cat out of the bag. This show has this weird habit of making things happen out of nowhere but honestly the chaos is part of what makes it entertaining even when it’s frustrating as hell. Harry continues to be the most interesting character on the show, Tom Hardy is carrying this thing on his shoulders and I still can’t figure out if he is actually planning to betray the Harrigans or if he is just playing some long game that nobody understands yet, the guy is like a walking question mark wrapped in a leather jacket. Conrad and Maeve getting arrested felt way too easy for my taste, like the writers just needed to move the plot forward and decided to take the simplest route possible which is becoming a pattern with this series unfortunately.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32125933/
- Platform: PARAMOUNT+
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The whole dinner scene was supposed to be this tense family gathering but it turned into a complete disaster with everyone yelling at each other and Alice planting evidence like she is in some amateur spy movie because it was that easy on top of Harry helping her making her previous "in denial" state to go to Coswold and sit down with Conrad a ridiculous argument after how easy was everything for her. The execution of the episode felt awkward but Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren still managed to make it watchable somehow, sorry I meant MORE AWKWARD!!! while Kevin’s storyline with his childhood trauma reached peak ridiculousness on this episode, watching Paddy Considine cry for minutes straight before finally shooting the guy was unintentionally hilarious and to be honest I'm not sure how well that work out but it did, the writers clearly don’t know how to handle serious subjects like sexual. Eddie’s betrayal of Maeve came completely as a rabbit punch from the back and I’m still trying to understand why Conrad suddenly has this much power over him, the kid went from being Maeve’s golden boy to spilling all her secrets in one conversation which feels rushed and unrealistic.
The political subplot with Bella continues to make no sense whatsoever, she is suppose to be this master manipulator with government connections but we never see any of it actually happening on screen or working out on her favor as she constantly get on Harry nerves getting into more trouble, it’s all just vague threats and mysterious phone calls that lead nowhere. Alice undercover operation was probably the most predictable part of the entire episode, from the moment she walked into that house you knew exactly what was going to happen, they telegraphed every single move she was going to make from her conversation with Tatterol. Harry catching her red handed and then just letting it happen was supposed to be this big reveal about his true loyalty but it felt more like "huh go figure who would have thought", the guy who hass been protecting the Harrigans for years suddenly decides to let them get arrested because, yeap no reason but that's how power and greed works too.
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Maeve’s conversation with Gina about staying away from Eddie was another one of those scenes that happens just to create drama without any real substance behind it, the whole thing about Jan being a prostitute felt like a cheap shot that didn’t add anything meaningful to the story and thats Maeve punch line to any other woman she despice, like Saraphina's mother or Vron.
The meeting between Conrad and Jaime was peak Conrad being an absolute disaster of a human being, the man can’t help but make racist comments even when he wass trying to make a business deal, Pierce Brosnan plays him like a cartoon villain sometimes and it’s both entertaining and completely ridiculous. It really looks like I'm just picking thoughts on my brain one by one but the truth is that most of the series feels disconnected, I honestly hope a HUGE DATA DUMP happens that makes it interesting from the suspense and mystery sense of things, lastly we got Tatterol’s plan to frame the Harrigans using planted evidence should feel more sinister but instead it just feels like another easy solution to a complex problem something this show loves to do, taking shortcuts when it comes to major plot developments.
The whole fentanyl business that was supposed to be the main focus of the season has been pushed to the background so many times that it has become irrelevant because finally when they close the deal I dont see the Harrigans having more power over Richie than they did at the beginning of the series, in fact they have less, Maeve told to Conrad's face. We are in episode 9 and Conrad is just now having serious conversations about it which seems insane for a show that started with this premise. Harry’s relationship with Cat remains completely mysterious and I’m starting to think the writers don’t actually know what they want to do with that storyline but she is comming to town to meet Harry although makes me wonder if thats the reason why he let Conrad getting caught?? so they never met.
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Kevin killing Rusby was not supposed to be this climatic moment but the execution was so akward, probably if he had staring laughing like Eddie in a ver mad man way almost like Jokerish would have add more character to the scene that ended up being more funny than emotional, the whole scene felt like it belonged in a different show entirely. On top we got Eddie having an identity crisis about whether Conrad is his real father adds another layer of family whore ish drama that the show doesn’t really need right now, there is already enough betrayal and backstabbing without throwing incest theories into the mix. The dinner party from hell was clearly meant to be the episode centerpiece but it devolved into chaos so quickly that none of the tension had time to build properly, everyone was just screaming at each other while Alice did her spy thing in the background. Saraphina continues to be the most underused character, you know I fkn love that caramel pretty face and when Maeve pants were on fire she decided to start roasting Seraphina with everything she had on her book.
I want to pause and talk about Paul, TF man, whats up with him and the fear he has for Bella, probably peaking at some history there that we were never going to get explained properly?, this show loves introducing mysterious backstories and then never following up on them which is becoming really annoying. The arrest scene at the end felt inevitable and not shocking at all wih Conrad and Maeve singing that Irish song while being dragged away was probably supposed to be defiant but it just looked silly. Harry’s conversation with Ohara about meeting at the shipping yard tells something about a bigger plans for sure but knowing this show it will probably be another half way surprise, we know there is a mole but it looks more like Harry is the mole and it feels like the shows wants to make us think its someone else. The episode pacing was all over the place with important scenes rushing by while meaningless conversations dragged, it’s like the editors couldn’t decide what was actually important to the overall story and again there is a lot of under develop to Richie’s character and his absence from most of the episode was noticeable considering he’s supposed to be the main villain, the guy who started this whole war barely appears when things are finally coming to a climax.
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