Guy Ritchie's 'MobLand' Officially Returns with a Bigger, Bloodier War in Season 2 | Review

Published Sep 16, 2026, 10:01 AM EDT

Therese Lacson is a Senior TV Editor who has been with Collider since 2021. She got started in this business over ten years ago working primarily as an interviewer and critic. At Collider, she works closely with the features team to support the writers and also ideates and develops content daily. She has covered major industry events including Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival, and San Diego Comic-Con. Although she reviews and covers both film and television, her focus is in television and her expertise is in fantasy and sci-fi genre shows. Her favorite shows to cover include House of the Dragon, Bridgerton, Fallout, 9-1-1, and Rivals. 

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In the world of Guy Ritchie projects, MobLand stands as one of his more unique offerings. Sure, it explores the world of crime that Ritchie has become so synonymous with, but it lacks the same punchy humor, stylized action, and cast of memorable, if outrageous, characters. When MobLand premiered last year, it offered a darker look at the British gangster, centering on Tom Hardy's Harry Da Souza, a high-ranking fixer in the Harrigan crime family. Rather than presenting quirky criminals with manicured and snappy dialogue, MobLand revolves around a complicated, messy family full of betrayal, violence, and buried secrets. While Season 1 saw the Harrigans enter into an all-out war with the Stevensons, a South London crime family, Season 2 ups the ante, taking the Harrigans into a whole new realm of danger.

'MobLand' Makes London's Messiest Crime Family Even Messier in Season 2

Picking up a bit after the events of Season 1, the Harrigans are fractured, with Harry barely holding things together. While there was always a bubbling sense of competition and animosity in Season 1, there was still, at least, an illusion of a united front. But after the earth-shattering revelation that Conrad (Pierce Brosnan) is actually Eddie's (Anson Boon) biological father, not his grandfather, the family has been rocked to its core. The revelation has not only separated Eddie from both his mother, Bella (Lara Pulver), and father — technically his half-brother — Kevin (Paddy Considine), but it's also caused a permanent rift between Conrad and Kevin.

At the same time, Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon), Conrad's illegitimate daughter and favorite child, is now also estranged from her father, having both witnessed the death of her half-brother Brendan (Daniel Betts) in Amsterdam and been approached by Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer). Meanwhile, Maeve (Helen Mirren) digs her claws into both Eddie and Conrad behind the scenes, with her own intentions still as opaque as ever. The family is coming apart at the seams, and it's never been more obvious to Harry that this is a sign of the end. After getting accidentally stabbed by Jan (Joanne Froggatt) in the Season 1 finale, Harry's own marriage is on the rocks, made worse by the fact that their daughter Gina (Teddie Allen) is no longer in contact with them.

While Season 1 centered the conflict around the Harrigans in North London and the Stevensons in South London, Season 2 widens the scope significantly. Kat is making a power play, and although Harry rejected her offer, she's far from done making moves against the Harrigans. Season 2 also brings back Colin Tattersall (Toby Jones), a cop with a vendetta against the Harrigans, but introduces a threatening new opponent in the form of Johnny Flynn's Frankie Cooper. Frankie is a pure agent of chaos, sent in like a wrecking ball to break the family down, and he does it effectively. With wolves at the door and infighting abounding, it's only a matter of time before everything comes to a head.

'MobLand' Doubles Down on Violence in a Darker Season 2

While MobLand certainly didn't pull any punches in terms of violence in Season 1, Season 2 takes things to a whole new level. Ritchie's never been squeamish about adding blood and gore to his stories, but the very fact that the Harrigans deal in narcotics like fentanyl and heroin makes their business more dangerous. This is in contrast to his other current gangster series, Netflix's The Gentlemen, where the criminals deal more with marijuana and cocaine. The harder the drugs, the more ruthless the crime. There are no Italian villas and posh hunts in the Cotswolds here.

Bringing in someone like Kat as one of the main antagonists and puppet masters of Season 2 means that the Harrigans are playing in the big leagues but are in over their heads. Harry is well-aware that if Kat is pulling the strings, the family is at risk of falling apart, but he seems to be the only one who sees the writing on the wall. On top of the attacks from outside, the Harrigans aren't doing themselves any favors, as each member of the family has a motive that seems diametrically opposed to harmony. While last season saw others vying for power but still working in the shadows, MobLand Season 2 puts everyone on a collision course with each other, as Kevin, Eddie, and Seraphina all seem to be aiming to take control of Conrad's empire.

Season 2 takes a darker path not only in terms of violence but also in terms of damage. If the saying goes that you shouldn't bring a knife to a gunfight, the Harrigans are bringing guns to a bomb fight at this point. They're dealing with people who have no problem attacking them straight on, especially now that they are weakened. With trust and loyalty in short supply, even the most loyal figures like Harry now inspire suspicion. It makes MobLand feel even more ruthless and makes these already chaotic characters dangerously unpredictable. It's something the show has been building toward, so while it feels tonally different from Ritchie's more light-hearted tendencies, it's a natural evolution for the series, not something done simply for shock.

'MobLand' Season 2 Introduces Exciting New Characters and Digs Deeper Into the Harrigans

While MobLand Season 1 focused the story internally on the family's biggest players — Harry, Conrad, Maeve, and Kevin — Season 2 expands the chessboard, and it's a welcome development. Hardy is still undeniably at the center of things; Harry isn't only the one who cleans up after the family and is keenly aware of their shortcomings, but Season 2 pulls the focus away from just him, spotlighting characters like Seraphina, Eddie, Gina, and Jan. Specifically, in the case of Eddie and Gina, there's a sense of modernization that we haven't seen before when it comes to MobLand's criminality. It signals not only a growing legacy of crime but also a direct consequence of being raised in a bloodthirsty environment where it's a dog-eat-dog world. Allen and Boon mesh well on screen as young lovers while they evolve from being mere pawns into fully-fledged players of the game.

Meanwhile, Conrad is unraveling in front of our eyes as the once-great titan of the syndicate seems to be losing his grip on his barely contained rage. Brosnan plays a live wire in Season 2, becoming dangerously unpredictable, seemingly working against his own best interests. At the same time, Mirren's Maeve is a perfect sower of discontent. As an agent of chaos and endlessly power-hungry, Maeve is the one to watch in Season 2, and Mirren plays her as razor-sharp, eagerly pitting family members against each other for her own gain.

McTeer's expanded role as Kat McAllister makes her into a formidable new opponent, one who is a heavyweight in comparison to Conrad and the largest threat to their downfall. However, it's Flynn's Frankie that's the real standout new addition to MobLand's cast. Much like Maeve, Frankie is chaotic, but he's also gleefully violent and irreverent. He's an odd duck, arriving at meetings on an electric scooter, outright attacking the Harrigans without a second thought about retaliation, and uncaring about how many bodies are left in his wake. If Harry is the person keeping a grip on the Harrigans and trying to hold everything together, Frankie is his polar opposite.

Of the four episodes provided for review, MobLand is primed to be even bigger and better than ever before. In hindsight, Season 1 now looks like it was merely setting the stage for the real story developing in Season 2. It feels like Ritchie's entire career has been leading up to this point. There's still a bit of that romanticizing of the criminal underworld that Ritchie does so well — after all, his gangsters are still stylish and witty to a fault — but he's no longer presenting a polished and shiny world. This one is gritty, dangerous, and ensures no one is safe. It's a clear evolution and maturation, showing that Ritchie is so much more than a one-trick pony and proving that there's still so much more that the auteur can offer.

MobLand Season 2 premieres September 18 on Paramount+.

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  Harry Da Souza

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  Pierce Brosnan

  Conrad Harrigan

MobLand explores the intense conflict between two rival mob families whose escalating feud endangers both their criminal empires and the lives entangled in their violent world.

Pros & Cons

• Season 2 is the perfect natural evolution for the show as family dynamics become more and more complicated.
• Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren deliver more standout moments in Season 2, proving they're at the heart of the series.
• Johnny Flynn's new character is the perfect agent of chaos that offers a new element of danger for the family.