Tom Hardy Officially Begins Dark New MobLand Season 2 Tradition

EXCLUSIVE: MobLand season 2, episode 3 introduces a dark new tradition that will be featured (and get even darker) throughout the season.

The star-studded hit Paramount+ show MobLand returned on September 18, and although only three episodes have been released so far, the new season is already offering fans all the action, tension, and thrills they've come to expect from this gritty London crime drama. Season 2 sees the return of series fan favorites, including Tom Hardy as Harry Da Souza, Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan, and Pierce Brosnan as Conrad Harrigan, along with many others.

Season 2 has also added some newcomers to the mix, though, and that includes Johnny Flynn's Frankie Cooper. Frankie debuted in season 2, episode 1, "I Wanna Be Your Dog," and he wasted no time proving that he can keep up with some of the biggest, baddest crime families around. For Flynn, entering into this world, especially in the way that he did, proved to be a bit more intimidating than it seemed to be for Frankie, but in just three episodes thus far, his appearances have already made an impact—and played a part in a tradition that will apparently carry through at least the rest of the season.

In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley, Flynn explained that the scene in episode 3 that depicts the meeting between Frankie, Kevin, and Harry to bring Bella home safely was "very key in terms of who this person is and what he's there to do, and specifically what the relationship between Frankie and Harry is." This scene is also establishing more than it might initially seem to be on its surface, as it becomes instrumental in understanding the larger nuanced dynamic between Frankie and Harry, including what is to come later on this season.

Johnny Flynn: I think Frankie's impressed by Harry, and really, I think he knows that they're not going to bow down to his offer. It's a long speech, a long pitch, and it serves, again, one of his superpowers. He's wrong-footing them by bamboozling them with this very impressive, articulate takedown of the whole operation. But actually what he's doing is watching them and reading them and absorbing all this information. So it's very smart, and it's only Harry that can recognize it. There's a sixth sense about him with things like that.

Beyond just showcasing that dynamic and hinting at what's at work further beneath the surface, this meeting has actually begun a tradition that will continue throughout the season as well, Flynn explained. Specifically, this scene "becomes a template for a series of meetings very regularly through the whole sort of series that get more and more intense, particularly between Frankie and Harry, where different truths and realities and threats and jeopardy are exposed and revealed and appropriated and manipulated." Flynn further describes the scene as an "opener" for these even more serious meetings to come, suggesting that fans should prepare to see Frankie and Harry go toe-to-toe several more times before season 2 concludes.

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Flynn also spoke about being a bit of a latecomer to the show as a cast member joining for season 2 (after being a fan of season 1) and how that impacted his experience filming this scene, especially based on what Frankie is trying to accomplish in it. Ultimately, though, Flynn found that the cast members were "not actually as scary" as he had thought, even though he needed to jump into this critical, high intensity scene within his first few days on set.

Johnny Flynn: For me personally, it was a really interesting thing to do because that was probably my second day, I think. And I watched the first series and loved it, and I hadn't met Tom or Patty or Mandeep or anyone, and admired all their work so much and thought the show was brilliant. And the characters obviously are very bold and terrifying, frankly. So to go in—and I'm not quite a shy person—to learn this kind of 10-page speech and turn up and just have to try and boss the room was quite intimidating, but it was really exhilarating. I think as Frankie, I was excited to do it. And they were so lovely. Tom and Patty and everyone, people who had watched for years and admired, they were very sweet and not actually as scary as I imagined they might be.

The first three episodes of MobLand season 2 are available to stream now on Paramount+. Episodes release weekly on Fridays, with the season concluding with episode 10 on November 20.