Mayor Of Kingstown Season 3 Gets Exciting Update - But One Character Won't Be Back

The fact that the Paramount+ crime drama "Mayor of Kingstown" is coming back for a third season is remarkable news in itself, considering that the series' star, Jeremy Renner, was left in critical condition following a scary snowplowing accident on New Year's Day 2023. Unfortunately, it appears that not all of Renner's co-stars will be returning with him to the series when it starts production again.

Deadline reported that in the wake of SAG-AFTRA approving a deal with studios to end the actors' strike, several television series will soon start up after being held up by the stalemate, including the third season of "Mayor of Kingstown." However, sources told Deadline in September that Dianne Wiest would not rejoin the cast after the actors' strike was settled.

In the series, Renner plays Mike McLusky, a powerful mediator between law enforcement and gangs on the outside and the guards and inmates on the inside in the industrial prison town of Kingstown, Michigan. Wiest plays Mike's mother, Miriam McLusky, a college professor who volunteers her time at Kingstown's women's prison facility. Miriam knows the business Mike and her other son, Kyle (Taylor Handley), engage in is corrupt and dangerous, and she ultimately finds herself in the middle of the strife when she becomes a victim of friendly fire in the Season 2 finale.

According to Deadline, the exit of Dianne Wiest's character from "Mayor of Kingstown" has been rumored for months as the publication noted, "Her exit is said to be story-driven." The publication noted that the scripts for Season 3 were already written before the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May.

As such, it appears that Wiest's departure from the series may have something to do with Miriam McLusky's fate in the Season 2 finale. In the episode, Miriam is accidentally shot in the stomach by Kyle as he and Mike attempt to free her from criminals holding her hostage in the family home. While Miriam survived the shooting, the matriarch's future is uncertain, as she lay unconscious in the hospital with a bullet lodged next to her spine.

If the rumors of Wiest's exit prove to be true, it won't mark the first time a major character has left "Mayor Kingstown." In the series pilot episode, Mike's predecessor as the "Mayor" of Kingstown — his older brother Mitch (Kyle Chandler) — was shot to death execution-style in his office.

"Mayor of Kingstown" is the co-creation of series co-star Hugh Dillon and "Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan. The series is co-produced by 101 Entertainment and MTV Studios. Renner is also one of the series' executive producers.