Showrunner Jez Butterworth unleashes a new kind of hell in Mobland Season 2. With a hand in The Agency on Paramount+ and feature film credentials including Edge of Tomorrow, he throws the Harrigan family a real curveball. If Season 1 set up personal complexities and conflicting agendas, then Season 2 continues to infuse Mobland with shades of the British gangster classic The Long Good Friday.
In the aftermath of that opening season, Conrad Harrigan is out for blood and determined to play down rumours of his imminent demise. More figurehead than gun-toting crime boss, Pierce Brosnan bares his teeth and pumps fresh blood into a full-throated portrayal of Harrigan senior still willing to take on all comers. Cornered by the ever-conniving Maeve, Conrad finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place.
His chemistry with Helen Mirren sold audiences on Mobland Season 1, and that vibe remains essential to keeping things moving. Their relationship relies on conflict, and Maeve continues to be the Svengali figure pulling strings behind the scenes and playing her husband like a fiddle. In opposition to this stands Harry Da Souza, forever on hand to navigate their mood swings, embodied by Oscar nominee Tom Hardy.
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Hardy has carved out a career moving between film and television balancing Legend and The Revenant alongside Peaky Blinders and Taboo. He continues that trend with Harry da Souza, a stoic presence in the face of unbridled chaos. Capable of keeping a lid on violent outbursts in others while managing his more volatile traits, counteracting a temper more than a match for Conrad Harrigan, which is able to leave scorched earth in its wake.
As events escalate in this sophomore season and the Harrigan family encounter other rogue elements, Harry finds himself in the crossfire once again. What remains so impressive about Tom Hardy’s performance is the magnetism he conveys without breaking sweat. Surrounded by seismic personalities in possession of unpredictable tempers, it is a measure of his abilities that Da Souza remains front and centre. Paddy Constantine’s Kevin might get more time on the playing field, but audiences are ultimately there to watch Da Souza weave his magic.
What Guy Ritchie has created with Mobland is something with more emotional depth than Snatch, more precision than Lock, Stock, and more coherence than Rock n’ Rolla. Not only does Tom Hardy act as the anchor that legitimises Mobland, but with an ex-Bond in Pierce Brosnan alongside him this gangland melodrama inherits some class as well. Combined with the pitch-black undercurrent of conflicting agendas that shape the Harrigan family, this second season might just be the moment Mobland is elevated to the upper echelons of a gangland classic.
Mobland is available to stream on Paramount+