This post contains spoilers from MobLand season 1 episode 4, “Rat Trap.”
The deeper we get into MobLand, the more I feel for Harry (Tom Hardy). He has the weight of the world on his shoulders and is the only thing preventing the fury between two powerful, ready-for-war crime families from unleashing, as both use him to their full advantage.
While episode 3 saw Harry working overtime to keep the warring waters smooth as police received an anonymous tip about where to find Archie’s (Alex Jennings) body, episode 4 sees him go from being a fixer to a suspected rat.
Additionally, Richie (Geoff Bell) makes a decision about Valjon (Peter Ferdinando), a new (suspicious) character claiming to be an old friend of Harry’s shows up, and we're inundated with a bounty of shocking revelations that expose both traumatic secrets and massive secrets, including the full truth behind Tommy’s (Felix Edwards) death. Let’s get this episode 4 recap rollin’!
Conrad sets a rat trap
Parlor Pete (Jim Conway) informs Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) the police have retrieved Archie’s body. Conrad wonders to Maeve who could’ve tipped them off, because only two people knew where Archie was buried: Conrad and Harry. He doesn’t believe Harry would betray him, but Maeve sees her opportunity and expresses her opinion that Harry is likely the rat, reminding Conrad that he was in police custody just minutes before the tip about Archie came in.
She might be right, but Conrad is failing to consider two important factors: 1. that husbands and wives talk, and even when they don’t, a wife like Maeve still knows everything, and 2. that Parlor Pete had to have known where Archie was buried; he provided the hiding place. Maeve could be the rat just as much as Parlor Pete could, but would the undertaker risk betraying the Harrigans after helping them dispose of so much?
Conrad has Paul (Emmett J Scanlan) follow Jan (Joanne Froggatt), who unfortunately goes to therapy and reveals her apathy: “I expect nothing. I get nothing. I feel nothing,” she says. When she leaves, Conrad pays her an intimidating visit, where he meets her new friend Alice (Emily Barber), whom I’ve been suspicious of since we first met her. Once she leaves, Conrad talks to Jan about how Harry needs her as much as she needs him and how Harry needs the Harrigans as much as they need him.
“Do you know what we have in common?” he asks her, tightly gripping her knee while demanding she inquire what. Terrified, she asks, and Conrad replies, “We both love Harry,” before instructing her what she will and won’t do from here on out, implying it would be a shame if something happened to damage the solidity of their blended family. As he leaves, he sets his trap: “Not a word to Harry,” he says, knowing that’s the first thing she’ll do… and she does. In response, Harry tells her she cannot go to therapy anymore or talk about their lives to anyone, then he informs her of what’s going on.
Kevin’s past reveals traumatic secrets
As Kevin (Paddy Considine) and Harry wait for news from Richie, Harry asks if he remembers the guard from juvie, Rusby (Nigel Lindsay). Kevin denies any recognition, but his eyes reveal he clearly knows who Harry is talking about and his shifty movements and subsequent flashback confirm it. Kevin was not only physically abused by Rusby, but he was also regularly sexually assaulted by him. Maeve interrupts his flashback when she calls wanting him to tell Harry that “Maeve says hi” — a message Harry receives loud and clear.
The more Kevin drinks, the more he talks, and out comes a secret so salacious, I literally choked on my food when he said it.
We’re all wondering why Bella doesn’t stay at the Cotswolds with the rest of the family. Kevin reveals she doesn’t like to stay there because… wait for it… she and Conrad had an affair. He was in his 50s, she was in her 20s. Maeve found out and told Kevin, who then confronted Bella, and when she confirmed it, Maeve made Conrad end it. So, what did the patriarch do? He wanted to keep her around so he introduced Bella to Kevin, who was already so in love, that he squared away the truth and has just dealt with it all these years.
“This is some real Henry VIII-type sh*t,” Kevin says through a half-hearted laugh, and he’s right. It is. Poor Kevin is full of traumatic secrets.
Later, when Harry goes to see Bella and deliver the evidence Antoine (Grégoire Colin) was using to extort her, he runs into Kevin on his way out and lies about why he’s there. When Kevin questions Bella, she tells a different lie. Now Kevin is triggered and likely suspects his best mate and his wife are having an affair, when they aren’t. Harry is just doing his job as a fixer. While their interaction does allude to something more, right now it just seems like all business, though shady.
Richie makes a request
Harry finally receives a call from Richie, who requests a meeting alone. When he arrives, Richie tells him something doesn’t feel right about Valjon’s story, and he needs to see one more thing before making a final decision: He wants to see Harry kill Valjon, which he does brutally, without hesitation, by using a shard from a cinder block to stab him numerous times in the manner Tommy was killed. Richie is pleased but requires one more thing before he’ll let go of his theory that Eddie (Anson Boon) killed his son: He wants the Harrigans to attend Tommy’s funeral.
It's risky, for sure, but is Richie setting his own trap for the Harrigans, or does he just genuinely want them there to pay respects as a fellow criminal enterprise? There's no way Richie is letting this go, in my opinion, so this funeral scene should be enticing to watch.
At the Cotswolds, Eddie makes a shocking revelation when he asks Maeve if they made a mistake in killing Tommy. Yep, you heard—er, read me correctly: Maeve was involved in Tommy’s death. Eddie might’ve physically done the deed, but Maeve orchestrated it and used her grandson as a pawn; she saw in him a lack of empathy replaced by apathy, making him the perfect choice to kill for her and represent the ruthlessness she wants to see emanate from the Harrigan clan.
“We have the Stevensons right where we want them,” she assures him as he worries, but she also has Conrad where she wants him as well. She clearly holds a grudge against him for his multiple affairs and is using Eddie—whom Conrad adores—in retaliation to make her moves.
The last shocking revelation comes at the end of episode 4. It seems Jan’s new friend Alice is not just a normal person: She’s a cop.
MobLand episode 4 review
MobLand is operating at a genius pace, and I love it. If these kinds of secrets are being revealed this early, we can only imagine what awaits us further down the line. Episode 4 really gives us an inside look at the dangers not just of being involved with a crime family but of being born into one.
And while season 1 has given us hints about Maeve, episode 4 is where we get our fill of her as a most delicious, deviant character. She pulls strings, coerces, and intimidates the best of them without so much as extending a finger in effort. She’s cunning and brilliant, and I think most in the family underestimate her… except Harry. He has her number, Maeve likely knows it, and when they clash, it will be a clash of titans. Mark my words.
Lastly, while we do feel some pressure and sympathy for Harry, I think we feel more for Kevin, especially after this episode. This poor guy has been abused and manipulated since he was a kid not just by authority figures but also by his own father. Can you imagine what that has done to his psyche, especially over decades of carrying buried truths? Kevin is one of those characters who is so pent up with sadness and trauma that when he explodes, it will be unprecedented.
Paramount+ releases new episodes of MobLand on Sundays.