Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 5, 2022

Mayor of Kingstown is Taylor Sheridan's baby, almost literally. The show was conceived when he was a new father and it is also his oldest screenplay. Clearly his success with the enormously popular Yellowstone paved the way for him to pull this old script off the shelf and get it made, but it is clear why this was not his first hit. Make no mistake that Mayor of Kingstown is a solid show all around, but its dynamics and story elements and character beats are hopelessly entrenched in familiarity. It's a solid watch, but it will feel like watching something that has been seen before. While the show aims to open up the prison series dynamic by exploring as much outside its walls as within, it treads too much familiar ground to make the impact that it might have made in a less saturated genre marketplace.

Official synopsis: 'Mayor Of Kingstown' follows the McLusky family -- power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.

In the story's setting, there are seven prisons within a twenty-mile radius. Incarceration is in the town's blood. It's the town's defining characteristics, setting it apart from any other quiet Midwest locale, and this is where the show finds its drama. Certainly, it deals in plenty of content within the prison walls, but it also looks at how prison life, on both sides of the bars, impacts the world around the title locale. That's the show's attraction, and it handles the blending of inside and outside the walls nicely, looking at select people and drama that bubbles from inside the prison and out and over into the real world, and sometimes vice-versa. But the show is also terribly stale within the prison walls. It hits all of the prison genre staples with no desire to escape from cliche. These standard fare prison drama routines are viably entertaining with enough dramatic weight to carry interest, but audiences will quickly identify basic ebbs and flows and come to expect, and predict, when, and which, cliche will again strike. Renner does a fine job of bringing a sense of character balance to the script, which is otherwise in need of a tighter direction and story novelty within the prison walls to work.

The following episodes comprise season one. Summaries are courtesy of Paramount.

Disc One:

• The Mayor of Kingstown: Brothers Mitch and Mike McLusky navigate Kingstown, home to multiple prisons, as they act as the liaisons between prisoners and the community. When a young guard, Sam, is set up to deliver a letter for a prisoner, Mike works to get him off the hook.
• The End Begins: Local gang leader, Bunny is upset when one of his guys gets taken off the yard. Mike brokers a deal, and is later visited by two FBI agents whom Mitch worked for. Milo has instructions for Josef on how to get closer to Mike.
• Simply Murder: After a tragic accident has deadly consequences, an all-out manhunt ensues. Meanwhile, Mike reaches out to a former prison contact

Disc Two:

• The Price: Everyone wants something from Mike, who reminds them who is in control. Iris visits Mike's office. Miriam and Mike discuss Kyle's future.
• Orion: Kyle and Ian are questioned by internal affairs in the wake of the shootout. Bunny asks Mike for help with a close family member
• Every Feather: When a fight breaks out on the yard, Sam finds himself in trouble again. Milo goes to extreme lengths to get what he wants. Mike sends a message.
• Along Came a Spider: Mike pays Milo a visit, looking for answers. Tensions at the men's prison reach a boiling point. Mike makes a disturbing discovery.

Disc Three:

• The Devil Is Us: Kyle and Kingstown PD try to make sense of the crime scene. Mike takes matters into his own hands. Sam makes a costly mistake.
• The Lie of the Truth: Tracy has good news for Kyle. Mike and Iris spend a peaceful day at the cabin, unaware of the trouble escalating back in town.
• This Piece of My Soul: Kingstown Prison descends into total chaos. Mike desperately works to help stop a riot that will have serious consequences for all involved.

Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Paramount brings Mayor of Kingstown to Blu-ray with a very good 1080p transfer. There's an aggressively gritty look to the show which carries its tone and tenor quite nicely. Noise is sporadically evident in lower light, too, but generally that raw, edgy appearance holds steady as a defining characteristic. Colors pop with authority, whether prison garb or suits and neckties; there's always, in good light, a sense of vivid pop and punch apparent in every applicable scene, while some of the less colorful and dank prison interiors also thrive within their more limited, and less flashy, color parameters. Textural stability holds firm. The Blu-ray offers potent detail to faces, clothes, and environments alike, bringing excellent overall clarity and tactile definition to practically every shot. There are no encode issues to report.

Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack satisfies general requirements. The track can get fairly active during some of the more intensive prison scenes, with good depth to slamming doors or riotous activity filtering into the surrounds to create an immersive stir, but the track is otherwise fairly straightforward and front heavy. Music doesn't filter through the back with any serious sense of command, but the general movement through the speakers offers enough placement detail and clarity to satisfy. Light ambient effects offer good general immersive detail. Dialogue propels much of the show, and it is presented with hearty clarity and stability from the front-center channel.

Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Mayor of Kingstown: Season One contains extras on all three discs. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

Disc One:

• Behind the Story (1080p): A blend of episode-specific insight and general making-of details. Included are The Mayor of Kingstown (7:57), The End Begins (7:07), and Simply Murder (6:52).

Disc Two:

• Behind the Story (1080p): A blend of episode-specific insight and general making-of details. Included are The Price (9:02), Orion (4:57), Every Feather (8:22), and Along Came a Spider (6:47).

Disc Three:

• Behind the Story (1080p): A blend of episode-specific insight and general making-of details. Included are The Devil Is Us (7:47), The Lie of the Truth (6:12), and This Piece of My Soul (7:12).
• Perdition: Making Mayor of Kingstown (1080p, 35:10): Looking back on the project's origins, story details, cast and characters, Sheridan's work on the show, set anecdotes and camaraderie, behind-the-scenes footage and making key scenes, and plenty more.
• Zero Sum Game: The Finale (1080p, 13:04): As the title suggests, this piece explores the finale in detail.
• Inside Mayor of Kingstown (1080p, 1:02): A lightning-quick look at the series' basics.
• People of Kingstown (1080p): Brief character bios. Included are Meet Mike McLusky (1:02), Meet Mitch McLusky (1:02), and Meet Marian McLusky (1:02).
• Cast Favorite Scenes (1080p): Cast briefly share favorite scenes. Included are Nishi's Favorite Scene (1:01), Aidan's Favorite Scene (1:01), Hugh's Favorite Scene (1:02), Emma's Favorite Scene (1:02), and Tobi's Favorite Scene (1:02).

Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mayor of Kingstown is a show with potential, but it's going to need to take a fresh look at one half of its storyline if the other side's freshness is going to stand up to scrutiny. What works is the larger dynamic beyond the prison walls, exploring how Kingstown operates because of the prison system within it, but the prison system genre staples grow rather tiresome, rather fast. Paramount's three-disc Blu-ray set delivers fine video and audio and a very heathy allotment of bonus materials. Worth a look.