The McLusky brothers play an important role in the community in Jeremy Renner’s new show, Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown, but what do they really do?

Warning: Major SPOILERS for Mayor of Kingstown episode 1.

In Mayor of Kingstown episode 1, protagonists the McLuskies are seen rubbing elbows and conspiring with felons and policemen alike, but what do the McLusky brothers actually do? Created by Hugh Dillon (who also stars in the show), and Taylor Sheridan, writer of Yellowstone, Wind River, Hell or High Water, and Sicaro, the show debuted to excellent reviews and may prove to be one of the best crime dramas of the year. Mayor of Kingstown streams on Paramount+, potentially joining Yellowstone as a hit series for the streamer.

Mayor of Kingstown follows the lives of the McLusky brothers in the prison-riddled community of Kingstown, Michigan, where there are seven prisons in a 10-mile radius and the power broker brothers have several operations running. One of the show's very first scenes is of Mike (Jeremy Renner), the thuggish middle brother, paying a young boy to lob a tennis ball full of drugs over the prison wall with a tennis racket—a simple way for the brothers’ criminal involvement to be established quickly. The schemes become more involved throughout the episode with Mitch (Kyle Chandler), the oldest brother and current “mayor,” operating from his dingy office and cajoling the local police force while working simultaneous schemes to locate hidden money for a felon and to save a young prison guard. Kyle McLusky (Animal Kingdom season 5 actor Taylor Handley), is the youngest brother and a police officer, minimally involved with his older brothers’ schemes, although his involvement seems destined to grow.

In Mayor of Kingstown, it appears that the brothers have made a business of facilitating deals and allowing a certain amount of low-level crime to happen in order for both the lawful and unlawful members of the community to co-exist. While the McLusky matriarch, Mariam (Dianne Wiest), calls the brothers “gangsters,” the McLusky brothers appear more akin to businessmen, wearing suits every day while brokering deals with the most prominent businesses in town: the prisoners and the prison-keepers. Numerous scenes illustrated Mitch's skill as a sort of politician and deal-maker while conversing with both the local police and criminals. In essence, they're power-brokers, and they maintain the balance in the town by forging deals on both sides of the law.

A major component of the brothers’ operation involves local drug dealer and gang leader, Bunny (played by The Witcher season 1’s Tobi Bamtefa), with whom Mitch and Mike negotiate the return of a letter incriminating a young prison guard. Like the scenes with the lawful players, Mitch runs the show with Mike there simply for backup, the eldest brother negotiating logically and respectfully without threats. Before Mitch leaves Bunny’s yard, Bunny infers that they’d all be dead by now without him, further cluing the viewer into the brothers’ importance and role as respected businessmen throughout the community.

Mayor of Kingstown episode 1 ends with Mike, following Mitch’s murder, becoming the new “mayor.” Mike’s temperament strays from the statesman-like qualities of his older brother, however, as is pointed out by Milo (Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen), the convict the brothers were locating the money for, who tells his henchmen not to threaten Mike in episode 2. Mike’s ruthless, more impulsive personality is likely to steer Mayor of Kingstown away from the strategic planning offered by Mitch’s character and possibly make true their mother’s statement that the remaining McLusky brothers are little better than gangsters.

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Mayor of Kingstown streams on Paramount+ on Sunday nights.