'Mayor of Kingstown' Is Ending and We Know Exactly Why

Paramount+ announced that it has picked up Mayor of Kingstown for a fifth and final season. The next season will also be shortened from 10 episodes to 8. It’s the first Taylor Sheridan series to announce an end date since the showrunner signed with NBCUniversal, although his stint with Peacock will not begin until 2028.

The cancellation doesn’t come as a complete surprise. The ratings for the show have been solid, as has the critical reception. But it is an expensive show and last season didn’t make an an appearance in the Nielsen top ten.

More than that, however, it may be the bleakest show on television, and it operates much like The Walking Dead did at its height: It derives its drama almost exclusively by killing off characters in devastating ways. This is the show, after all, that killed off its Kyle Chandler character in the show’s first ten minutes. And that’s why it has to end: There are no more characters left to kill off.

Unlike The Walking Dead, it doesn’t restock its ensemble as well, so going into the final season, there aren’t many characters left to kill off. Jeremy Renner’s character has enough plot armor to make it to the finale, where he will probably die in a devastating way. I suspect that the ending will see Mitch McCluskey’s younger brother replace him as the Mayor, just as Mitch replaced his older brother when he was killed off. Someone will probably rise up and replace Bunny, too. The ending will probably be like a generic version of The Wire, where a new generation of misfits, derelicts, and criminals will replace the old guard. The circle of life.

The only guy likely to survive it all? Ian Ferguson, the crooked cop played by showrunner Hugh Dillon. He is rotten. But so is Kingstown.

It’s unclear if Edie Falco and Laura Benanti, who were cast as regulars in season four, will return. My guess is that they will because the series needs two more women to kill off in a devastating manner. It’s the show’s lifeblood.