When the second episode of the second season of The Mayor of Kingstown ended, it became clear that powerful steps had been taken, and shocking moments occurred, which I believe will 100% affect the rest of the season. One of those moments was when Iris, played by Emma Laird, decided to get out of custody and return to the diabolical crime boss who put her in such a bad situation. I know my jaw dropped when she walked into the church to meet Aidan Gillen’s character Milo, and since one of the show’s creators Hugh Dillon broke down, this decision really is a “Taylor Sheridan moment.”
Recall that throughout the second episode of “Mayor of Kingstown”, Jeremy Renner’s character, Mike, tries to help Iris find a safe place to sleep. Eventually, he takes her to his mom’s house, which is a pretty safe place for her to hide. However, due to Iris’ injury in the previous season, she doesn’t seem to trust anyone, not even Mike, whom she cares about a lot. So instead of staying with his mom, she goes back to Milo, her old boss. Iris walks into the church where the notorious criminal is hiding and says, “I have nowhere to go. I don’t have a home.” The scene ends with Milo saying, “You’re home now.”
To put it mildly, I was shocked by this moment, as was Hugh Dillon, who broke up the scene, and the thought process of his co-creator Taylor Sheridan, behind it, with CinemaBlend, saying:
This is a Taylor Sheridan moment. It was a scenario where we all kind of knew where we were going, we talked with him about what we were doing this season. And then it was on the page, because what happens is that he falls into this, and I was writing with him, so I saw him sit down and fall into this trance. He is at peace in everything. So what I’ve learned more than anything is to trust him. Because at first I’m like a fan. I’m like, “Oh, no!” and “What’s going on!” and then when it unravels, because he sees, he’s like a master chess player, he sees 10 steps ahead. And I’m a good chess player. So I see maybe six.
Throughout Taylor Sheridan’s films and shows, viewers have become accustomed to his complex and shocking decisions, similar to the one that just happened in Kingstown. From massive discoveries at Yellowstone to full-fledged projects involving actors such as Nicole Kidman and Harrison Ford (among many others), expectations from Sheridan for quality entertainment are high, and this moment shows that he still gives pleasure.
Emma Laird told Collider that she gave up everything to play Iris because she wanted to work with a writer-creator. So with the shocking decisions she made in the second episode of the Jeremy Renner-led show, it’s clear that her decision to join Kingstown paid off, and Sheridan proved once again that he can create stories that none of us expect.
Dillon continued to refute this fateful decision made by Iris and Sheridan’s letter, explaining:
And so, it’s so unpredictable, and even the fact that you, you know, are asking this question, it’s just crazy to see it. But underneath that, he knows this character, and he knows this broken personality, and this darkness, and this vulnerability, and the fact that you make bad decisions. And that’s what’s great about his writing. He’s kind of going there, and it’s inconvenient. And that’s why it’s so real.
The team of this show is really not afraid to “go there”, and this moment really proved it once again. As the TV program for 2023 continues, and the mayor of Kingstown continues to release new episodes, it will be interesting to see what happens to Iris next, now that Iris has returned with a big evil in the series.
New episodes of Mayor of Kingstown will be released on Sunday and will be available on a Paramount+ subscription.
