This post contains spoilers from Paramount+’s MobLand episode 1, “Stick or Twist.”
Guy Ritchie is back, and he’s bringing his signature gritty style to Paramount+ with his new gangster series MobLand. If anything, episode 1 heartily establishes that the series will be your newest streaming obsession over the next 10 weeks, and believe me, it is worth every second of your time.
MobLand drops us right in the heart of a global crime syndicate and focuses on powerful crime family the Harrigans as they navigate power struggles and betrayal in the name of maintaining control and reputation. While the Harrigans go head-to-head with rival London crime family the Stevenson and an all-out war ensues, our narrative follows one man and his efforts to keep the peace and clean up all their shady problems: well-respected “fixer” Harry Da Souza (Tom Hardy), who knows all too well that when opposing forces collide, loyalty lines are drawn in the sand, and family is all that matters.
In episode 1, Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan) looks to expand his empire as Harry is called upon to make a problem disappear after a night out goes horribly wrong for the sons of the warring families, resulting in both a serious crime and a mysterious disappearance. When Stevenson family boss Richie (Geoff Bell) looks to pin blame on the Harrigans, Conrad sends out the Bat signal to his clan and gathers them to make a plan. Every decision of theirs seems to come down to one thing: stick or twist? In other words, keep alive or kill.
Conrad looks to expand his empire
MobLand episode 1 opens with Harry mediating an agreement between warring crime factions the Dogans and the Lazaros, who share an ecosystem spanning North and East London that is a complex interdependent revenue system. If it were to collapse “because of some stupid beef,” Harry reminds them, it would cost millions to everyone. Both parties agree to put the beef to bed with a handshake, but they refuse to apologize.
When Harry goes to Conrad with their decision and gives his opinion that the truce won’t last, Conrad’s response (through quite the little metaphor) is to fix it.
“You plant the trees, the trees grow tall, then sooner or later, they begin to get mangled. Before you know it, the apples start to rot and that, Harry, my son, is pruning time.”
As such, Harry goes back into the meeting room and opens fire on every Dogan and Lazaro in the room. They were already paying a percentage to work in Harrigan territory, so with them out of the way, a space has opened in the market for Conrad to sell to others, thereby expanding his empire. While the Harrigans focus mostly on guns and heroin, Conrad wants to move them into fentanyl, which is sure to upset the Stevensons.
A night out goes horribly wrong
The Stevensons and Harrigans are rival crime families. As such, they aren’t exactly friendly with each other, and they certainly don’t hang out… at least that’s how it is for everyone but Conrad’s grandson Eddie (Anson Boon) and Richie’s son Tommy, who frequently party together.
The two share a cab and drugs then enter a club with friends, all on the Harrigan name. This is where we officially see how much weight the Harrigans carry throughout the city. While inside, Tommy grows uncomfortable and turns to leave, but when Eddie stops him, he accidentally spills a drink on a bystander, who lashes out at Eddie. When the bystander tries to pull his blade, Eddie beats him to the punch and plunges his knife into the guy's stomach, then he and his friends rush out of the club, separating in the process.
As luck would have it, Eddie ends up running into Tommy along the banks of the Thames, where he throws the bloody weapon into the water like nothing ever happened. Tommy is unnerved and apprehensive, but he winds up leaving with Eddie, and then he disappears.
Harry fixes a new problem
The next morning, Harry gets a call from Kevin (Paddy Considine), Eddie’s father, who is a nervous wreck because his son came home covered in blood. While Harry works to fix the problem, he finds that trying to get information out of Eddie, who is arrogant and entitled, is like talking to a brick wall.
Harry gathers Eddie’s clothes from the night before then locates and deletes any CCTV footage from the club showing Eddie in a scuffle. He then goes to the hospital to convince the stabbing victim that he didn’t see his attacker, to tell police he was high on ketamine. Harry even takes care to coach him on how to convincingly lie to the police. He then gets rid of the clothing evidence, gangster style, by shoving it all in the coffin of a dead man who’s about to be buried. Boom: problem solved… or is it?
When Tommy never comes home, Richie sends his guys out to look for him, who find he was last seen with Eddie. Richie thinks Conrad is using Tommy to lean on him about the fentanyl. When questioned, Eddie lies and says he was never with Tommy, and Harry knows this has the potential to start a war. With Conrad’s permission, he sets a meeting with Richie at Moody’s Boxing Club, where Harry assures the boss he will get to the bottom of this.
Stick or twist
After meeting with Richie, Harry calls Conrad and tells him they can kill the boss now or wait for the war. It’s a tense moment, as there’s only a short window to take him out, and the closer he gets to his car, the more that window closes. Conrad asks Maeve, “Stick or twist?”. She revels in the delay of making the decision, and just as she sees Conrad about to answer, she chimes in with “stick.” Richie’s death, Maeve reminds him, is something he’ll will want to see in person.
As the Harrigan clan gathers, the topic of discussion is expansion. Conrad says they’ll fund it with fentanyl by starting a crackdown between the Mexicans and the Stevensons. His plan is to let Richie fill up with product then come in at a lower price since there’s no competition now that the Dogans and Lazaros gone.
When Conrad’s oldest friend Archie chimes up and says fentanyl is bad news, that “We should leave Richie in charge of [it],” Conrad replies, “We?” He then excuses himself, giving Maeve a chance to move in. She’s a pro at reading and intimidating people, and she thinks Richie is paying Archie to keep their family out of the fentanyl game.
When Conrad returns, he puts a gun right to Archie’s heart. Maeve says, “Stick or twist, baby,” and Conrad fires, killing his oldest friend right there in the family room. No one goes against the Harrigans and lives to talk about it.
MobLand episode 1 review
One episode in and I’m already hooked! What excited me most (outside of watching Harry work and Maeve intimidate people) was seeing Tommy Flanagan, of Sons of Anarchy fame, appear as Moody. He’s a perfect addition to this gritty cast. I also love that our narrative seems to be about the warring crime families but in reality, it’s really about what Harry endures as a fixer, and how all of it affects his personal life, which includes a wife and daughter.
There are so many power dynamics at play, but what I find most interesting is that Harry seems to carry the most weight with everyone, as he’s well respected and deeply trusted.
Furthermore, MobLand – in just one episode – proves itself riddled with Guy Ritchie signature grit, loads of action (violence), humorous banter, rapid-fire conversation, well-written characters charged with mystery and depth, and a narrative so blatantly intricate that we can’t help but become entangled in it... and we're just getting started.
MobLand releases new episodes Sundays on Paramount+.