You can’t keep a good fixer down in the world of “MobLand.” That’s right, the hit Paramount series starring Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren is back with what promises to be more violence, backstabbing, and the rather wild Irish accents that fans have come to expect. At the same time, there’s much that’s been uncertain both for the characters and the show itself.
Following the bloody Season 1 finale, Season 2 is set to pick up in its aftermath, with the Harrigan crime facing what may be one of their biggest threats yet. However, while there is plenty to dig into in terms of the unfolding story, the drama playing out off-screen has also captured attention and, at one point, was reportedly going to impact the show going forward.
Here is everything you need to remember about where “MobLand” last ended up. And, in case it wasn’t already clear, spoilers ahead for the entirety Season 1.
Harry’s home life has seen better days
First and foremost, what is the fate of Harry’s marriage? The suave yet sinister fixer for the Harrigans, he’s long stood by them through some mighty challenging struggles for power, even when it put strain on his home life. Beginning the season with him needing to apologize (yet again) to his wife, Jan (Joanne Froggatt), for the way things are going, things only got worse from there. Left without any hope for the future, Jan strongly considers divorcing Harry, tries to work through some of this in therapy, and is then intimidated by the criminals he works with who want her to keep quiet. Thus, at the end of the season, Harry comes home to find her struggling more than she ever has with the weight of their life that has accumulated over the season where he has not fully listened.
Pushing him away while cutting food in their kitchen, Jan accidentally stabs him, leaving him surprised and slightly wounded by the encounter. While there was some vague question about what his condition might be following this accidental cutting, most of it was rather exaggerated to create one last jolt of suspense to close out with, as it clearly wasn’t something that caused serious physical harm. Still, it left Harry’s relationship in a more uncertain place than it has ever been, with Jan likely still wanting to leave this life behind even more now.
Tom Hardy is still a part of the show . ..for now
With that being said, some of the more noteworthy details surrounding the show came not from what happened to the characters, but what was taking place behind the scenes in the lead-up to this second season. Hardy was at one point in time seemingly going to be ousted from the show. Though he is such a central part of the story, its third season would have reportedly continued on without him, leaving fans to worry his character might be unceremoniously written out or even killed off this season.
The reason for his ouster, according to multiple outlets, was due to his “onset issues with executive producer Jez Butterworth, 101 Studios, and others.” This was something Hardy, as well as his co-stars, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, disputed, saying that they all were standing by each other. The show was subsequently renewed for Season 3 with Hardy returning, putting an end to the speculation over him and Harry’s future for at least one additional season.
As one does, Pierce Brosnan’s Conrad had a child with his son’s wife
Back to the actual show itself, one of the biggest reveals at the end of Season 1 came surrounding Eddie (Anson Boon) and the Harrigan patriarch Conrad (Brosnan). Eddie, whom we first meet at the beginning of the season stabbing someone while out at the club one night (a quite rude thing to do), is initially seen as just a troublemaker. However, when he kills the son of a rival gang leader, seemingly randomly, it soon becomes clear that he’s even more of a loose cannon than initially thought and could bring his entire family down around him. Complicating matters even further, as it turns out, he actually has direct ties to the head of the family as Conrad slept with his son’s wife, Eddie’s supposed father.
TLDR: Conrad is actually Eddie’s father.
This was known openly to many in the family, but not yet to Eddie himself, who is subsequently told by the Harrigan matriarch Maeve Harrigan (Mirren), who he proceeds to try to strangle. Turns out family is as messy as the business that the Harrigans are trying to operate. Though Eddie fails in his strangulation attempt, this relationship, and the family dynamic writ large, has forever changed.
Kevin has a bad time, but emerges as a major power player
This is where things get a little heavy, as the concluding episodes of Season 1 established that Kevin (Paddy Considine) was sexually abused when imprisoned as a teen and has struggled with this all his life. He manages to get his revenge on the man who abused him, but this does not seem to bring him much peace for very long. Namely, he also knows that Eddie is not his son, but his brother, and that has also been weighing on him.
When he later goes to visit Papa Conrad, who has been imprisoned alongside Maeve because they were recorded by a bugged phone, he begins to make some moves to try to take control of the family. He then attacks the pub of Richie, a rival gang leader, killing him and his crew. He also grows closer to his wife, Bella (Lara Pulver), who reveals her own history of abuse, setting them up as being a formidable duo going into Season 2.
The mole is finally discovered … though not without fatal mistakes
For much of the season, there was a question of who exactly was the mole inside the Harrigan family. It was believed at one point that it was actually Archie (Alex Jennings), Conrad’s advisor and friend, though he was killed way back in the beginning of the season. When his body is discovered after the Harrigans killed him, they realize there is most likely another mole who is still operating in the shadows, before Harry later learns he was not a mole at all.
Instead, as it turns out, it was family lawyer O’Hara Delaney (Lisa Dwan), who’d grown concerned about Conrad’s leadership and began working with rival gang leader Richie. This backfired as Harry, upon learning of this when she confessed this info to him, initially spares her before taking advantage of Richie’s trust in her, setting them both up for a trap, which ultimately results in O’Hara and Richie being killed.
The Harrigans win the battle, but remain at risk of losing the war
The conclusion of Season 1 sees Conrad leaving prison (no surprise there) and the Harrigan family seemingly remaining on top of the world. Sure, there were some killings, the already fragile trust the family has with each other has been forever shaken, with multiple relationships threatening to come apart, and there are now more bodies buried in their proverbial backyard. However, they are now without one rival gang to worry about, have rooted out the mole, and still seem to have the trusty Harry working for them.
Things are all peachy, right? Well, if the trailer for season three is any indication, while Hardy is sticking around, Harry might finally be reaching the end of the rope with the chaotic Harrigans just as new threatens arise. Whether he, or all of them, manages to survive them, only time will tell.
“MobLand” Season 2 is now streaming on Paramount+.
The post ‘MobLand’ Season 1 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 2 appeared first on TheWrap.
