Set in present-day England, Mobland follows the Harrigan family, one of the top two English crime families, led by Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, played by Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, as they traverse the dark yet exceedingly polite and posh underworld of the top echelons of British drug cartels.

The plot for Episode 1 is fairly straightforward, gangster fare. The Harrigans are looking to expand their operations by cutting into their rival’s fentanyl trade. While that comes with its own set of issues, things are further complicated when it’s discovered that Conrad’s grandson has been out partying with the son of his most bitter rival, and he goes missing following a particularly wild night out.

As tensions rise, the Harrigans’ fixer, Harry Da Souza, played by Tom Hardy, gets involved to help assess whether they should attempt to lower the temperature or go to war, which is something for which Brosnan’s Conrad has been chomping at the bit.

MobLand doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Anyone who’s watched virtually any show featuring organized crime families will recognize all of the familiar tropes in this show—from warring families and longtime friends turned traitor to boosting and reselling cars. But as George Poll-tee claimed in the 1800s, writers like Shakespeare had already explored all possible dramatic scenarios. So, all that’s left to modern filmmakers and storytellers are variations on a theme.

That means that the quality of shows like MobLand depends almost entirely on style and performance to differentiate it from the rest. And MobLand delivers both in pretty close to perfect proportions.

As expected from anyone who has followed his career, Tom Hardy dominates in every scene, perfectly embodying the duality often exhibited in the best gangster characters– that of a remorseless, efficient, and calculating killer who turns into Ward Cleaver when with his loving family. But, and this is the little extra that makes Tom Hardy one of the best actors working today, he never loses the character’s core. He’s not playing two different characters but one multifaceted one that he breathes life into as only he can. It’s rich and delicious and full of promise.

Thanks largely to her Academy Award-winning performance in 2006’s The Queen, the almost 80-year-old Helen Mirren, whose film career stretches back to the 1960s, has had something of an American renaissance in the last few years and is arguably more famous and popular in the States now than ever before. Shows like 1923 and MobLand show us why.

In the former, she plays a strong but supportive homemaker who steps up when needed and down when the men need to get work done. In MobLand, she plays a loving and supportive wife who knows a life of elegance and indulgence but is just as ruthless as her husband. Yet she knows her place in the family dynamic, and that’s not as the leader.

Most surprisingly, Pierce Brosnan gives one of his best performances as the family patriarch. He’s equally menacing and warm—usually at the same time—and it’s fun to see the usually dapper and debonaire ex-Bond lean into not only a darker character but also his native Irish brogue.

Produced by Guy Ritchie, who also directed two of the show’s episodes, MobLand isn’t short on style, though those who find Ritchie to be a little too stylized will appreciate show creator Ronan Bennett’s slightly less extravagant storytelling aesthetic. Rather than relying on borderline unbelievable characters to behave with exaggerated cool, Bennett lets the stereotypical British chic do a lot of that heavy lifting while juxtaposing with characters and situations that you can more or less believe exist.

Unlike yours truly, MobLand is not without its flaws. Like I said, narratively, it hasn’t brought anything new to the table, and longtime fans of the genre can recite the script along with the characters without even having seen it before. There are also possible hints of the Mind Virus peaking in from time to time that, if pandered to have the potential to crash the series faster than a skein of geese.

Time will tell if the series will soar or sink. So be sure to check back here and at Worth it or Woke to find out.

With the exception of its beginning with a needless expositional recap of last week's entry that wasn't up to the writing standards set by the first episode, the second episode of MobLand is another win.

Strong performances and superbly written characters continue to make up for its standard Mafia plot. Likewise, the predictable dialogue is clean and crisp with strong narrative relevance and superb syntactic structure.

Regrettably, episode two also gave audiences a handful of continuity errors, in which things or people shifted jarringly between shots. It's a rookie mistake, and seasoned director Guy Ritchie should have caught and corrected them.

Still, when compared to much of what else is out there, MobLand remains a shining beacon of entertainment.

The past few years (like 20, or so) have seen show after show launch with a bang only to contract the Woke Mind Virus midway through and land in a puddle of creative bankruptcy. MobLand is not one of them.

It's not entirely immune to progressivism, but the infractions are relatively minor and not nearly enough to dampen this otherwise impressive bit of organized crime drama. There isn't a program airing today that can match the superb performances, especially those of Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, and most especially Pierce Brosnan.

Shockingly, Brosnan's performance outshines everyone else, which is saying a lot because watching Mirren and Hardy in this is like staring into the sun. However, the former 007 turns from quietly terrifying to warm and caring like Tom Kristensen rounding turn 15 in a custom Audi at Le Mans. It's a whiplash-inducing thing of beauty, and if there's any justice in the world, he'll clean up during Award Season.

Hardy, who's drifting bumper to bumper behind Brosnan, is a sorcerer who magically delivers a devastatingly nuanced and subtextual performance with Swiss watch precision and a master calligrapher's grace.

Then there's Helen Mirren. She gives us the most poisonous and loathsome character you'll love to hate since Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men).

And that's not the end of it. Were it not for this trio's otherworldly performances, the supporting cast would still deliver one of the best streaming programs.

Backed by sharp dialogue and brilliant direction, Season 1 of MobLand is a must-watch. Here’s hoping Season 2—tentatively set for next spring—keeps the bar this high.

As would be summer blockbusters like The Thunderbolts and Karate Kid: Legends continue to disappoint audiences and the box office, all hope is not lost. Nowadays, the only thing rarer than a quality program that doesn't sacrifice its narrative to the holy woke trinity of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or some other demigod of the radical left, is one that manages to consistently maintain its quality throughout and then give a satisfying conclusiong that leaves you wanting more. That could be Mobland's stinger.

At the risk of being redundant, entertainment salvation lies within the digital halls of Paramount+. Thanks to a perfect aesthetic and remarkable performances, Mobland is the best show on TV right now, and one of the best in quite some time. If you haven't started it, do.