The first episode of MobLand opens with Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy) mediating a dispute between two gangs, the Dogan and the Lazarus. Only after he's sure that the leaders, Costa and Mehmet, are ready to shake hands and bury the hatchet does Harry consult his boss, Conrad Harrigan (played by the amazing Pierce Brosnan), about the next step. Harry believes this arrangement between the Dogan and the Lazarus won't last long.
Meanwhile, Conrad reveals that Costa and Mehmet have been swindling him. Therefore, the best decision is apparently to kill them all. While Harry and his accomplices do the work, Conrad arrives to put the finishing touches and tells Harry to inform the Maltese that they will fill the void left by the deaths of the Dogan and the Lazarus. Now, the repercussions of this decision are not the focus of this episode. The blame falls on the bar crawl that Eddie Harrigan (Conrad's grandson and Kevin's son) and Tommy Stevenson (son of Conrad's rival, Richie Stevenson) embark on. Let's talk about it.
Creator: Ronan Bennett
Stars: Lara Pulver, Mandeep Dhillon, Tom Hardy
Despite the rivalry between their parents, Eddie and Tommy seem to be good friends. Eddie intends to spend time with Tommy, but when Tommy's friends join him, he gets a little angry. He doesn't like it when one of them takes a picture together; however, he doesn't send them home. Instead, Eddie takes Tommy and his friends to a nightclub, despite being repeatedly reminded by Valjon, the club manager, and his employees that he can only be accompanied by one other person.
Tommy, overwhelmed by the nightclub atmosphere and the fact that so many people have seen him with Eddie, tries to leave. When Eddie tries to stop him, he collides with a partygoer, who becomes aggressive and threatens Eddie. When no one defuses the situation, Eddie pulls out a knife, stabs him, and runs away. After escaping the guards, Eddie reunites with Tommy and promises to make it up to him for causing such a panic. And, by the way, that's the last we see of Tommy Stevenson in this episode.
The next day, Archie shows up at the Harrigan estate to meet with Conrad at his request. But before meeting his "old friend," Archie runs into Maeve, turning this reunion into a sort of "The Queen" (2006) retelling, as Dame Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth II, while Alex Jennings played the then-Prince Charles. Maeve, in a way, foreshadows Archie's death at the end of the episode, as she, intentionally or accidentally, mistakes him for her late brother, Pete. With that doubt cleared up, Archie heads to Conrad's fishing spot and they chat about fishing and abuse.
Back home, they talk business and get to the topic of fentanyl trafficking. Archie comments that Richie won't be pleased with Conrad getting into that business, as it's considered his territory. He even warns him that if he goes ahead with the fentanyl sale, he'll be starting a war with the Stevenson gang. Conrad jokes about that outcome, but it's clear he knows Archie is on Richie's side; he doesn't really care about the Harrigans. While this particular meeting seems irrelevant to Eddie's subplot, you'll see how it influences Conrad's decision later on.
While talking cars with Zosia, Harry gets a call from Kevin (played by the always brilliant Paddy Considine) asking him to fix the situation Eddie created by stabbing a guy in a nightclub before Conrad finds out. If I had to describe the scene between Eddie, Harry, Kevin, and Bella (Kevin's wife and Eddie's mother), I'd be doing it a disservice, but it's so brilliantly written and filled with small comedic moments—the Italian shoes, the oat milk—that you have to watch it at least twice to truly enjoy it.
Technically, the same can be said for every scene in which Harry tries to destroy every last bit of evidence linking Eddie to the stabbing. It's intimidating and hilarious at the same time. It's all very elaborate, but not boring; it's wonderful. Anyway, Harry gets hold of the nightclub's security camera footage, finds out the name of the guy who was stabbed (his name is Hughie Campbell, which could be a reference to the character from The Boys), coordinates with the police and hospital authorities to arrange a meeting with Hughie, politely forces him to tell the cops he doesn't remember the face of the guy who stabbed him, and then gets rid of Eddie's clothes. Problem solved, or so we think.
As expected, Richie isn't happy to learn that Tommy was partying with Eddie Harrigan, of all people. So he calls Kevin directly and tells him that if anything happens to his son, there will be war. He even accuses the Harrigans of using Tommy to force him out of the fentanyl business. Kevin remains steadfast, realizing that his own son has omitted important details about his outing. He calls Harry again to discuss this new information, forcing him to end his conversation with Jan. With that, he tells him to book a couples therapy session, which means he's either apologizing for his actions or actually trying to be a better person. Will that be enough to save Harry and Jan's marriage? We'll see in the upcoming episodes.
Since things have gotten serious, Harry tells Conrad everything that's been going on with the Stevensons and decides to schedule a meeting with Richie at Moody's Gym. Conrad approves the decision, but tells Harry to take his partners so they can kill Richie if he gets too aggressive. Harry takes Zosia and Kiko to the meeting and tells them to wait in the van until they get the signal to take action. Incidentally, Moody, the owner of the gym where the meeting is being held, has a curious policy: he charges each party 50,000, and if they behave themselves for the next 48 hours, they get their money back in full. I guess that's rare, and that's why Moody is still in this business.
Speaking of the meeting, Richie starts off on an aggressive note, while Harry and Moody try to remain discreet. Only after Harry promises he'll personally speak to Eddie and get to the bottom of the situation does Richie say something nice: he's giving Harry and the Harrigans about 18 hours to nag Tommy, or else things will get ugly. Harry accepts the offer, but as he leaves the gym, he calls Conrad and asks if they should eliminate Richie, since Tommy might already be dead. So, if the Harrigans kill Richie now, they'll avoid an all-out war and consolidate their dominance. Conrad seems intent on putting a bullet in Richie's head, but Maeve "saves" him mainly because she wants to see him face-to-face when he's killed.
At the end of MobLand Episode 1, Kevin, Seraphina (Conrad's daughter), Brendan (Conrad and Maeve's oldest son), O'Hara (the Harrigan family lawyer), and Archie show up for a meeting with Conrad and Maeve. Before they go into the meeting room to talk, Maeve tells Conrad that Archie is a traitor and probably working for Richie. Conrad doesn't believe it, so Maeve tells him to bring up the fentanyl and watch what Archie is doing. At first, Conrad talks about how they're doing very well in business thanks to the work of the people in that room. And then he talks about expanding his reach through the fentanyl business. So, from what I understand, Conrad is letting the Mexicans and the Stevensons destroy each other in an attempt to gain the top spot in fentanyl sales. When they hit rock bottom, Conrad plans to enter the market and sell at a lower price, thus making enough money to fund his expansion program.
As Maeve predicted, Archie says Conrad should let Richie take over the fentanyl business. Apparently, that's enough for Conrad to pull out his gun and shoot Archie in the chest. When Maeve tries to calm Conrad down, he tells her not to touch him. This reaction could mean one of two things. It's possible that Conrad is simply sad that he had to kill his old friend for betraying him. Since Richie hurt Conrad by luring Archie to join him, there's a chance Conrad could repay the damage by doing something to Tommy—if he's still alive—which will inevitably spark a gang war. It's also possible that, just after shooting him, Conrad realized Archie wasn't a traitor and had killed an innocent person. Want to know who I think is the real traitor? It's Maeve. She saved Richie from being attacked. She got Archie killed, which has left Conrad emotionally vulnerable. Perhaps, when the time comes, she'll go on a killing spree and become queen of London. Let's see if my prediction proves accurate in the coming weeks. What do you think of that ending? Is Archie the traitor or Maeve? Let me know in the comments section.
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