MobLand Season 2 Review: Tom Hardy’s Gangster Epic Returns With Full Force

Published Sep 16, 2026, 3:01 AM EDT

Greg is a Lead TV Writer & Critic at Screen Rant with expertise in new streaming releases. He's published over 3000 articles at SR, including weekly recommendation guides and dozens of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. He previously worked in Development at ABC Television & Lawrence Bender Productions.

Greg majored in Film Production at Chapman University's Dodge College. Greg also has years of broadcast TV production experience at major networks such as NBC, TNT, and ESPN. He currently lives in Greater Boston.

If the first four episodes of MobLand season 2 only say one thing, it's that the gritty gangster-crime drama on Paramount+ has improved in just about every conceivable way compared to its solid debut season. Created by Ronan Bennett (The Day of the Jackal) and co-written by Jez Butterworth (The Agency), MobLand lives up to its title more than ever in season 2. Simply put, it's a remarkably gripping sophomore effort that executes with precision and emphasis on its heightened scale, expanded cast, and multitude of shocking developments.

MobLand features a fantastic ensemble led by Tom Hardy's stoic fixer Harry Da Souza – a shadowy, composed, nearly emotionless protagonist with a superhero-level ability to keep a cool head under pressure. Harry continues to scramble around London and keep what's left of the Harrigan family dynasty, headed by Pierce Brosnan's impulsive Conrad and Helen Mirren's cunning Maeve, intact and protected. Meanwhile, Harry's got his own house fire to put out with his frustrated wife, Jan (Joanne Froggatt), and rebellious daughter Gina (Teddie Allen), following the events in MobLand season 1's ending.

Driven by a nearly self-destructive sense of loyalty, Harry remains the glue that holds the Harrigans' reverence together, even as the younger generation, including the thin-skinned Kevin (Paddy Considine), the ambitious Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon), and the defiant Eddie (Anson Boon), each strive for their own personal stake. This internal conflict brewing within the Harrigans is only half the matter, as greater external threats – much larger than Richie Stevenson and his crew – come knocking at every door to ask if anyone is home. The desperate season 1 phone call Harry made to the powerful Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer) sets the stage for an entirely new ballgame.

MobLand Season 2 Is An Electrifying Triumph That Pulls No Punches

MobLand season 2 is an electrifying triumph that pulls no punches from start to finish. With MobLand season 3 already confirmed, the series, which is still partially directed by Guy Ritchie (The Gentlemen, Young Sherlock), shows no signs of slowing down and has even picked up the pace in terms of storytelling, character development, and overall conflict. While MobLand season 1 felt rather contained, it also tended to divert away from the core tension, whereas season 2 impressively feels both fine-tuned and beefed up all at once.

If MobLand season 1 was an uphill battle to reclaim the throne, MobLand season 2 is the spiraling aftermath that arrives after winning it.

While Hardy remains the centerpiece of the series next to Brosnan and Mirren, MobLand season 2 makes room for its wide range of characters without ever feeling overstuffed or forced. The late-season 1 addition of Kat McAllister, along with the revelation of the corrupt detective Colin Tattersall, gains additional prominence in MobLand season 2, scaling the series up from a street-level crime thriller to a sophisticated political drama with global implications. That said, in true sequel fashion, the amount of jaw-dropping violence and gun-blazing shootouts has also increased, offering viewers plenty of fun action sequences to contrast the Game of Thrones-like plotting.

If MobLand season 1 was an uphill battle to reclaim the throne, MobLand season 2 is the spiraling aftermath that arrives after winning it. While several aspects of each character walk the line between familiar and repetitive, including Conrad's explosive outbursts, Maeve's Lady Macbeth-like maneuvers, and Harry's apparent inability to crack a smile, these qualities reaffirm the prideful stubbornness inherent in them all.

Collectively, they answer the central question of what it means to be a Harrigan, and the most common attributes – ruthlessness, arrogance, deceitfulness – are also the very things that make them so entertaining. We also begin to wonder whether Harry, who is always so polite and reserved, quietly wishes to be a Harrigan or is waiting for the right opportunity to get very far away from them.

MobLand Season 2's Larger Cast & Scope Create A Truly Epic Tone

Luke Varley/Paramount+

MobLand season 2 makes smart character choices across the board, but the clear standout newcomer is Frankie, played by Johnny Flynn (Ripley, The Outfit), who just may be the perfect foe for Harry. Frankie is an apparently reckless yet deeply convincing criminal with an odd disposition and a Joker-esque sensibility.

Compare his unpredictability to Harry's cold calculation, and you may as well have a new Batman movie without the masks and costumes. Even with MobLand season 1's original cast still very much in the spotlight, Frankie's eerie natural tension and strange charm always keep viewers on their toes, making him one of the best new highlights of MobLand season 2.

While not quite on the level of true masterpieces like The Sopranos, Peaky Blinders, and The Wire, consider MobLand season 2 a promising leap towards that hallowed ground.

Although MobLand season 2 has only just begun, its current trajectory gives it a very real avenue to becoming one of the best gangster-fueled crime series of the 21st century. Whatever flaws you might have spotted in its debut season will be far gone afterthoughts once you experience the first four episodes of MobLand season 2, as the series has not only sharpened its pace and picked up its slack but has also elevated itself into a more prestigious realm of streaming television. While not quite on the level of true masterpieces like The Sopranos, Peaky Blinders, and The Wire, consider MobLand season 2 a promising leap towards that hallowed ground.

MobLand season 2 premieres September 18 on Paramount+, with new episodes releasing weekly through November 20.​