Soldier’s Heart – The season 3 premiere begins at Mariam McLusky’s (Dianne West) funeral. Although Mitch McLusky (Jeremy Renner) is speaking like he’s giving a eulogy, he is with the rest of the mourners. As he continues to reflect on his time in prison and Mitch McLusky’s (Kyle Chandler) weekly visits, the funeral proceeds. This is where things take a shockingly unexpected turn with the explosion of Miriam’s Hearst.

As the investigators process the scene, an outraged Ian Ferguson (Hugh Dillon) relays the details to Mike while also suggesting a ‘scorched earth’ response. Kyle McLusky (Taylor Handley) doesn’t appear to have a problem with the approach but Mike convinces them to give him an hour to find out who would hit them at the funeral.

Mike immediately goes to see Deverin ‘Bunny’ Washington (Tobi Bamtefa) who is not only offended that he would be blamed for the bomb but appears reluctant to share what he knows with Mike. Bunny continually tells him to go be with his family while Mike continues to push until he finally gets what he wants. Although their conversation isn’t revealed, Mike immediately visits the diner to share their arrangement with Ian, Kyle, and Stevie (Derek Webster). Much to everyone’s surprise, Robert (Hamish Allan-Headley) also shows up, ready to strike back, despite his current state. Mike manages to get the heat off Bunny by telling them that he not only is going to return the stolen guns, but it was Bunny who tipped him off about Robert’s attack. The blame soon falls on the Aryans due to them previously coming after Mike and their attack on Gunner (Dylan Kenin) at the prison.

While driving through Aryan territory, Mike’s attention is drawn to an alley where two men are huddled together. Making an abrupt stop, he walks to Ian’s tailing vehicle and asks to borrow his ‘brass.’ Ian reluctantly hands them over after Mike assures him they are only precautionary. Also, picking up a discarded shirt along his way, it becomes clear that Mike doesn’t have a peaceful approach in mind. Although it doesn’t take him long to disable both men, it takes shooting one of them in the foot to get an address to a cookhouse.

Tatiana (Gratiela Brancusi) is at the bar with Joseph’s baby (George Tchortov) when Konstantin (Yorick Van Wageningen). Their conversation is briefly cordial and hints at a familiarity between them. At one point, Konstantin attempts to soothe the baby’s crying but Tatiana doesn’t appear at all comfortable with that.

When Mike fails to reach Kareem Moore (Michael Beach) on his way to the office, it’s shown that although he’s giving a speech to the new guards, Kareem intentionally snubbed the call. Mike is greeted at the office by a surprised Rebecca (Nichole Galicia). He becomes a bit snippy with her when discovers the death notification on the front door. Despite removing it, he later apologizes and tells her it has been a heck of a day and far from over. She reminds him that he has the power to change it by simply going home, but it appears he has no intention of doing so.

When Mike receives word from Bunny that he’s arranging to have the guns returned, Mike tells him about the KPD hitting the Aryans and encourages him to send Raphael (D Smoke) a warning. Bunny appears unconcerned and says anyone crazy enough to hit Raphael is going to come back with stumps.

Iris (Emma Laird) and Tracy McLusky (Nishi Munshi) bond while packing up Mariam’s belongings for donation. Iris reflects on how Mariam always treated her with respect. Tracy says that’s just the way she was but it wasn’t smart to get on her bad side. Mike later joins them very briefly before pulling Kyle outside to awkwardly encourage him to sit out the cook house raid. Even using Tracy’s pregnancy, Mike fails to convince him, but he does get him to agree to only observing.

While staking out the cook house address, Ian receives word from Mike about Bunny arranging to have the gun delivered. Despite what should be a win, Ian doesn’t see it that way because he assumes Bunny would never hand over the weapons if he didn’t have replacements. During the call, Mike learns that the address was good and Robert is anxious to move on the location later that night.

The raid on the cook house quickly spins out of control when Robert’s team gets pinned down, forcing him to take action. Although Kyle stays in the control van, Robert shoulders a grenade launcher and blows the entire house to smithereens.

Merle Callahan (Richard Brake) is just as upset when he learns about the raid at Millhaven Correctional Facility. Still unable to reach Kareem, Mike calls Carney (Lane Garrison) to not only tell him to get Kareem to take his calls but to also warn him about blowback from the cook house.  Their conversation doesn’t get much further thanks to a call from acting DA Evelyn Foley (Necar Zadegan).

Iris is in the process of helping herself to a bottle of Miriam’s pills when she hears Tracy’s pleas from the kitchen. Seconds later, it appears that Tracy’s water has broken. Elsewhere, Mike arrives to meet with Evelyn. It doesn’t take him long to realize she’s upset about the cook house or that her security detail is missing. When asked about the missing detail, she sarcastically points out that her job is to take down cops, so she doesn’t want to rely on them. Despite her threats to take him down if evidence points her in that direction, he offers to personally vet a team of officers for her. The conversation doesn’t get much further thanks to a call from Iris.

Bunny returns the stolen gun as promised, but neither Ian nor Stevie is happy that he chose to leave them in an unattended van in the middle of the suburb. Elsewhere, Konstantin and Tatiana appear to be cautiously watching each other at the club.

Kevin Jackson (Denny Love) is monitoring the yard Dedrick (Marcus Brandon) is shanked by another inmate, appearing to be affiliated with the Aryan Brotherhood. Despite the overwhelming odds and his being new on the job, he rushes in without thinking twice.

Mike is just learning about Tracy’s water breaking when Kyle returns home a bit shell-shocked and in search of the pre-packed bag he left behind. As Iris rushes off upstairs in search of the bag, Kyle and Mike have a heart-to-heart about Iris, Mariam, and Kyle’s fears of having a kid. It’s not long after this that Mike learns of the hit from Carney. Mike also learns that Raphael put himself back in general population but wasn’t attacked.

Konstantin questions Tatiana’s loyalty when he catches her trying to leave the club early. She says that he was just taking the baby home and had planned to return while also reminding him that it was her who gave him Milo Sunter (Aidan Gillen). He says that it is her willingness to flip so easily on Milo that concerns him. He ends up shooting her several times as she tries to flee and takes the baby.

When Mike visits Bunny to share the news of Dedrick’s attack, Kareem speaks with Kevin about the same incident. Although Kareem approaches the topic cordially enough, he tells Kevin that he made the wrong response and is lucky to be going home. Kareem also extends an open-door invitation to Kevin any time he feels the need to use it. Surprisingly, Bunny doesn’t appear too concerned about the incident and even brags about how the Aryans didn’t go after Raphael. The conversation doesn’t go much further thanks to Mike receiving news that he is now an uncle.

As soon as Mike is gone, Digo (Phil Rice) gives Bunny a phone with Kevin on the other end. Although their conversation is extremely short, it’s suggested that Kevin is working for/with Bunny. Later that evening, Mike has a brief conversation with Iris where she attempts to approach him intimately but he refuses her offer by telling her that she can stay as long as she wants because there will always be something for her to do.

The episode ends with Merle arriving at the Kingstown prison.

 

Mayor Of Kingstown Review

I wouldn’t say the premiere was altogether horrible, although it did have some major flaws. The series has never been the best, but I couldn’t believe some of the things I was seeing. To start, I thought the bombing was a clever way to kick things off, but the execution was poorly done. The explosion clearly looked like it came from the Hearst and not the trash can. The can wasn’t even mangled, chipped, or damaged, despite being charred. Some of the scenes and conversations felt like they were poorly edited, especially the scene where Mike goes from meeting with Bunny to instantly being at the diner.

My biggest complaint would have to be raccoon Robert. I cannot believe the poor quality of the cosmetic work. Other than this and despite following a similar plot, I enjoyed the episode. I enjoy the prospect of two new major bosses and Merle’s ability to get himself transferred suggests that he has some force behind him. I’d have to give the episode a 5 out of 10.

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