Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Mayor of Kingstown season 3 finale.
The follow article contains mentions of suicide and drug abuse.
Summary
Mayor of Kingstownco-creator Hugh Dillon offers clarification regarding Iris' season 3 finale death. Co-created by Taylor Sheridan, who remains best known as the mind behindYellowstone,Mayor of Kingstownpremiered in 2021 with a story that follows Jeremy Renner’s Mike McLusky as he attempts to keep the peace between the criminals and law enforcement in Kingstown, Michigan, both inside and outside the city’s prison system. After a tense season, theMayor of Kingstownseason 3 finalefeatures a number of surprising developments, including the death of Emma Laird’s Iris.
In a recent interview withTHR, Dillon addresses the death of Laird’s character in theMayor of Kingstownseason 3 finale, confirming thatIris' drug overdose was not a suicide. According to the creator, this unfortunate ending for Iris is part of a larger attempt to not “pull any punches,” and to depict the harsh realities of life. Check out Dillon’s comment below:
“She didn’t take her life; it was an accidental overdose. You know, that’s part of the authenticity of the show and where I grew up. I had struggled with heroin early on in my life, and I’ve had a lot of friends who passed away from [that]; opioid addiction is a real thing.
“What Taylor [Sheridan] has taught me is to talk about what you know, and don’t pull any punches. And that’s what we did. Life is brutal and unfair, and we wanted to tell real stories. And we wanted to have an impact. And that is as real as it gets.
“But I will say, what Emma Laird did with that character was extraordinary, beyond the page for sure. When you saw that last sequence, like you said, it broke your heart. And that’s what we wanted it to do.
“She worked so very hard on the series, and she was asked to do really difficult things, and she brought it. She left everything on field. From the work she did in season one; it was just a fully developed character. And we are very grateful for her as a person and as an actor. For someone like you to say it broke your heart, we did our job.”
What Iris' Mayor Of Kingstown Death Means For The Show
Will The Jeremy Renner Crime Drama Return For Season 4?
As of writing,Mayor of Kingstownseason 4has not been confirmed, meaning there’s no guarantee that the story will be continuing.Season 3 has, however, been a hit with audiences and critics, sporting a 78% critics' score and a strong 89% audience score onRotten Tomatoes.Mayor of Kingstownalso made a strong viewership impression, making Reelgood’s top 10 streaming TV shows chart earlier this month.
In a recentinterview withScreen Rant, Kyle actor Taylor Handley expressed optimism regarding season 4, saying “from what I do hear, things sound positive.”
The signs, then, are looking promising that the hit Paramount Plus show will continue, and Iris' death is sure to have an impact moving forward. Iris' death was, in many ways, part of a larger storyline coming to an end in the show. In addition to Iris, season 3 also saw the deaths of Konstantin (Yorick van Wageningen) and Milo (Aiden Gillen), giving the finale an increased sense of finality in terms of the Russian mob storyline.
8 Biggest Unanswered Questions & Mysteries After Mayor Of Kingstown Season 3
Mayor of Kingstown season 3’s finale concluded various stories but also introduced new ones, hinting at 8 mysteries that will need to be solved.
Addressing this larger chapter coming to an end, Dillon teases in the sameTHRinterview mentioned above thatthe absence of Konstantin, Milo, and Iris “leaves a vacuum” that will be filledmoving forward as part of the “pattern of authentic criminality.” On a more human level, however, Iris' death is sure to impact a number of other members of theMayor of Kingstowncastof characters, including McLusky, with whom she had become close. WhileMayor of Kingstown’s future remains up in the air, Iris' death is further proof that no characters are truly safe on the hit series.
Mayor of Kingstown
Cast
Mayor of Kingstown, released in 2021, is a crime thriller series set in a small Michigan town where the McClusky family wields influence among police, criminals, and politicians. As power brokers, they navigate the complexities of a community reliant on the business of incarceration.
