As the body count rises, bonds are broken, loyalties are tested, and alliances are forged

Key Points

• Seraphina’s safe return and Brendan’s brutal demise see the war between Conrad and Richie take some unexpected turns.

• New character Inspector Colin Tattersall (Toby Jones) brings a dangerous dynamic to the battle between the crime families.

• Harry gets deeper into debt with McAllister, while Richie removes Fisk and Mukasa from the equation permanently.

Following Brendan Harrigan’s (Daniel Betts) unfortunate meeting with a chainsaw last week, MobLand‘s eighth episode, “Helter Skelter,” finds Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) and Maeve (Helen Mirren) mourning the brutal loss of their firstborn son. As the family patriarch tearfully recalls the night his boy came into the world, his conniving better half comforts him, tightly holding his hand.

Meanwhile, Seraphina Harrigan (Mandeep Dhillon) — who barely escaped that same buzzing blade — is sitting in the back of a black SUV, her face still covered in her brother’s blood. She’s being delivered to Harry (Tom Hardy), who’s waiting at a rendezvous point with his stolen motorcycle. Upon leaving her by the road, Richie Stevenson’s (Geoff Bell) Mexican cartel associates remind Harry that Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer) now owes their leader, Jaime Lopez (Jordi Molla), a favor.

When Seraphina arrives home, she explains to her father what happened in Antwerp, blaming herself for Brendan’s murder. But Conrad comforts her, ensuring her that Richie is the only person responsible. Maeve then enters the room and delivers one hell of a performance. She hugs her hated half-daughter, calls her a true Harrigan, and even offers to cook for her.

Conrad then presses Harry on how he knows Kat, leading the fixer to reveal that McAllister offered him a job a couple of years back. His loyalty to the Harrigans, however, kept him from accepting it. Conrad appreciates his honesty and devotion, but gravely reminds him that Kat is not someone to whom you want to be indebted. He tells Harry that he considers him a son, but also warns him never to cross the Harrigan clan.

Shifting from the personal to the business side of the family, Conrad decides he wants to make a play on Richie’s fentanyl trade. To Kevin’s (Paddy Considine) dismay, the bold move would not only require a sit-down with Lopez, but also another big favor from McAllister. Harry gets the ball rolling for Conrad, putting calls into Freddie (Bradley Turner) — his Richie Stevenson mole — and his Kat contact, Donnie (Alex Fine).

Jan (Joanne Froggatt) briefly interrupts to let her husband know that Gina (Teddie Allen) is shagging Eddie (Anson Boon). Unsurprisingly, Harry immediately marches to the Harrigan grandson’s room. Eddie greets him with a cocky smile, before taunting and antagonizing him. He tells Harry he works for him, and that he should be happy his daughter is hooking up with the future head of the Harrigan family.

Stifling his urge to throttle the thug, Harry politely sits the young man down, explains to him that he trusts his daughter, and therefore gives them his blessing. But he also reminds Eddie that he’ll be right by his side as he climbs the family hierarchy and, when he ascends to the top, he’ll also be right there to push him down. Harry exits with a chuckle, leaving Eddie scared and speechless.

Next on Harry’s dysfunctional family tour is Gina, with whom he attempts to have a meaningful father-daughter chat. He warns her Eddie is a no-good murderer, to which she swiftly responds with a little something she learned in psychology class. She details the Electra complex, in which daughters choose partners who display the same traits as their fathers. After that mic drop, she promptly returns to Eddie’s bedroom.

Back in the house, Conrad corners Jan and questions her about her little field trip to the village pub to meet her mole friend Alice (Emily Barber). He says she should never leave the property — for her own safety — without his permission. He then demands she call her suspicious new pal. When  Alice gets on the line, he takes over the call and invites her to the Cotswolds for dinner.

Elsewhere at the Harrigan estate, Bella (Lara Pulver) is prepping for her meeting with Antoine (Grégoire Colin) in London. She lies to Conrad — her father-in-law and former lover — telling him that she has a doctor’s appointment in the city. He switches the subject, asking her to spy on Kevin, who he believes has been acting strange. She’s hesitant to spy on her own husband, but Conrad sternly reminds Bella that she belongs to him.

After eavesdropping on Conrad and Bella’s conversation, Maeve pulls Kevin aside. She tells her son that Seraphina, while groggy on sleeping pills, insinuated she was Conrad’s “number one.” Maeve fears she’s making a play to take over the family business. She stresses the only rightful heirs are Kevin and his brother. But given that Brendan was just carved up, Kev quickly corrects his mum. She immediately fires back, “No, I mean your other brother,” to which he hits back, “You f—ing bitch!”

Frustrated over his exchange with Maeve, Kev drives to the elder care facility where Harry had seen Rusby (Nigel Lindsay). He arrives with a bouquet of flowers and a story about him being an old neighbor friend of Rusby’s wife, who resides at the nursing home. He pretends to be her acquaintance, while attempting to score details on when her husband visits. The wife isn’t much help, though, so Kev resorts to stealing the center’s sign-in ledger to secure the intel he needs.

Back in London, we’re introduced to an intriguing new player in the war between crime families. Former Deputy Chief Inspector Colin Tattersall (Toby Jones) has arrived at Detective Fisk’s (Luke Mably) office to offer his expertise in taking down the Harrigans.

Tattersall is somewhat familiar with Harry, but has a long history with Richie, whom he apparently sent to the slammer several times. He advises the best way to break Conrad is by cozying up to Richie. To Fisk’s surprise, the veteran inspector suggests offering Richie immunity in exchange for him helping dismantle Harrigan’s criminal empire.

When we catch up with Harry, he’s meeting Freddie with an offer. He feeds him a story about him and Kev taking over the Harrigan empire, eliminating Richie, and taking a piece of the fentanyl pie. He asks for Freddie’s help and offers to cut him in.

Once Richie’s disloyal henchman spills the deets, though, Harry tosses him over the multistory car park where they’ve met. Before Freddie can crash to his death, however, he reveals that someone in the Harrigan clan has been secretly working the fentanyl trade with Richie.

Shortly after helping Freddie off the ledge, Harry meets McAllister’s middleman, Donnie. The latter has arranged a video call with the powerful crime boss. Once connected, Harry asks Kat if she would consider brokering a meeting between Conrad and Jaime to discuss the potential fentanyl collaboration.

Harry offers Kat a 50 percent cut, which she happily accepts. But the real cost, McAllister reminds him, are the two favors he now owes her. In fact, she makes a point of stressing to the fixer that she is not helping Conrad — Harrigan owes her nothing. It is Harry, specifically, whom she wants in her debt. While it clearly pains Harry, he agrees to Kat’s terms.

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Harry is not the only one making life-or-death deals, as Richie is also attending an important sit-down. It seems Fisk and his partner Mukasa (Gemma Knight Jones) have taken Tattersall’s advice on offering Stevenson a sweet deal. In the backroom of the Sinful Monkey, the detectives lay out the arrangement, explaining to Stevenson that he’d get immunity in exchange for his help taking down Conrad.

But Richie just toys with them, repeatedly asking who’d be wearing the pants in this supposed arrangement — he wants to know if he would own the law, or vice versa. The detectives, of course, scoff at the idea of the crime boss holding any power over them, but they still insist the proposition would benefit both parties.

Stevenson thanks them for their honesty, then pours three glasses of whiskey. But the drinks aren’t symbolic of his acceptance of the deal. On the contrary, they represent something far more sinister. He calmly sips from his glass, then explains to them — with a few choice expletives peppered in — that no one owns Richie Stevenson. He then pulls out a silenced pistol and brutally executes Fisk and Mukasa at point-blank range.

After ordering one of his heavies to clean up the bloody mess, he heads into the pub to play some darts. While aiming at the board, he says, “So who owns who?”

The camera then pans to Tattersall, sitting at a nearby booth. The retired lawman quietly and compliantly replies, “You own us, Richie, like always.” Just as Richie nails a bull’s-eye on the dartboard, he responds, “Well in that case, Colin, my son, we have a deal.”

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