Diksha Sundriyal
Paramount+’s ‘MobLand’ tells the story of a fixer, Harry Da Souza, who works for the Harrigan crime family, cleaning up their messes and making sure that their actions don’t bring any legal consequences on them. Every time he deals with one thing, something else is waiting for him, and the second episode begins with the same thing. The previous episode ended with Conrad Harrigan killing his oldest friend, Archie, during a family meeting after his wife told him that Archie had gone behind his back to keep him from the fentanyl business while his rivals, the Stevensons, had a stronghold on it. This episode begins with Harry taking stock of the situation, but pressure mounts on him from all sides, and it seems he might reach his breaking point soon. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Harry Cleans Up Archie’s Murder
Conrad’s murderous rage leads to Harry being called in the middle of the night to take care of Archie’s dead body. He is just as confused about the sudden turn of events as everyone else because he believes that Archie and Conrad are best friends. Kevin shares his confusion and relays the events of the last night to him, right from his father’s plans of expansion to the sudden change of his mood when Archie interrupted him and the gunshot that shocked everyone. Neither can make sense of what happened, but it is not Harry’s job to ponder the whys. He quickly gets his team to take care of the dead man’s car and his dead body so that no one can figure out what happened to him.
Later that night, however, the cops barge into his house and arrest him. At the station, he is questioned about Archie, which highly interests him because it is too early for anyone to notice the man’s absence. The cops present him with an offer to help them bring Conrad Harrigan and his family down, and in return, they will let him walk away clean from everything. But Harry cannot be persuaded so easily. Moreover, his concern is the deadline that Richie Stevenson gave him. He has yet to figure out what happened to his son, and with him in the police station, time is running out. The family lawyer, O’Hara, steps in to stop the interrogation and take him back home.
Meanwhile, Harry tells Zosia to get Eddie to safety. He knows that once the deadline passes, Richie will want to get revenge and target Eddie. His suspicion proves to be right when they are attacked midway, but Zosia’s quick thinking saves the day, and they make it safely to Conrad’s house in the Cotswolds. While Conrad does not hide his distress about Eddie’s reckless behavior, Maeve is more accepting of him. She asks her grandson what it felt like to stab a man, and he admits that it felt great. Their dynamic shows that Maeve is ready to protect her grandson at all costs, but Conrad is not so forgiving, and he is starting to get tired of Maeve’s manipulations.
Harry Shares His Theories About the Mole
When Harry discovers that Archie has been killed, he is surprised because he never saw Archie as the one who could betray the Harrigans. But then, when he discovers that the cops are asking about him, he is forced to look into the possibility. Kevin (whom Harry has known since his young years) tells him that Conrad talked about him working behind his back. But with the cops involved, Harry begins to wonder if Archie was more than that. He wonders how the cops could know that something has befallen him. Either there is a mole in the Harrigan family who told them, or Archie himself was the mole, and his absence has alerted the cops. He shares this theory with Conrad, who becomes all the more agitated. It was one thing for Archie to do business behind Conrad’s back, but to actually be a mole (or rather, grass) is another kind of betrayal entirely.
Still, before jumping to any conclusions, Conrad tells Harry to confirm his suspicions by finding evidence and, more importantly, to figure out if there is any other betrayer amongst them. Meanwhile, Bella Harrigan is off doing something of her own. It turns out that she is the daughter of a powerful and influential politician, but they are estranged. They only meet one another when they need something from each other, and Bella needs her father to meet with a French person. She is the mediator and will get money to fix the meeting, and her father will take it over from there. But she wants more from the deal rather than simply being the middleman.
When Harry finds out about this, he meets with Bella to warn her. He advises her not to get entangled with her father’s business, especially at the moment when things are already so volatile with her son. Interestingly, a weird vibe emerges between them, which suggests that there is more to their relationship. For starters, Bella invites Harry to share a hotel room with her. He doesn’t outright decline the offer, nor does he show anger or offense at it, considering he is a married man. He tells her to heed his advice and walks away. This conversation proves that something happened between them, and they have been keeping it quiet because Harry and Kevin are good friends, and he doesn’t want to ruin that. But sooner or later, the secret is bound to come out, and it will be interesting to see how it changes the dynamic between Harry and the Harrigans.
Tommy Stevenson’s Tragic Fate is Revealed
Richie Stevenson knows that Eddie Harrigan did something to his son, and he is not far off to believe that his boy is dead by now. He also knows that the Harrigans will do whatever it takes to protect Eddie, but they cannot do it without Harry, so he talks directly to him. Out of respect for the guy, he gave him a deadline by which he had to present his son, but when that doesn’t happen, it becomes clear that war is the only option. He tells Harry to either pick his side or get out of the way and if he doesn’t do that, his own family will be at risk. Richie shows him the pictures of his daughter, suggesting how easy it would be to abduct and kill her. The message is clear for Harry, and he knows he will have to be more careful, which is why he intensifies his efforts to find Tommy Stevenson.
When he tries to share his concern with his wife, with whom his relationship is already struggling, she becomes concerned about the fact that her husband’s work might be coming home with him in the worst ways. She warns him to be careful and not let it affect their daughter, and while he assures her nothing will happen, he doesn’t seem assuaged by his own words. Meanwhile, the CCTV footage of the bar from the night Tommy went missing confirms that Eddie and Tommy walked in together. Eddie had revealed the names of the two other guys who were with them that night briefly, so Harry seeks them out and isn’t too surprised to discover that Eddie knew the bar’s owner. However, he is angry about the fact that the owner refused to recognize Eddie, which made his task more difficult.
That night, Richie pays a visit to the bar again, but this time, he is not as polite. He walks in while the party is in full swing and beats up the man in front of everyone. A couple of bullets shut up the people, and this time, the owner confesses that not only does he know Eddie, but he also knows what happened to Tommy. But instead of telling them, he decides to show them. He takes them to the back of the bar where there is a freezer, inside which are the pieces of Tommy’s dead body. By now, Harry knew that something bad had happened to the boy. He seems more impressed by the way the bar’s owner cut up the body and Tommy’s enormous penis. What remains to be seen is how he will handle the fallout that comes from it.
Read More: Where is Paramount’s MobLand Filmed?
