S02.E09: Peace in the Valley

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Mike and Milo discuss a possible trade. Bunny makes a brazen move and later has a demand for Mike. Mariam looks to track down Jacob. Evelyn is livid with Mike.

Dropping Sunday, March 12th, 2023.

[Moviesnob]

Well that was an interesting, if odd episode. Has Bunny ever expressed any interest in Robert like, ever? Enough to trade an assload of guns for him? 

Also I guess I was off on all of my predictions ever. Mike had no idea Bunny was out, doesn't know anything anyone is doing. I am kind of loving his relationship with Ian and Stevie, like the legit keystone cops over here. Come on, Ian. People are gonna figure it out, lmao. I love his little shuffle, looking down to the ground when Mike is grilling Robert.

Also Robert is soooooooo offended Mike would think he would kill a rat! How dare he! Also I LOVE that Robert has a son that does ballet. Like everything they reveal about Robert (which, granted, this is like the only thing) makes me more invested, lmao.

I did do a fist-pump at Iris killing Joseph. I mean, granted, she's in super deep now, and LMAO Joseph has existed only to get beat up by Mike and now killed by Iris, how the fuck did he become Milo's right hand???? I am super interested in what's coming next, and I liked Kyle trying to get square on the Mike/Iris relationship. The scene with Mike & Milo was underwhelming; it feels like they really wasted Aidan Gillen. 

If we get a S3, I'm guessing we'll get more from the leader at the private prison, who now has Mike owing her a favor, and the 'war' with the DA that is now on.

Interesting end to Miriam's storyline, if this is the end - I was not expecting the kid to do what he did. At least Mike went to tell her in person. If he hadn't taken his day off, he might've gotten the kid moved in time. 

I did enjoy seeing Bunny actually doing some crime, lol. I'm guessing we're looking at another war with the cops and Bunny's crew, probably going into S3, if they do another one.

[mledawn]

@Moviesnob yes to your whole post. I actually forgot about the private prison woman storyline so was confused when Evelyn said “your girlfriend”… ummm, that’s you? But no - Mike had moved on to a different player in the game.

Aiden Gillen has been horribly underutilized. Milo as a big bad this year was meh. Iris killing Joseph was great. 

Ian decidedly avoiding eye contact when telling Mike the situation with Robert was “handled” was laughable. He looked shady af. I do love the Stevie and Ian show though.

Mike is so filled with self-importance that he thinks Bunny is actually going to give the guns back at his request. Bunny is a gang leader- he has had enough of this relationship. The audience needs to be reminded that the king got on the throne for a reason, so this version of Bunny makes more sense to me.

 

[wlk68]

Add me to the group who thinks Joseph totally had it coming. I'm betting that Milo won't even be all that mad about it, except maybe on principle. 

I really hope Robert survived the hit. I like the actor and I find the character intriguing. No one on this show is a good person or very likeable but that being said, I do like Robert. 

Surprised Tracy lasted as long as she did. Her announcement did not come as a surprise. 

Felt bad for Jacob. If only he could've held on a little longer. I'm glad Mike at least broke the news to his mom in person. 

I'm enjoying watching Bunny flex his muscles and do some actual criming. 

[dwmarch]

4 hours ago, Moviesnob said:

Has Bunny ever expressed any interest in Robert like, ever? Enough to trade an assload of guns for him?

Early in the season, Robert led the raid on Bunny's grandmother's house. There was also a scene where Robert killed a kid who wouldn't drop a weapon although I am not sure which gang that kid was with. Bunny also probably learned more about Robert while he was in jail. The survivors of the prison riot would have told him about the SWAT team coming in and killing everyone in sight. So I think there is a little bit of specific interest even if it is something Bunny has kept to himself up until now. On other hand, Bunny's gang has been looking for someone to punish for a while now and didn't get a great feeling of satisfaction from killing the DA so they may be adding in a SWAT commander because they don't like any cops and think he deserves it regardless.

10 minutes ago, wlk68 said:

I'm betting that Milo won't even be all that mad about it, except maybe on principle.

Milo is going to laugh and ask what took so long. Joseph was a terrible henchman and Iris really did Milo a favor here. I hope he offers to pay the dry cleaning bill for Iris' dress.

Edit: I also just realized that Iris has only ever been shown as a victim of violence and not a perpetuator of it. Who taught her how to murder the men who abuse her? Mike did.

Edited March 12, 2023 by dwmarch

[Rapunzel]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:36 AM, dwmarch said:

Edit: I also just realized that Iris has only ever been shown as a victim of violence and not a perpetuator of it. Who taught her how to murder the men who abuse her? Mike did.

Iris had a whole life with Milo in New York long before she came across Mike because Milo brought her out specifically to go after Mike as Milo kept saying how intimidating, manipulative, etc. Iris could be in her own right. Milo is considerably more violent and sadistic than Mike is, so there’s no way she didn’t get a good education on violence from Milo. Iris is often referred to as Milo’s “girl” when they were in New York and the other women working for him seem pretty jealous of this. We’ve seen her try to go after the other girls before - something I’m sure she must have done often enough to keep her status as Milo’s “main girl.”  She certainly doesn’t seem to be afraid of any of them. Iris admitted to liking the life she had in New York and that she misses it, even if, as Milo reminded her, it wasn’t real. She liked the power and control of the long cons where she could almost believe she really was the girlfriend/mistress of someone rich and powerful and the fact that Milo favored her enough to give her those jobs. I also don’t doubt that Iris had to get violent with, and possibly kill, some of the men Milo set her up with, especially if they found out what she was up to. She certainly seemed capable of it from the beginning and doesn’t seem scared by it - being around Milo and his crew probably desensitized her to a lot. She certainly didn’t hesitate to take out Joseph. 

I think the nostalgia for her New York life and the fantasy, as well as the power and control she had over those men, is one of the reasons she voluntarily returned to Milo. She felt more powerful knowing what she or Milo could do to any of the men she became “involved” with and had seen first hand that Milo was brutally violent and that gave her some sense of safety and security, even if Milo may have turned the violence on Iris on occasion- though it seems Milo is never the one physically abusing Iris directly and seems to typically be a third party. Milo likes to screw with her head. He keeps reminding her how her current situation is beneath her and how she was so great at her job in New York. Given Milo’s reputation and Iris’ long history with him, I’m sure she saw far more horribly violent things when she was around him - things he did to his own men, his enemies and the men she helped him set up. She probably acquired quite a few skills from Milo. Mike was only violent around her while trying to save or protect her stupid ass. I think Iris has shown that she’s capable of doing just about anything depending on the situation and this behavior was ingrained in her long before Mike, especially as her survival often depended on it. She seems to be fairly comfortable with violence - especially as she knows what often happens to the men Milo sends her after, and what could happen to Mike. She constantly puts him in danger and doesn’t think twice about what may happen to him. She had to have known Mike would try to find her when she went back to Milo and she knew it could very likely cost Mike his life. 

I just knew the bonds were going to be used to rescue Iris. Since Mike was busy taking care of the AB last episode, he didn’t even know Iris had been found and definitely hadn’t had a chance to see her or speak with her to see if she even really wants out. She’s had chances to leave Milo but voluntarily went back. If she wanted him dead or locked back up, all she had to do was tell Mike and the FBI that he was hiding out in the church when they were trying to put her in witness protection. I know she’s been with Milo since she was very young and likely has some kind of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to him, but she did seem to like playing house with Mike for a bit and having a man around who was just there to protect her and take care of her and didn’t want anything physical from her in return (though I think she is definitely interested in Mike that way - I just really hope the show keeps them platonic). Unfortunately it seems like the season may end heavily focused on Iris. I wish Mike would use the bonds to trap Milo - either by sending him back to prison (though he seems to be able to still control a lot from the inside, so they’d have to send him to a SuperMax far, far away or something) or to destroy them and eliminate his savings, which would make things more difficult for him. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Rapunzel

[Ottis]

So:

- Bunny, who has been the voice of reason, suddenly robs a gun store, no mask, no proxies, to go after … Robert. Who has existed long before the prison riot and shot all sorts of people before that as well. Not buying it.

- Milos needs to trade Iris for his paper… and doesn’t even sideline her from violent johns just before the trade? Not buying it.

- And Robert, who I concede is a violent killer, can’t even recognize that the smartest thing to do when Mike asks if he killed the informant is to… just tell the truth (“no”) vs. get all offended by a question that had to be asked? Not buying it.

Not only is there no one to root for, but the characters are all pretty dumb. It really is more like Mayans MC than the more intelligent show I had expected.