Mayor of Kingstown follows an inmate advocate who aims to restore peace in a town where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry.
When his elder brother gets murdered, Mike McClusky completely takes over the family business of being the fixer for the prison population at Kingstown.
Though he always wanted to leave Kingstown, he can’t anymore as he quickly gets dragged into the politics inside and outside the prison. He solely runs the town and is called the ‘Mayor of Kingstown’, whether the real mayor likes it or not.
The show tackles racism, corruption, and inequality, with Mike being the only one who is trusted by the officials and criminals. Comprised of similar themes, here are 10 shows like Mayor of Kingstown you should watch.
1. Prison Break (2005 – 2017)
Available on: Hulu
Cast: Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller
Lincoln Burrows, an innocent man, gets framed for the murder of the Vice President’s brother and is now on death row at Fox River Prison. Determined to set Burrows free, his younger brother, Michael, designs an elaborate plan.
He holds up a bank and gets himself inside the same prison. Michael’s full-body tattoo resembles the layout of the prison facility. Using the layout, the brothers orchestrate an escape plan step-by-step before the day of execution could arrive.
2. Mare of Easttown (2021)
Available on: HBO Max
Cast: Kate Winslet, Evan Peters, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, David Denman
Detective Mare Sheehan, a local hero of Easttown, investigates the case of a serial killer on the loose while keeping her life together. Her ex-husband is marrying another woman, and Mare is living with her mother and her daughter.
Mare is also coping with the loss of her son. Amidst all of this, not being able to solve a year-old case leads the people of the town to doubt their hero and question whether she will catch this killer or not.
3. Narcos (2015 – 2017)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal, Joanna Christie, Maurice Compte, André Mattos
Narcos chronicles the story of the notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and the growth of cocaine drug cartels. It explores the human side of Escobar, who loves his family to death.
The DEA agents continue to get hold of these cartels and bring them to justice, while Escobar rises in power by running his Medellín Cartel in 1970s Colombia.
3. The Wire (2002 – 2008)
Available on: HBO Max
Cast: Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie R. Faison
The Wire takes place on the drug-infested streets of Baltimore. It explores how things work here in this troubled city through the eyes of the cops, criminals, politicians, drug addicts, and citizens.
The show ran for five seasons, with each one of them bringing new characters and diving into different areas of crime that are active in this post-industrial city.
4. Tulsa King (2022 – present)
Available on: Paramount+
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Jay Will, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, A.C. Peterson, Garrett Hedlund, Dana Delany
Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi is released from prison after serving a 25-year sentence. He expected a hero’s welcome from his crime family, but, instead, his boss immediately sends him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, following the release.
Dwight doubts what his mob family wants and, therefore, starts gathering people to build an army of his own. Throughout the series, he continues to bicker with his crime family while also going up against a motorcycle gang called the Black Macadams.
5. The Sopranos (1999 – 2007)
Available on: HBO Max
Cast: James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Robert Iler, Jamie-Lynn Sigler
New Jersey’s mob boss Tony Soprano struggles with his personal and professional life, which leads him to seek help from a psychiatrist. He is worried about his teenage daughter and his mother, who won’t opt to go to a retirement home.
Tony navigates his life by keeping these sessions, where he opens up about his struggles, a secret from his mob while tackling the feds and his jealous uncle, who is plotting to kill him.
6. Peaky Blinders (2013 – 2022)
Available on: Netflix
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Annabelle Wallis
In 1919, Thomas Shelby and his brothers return to Birmingham, UK, after serving in World War I. They grow in power as bookmakers, racketeers, and gangsters, and eventually start controlling the city as the Peaky Blinders.
While a new Chief Inspector comes to bring order to the city, Shelby’s ambitions continue to grow beyond the city as he plans to expand his business and build an empire of his own.
8. Godfather of Harlem (2019 – present)
Available on: Epix, Hulu
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Ilfenesh Hadera, Nigél Thatch, Lucy Fry, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Rafi Gavron, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Giancarlo Esposito, Vincent D’Onofrio, Erik LaRay Harvey, Demi Singleton
Godfather of Harlem tells the true story of infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson. He returns to his neighborhood after ten years in prison, only to find it destroyed.
In order to rebuild the neighborhood to the way it was, Johnson goes up against Vincent Gigante of the Genovese crime family, who controls the streets he once used to run.
9. We Own This City (2022)
Available on: HBO Max
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Hector, Josh Charles
We Own This City chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force. The city is in chaos, with people demanding justice for Freddie Gray and drugs and violent crimes reaching new heights.
To bring everything under control, Sergeant Wayne Jenkins and his plain clothes unit work their way to score a remarkable number of arrests, but by exploiting their powers.
10. Yellowstone (2018 – present)
Available on: Peacock, Paramount+
Cast: Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham
Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, headed by John Dutton, that controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. The show captures the family drama that ensues and their conflicts against those on the borders of the ranch.
The Dutton family navigates life facing land developers who want a piece of their land and a community from Montana called the Broken Rock Reservation that is against the borders created by the family.
Yellowstone is currently in its fifth season and has produced spin-offs in the form of 1882 and 1923, exploring the different generations of the Dutton family.
Also Read: Tulsa King review: Sylvester Stallone dazzles in gripping crime drama