MobLand Season 1 Review: Guy Ritchie's mob drama is viciously entertaining

---

“I never lie because I don’t fear anyone. You only lie when you’re afraid.” 

- John Gotti

Season 1 is finished! Judgement has come and declared its findings. In the beginning, we see that the Harrigan family are unconscionably insane. By season’s end we’ve come to learn just how incomplete that thought is. While it isn’t wrong per say, it’s such an understatement that it doesn’t even begin to cover how abhorrent these people truly are. The details we learn of each character paints an unholy image. 

Maeve is manipulative to the same degree a shark is lethal. Conrad is quickly losing any semblance of sanity that may have been left rattling around his egomaniacal brainpan. Eddie is, in the most literal sense, a direct product of his malevolent environment. Kevin is a self-aware monster trying to conduct himself as if he understands what it means to know normalcy. He does not. Bella wants to reconcile with her past, but with the very villains that shaped her trauma surrounding her every day, it’s proving quite difficult. Same for Kevin. Seraphina and Brendan wish to prove themselves worthy of the Harrigan name but go about it in very different ways. Though their fates prove to be intertwined to a certain degree. 

As for the outside influence, some prove loyal to the Harrigans while others simply cannot ignore the unyielding madness that spews from the depths of the Harrigan estate. Harry is the Harrigan family fixer with a reputation that precedes him and as we learn more about him, that reputation proves to be well-earned. He is a man of few words and when he does choose to speak, he picks his words wisely but never with trepidation. Even in the presence of the head of the Harrigan household, he speaks with intent and adamancy but finds the balance between outright disrespect and deference. He is a loyal soldier and acts only when acted upon. He is a physical manifestation of cause and effect. 

Harry’s wife Jan and their daughter Gina want to love Harry, but his chosen profession and possible superseding loyalties to the Harrigan clan leave them feeling left in the wind. He protects them with such fervor and totality that they find it difficult to deny him, but still resent what he’s done to bring them into the lion’s den. Their distance from him may prove detrimental to Harry’s long term commitments. 

The great families of this land consist of the Harrigans and the Stevensons. Richie is the head of the Stevensons. He is ruthless but by all appearances still in the realm of reality as opposed to Conrad and Maeve who seem to have dived head first into the deep end of a stark raving mad alternate reality. But this in no way dampens Richie’s propensity for violence and taste for excruciating torture and dismemberment. He is every bit a monster as the Harrigans. And his sudden loss at the hands of a Harrigan has set him off on an irreversible path to bloody vengeance. He proves to be quite a formidable adversary.  

On the other side of the law is a world in its own version of disarray not strictly beholden to the oath they swore to uphold and protect. In a way, they are their own kind of mafia empire. It could be argued this side of the badge is far more sinister, relying so heavily on deceit and omission. They are still threatened with death, but among such precarious guardrails also lies governmental red tape and hierarchy overreach. At the bottom of the pile we are introduced to Mukasa and Fisk, two agents attempting to infiltrate the Harrigans. Their tool? Alice. An experienced undercover officer, Alice is enticed by the idea of bringing down the crime syndicate and her ultimate tempter is a double agent of truth itself, Tattersall.

All of this chaotic, unregulated, unmedicated malevolence is a generational confluence of events that has finally come to the surface in a visceral, unflinching bombardment that is taking its toll on everyone in its path. It is a world of wolves and pack mentality. Only these packs are replete with betrayal, double-crossing, murder and sexual deviancy. If a family is described as a tree, the Harrigan clan is an intertwined, tangled mess of a rose bush; beauty to lure in victims and thorns to make them regret ever leaning in too close for a whiff.

We learn that the state of affairs between the Harrigans and the Stevensons is in a kind of remission. Hostility is still relevant but not an immediate threat should everyone behave. Enter Eddie to “cock it all up.” His betrayal of the tentative peace and his very friend, Tommy is a Franz Ferdinand level incident destined only for violence and pain pulling in anyone and everyone in its wake. Nothing good will come of this. 

In the events to follow, this newly formed war transforms from threats to intimidation to kidnapping into brutal torture and excessive amounts of murder. It unearths truths of a past that probably should have stayed there. In a more stable environment, these trials could be addressed in a therapist’s office with a couch and everything. In the Harrigan clan, actual therapy is considered a violation of trust and is simply not permitted. No, instead they hold the realities of their abhorrent choices deep within themselves until one day when it all comes screaming to the surface causing an entirely different kind of nightmare. A generational changing of the guard kind of nightmare. The very perception of reality will mutate for the Harrigan siblings and their contentious parents. 

You can feel and see the Guy Ritchie influence throughout the season. The characters are eclectic personalities always with violence in their back pockets. The dialogue is deliriously English and only elevates the script tenfold. The confrontational nature of the series is heightened by chaotically emphatic performances by some of the best working actors of today. Everyone is given their time to shine in some twisted way but special attention must be given to Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. 

Pierce’s journey begins in an almost submissive state, giving in to Maeve’s every inclination as if he’s lost his place at the head of the table. By season’s end he’s proven to be almost every bit as insatiably vengeful and reckless in its pursuit as Maeve is. Helen Mirren as Maeve is a ludicrously vile, twisted and amazing character that is often simultaneously hateful and hilarious saying and committing some truly awful things seemingly for no reason other than simply wanting to cause chaos. Mirren appears to be having a blast playing this insane character. 

Tom Hardy as Harry has familiar traits to previous characters he’s played before. But he’s no less enthralling because he’s so damn good at playing such stoicism, always brimming with intimidation and ultimately savagery. He is a man of looks and as few words as possible and his intent is conveyed brilliantly as Harry who must prove his loyalties to both families, the Harrigans and the Da Souzas. He is a man torn in different directions and Hardy’s quietness is impactful and provides its own kind of language and anyone witness to his glares and long looks will immediately speak his language with an urgency.

MobLand is a thrilling, hilariously devious and violently engaging mobster drama that is always moving, always planning and executing. Every character is entertaining in their own ways and the circumstances these people find themselves in will leave you scratching your head out of sheer shock and a little panic. It provides lots of action and bloody satisfaction that should satiate the most passionate action and drama aficionados among us. Most importantly it leaves you wanting more and with an impending season 2, the finale promises the war is far from over. The opponents are simply changing position readying for further escalation and provocation. I anticipate a rousing future for this series and I can’t wait to see what happens next. 

Paramount+ Series

Season 1, 10 Episodes

Rated TV-MA For: (R-rated equivalent) strong, bloody violence, gore, torture, strong pervasive language throughout, sexual content, drug use

Genre: Crime, Drama

Starring: Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Geoff Bell, Paddy Considine, Anson Boon, Lara Pulver, Joanne Froggatt, Teddie Allen, Mandeep Dhillon, Emmett J Scanlan, Emily Barber, Daniel Betts, Toby Jones

Directed By: Guy Ritchie, Anthony Byrne, Daniel Syrkin, Lawrence Gough

Out of 10

Story: 9/ Acting: 10/ Directing: 8.5/ Visuals: 9

OVERALL: 9/10

Entire first season is now streaming on Paramount+.

---

Season 1 Trailer: