Mayor of Kingstown's Season 3 finale was full of twists and turns that ended with Iris' death.
The Season 3 finale of the Paramount+ series revolved around Mike McLusky's (Jeremy Renner) attempt to resolve his issues. It featured a game-changing shootout that forever changed Kingstown's landscape.
One of the important pieces of Mike's plan is Iris (Emma Laird), his close and reliable ally whom he tasked with spying on Russian mob leader Konstantin (Yorick van Wageningen).
Mike and Iris had a strong bond throughout Season 3, but their relationship ended tragically in the finale.
Iris' Shocking Fate in Season 3 Finale Explained
While a bloodbath is happening in the larger scheme of things in the Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 finale, one of the storylines sprinkled throughout the episode is centered around Iris.
Milo (who made a surprising return in Season 3, Episode 9 after faking his death) confronts Konstantin and announces that Iris has been a spy for Mike all along.
At the yacht, a face-off between Mike, Konstantin, and the returning Milo ensues, leading to Konstantin's death after Iris shoots him in the head when he calls her by her real name, Hannah.
Iris, who also wants Milo dead, tries to shoot the Russian gangster and kill him, but the gun only has one bullet. Milo, as vile as he is, wants to let Iris go since she already did what he asked.
Milo even tries to give her money and a new identity so she can start fresh, but Iris does not want to leave Mike and Kingstown behind. Mike tells her, though, that it's time for her to leave and never look back, believing that it is for her own good.
After a series of gunshots, Mike orders Ian to take Iris to the bus station so she can leave town.
Season 3 ends with Iris leaving Kingstown, and she takes two pills (the same drug that belonged to Mike's mom). The driver later finds out that she's dead.
Why Iris' Death Needed To Happen in Mayor of Kingstown
Iris' death cemented two things about the Mayor of Kingstown: no one is safe despite how close they are to Mike, and the town riddled with chaos will, at some point, break anyone from the inside.
Still, Emma Laird's departure as Iris makes sense, considering that her story in Season 3 came to a fitting conclusion after Konstantin's death and that Milo (and even Mike) wants to let her go.
Speaking with Variety, Mayor of Kingstown co-creator Hugh Dillon talked about Iris' death in the finale, pointing out that "no one is safe and nothing is sacred:"
"You should say goodbye. Taylor taught me this, and this is how we operate. This is about life. The opium epidemic. I grew up in a prison town, and no one is safe and nothing is sacred. And if you grasp that, it can be a grief-driven experience, but you have to put those real-life markers in, or else it’s just a show. Those are real things that people deal with. I’m from a prison town, so I’ve been dealing with these things for years."
Dillon also revealed that Iris did indeed commit suicide, confirming that she will not be back in the next season:
"And I’ve had a very close relationship with suicide — like friends who have committed suicide, and opiates. And you’ve got to mine those experiences. You can’t just gloss over them, and that’s what I bring. I understand this world and these people, and it’s our job to go deep and hit hard and not gloss over it."
When Variety asked if fans are saying goodbye to Iris and the rest of the characters who died, Dillon said yes, noting that pretending that it didn't happen "would be a disservice to all of us:"
"Yes. If we did anything else, that would be corruption. Creative corruption. Because that is the end. So to come back and say, 'Oh, she was just sleeping…' They are dead. This is what happens. It’s a tragedy. We know these people, and we understand. To pretend it didn’t happen would be a disservice to all of us."
While Iris' death came as a shock to many, it is what the show needs to move forward. In fact, it wouldn't be ideal for the character to stay and not do anything to progress the show's story.
Iris had gone through hell and back in Kingstown, and having experienced the worst things in town made her not fear death anymore. Leaving town appears to be like death for her, and she believes that committing suicide is her best and only option to find peace.
All episodes of Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 are streaming on Paramount+.
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