Captain Of The Sh*t Out Of Luck – Episode 8 opens in the yard at Anchor Bay, with Merle Callahan (Richard Brake) and the Norseman (B. Todd Johnston) discussing the Aryan’s future plans. At the same time, Cole (Patrick Cage) sets up a sniper’s perch across from the yard where he can see Kevin Jackson (Denny Love) and the other guards walking the wall. He also takes note of someone approaching the prison on a street bike. When Kevin gives Cole the signal, the bike rider begins launching grenades over the wall, literally blowing the Aryans to pieces. Col also takes out one of the guards and fires a shot a Kevin to give him an alibi.

While Carney (Lane Garrison) tells Mike McLucksy (Jeremy Renner) about the attack at the prison, Warden Kareem Moore (Michael Beach) meets with Vanessa (Latarsha Rose) at a diner to discuss their daughter. Kareem’s phone is ringing off the hook, but he ignores it to learn that his daughter is having problems and has been ever since the riots at the prison. Despite this, Vanessa ensures him that he is not the issue.

Tracy (Nishi Munshi) is nearly out the front door before Kyle McLusky (Taylor Handley) stops her. It doesn’t take him long to sense her unease and asks if he did something wrong. She attributes the snippy mood to not sleeping well and promises to see him later that evening.

Mike has just arrived at the prison where Ian (Hugh Dillion) and the KPD have already descended on the scene and begun their investigation. Mike receives a quick update from Stevie (Derek Webster) before he calls Ian down from the towers. Before Ian joins him, Carney tells Mike about Merle being unconscious and moved to the hospital. When Ian does join Mike and Stevie, it is immediately surmised that Deverin ‘Bunny’ Washington (Tobi Bamtefa) was behind the attack. Mike even gives Ian the address of Bunny’s warehouse property to stage a raid.

When Tracy arrives for her shift, she learns that Sherrie Maxwell/Cherry (Natasha Marc) tried to hang herself with her sheet during the night. At the same time, Mike pays a visit to Iris (Emma Laird). Although he calls her from the parking lot, he chooses not to go in which turns out to be a wise move because it is merely seconds later that Roman (Mark Ivanir) and Konstantin Noskov (Yorick Van Wageningen) show up.

Much to Iris’s surprise, Konstantin not only offers her a way out of the business, but he offers her an entirely new life, one that he assures her he won’t meddle in. She tells him that he’s already done that once before refusing his offer.

Merle is not happy when Mike visits him in the hospital and orders him to kill Bunny and all his crew. Mike tells him about the military ordinance used in the operation and asks him if he really thinks the Crips have that kind of reach. After agreeing that they don’t, Mike tells him the hit was Russian. Merle then asks him what the play is. Much to Merle’s surprise, Mike tells him that he will end the Russian then Bunny.

Trey (Brandon Faison) returns home to find Bunny waiting on him. After a very brief discussion about school, grades, and football, Bunny gets serious and tells him how much Raphael (D Smoke) cares about him. Bunny says that Trey is practically all Raphael thinks about and he is in prison because he wanted to do right by his family. Bunny then tells him that he is temporarily moving him and Roe (Mystie Smith) to safer accomodations.

Konstantin and Roman are still trying to figure out who benefited the most from sabotaging their shipment when Alex (Bria Condon) interrupts with the news of the Aryan’s (Chad Knorr/T. Ryan Mooney) arrival. Being that this is an impromptu visit, Roman offers to send them away but Konstantin has other ideas and authorizes the visit. Konstantin practically rolls out the red carpet for them, but the Aryans don’t respond in the most respectable way, which leads to Konstantin shoot and killing one of them.

While Kareem meets with Kevin at Anchor Bay to discuss the attack, Iris only tells Mike about Konstantin killing the Aryan, but she tells him about his offer to send her away. Mike subtly hints are her taking the offer but she claims there are always strings. Other than this, Mike is thrilled about Konstantin’s lapse and even refers to it as a godsend.

Merle orders the Norseman to make arrangements to hit Konstantin back when he learns about the killing. At the same time, Kevin receives updated orders from Bunny. Although Bunny isn’t happy that Merle is still kicking, he is thrilled with the progress Kevin is making with Kareem and tells him to keep on that. Elsewhere, Mike receives an unexpected visit from Tracy at the office. After giving him a brief rundown of the situation with Cherry and putting the blame at CO William Breen’s (Matthew Del Negro) feet, he asks her how she knows. She continually refuses to tell him how she knows, which eventually leads to him putting two and two together. Mike is so startled by his discovery that he immediately calls Ian and asks him to stop him from doing something stupid.

Konstantin remains adamant about protecting Iris and getting her out of the life, so much so that he discusses it with Roman. Roman later even tries convincing Iris to leave but she says she has never felt more at home. He tells her that should be proof enough for her to get out.

With the help of CO Mullen (Corey Ronald Walter), Ian finds Breen at a bar and lures him outside to Mike. Although Mike begins calmly enough, it doesn’t take him long to lose his cool. He beats him to a pulp and tells him that he is done at the prison.

Before Robert Sawyer (Hamish Allan-Hadley) and SWAT learn that Bunny is long gone at the warehouse, a short scene shows Merle throwing up blood. The failure of the search enrages Robert who takes that frustration out on Kyle, claiming that Mike set the whole thing up. While Kyle and Robert have words, Stevie reports to Ian who is still with Mike.

The episode ends with Ian realizing that Mike staged this whole thing. When Ian confronts him, Mike practically tells him all that matters is Bunny is on the run and no longer selling.

 

Mayor Of Kingstown Review

Although I enjoyed the episode, I could easily find plenty of bones to pick about it. I thought the opening attack at the prison was rather clever, although I don’t know if something like that would be achievable in real life. I was positive Bunny and Mike were cooking something up and for me, that attack all but confirms it. I am not sure how to take the scene with Merle throwing up blood. I don’t know if that was meant to signify greater internal injuries, an underlying medical issue, or something else entirely.

I am glad that the issues with Kareem’s daughter were kept to a minimum as was Bunny’s meeting with Trey. If you’ll notice, I didn’t even mention Kyle’s brief encounter at the dinner. For me, this felt completely random and a waste of a whole act. The episode could have shaved off nearly 5 or 6 minutes by cutting that screen altogether, and wasn’t he supposed to be watching the baby? That just made no sense. As for Tracy’s conflict with Breen, that all seemed a bit too easily resolved. As far as I know, he never touched her, but when she was discussing it with Mike, it felt almost as if he had raped her or something.

Either way, I’d have to leave the episode with a 5.8 out of 10. As far as advancing the story and building suspense, I’d say it succeeded.

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In Loving Memory Of Jude Dillon

Judd, Ian’s older brother, was born in Kingston Ontario. Much like Hugh, he was also an artist, although in differing fields. He applied his creative nature to singing, photography, drawing, and literature. Despite his versatility, it was his poetry that gained him acclaim. As far as I know, he didn’t contribute and at the moment, the reasons for his death are being held close to the family’s heart.