It’s been a hot minute since we last saw Mike McLusky try to keep the peace in Kingstown, so it’s a good thing Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season three episode one begins with a one-minute highlight reel from season two. If you recall, episode two ended with Mike’s mom, Mariam, and SWAT team leader Robert Sawyer hospitalized and both knocking on death’s door. The third season immediately provides the answer to Mariam’s fate.
And now on to the recap of season three episode one, “Soldier’s Heart.” Spoilers ahead!
A voiceover finds Mike (Jeremy Renner) in a cemetery reminiscing about his deceased brother, Mitch, calling him the anchor he clung to while he was incarcerated. Mitch believed 5% of people are good and 5% are truly evil. The remaining population wrestles between the two. The question for Mitch was, which side would younger brother Mike come down on?
A somber crowd has gathered to pay their respects to Mariam as she’s laid to rest. Mariam was one of the good ones, and Mike firmly believes there must be retribution. The scales measuring good and evil must be balanced.
Mike’s still lost deep in thought when a bomb explodes in a trashcan, flames engulfing the hearse that brought Mariam’s body to the cemetery. It’s obvious the bomb was placed near the cars in a way to do the most damage. Ian (Hugh Dillon) confirms it was homemade and activated from a remote location. (It wasn’t on a timer.) Ian’s enraged and wants to go after everyone, but Mike doesn’t believe that’s the answer. They already took the war to the streets, and yet they’re still being attacked.
Mike thinks they need to be both smart and surgical. Ian disagrees, but Mike wins out. Mike asks for one hour to place a bullseye on the right target. They need to be strategic in their response.
Mike’s first stop is at Bunny’s. Bunny (Tobi Bamtefa) sent flowers to the funeral and calls the explosion disrespectful. He would never mess with someone’s family, but it’s obvious that whoever orchestrated the explosion wants to shift the blame onto Bunny and the Crips. Mike confirms that there is a target on Bunny, especially after someone attacked Robert. But Bunny swears none of this happened under his orders.
They both agree it doesn’t matter who the target moves to, but it needs to be someone important.
Mike meets with Ian, Kyle (Taylor Handley), and Stevie (Derek Webster) and informs them that Bunny’s giving back the guns the Crips stole in a heist. Ian responds with a middle-finger gesture. It’s not enough. Robert, who looks like he should still be hooked up to machines in the hospital, makes a surprise appearance and immediately asks who they’re going after for payback.
Mike reminds them that Bunny tipped him off that Robert’s number was up. And the Crips weren’t responsible for the funeral attack. Mike doesn’t think the Mexicali are behind this; it’s got to be the Aryans. Mike ordered Gunner taken out inside but, unfortunately, he survived being stabbed 20+ times. Now the Aryan Brotherhood is out for revenge.
Mike declares war on the Brotherhood, despite Ian’s warning that the target will be placed on his back in response. Mike replies, “When is it not?”
Next, Mike pulls up in the Brotherhood’s neighborhood and spots a couple of guys outside. He asks for Ian’s brass knuckles and uses them to knock out one guy while hitting and tossing a hood over the other man. Mike puts his gun against the man’s testicles and demands an address. He doesn’t give it up, so Mike shoots him in the foot.
Stevie and Ian react to the gunshot, but Mike’s already got the info he needs.
Now, 14 minutes in, we’re introduced to the new Russian bad guy, Konstantin (Yorick van Wageningen). He greets Tatiana (Gratiela Brancusi) at the club and asks about business, and she admits the police took some of Milo’s people away. The others who were loyal to Milo fled.
Konstantin believes Milo never saw the big picture.
Meanwhile, Mike calls Captain Kareem Moore (Michael Beach) but Kareem refuses to answer. Instead, he greets the new prison guards and explains that Michigan legally sets the guard-to-inmate ratio at one to 14. But at Anchor Bay, it’s one to 27.
Mike texts Carney (Lane Garrison) and orders him to put his phone in Kareem’s face. Carney doesn’t because Kareem’s too busy.
Frustrated, Mike heads into his office and is shocked Rebecca’s closed it for the day. He takes down the “Closed due to a death in the family” notice on the door and wants the office open. Mike apologizes for being gruff, but says it’s been a “f**k of a day.” Rebecca (Nichole Galicia) suggests he takes time off at the cabin, but Mike brings up bears. (Since season one, bears are a running concern when he discusses the cabin.)
Bunny calls with news that he’s going to send Mike the location of the weapons drop. Mike asks Bunny to reach out to Raphael and give him a heads up that the Aryans are going to go after him because of KPD going after the Brotherhood.
The address the guy Mike shot provided turns out to be legitimate, but Ian says it’s a white trash fortress. Robert wants to be part of the attack on the Aryans that night, even though he should be resting.
Kyle’s wife, Tracy (Nishi Munshi), and Iris (Emma Laird) pack up Mariam’s things to be donated. They discuss Mariam’s kindness but Tracy – who’s just days away from giving birth – points out that if you got on her bad side, she could be a beast. Mike and Kyle eventually join Tracy and Iris while they’re taking take a brief break to eat food brought to the house by friends.
Mike pulls Kyle outside and reminds him he doesn’t need to be part of the attack planned for that evening. Kyle insists he needs to be there and that his head is on right. Mike’s voice catches as he confesses that he’s angry all the time. He asks his brother not to be a hero and to let SWAT do the hard work tonight. It’s clear that Mike can’t handle losing another brother. Kyle promises to stay on the sidelines.
Night falls and heavy metal music fills the air around the Aryan Brotherhood’s headquarters. Robert, Ian, Kyle, and Stevie oversee from the surveillance van, and Robert tells his SWAT guys that there are at least three guards on the perimeter. He orders SWAT to take them out quietly. “Go in soft and easy. Slow and smooth,” says Robert.
Locks are cut, and the team silently approaches the house. But then someone steps outside, and the gunfight begins. Robert calls it a “clusterf**k” as the scene deteriorates into chaos. He can’t resist joining the fight and gears up. It appears the intel wasn’t complete, and there are many more ABs inside than expected.
Robert stops a fair distance from the house and fires a grenade launcher. The house goes up in flames.
Morning arrives and dozens of first responders are on the scene. There appear to be half a dozen dead bodies lined up outside the house. The coroner is snapping photos of the charred remains as Mike walks up muttering, “Jesus Christ.”
Ian informs him they were well-armed and weren’t going to be taken in. Robert explains his team was pinned down, and he chose to save them over saving the Brotherhood.
The action shifts to Millhaven Correction Facility and Merle Callahan (Richard Brake) being informed of the deaths of the AB. He doesn’t take the news well.
Mike yells at Carney over the phone, demanding he get Kareem to answer his phone. Carney insists Kareem’s being stubborn, and Mike fills him in on what just went down. There are going to be repercussions inside, and Kareem needs to be prepared.
Iris is busy stealing Mariam’s meds when Tracy calls out for help. Her water broke.
Asst. District Attorney Evelyn Foley and Mike meet, and Mike admits Robert let things get out of hand. Evelyn (Necar Zadegan) isn’t surprised. “Even half-dead the guy manages to sow chaos,” says Evelyn. Kingstown needs a clean-up and she’s the janitor. She’ll go after anyone, including Mike, and swears she’ll take down dirty cops. In fact, she let her security detail go since she’s made it clear no one is off-limits. Mike is incredibly worried and reminds her of what happened to Lockett. He promises to personally vet her security team.
An inmate named Dedrick is stabbed in the yard by an AB, and a new guard rushes to his side. It’s no use, Dedrick bleeds out.
Carney calls Mike and says it’s starting, and Mike claims that it’s a “weak kill” since Dedrick isn’t a power player. Raphael is, and he’s in general population, yet they didn’t move on him. It’s the lame going after the lame, says Mike.
Kyle returns home, panicking that he can’t find his go-bag. Tracy’s at the hospital, and Mike and Iris promise to search for the bag. While Iris searches, Mike and Kyle have a quick chat about Iris. Kyle wonders why she’s still around, and Mike admits he doesn’t know what the future holds. The brothers laugh over the idea of Mariam adopting Iris…which is something she probably would have done.
Mike takes off and tells Iris to go to the hospital without him.
Over at the club, Konstantin and Tatiana get into it. Konstantin wonders about her loyalty and whether she’s still on Milo’s side. She runs off crying when Konstantin demands to know whose call she’s been waiting for. She doesn’t get far before she’s shot in the back.
Konstantin picks up her uninjured baby.
Mike and Bunny discuss the current state inside, and Bunny’s sure the AB is too afraid to go after Raphael. They’re also afraid to go after him. They chuckle when Bunny calls himself a formidable f**king monster. They toast to this moment of peace, and Mike admits he was shocked by Bunny’s decision to drop off the stolen guns in a lily-white neighborhood.
Bunny confesses that Mike got him incredibly angry during his recent stint in jail. However, on the upside, now Bunny has ambitions he didn’t have before getting locked up. Bunny’s ambitions have expanded beyond Kingstown, and Mike warns him not to get too greedy.
Their conversation is interrupted by the news that Tracy just gave birth. Bunny calls Mike ‘Uncle Mayor’ and congratulates him as Mike heads out. Bunny accepts a phone call, and it turns out the new guard who helped Dedrick is Bunny’s new inside connection.
Later, Mike works on patching up the bullet holes in his mom’s house. Iris keeps him company, and Mike tells her she can stay as long as she wants, or she can leave. It will be her choice.
Season three episode one ends with Merle being moved to what looks like Anchor Bay Prison.
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