Warning: Major spoilers for the season finale of MobLand
Pierce Brosnan’s volatile gangster Conrad Harrigan was a highlight of season 1 ofMobLand, and the final scene features Conrad at his most entertaining with an homage to a classic crime caper.The season finale ofMobLandsaw the Harrigan/Stevenson war come to a swift and bloody end, andseveral major characters diedin the carnage. However, Conrad and Maeve Harrigan weren’t even a part of all the action, as they had both been hauled off to prison following the police raid on the Harrigan manor at theend of episode 9.
After spending the entire season either pulling the strings or taking credit for Maeve pulling the strings behind his back, Conrad Harrigan found himself behind bars, framed for murder by DNA evidence planted by Colin Tattersall. He had two major conversations in the season finale: a face-to-face through glass with his son Kevin, who defiantly declared himself the new head of the Harrigan crime family, and a phone conversation with Maeve in which she laid out her motivations. However, his best scene was undoubtedly the last one shown in season 1 ofMobLand.
His Reputation As A Crime Boss Is Intact
After exiting his prison cell for the first time, it seemed like Conrad was unsure of how his presence would be received by the other convicts. However, low chattering quickly evolved into applause and cheers, which Conrad reveled in as he went down the central stairs.He repeated the mantra “Bring it on!” in clear defiance of law enforcement and those who would seek to keep him incarcerated, which only earned louder cheers from the convicts who surrounded him in the prison. It’s clear in a matter of moments that the praise is genuine, and bafflingly universal.
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Conrad is cheered by the other prisoners as a sign of respect to not only his position as one of the most feared crime bosses in London, but also to his standing as the primary antagonist of the police in London.Conrad’s existence and the empire he built over decades is the ultimate middle finger to law enforcement in general, which yields the admiration of the myriad offenders in the prison. Conrad’s authority and stability may be shaky at best, but outside the Harrigan inner circle and perhaps the former Stevenson gang, his reputation remains intact.
It’s A Direct Homage To The 1969 Comedy Caper
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Pierce Brosnan confirmed that the final scene was what many eagle-eyed crime drama fans will recognize as an homage. The image of Conrad coming down the stairs, reveling in the cheers of a prison full of joyful criminals isa direct nod toThe Italian Job, Peter Collinson’s 1968 crime comedy starring Michael Caine, Benny Hill, and Noël Coward. In the movie, Coward plays a crime boss masterminding a heist from inside a prison, and he is celebrated in a similar fashion as Conrad is inMobLand.
The Italian Jobwas remade by director F. Gary Gray in 2003 and starred Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, and Jason Statham.
Brosnan elaborated on the scene and specifically about what it meant to him personally and why the prison itself was key in crafting the environment:
It’s a great homage to Conrad, but it’s also a cinematic homage toThe Italian Job,which is a film Michael Caine made and Noël Coward played the kingpin. In the film, you’ll see Noël Coward come down to the gantry in the prison being applauded by the prisoners. We shot it in Reading Gaol, the last torturous, humiliating place where Oscar Wilde was a prisoner for two years in hard labor. It’s a powerful Victorian tomblike presence. So, it was quite memorable to be filming there on a dank, cold Thursday afternoon.
The Season Finale Points To His Exit
It seems clear that Conrad and Maeve won’t be in prison for long ifseason 2 ofMobLandcomes to pass. As seen in the season finale,Harry recorded his interaction with Alice/Nicola when she was stealing Conrad and Maeve’s DNA during the interrupted dinner in episode 9. That should be sufficient evidence to convince any jury that the elder Harrigans' murder charge was the result of a fabricated investigation, although the newly-liberated Kevin jokes that they should leave both Conrad and Maeve in prison for a while intentionally.
Watching Conrad navigate the criminal underworld from a prison cell could be an interesting dynamic to explore.
It’s important to reiterate that the character fromThe Italian Jobthat Conrad acts as the stand-in for in the episode 10 homage is a crime boss who operates from inside a prison. While admittedly unlikely,it could be supremely entertaining to leave Conrad prison-bound for the next season. Watching him navigate the criminal underworld from a prison cell could be an interesting dynamic to explore, and add a new dimension toMobLandas the show careens toward an international narrative moving forward.
