Paramount ’s “Mayor of Kingstown” wrapped its fourth season Sunday and for the first time, there are few storylines hanging in a major way. (Spoilers follow.)
But we still have questions:
• It seemed like Edie Falco’s prison warden character was primed for a one-and-done season-long arc, but she managed to survive.
• Similarly, district attorney Evelyn (Necar Zadegan) still lives, even though Zadegan took a job on another series, CBS’s “CIA.”
Could either of them return in the show’s fifth season, which has yet to be officially ordered (but will be)?
“If they were alive at the end of the season, there’s always a possibility they’ll be back,” teased Taylor Handley, who plays Job-like Kyle McLusky, in a Zoom interview earlier this month.
Handley’s Kyle went through the wringer this season: Jailed, beaten and then evil Merle Callahan (Richard Brake) escaped and murdered Kyle’s wife, Tracy. At one point, Kyle seemed done with brother Mike (Jeremy Renner), but then he got to put a bullet in Merle.
“Promises that were made were not kept,” Handley said. “As far as the security of his wife and child, Kyle goes in to protect the house of cards that his brother and those friends have built. And then he’s the one who ends up really getting the brunt of the tragedies. But at the same time, Mitch McLuskey is in the ground, Miriam McLuskey is in the ground now. Tracy, his wife, passed away, and so [Mike and Kyle] are all [each other has] left. So are they going to fight? Are they going to come together to, hopefully, persevere?”
Regarding Merle’s murder of Tracy in episode eight, Brake said he was relieved to see Merle’s evil depicted outright.
“Some of the things he orders to get done, but you don’t really see it,” Brake said. “I didn’t want to be, ‘Oh, he’s an evil guy,’ so I just trusted the story would go somewhere that you could really see how dark he is. … It’s one of the most difficult but most rewarding scenes I’ve filmed.”
Handley sees two choices for Kyle in the future: Succumb to the darkness and let everything that’s happened take him out, or rise out of those ashes.
As for what villains remain, Handley points to potential new cartel action, but he said the real villain is the place.
“The biggest villain is Kingstown,” he said. “All bets are off when you’re living in Kingstown. Nobody is safe. Whoever’s left at the end of the day, what’s their tomorrow gonna look like?”
Both actors expressed appreciation and admiration for their experiences filming “Kingstown” in Pittsburgh.
“I absolutely love Pittsburgh,” said Handley, who lives in the Strip District during filming. “When I was told in season two that we were going to start filming there, I really didn’t know what to expect. I had heard stories, but when I got there, what I found was an amazing group of people. You guys have an amazing crew. The food is fantastic. The vibe is so good. It’s so true and real.”
Handley went from filming season four of “Kingstown” in Pittsburgh to guest-starring on the second season of “The Pitt,” which is set in Pittsburgh but mostly films in Burbank, Calif.
“When anything Pittsburgh-related popped up in the script, I was like, ‘Oh, I know about that. I’ve been there,” said Handley, who plays an ER patient’s husband in HBO Max’s Emmy-winning ER drama. “I’ve lived that, you know?”
Kept/canceled
CNN renewed “Have I Got News for You” for a fourth season, premiering at 9 p.m. Jan. 24.
Adult Swim renewed animated comedy “Haha, You Clowns,” for two more seasons.
Apple TV canceled “The Last Frontier” after one season.
Paramount ’s “NCIS: Tony and Ziva” will also not return for a second season.
Channel surfing
Already renewed for a second season on Peacock, NBC pulled “The Paper” from its linear TV lineup and will replace it with reruns of comedy “Stumble” at 8:30 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan. 5. NBC will air the three remaining “Paper” episodes on Jan. 3. … Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers’ Production’s PBS Kids series “Alma’s Way” returns for its third season Jan. 19 on WQED-TV with episodes themed to Black cowboy culture and New York culinary culture. … Earlier this month, Comcast’s Xfinity launched national “all-in” pricing plans. … The penultimate episode of “Stranger Things,” released on Christmas, ended with a surprisingly emotional character moment after unpacking the mystery of the Upside Down as the show prepares to wrap its story. The series finale streams on Netflix at 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve.