"Mayor of Kingstown" is a series that delivers on the thrill of the unexpected, though it often follows the predictable beats of the crime genre. While the plot twists and characters' fortunes shift with a violent abandon, few developments come as a surprise if you're familiar with the conventions of the genre. So, when an unforeseen event occurred in this week's episode, I found myself doing a double take. In "Sins of Omission," Ian briefly realizes that Mike may not be disclosing everything he needs to know, and he's pissed.
For a while now, Ian has been the can-do, "I got your back" buddy-buddy, cheerfully lying to Mike while secretly working behind the scenes and eliminating anyone who gets in his way. This week, he's at it again, dropping a brick off an overpass and causing nosy Assistant District Attorney Evelyn Foley to crash her car. The Evelyn incident doesn't seem to shake Mike's trust in Ian, but Ian does seem genuinely upset when he finds out about Bunny's new business partner.
In the aftermath of last week's bloodbath, where Frank Moses' "hitters" raided the Colombians' massive drug-cooking fortress, Mike admits he asked Ian to pull KPD's surveillance off of Cortez so that Frank's team could take care of business. This is a major blunder for Ian, as everyone knows the Detroit crew is trouble. How could Mike give the Moses mob a foothold in Kingstown without warning local law enforcement?
"Sins of Omission" is one of the more action-packed episodes of the season so far, with several storylines heating up at once. Besides Ian almost killing Evelyn (more on that later), Bunny finally has Raphael take revenge on the Colombians for Cortez's attempted assassination in the season premiere. A Crip ambush on Colombian prison boss Roberto Cruz (William Guirola) leaves several of Cruz's men in the infirmary, and Bunny feeling like a message has been sent.
Meanwhile, Mike is getting a different message. He can't help but notice that Warden Nina Hobbs has responded to the attack in the yard by punishing only the Crips, confirming his suspicion that Nina and her lackey Torres are in league with the Colombians. He gets further confirmation from his inside man, Kevin, who calls to tell him that Torres is running some kind of smuggling operation via the prison's fuel trucks.
Speaking of Mike's prison informants, Cindy Stephens finally gets involved in this season's plot! The episode begins with Cindy in bed with Mike and ends with her calling him with intel on AdSeg's current population. Thanks to Cindy, Mike now knows that his brother Kyle has been incarcerated all along in a cell next to Merle Callahan's. Although Mike doesn't know that Merle has been filling Kyle's head with ideas about stoicism and the importance of "alliances" — or that Hobbs is encouraging Merle to keep wearing Kyle down — he assumes the worst.
To recap Mike's current predicament, he is ignorant of Ian's attack on Evelyn, losing Ian's trust due to the Frank Moses situation, and watching Kyle slip away to Merle. Additionally, he struggles to convince Bunny to take the Colombian threat seriously. It's not surprising that Mike is drowning in a sea of troubles; he always seems to get in over his head with each passing season. However, the writers of "The Mayor of Kingstown" deserve credit for plunging Mike into the usual Kingstown bullshit so early in season four, elevating the intensity to impressive levels.
Among the mounting tension, two standout scenes involve Mike's disconcerting conversations with some of his most trusted associates. First, with Bunny, who has been swayed by Frank's talk of investing in legitimate businesses and insulating himself from the dangers of his old life. Despite Mike's warning that Frank could have nefarious intentions, given Detroit's preparation for war with the Colombian cartel, Bunny remains unconcerned, convinced he can take what he needs from Detroit and "skedaddle" like a riverdancer. What worries Mike is that Bunny may be looking so far ahead that he can't see what's right in front of him. Bunny is talking about turning over his business to Raphael in 10 years, while there's a strong likelihood that Raph could be killed any day now by the Colombians with Hobbs' blessing. Mike openly scoffs when Bunny tries to coax him into getting his own big payday and getting out of Kingstown – nobody escapes Kingstown; they're lucky if they can just survive in this city.
The other conversation is between Mike and Robert, who angrily (and correctly) insists that he had nothing to do with Evelyn's crash. Moreover, Robert has lost all patience with Mike criticizing and judging him. "From day one, I risked my life for your fucking family," he says, adding that after all the years he's spent following orders, he's realized (again: correctly) that nothing Mike plans ever turns out right. "You sure as shit ain't the fucking mayor," Robert says. Alliances are breaking down everywhere.
Lastly, we return to Ian, who publicly still supports Mike but may be privately stewing. He has a good one-on-one scene with his partner Stevie (Derek Webster), who suspects that Ian may have dropped the brick on Evelyn during the time away from work when he said he had to take care of his diabetic cat (a detail Ian had never mentioned before and would not keep to himself). Ian quickly reveals the truth about his Evelyn plot to Stevie, saying he's facing life in prison and has to do whatever he has to do to stay free. This is something else Mike probably hasn't counted on: that his cop friends might turn on him to protect themselves. After all, Ian's no idealist. When Stevie sighs, "When is this bullshit gonna be over?" Ian mutters, "When we're fuckin’ dead."
