Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
Season 1 of the Paramount+ drama “MobLand” ended on Sunday, June 1, wrapping up the hit series starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren.
When it premiered on March 30, the crime drama broke records as the streamer’s biggest global series launch ever, drawing 2.2 million viewers on premiere day.
Spoilers below for the “MobLand” Season 1 finale.
At the end of the Season 1 finale, mob fixer Harry Da Souza’s (Hardy) wife, Jan (Joanne Froggatt), accidentally stabs him in the chest with a knife during an argument. The burning question: is that fatal?
“I mean, if you think about it, ‘is Harry dead?’” writer and executive producer Jez Butterworth exclusively told The Post. “No. We’re not gonna – We love Harry. We love Tom.”
Butterworth, who also co-wrote the 2014 Tom Cruise movie “Edge of Tomorrow,” added, “I felt strongly that throughout the whole tale, the ball that he kept dropping was his home life,” referring how Harry and his wife were having friction, due to her unhappiness with his job.
“It felt satisfyingly dramatic that having walked through fire for 10 episodes, what happens at the end is the one thing he’s not expecting.”
The show follows the Harrigans, a London crime family led by patriarch Conrad (Brosnan). His wife Mave (Mirren) frequently schemes behind his back. She hates his illegitimate daughter, Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon), and fawns over his sociopathic grandson, Eddie (Anson Boon). Over the course of the season, one of their sons, Brendan (Daniel Betts), got brutally killed by an enemy, while their other son, Kevin (Paddy Considine), came into his own.
Harry is their fixer who cleans up their messes, at the expense of his home life.
Since Harry and Jan have been married for over a decade, one might think she’d be used to his line of work.
“I think in all relationships, the things that we like at first gradually drive you crazy…[Harry] is too freewheelling,” Butterworth, a Tony-winning playwright who also co-wrote the 2015 James Bond film “Spectre,” explained.
“I think what you’re seeing here [between Harry and Jan] is just the attritional cost of dealing with this level of unpredictability, anxiety and stress.”
Paramount has not announced a Season 2 yet.
But if Season 2 happens, Butterworth hopes that the “chaotic” dynamic of the family will continue.
“They resemble most families, which is to say, they’re chaos. I can’t be working out in my family who’s the craziest! That’s going to continue.”
He added that if the show continues, it will also keep its focus on the “beating heart,” of the story, which is the “Jeeves and Wooster relationship that Harry has with this family,” he said, referring to the ‘90s British sitcom about a wealthy man and his valet who gets him out of mishaps.
Conrad hasn’t exactly run a tight ship. His family is full of double crossing, impulsive actions, and scheming.
“I liked the idea of coming in at a point where perhaps their great days are behind them, and for that to be the test that Conrad is presented with, and that he has to meet the challenge of,” said Butterworth, who also wrote the screenplay for the Matt Damon and Christian Bale sports drama “Ford v Ferrari.”
“We’ve been watching somebody who is perhaps questioning if they are at the end of their reign. Are they going to be able to rise to that and overcome that? I think that’s a fascinating narrative.”
The Season 1 finale also killed off the Harrigan’s adversary, Ritchie (Geoff Bell). At times, he was sympathetic.
“I loved the fact — and a lot of it’s down to the actor — that he has a melancholy quality that really makes you feel sorry for somebody who is a monster,” said Butterworth.
“[Ritchie] was not a monster. He had a monster in him. Whereas, I think Conrad is a monster with a human being [in him] that’s trying to be heard. It’s a slightly different balance.”
“It was a sad day when I felt that Richie’s time had run out,” he continued. “But I also wanted to squeeze all of the juice out of that particular storyline, and leave us in a position where we could vault from it and move on.”
As for the future of “MobLand” if renewed, he told The Post: “I’d like this to run for as long as it fascinates and delights and stimulates an audience. If it’s doing that, then long may it continue.”
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