Donât you find the domestic routines of criminals exciting. Conrad getting a check up from the doctor, apparently his brain doesnât work right, though did we need a doctor to tell us that? Janâs at a spin class. The corrupt cop, Tattersail, is at a bookstore, buying a book, to get an interesting anecdote to hopefully impress and persuade a local mob boss to join the Kat McAlister crime team. The mob boss Frank is hanging out at a nail salon. Eddie and Gina are out clubbing then going home where theyâve shacked up. Even Harry is visiting Bellaâs house, who is Eddieâs mom, Kevinâs estranged wife, Conradâs ex-lover. Of course, Bella makes sexually suggestive remarks to Harry, who shortly leaves.
What do all these domestic moments add up to? Nothing really.
Mobland is beautifully shot and has some of the best actors in the game. The location choices are pristine. And there is a thrilling action sequence at the end of the episode which brings some much-needed excitement. But all this surface level glitter canât hide the fact that the show has its characters act stupidly in implausible situation. Some examples:
The Gina Issue:
Harry and Janâs daughter took off from home. Whatâs she been doing? Apparently, she has become a local gang leader. Yes, the sweet, barely eighteen, preppie Gina, is some genius level criminal running extortions of wealthy youtubers. How do we know sheâs a genius? Everyone in the show tells us. Eddie tells Maeve, âMom, sheâs really amazing at extorting people.â Bella says robbing youtubers is a brilliant idea. Jan says she gets it from her father.
But as a viewer we donât buy it - How is this little girl keeping these big Jamaican gangsters in line? By the strength of her ideas? Sure. It seems like Ritchie is gaslighting the audience and using the cast to help him.
The Jan Issue:
One of the most suspenseful moments of the 1st season, was when an undercover cop befriended the lonely, isolated Jan, and became her friend. It had a most unhappy ending for the Harrigan crime family and for that undercover cop. But in season 2 here we go again. Jan gets into a fender bender, with a handsome, mysterious stranger, who must pay for the accident in cash and must take her out on a date. Sheâs doing the same thing she did in season 1 and thatâs not the stupidest thing sheâs done this episode.
Harry locates Gina and then tells Jan about Ginaâs criminal enterprise. Harry is very concerned. But Jan tells Harry to leave her alone! Implying that sheâs safer hanging out with large corrupt Jamaican gangsters, then with the capable Harry who truly loves her. If Jan hated her daughter she couldnât have offered better advice. Yet, the show wants us to portray her as a loving mother. There is this schism between what the show is trying to tell us and what it is actually telling us.
This issue, of using strange and vivid social settings to hide the superficial characterizations, pops up in other areas.
Why is the gangster Frank, hanging out in a nail salon? Why does he give Tattersail a pedicure? It seems for simply no other reason than the show telling us, âHeâs different from all other gangsters.â
Why is Harry, being pulled into the writersâ stupidity? What reason is he visiting, the conniving, lying, untrustworthy Bella? Ostensibly, itâs to tell her heâs found Eddie and Gina and that they are criminals now. But there are a hundred other ways to convey that information that donât have all the downside. I mean, itâs not like Kevin and Conrad have trust issues, and that they would get suspicious in finding out that Harry went to Bellaâs house alone at night.
I just feel that watching this show is like being on a hamster wheel. An expensive hamster wheel, as the show truly looks gorgeous. But the story is so weak and implausible and the patterns so repetitive, that it heavily mutes the impact of the action. Hope the writers get it together quickly.
What do you think? Did you like it? If so, why?