Warning: Major spoilers for episode 1 of Mobland ahead
Guy Ritchie’s star-studded new crime dramaMobLandstarted with a bang on Paramount+, and breathed life into a brewing war between rival crime families in the London underworld.Starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren,MobLandchronicles the exploits of the Harrigans, a family that profits off of drug and gun dealing, and the associates of the family, most significantly the family’s fixer, Harry Da Souza (Hardy). Naturally,Guy Ritchie’s trademark storytellingand action elements are present in the drama series, as he is an executive producer on the series.
The first episode predictably introduced many of the show’s major players, including the key members of the Harrigan family and crime organization and their primary adversary, Richie Stevenson. It also introducedMobLand’s central conflict, which is the struggle for territory (both in product and in location) between the aggressively-expanding Harrigans and the southern London Stevenson gang. Matters are made more personal in episode 1, as young Tommy Stevenson goes missing after a night out with the volatile Eddie Harrigan, ratcheting up tensions between the two families.
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What Actually Happened To Tommy Stevenson
The Young Man Went Missing After A Night Out
Eddie and Tommy were each out with separate friends when they ran into each other as a night out was just ramping up. As a defiant demonstration of their own machismo, they agree to head to a club together despite their families' very public rivalries. As the night progresses, a cocaine-addled Eddie preemptively stabs a man he thought was going to do the same to him, and the boys are forced to flee the club. They run into each other alone, having escaped their pursuers, anddespite Tommy’s reservations he leaves with Eddie.
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Tommy was never seen after that, and in due time his family becomes alarmed and investigates his disappearance. When they find out he was with Eddie the night he went missing, their desperation becomes more intense. When confronted by Harry,Eddie lies to his face about being out with Tommy in the first place, which makes it seem as though he had something to do with the disappearance. His father also mentions that he came home “covered in blood”, which didn’t appear to be the case after the stabbing, or when he was seen alone with Tommy later.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, butit certainly seems like the ultra-impulsive Eddie did something to harm Tommy. The evidence is beginning to mount against him, and while Harry’s job is to keep any and all heat off the Harrigans, Richie Stevenson is most assuredly coming for blood knowing that Eddie likely had something to do with his son’s disappearance. Unless Tommy resurfaces, it seems safe to assume Eddie did something terrible to him.
He Shot His Childhood Friend In Front Of His Family
Episode 1 ofMoblandbegan and ended with moments of extreme violence, but the most shocking was the murder at the end of the episode. Conrad’s childhood friend and current associate of the Harrigan family,Archie, is suspected (mostly by Maeve) of playing for the Stevensons as opposed to the Harrigans, which seems to be confirmed when he balks at Conrad’s elaborate plan to eventually take control of the fentanyl trade in London. As Maeve predicted before the living room family chat, Archie tried to talk Conrad into letting the Stevensons have fentanyl and focusing their attention elsewhere.
Maeve refers to an area as “The Fire”, which is likely a reference to the central part of London (which lies between the Harrigan and Stevenson territories) along the River Thames, which was completely burned up in the Great Fire of London in the late 1600s.
Conrad fetches a gun while Maeve reveals to Archie that they know he’s a traitor, and Conrad returns to confront him. Interestingly, Conrad asks both Maeve and Archie which of the two is lying, indicating thateven with his gun in Archie’s chest, he’s not actually sure if Archie is a traitor. However, he decides to pull the trigger in what seems like the first real indication that Conrad may not truly be in control of the family; it seems as though Maeve is the puppet master behind the throne.
She Factored Heavily Into His Decision To Kill Conrad
Conrad’s indecision is made even more obvious when he leaves the living room, as he angrily snaps at Maeve when she tries to comfort him. It could be as simple as him being completely shaken at being forced to kill his old friend because he was betrayed. It could also be that he was second-guessing himself after, andhe was furious with Maeve for moving his hand before he had a chance to investigate any further than her suspicions. It’s an interesting development, especially because that was the second time in the episode that Maeve made a decision for him.
Richie Was In Kiko’s Crosshairs, Yet They Let Him Live
The first instance of Maeve’s manipulation came just after Harry met with Richie at Moody’s gym, an old-school neutral site that both sides could safely negotiate at. When Harry and Richie left, Richie was in the crosshairs of Harry’s associate Kiko, and he called Conrad to get a yay or nay on pulling the trigger. WhileConrad had the opportunity to kill Richie then and cut the head off the Stevenson snake before things escalated any further with regard to Tommy’s disappearance, he asked Maeve for her decision, and she stayed his hand.
Conrad seemed confused, and asked her outright why she’d let him live. She spun some lines about it being the wrong place and the wrong time, especially when they don’t know what happened to Tommy or what Eddie knows about the situation. On top of that, she argued they’d be more satisfied if they were present when Richie was killed. However,it’s suspicious that she spared the life of Richie earlier, then pushed Conrad to kill someone else as a traitor, kicking off an interesting plot thread about Maeve’s true allegiance.
The Show Began With A Bloodbath
The episode kicked off with a basement meeting between two warring gangs, mediated by Harry. The two gangs were customers or distributors for the Harrigans' heroin, and hada personal beef that Harry was trying to settle to ensure the streets stayed clean for product to continue to flow. However, by his assessment, the two sides would not actually stop the violence for good, even if they shook hands that night. That prompted Conrad to give him the okay to wipe them both out at once, and he even came downstairs to finish off one of the leaders himself.
With that newfound void in the London heroin scene, Conrad sent Archie with an offer for another group referred to as the Maltese to fill the hole. As Conrad hoped, they offered 20% more than he was making before, makingthe basement bloodbath seem like little more than savvy business maneuvering. It’s a great way to showcase how aggressive and ruthless Conrad is, and the depth of loyalty involved in Harry’s role, and it sets the tone forMobLandright out of the gate.
