Tom Hardy's Paramount Plus crime thriller just wrapped up an epic first season with a stunning finale
After the premiere of "MobLand," I felt the Paramount Plus show had a major problem, but showed a lot of promise.
Fast forward to today's (June 1) season finale, and I can confirm the show wound up delivering on that promise — and then some.
No, the show's not perfect by any means. Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren are incredible actors ... just not in this show. They're such caricatures of Irish gangsters that I'm still surprised they agreed to perform their roles the way they did.
Then again, there is something very "Guy Ritchie" about their performance, and given the English director's involvement in the show's talented creative team, maybe Brosnan's and Mirren's performance was directed by him in particular.
Even though this show isn't technically a Guy Ritchie series — he's an executive producer and director, but "The Day of the Jackal" creator Ronan Bennett is the creative lead behind "MobLand" — it has Ritchie's fingerprints all over it, including the finale.
You don't even have to go back far to find a Guy Ritchie movie that feels related to "MobLand." I couldn't stop thinking about "The Gentlemen" while watching this show, especially how much Tom Hardy's Harry Da Souza reminds me of Charlie Hunnam's Raymond Smith.
Also, there's plenty of violence.
All season long, "MobLand" has been building toward an all-out gang war between the Harrigans and the Stevensons.
To call it a simmering conflict would be an understatement. There's been dismemberment, car bombings and much more violence besides.
But things go up a notch in the finale. The entire Stevenson crime family gets wiped out in a brilliant move by Harry that involves luring all of Richie Stevenson's (Geoff Bell) soldiers away from the rival gang leader, eliminating them in a hail of gunfire, grenades and bombs.
Then, of course, Harry and Kevin (Paddy Considine) kill Richie and the Harrigan family lawyer, O'Hara (Lisa Dawn), who turned out to be a rat.
It may be cliche, but this was my favorite part of the episode. First, seeing Harry's move play out in a way that lets you know what's coming just enough for you to get excited for the payoff.
Second, Kevin delivering the line 'The Harrigans say hello' right before killing Richie is excellent. Yes, the killer delivering a final line right before the kill has been done before, but it still works.
This show may have started slow, but now that the season is over, I can freely admit I've fallen for "MobLand."
It's the perfect role for Hardy, who is great on screen with Conisidine. It's just the right blend of clever dialogue, brooding, double crossing and violence, even if the show definitely has some flawed performances and occasionally devolves into cliche.
So, Paramount, give us "MobLand" season 2. I'm shocked that the show hasn't been renewed already (it might be by the time this is published), especially since the show is clearly setting up a season 2 with Harry versus the notorious Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer) or a lieutenant of hers we have yet to meet.
If we get that showdown, it could genuinely produce a great season of television.
Watching Hardy and McTeer on screen this episode gave me real Timothy Olyphant and Margot Martindale in "Justified" season 2 vibes, and that might be one of the greatest seasons of television ever made. Paramount owes it to us and the show to give it the chance to build on a season that's gotten better and better with every episode.
Stream "MobLand" on Paramount Plus
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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