Is Harry the Rat in 'Mobland'? Or Is He About To Expose the Rat?

Anyone who is not watching Tom Hardy’s Mobland is not only missing out on terrific performances from Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Paddy Considine, and Joanne Froggatt, but also what’s turning into a really fun mystery as it heads into the season finale: Who is the rat?

Granted, there are a few rats we already know about, not least of whom is the Harrigan matriarch herself, Maeve (Helen Mirren). But we’re not interested in who is a rat — we want to know who is the rat. And the biggest question I have heading into the finale is this: Is Harry (Tom Hardy) the rat? Or is Harry trying to expose the rat? The thing is, at this point, I can see it playing out either way, and either outcome would be completely plausible.

Let’s first examine the case for Harry being the rat. The motive is fairly straightforward and has been hinted at several times: the Harrigans are nuts; he’s tired of the chaos; and given how unpredictable they are, he legitimately fears for the safety of his wife (she unwittingly brought an undercover cop into the mix) and daughter, who raised Maeve’s ire by sleeping with her grandson/stepson, Eddie. (And yes, in the penultimate episode, we learned that Eddie is actually the son of Bella and Conrad, who had been having an affair with Bella before he pushed her onto his son, Kevin (Paddy Considine)). Obviously, Harry also hates Eddie and has every reason to believe Conrad would have his wife killed for bringing a cop into the mix —- the man wouldn’t even let her speak to a therapist for fear of family secrets escaping.

If Harry is the rat, he’s probably been working that angle for a while. As the Harrigan fixer, it’s easy for him to collect evidence on the entire family: Conrad killing Archie; Eddie killing Richie’s son; Maeve having Vron killed; and Bella’s efforts to blackmail her own father, the Home Secretary. It’s even plausible that Harry orchestrated the murder of the prison guard, knowing Kevin would kill him once he discovered the guard’s whereabouts, which he did in this week’s episode.

In this scenario, Harry knows that Jan’s friend, Alice, is an undercover cop planning to plant evidence against Conrad and Maeve, and he allows it to happen because it will ultimately take down the entire Harrigan clan. In fact, that may be part of his long game with Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer) — he’s not worried about owing her favors because he’s removing the Harrigans to help Kat become the sole fentanyl distributor with Richie. Everything has gone to plan, including saving the life of Seraphina (Mandeep Dhillon) — who may be a rat herself — and setting up the entire deal with Jamie. I like this theory because it sets up Mobland for a whole new supporting cast in season two centered around Kat McAllister’s operation.

Conversely, Harry is not the rat — he’s a loyal fixer who has been solving the Harrigan family’s problems all along. In this version, he still knows Alice is an undercover cop — there’s no way he doesn’t suspect something’s off with his wife suddenly gaining a new best friend — and he’s actually using her to exonerate the Harrigans.

How? He knows Alice has a history of planting evidence, and he allows her to accept Conrad’s dinner invitation because he suspects she’ll try it again. In this version, Harry captures her on video planting DNA evidence; he even facilitates it. He sees Maeve leave her martini glass behind (the camera even catches Harry clocking it), and he tells Conrad to leave his cigar in the glass. The family fight is orchestrated so Alice will grab the planted items, and Harry lets it happen because he knows it will torpedo the cops’ entire case.

There’s also a plausible theory that Conrad and Harry are working together, fully aware that Alice is a cop, and setting up a situation where evidence will be planted, but only to take out Maeve. Conrad has known Maeve’s been working against him: she ratted out Archie’s whereabouts and told Richie where to find Brendan and Seraphina in Antwerp. Harry doesn’t like Maeve either; she’s been undermining him within the family and threatened his daughter, Gina, for sleeping with Eddie.

The only thing I know for sure is that Harry does have a plan, whether it’s to implicate or exonerate the Harrigans —- and that Jan was left out of it, which is really going to piss her off when she realizes she was a pawn in her own husband’s scheme.