‘MobLand’ Season 2, Episode 3 Recap: Frankie Goes To War

Conrad Gets Benched

Conrad has become increasingly unpredictable, and bringing him into a meeting where Bella’s life is at stake seems like a catastrophically bad idea. The only problem with not bringing him along is that Frankie might not let Bella go, since those were his conditions, but they weigh the risks and decide to leave him out.

Harry actually tells Conrad this and, surprisingly, Conrad agrees. Conrad asks to speak with Kevin and tells him to bring Bella home safely, but he says it in a way that makes it clear he’s actually just taunting his son, reminding him that Bella was his first and remains his now. It’s . . . a very messed up dynamic. I don’t blame Kevin at all for wanting nothing to do with his father. I’m not sure how this all ends, but if Kevin doesn’t at least try to kill Conrad at some point, I’ll be shocked.

Meanwhile, Conrad has summoned Seraphina to the Cotswolds to explain why she blew off the dinner with Maeve. It’s very suspicious that she didn’t show up at the exact same time that Conrad received the threatening call and all the attacks on Harrigan soldiers went down. Of course, Seraphina is secretly being manipulated by Donnie/Jamie (Alex Fine), who wants her inside Frankie’s meeting. Her alliance with Kat McAllister (Janet McTeer) is looking awfully lopsided, almost as though Kat is just using her to sow discord among Harrigan ranks.

Sera calls Harry and asks to attend the meeting and tells him that they can’t let someone like Frankie Cooper get between them. Of course, Harry never said they were meeting Frankie. In fact, he had no idea who they were meeting, since Zosia wasn’t given a name. Harry immediately notices. Harry tells Zosia who the meet is with and then invites Seraphina so that he can observe her with Frankie. During the meeting, you’ll notice Harry looking between the two repeatedly, clocking her reaction to Frankie’s demands. Hardy plays these subtle moments quite well.

Watch my video about Jan and Harry – and the annoying spouse trope that infests so many crime shows – below:

Frankie Arrives On His Scooter

At last, Frankie shows up at the Harrigan dockyard all by his lonesome, riding an electric scooter, wearing a great winter coat and a helmet. The helmet is, of course, his secret weapon, and a clever way to hide a bomb – though I admit, I have no idea how an explosion of that magnitude could come from a bomb tiny enough to fit inside a helmet without being obvious. Then again, I’m not an explosives expert. More to the point, this is not a show grounded in realism, so a tiny but mighty helmet bomb is fine. I can suspend my disbelief.

In any case, when Frankie is searched by Dog (Tobi Bamtefa) they find nothing, not thinking to check his helmet (clever, Frankie). Frankie is cool as a cucumber, strolling past the armed guards, giving the massive Dog a half-cocked grin and then making his way into the meeting room.

Frankie, we soon discover, is not merely an eccentric weirdo. He’s actually quite smart and has a really, really solid plan to absorb the Harrigan empire and get it back in the black.

Rather than wipe everybody out, Frankie proposes something closer to a hostile takeover. Harry stays on as fixer. Kevin remains out front, the face of the organization. Seraphina will get her place at the table as well. Conrad and Maeve (Helen Mirren), however, require bullets.

“It makes sense,” Seraphina tells Kevin and Harry when they discuss the terms privately, while Frankie stands outside having a laughy chat with a mate over the phone. Kevin doesn’t want to hear a thing. This man kidnapped his wife. Who cares if the plan makes sense? Harry, on the other hand, seems to agree (without saying as much) that Frankie’s plan makes sense. But he’s mostly just trying to get a read on Seraphina, who he now suspects is betraying the Harrigans (and won’t Maeve just be tickled pink if she finds out?)

It’s also obvious to Harry that Kat is behind the whole thing. They invite Frankie back in and tell him thanks but no thanks. Harry says they’ve honored their part of the bargain, now Frankie must honor his and let Bella go. Frankie disagrees. Conrad didn’t show, therefore they didn’t honor their half of the deal. He says Bella is his leverage, a key component in his plan.

When Kevin lashes out and shouts at Frankie to give him his wife back, Frankie grins. “It speaks,” he says, amused. Then he taunts Kevin, telling him that he’s surprised he even cares so much when everyone knows Bella is Conrad’s. (He uses rather more colorful language, but I’ll leave that out of this recap). Kevin is furious and puts a gun to Frankie’s head. “Say that again!” he barks.

“Well I don’t have to say it again,” Frankie says calmly. “Everybody heard me the first time.” I laughed out loud at this, not because I don’t feel for Kevin – I do a great deal! – but because that’s such a great comeback. All of Frankie’s lines are so great, he’s definitely the best new addition to this show, quite a lot more intriguing and fun than either Tattersall (Toby Jones) or Kat.

Harry, naturally, is trying to defuse the situation when Frankie decides to give Bella back. She’s just down the street, he says, and makes a quick phone call. Should be here in about ten seconds.

They let him go, and if you weren’t paying close attention, you probably missed the fact that he leaves without his helmet, which he had earlier set beneath the table before commencing with negotiations. Dog finds the helmet after everyone else leaves the building. He picks it up to examine it and . . . .

The helmet is a bomb, and the Harrigan office goes up in flame and debris. Dog is toast (RIP, Dog, we barely knew ye) and Frankie has once again demonstrated just how easily he can penetrate the Harrigans’ supposedly secure territory, outwit the supposedly skilled Harry, and very nearly take out half the remaining leadership within the Harrigan organization.

Of course, he didn’t kill Harry, Kevin, Seraphina or Conrad, and if that was his intention Frankie failed rather spectacularly. Killing one low-level enforcer isn’t a huge victory, and an office building is small potatoes. It’s more about the message than anything, though one can’t help but wonder why Kat’s people wanted Seraphina to be at that meeting so badly. Were they hoping to knock her off along with the others? Will she realize what a terrible situation that leaves her in, now that she almost certainly suspects that Harry is on to her?

Harry Confronts Seraphina

Before the explosion, Harry confronts Seraphina over her earlier slip up. “Seraphina,” he says. “Who told you that we were meeting Frankie Cooper?”

“You did,” she answers, too fast. “On the phone with dad.”

“Did I?” he asks, and you can see the thoughts whirling behind his eyes. He doesn’t know what she’s up to, but he knows she’s up to something and that whatever it is gave her intel that nobody else had.

Meanwhile, Maeve and Conrad Are Up to No Good