Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for MobLand Episode 5.It felt so simple in the beginning. I was convinced we were meant to hateEddie (Anson Boon)and see Maeve (Helen Mirren) as a chaotic threat, but overall, Richie Stevenson (Geoff Bell) is the main danger to the Harrigans and the antagonist ofMobLand. He was disgustingly violent and seemed to use his paranoia over Tommy’s (Felix Edwards) disappearance as an excuse to attack the Harrigans. His rougher cockney accent contrasted with the Harrigans' softer and more eloquent Irish. However, I’m more than happy to admit I was wrong:Richie is not the detestable villain, but is well within his rights to want the destruction ofConrad (Pierce Brosnan)and his family.
This newfound sympathy of mine has been born out of both his actions, which have shown a depth to his character, and how the Harrigans have been the constant aggressors of the season. Despite Richie being merciful, every attempt of his to accept peace has been smacked away, and if it were offered to me,I’d love to see him go on aJohn Wick-style spree through the family. This may be almost impossible, considering we are in a gangster crime drama, where what is fair rarely ends up being the outcome, but a guy can dream, right?
The Death and Funeral of Tommy in ‘MobLand’ Revealed Richie’s Vulnerable Side
I think it’s important to note that I’m not saying Richie is a good person now. He is still a murderer who takes pleasure in dominating others. However, that is nearly everybody inMobLand. Even our protagonist,Harry (TomHardy), is not a good person, but the reason we support him is that we see more of him than just the terrifying enforcer that shows up at your door on Harrigan’s orders. In Episode 5, “Funeral For a Friend,” Richie was given a similar treatment. Whenhe repeatedly sobs during the funeral, we see that he is more than just a bloodthirsty gangster. He is a father and husband who loves and hurts like any other human.
We have seen the character cry before when he found out Tommy was indeed dead in Episode 3, “Plan B,” but that was in private after a shocking revelation, before he hid his emotions. This was an open and prolonged display of suffering. To see someone repress their emotions at all times makes them a frustrating character to watch, as we feel little sympathy for someone determined to shut everyone out and be as hateful as possible. But, to see Richie only do so when he is in a place of business, as he was when he first cried,makes his previous anger feel like a necessary evil he employs in an evil industry.
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Richie Shows Mercy to Eddie and the Harrigans in ‘MobLand’
For most ofMobLandso far, the central narrative thrusthas been the lie Harry andKevin (Paddy Considine)have tried to convince Richie of: that Valjon (Peter Ferdinando) killed Tommy, not Eddie. Up until the funeral, it seemed this had worked, with Harry’s vicious murder of Valjon in Episode 4, “Rat Trap,” the reassurance Richie needed. Therefore,when Richie reveals to Conrad, Kevin, and Harry that he knows the truth, the tension is sky-high, especially with Conrad’s son and pseudo-son both carrying firearms and grenades they previously snuck into Richie’s house.
However, rather than attempting to massacre the entireHarrigan family, Richie controls his anger. He is fair, which isn’t what one would associate with him at the start of the season. When he reveals that he knows it was Eddie who killed Tommy, he allows Eddie to live so long as he never has to see him again. While Eddie will live in fear, it’s more than Richie’s son got, as he points out. He had means and motive, yet didn’t act on them, and itshows he doesn’t commit violence only for the pleasure of it.
Richie Has Every Right To Destroy the Harrigans in ‘MobLand’
In the end, I went from hoping Harry would just dispose of this threat to his wife,Jan (Joanne Froggart), and his daughter, Gina (Teddie Allen), to being completely in favor of Richie burning his business to the ground to destroy the Harrigans. With the assassination of Vron (Annie Cooper), Richie’s wife, in a car bomb, which we’re clearly supposed to assume was done on the orders of Maeve or at least someone in the Harrigan family, he has a right of retaliation, at least within this gangster underworld. Essentially, theHarrigans have been shown as the aggressors at every point of this conflict.
What’s fascinating about this is that, typically, in this genre, the initial threat comes from outside the family and tests their resilience. InThe Godfather, it isSollozzo (Al Lettieri)andBarzini (Richard Conte), and inPeaky Blinders, it is Major Campbell (Sam Neill), Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody), or another gangster or shady organization. However, inMobLand, the family our protagonist, Harry, works for, the Harrigans, are the real bad guys in this war. As previously mentioned, normally, all the characters are amoral, but the ones we follow are given sympathy through either being put on the defensive or our perspective of them revealing more depth. Yet, the depth we have seen in the Harrigans has only made me hate them more, and the tiny bit of nuance seen inRichie’s character has made him an antihero of the story. Doing what someone may consider a noble deed, avenging the deaths of his family, but most likely in a way most good people would never do.
I admit I can be stubborn. When I find a character apprehensible, I rarely end up changing my mind on them (at least, not over the course of one season or a couple of episodes). However, the slow exploration of Richie’s character, since he is only a supporting character, has been one of the best parts ofMobLandso far. Seeing him in different lights, particularly one that is not influenced by how the Harrigans describe him, has shown me he may be as bad as any other gangster, but I’m not watching this show to judge these characters by the normal moral standards of society. Within the criminal underworld,I’m convinced Richie is a far more sympathetic character than any of the Harrigans, and yes, that includes Harry.
New episodes ofMobLandpremiere every Sunday on Paramount+.
