MobLand: will Harry choose Jan over the Harrigans?

Harry has finally said out loud what, if you ask me, he should have said a long time ago: he works for the Harrigans, but they are not his family. Harry doesn't make enough time for his own family because of his job. Still, make no mistake: when push comes to shove, I don't believe he'll choose the Harrigans over his wife, Jan. He wouldn't.

MobLand (2025) stars Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan.

Harry tells Kevin "I just work for the Harrigans"

It's funny how we depend on employees and subordinates to fix our problems to the point that we forget they have problems of their own. While Harry is trying to avert a catastrophe involving his wife, Kevin's concern is what his sister Seraphina is planning. Was that really the time for that kind of question? Kevin and Seraphina belong to the family. Harry doesn't. He works for them.

This time it comes out of Harry's own mouth, to a Harrigan's face: "I just work for the Harrigans." If you ask me, Harry should have made a statement like that a long time ago. It is the simple truth. The man has put his family and his marriage on the line for the Harrigans for far too long, and it was time to put them first for a change.

Kevin is the perfect person to hear that sentence. Isn't he man enough to handle certain affairs? I bet he wasn't expecting that response. I don't think it would have sounded as right said to any other member of the family. Said to Maeve, it would most likely have come out of rage. But Harry doesn't seem angry with Kevin. He needs him to understand the reality of their business relationship, even though they are friends.

Jan's threat forces Harry to call off the rescue

When Harry calls Jan to tell her she's in danger and that he's sending people to pick her up, she threatens to shoot herself if his people approach. I understand how she feels. Being constantly targeted and having to run because of who knows what isn't what she signed up for. Harry understands that too. He wants to save her, but he can't do that if she shoots herself. So he's frustrated, trying to reach his team to tell them to stand down, and that's when Kevin shows up with his own problem. There's no way Harry can put something that personal aside to attend to him.

Considering everything leading up to that moment, Harry is overwhelmed. He has returned from a solo mission to save his daughter, who would rather he were dead. Now he's trying to protect a wife who thinks she doesn't need his protection. That's a tough spot. Jan saw his move coming before he made it. She knows the playbook. So when she says, "Your move, Harry," it hurts, because there is no move left for him to make.

When Harry tells his team to stand down, I was stunned, and the woman leading them can't believe she's hearing it either. She's probably wondering why they're leaving Jan in that situation. Harry could have let the rescue go ahead. Perhaps that's what I would have done in his shoes, so I keep wondering why he withdrew the protection he was giving his wife.

Perhaps he felt her devastation over the phone and was convinced she was serious. Maybe he was wrong, but he wasn't willing to bet on it. Perhaps it's time to let her have some control over her life. So Harry abandons his plan without knowing what her fate could be, and I'm not sure he's comfortable with that. Providing safety is the essence of his job. It's his thing, his power. He's being denied the chance to do it for someone he loves, and it isn't a rival stopping him. It's the very person he's trying to protect. Watching him surrender some of that power feels more personal than watching him threaten another gangster.

Harry's warning to Maeve shows a different strategy for his family

Speaking of gangsters, Maeve is wild. She sends her grandson on a dangerous mission while Harry's daughter, Gina, is with him. At one point I thought the assignment was for him to execute Gina. Harry's answer to Maeve was four words: "I'll just kill you." That's the spirit.

What interests me is how differently Harry handles the two women in his life. He threatens his employer on Gina's account. I wonder whether he'd do the same on Jan's account, given their unfortunate marital circumstances. But I have a feeling he'd absolutely put everything on the line for Jan as well.

With Maeve, Harry uses the threat of violence to enforce a limit. He doesn't do that with Jan. With Jan, he has to hold his own people back. The strategy changes when it involves his family because his relationship with the Harrigans is different from his relationship with his family, and he knows the difference and respects it.

Gina doesn't believe Harry came to Ireland for her

Gina doesn't see it that way. She suspects he came to Ireland for Eddie. Even when Harry answers, "I came for you," she doesn't believe it. But what he says is true. He went there to save his daughter from harm. He couldn't care less about the Harrigans. In fact, the family was expecting a war, and he left without a word, off to Ireland to save her.

She doesn't believe him because when he arrives, he rescues a Harrigan in the process, killing two birds with one stone. It's a win for everyone, but it makes it hard for Gina to believe she was the reason he came. Gina and Jan both know Harry will be there when things get catastrophic. What they don't know is whether they can matter before the catastrophe.

This reminds me of a classic story where everyone makes unreasonable demands of a lonely, overworked husband. Jan doesn't see Harry as overworked. She thinks he doesn't make her a priority.

Frankie is the one taking Harry's marriage seriously

Jan's attempt to build a separate life away from Harry and the danger around him goes horribly wrong. She gets into further danger because Harry's enemies still see her as his, despite her plan to divorce him. Frankie certainly does. He schemes to have Donnie deliver Jan so he can use her to draw Harry out.

Frankie doesn't treat her as an irrelevant ex Harry would sacrifice to keep the Harrigans comfortable. Of all the people in this show, the villain is the one taking Harry's marriage seriously. If even Frankie can see that Jan sits above the Harrigans on Harry's list, how come the Harrigans can't? If the trap works, Harry faces an obligation strong enough to pull him, the fixer, out of position, and that makes things ugly for the Harrigans.

Jan acts on her own, and not as a victim

Then it goes down: a pub meeting that never happens, an empty house, one shot. What I care about is the timing. When Harry withdrew his protection, I thought Jan was doomed for sure. Then she does that. I was surprised, but even more impressed. I didn't know she had it in her.

She maneuvers this situation all by herself. It isn't on Harry's instruction, and he isn't even aware of it. She is now independently and actively engaged in Harry's world, but this time not as a victim. I hate the idea that this means she now belongs with him because she's violent too. That would be a crazy way to look at it. Or maybe not. Perhaps it wouldn't be the craziest thing if Harry had someone who shared in his violence. But if it meant consenting to spend the rest of her life around the Harrigans, I don't think she'd be enthusiastic.

Why Harry protects Jan, and why the Harrigans come second

Does Harry protect Jan because he wants her alive and free to decide what happens next, or because being needed might restore his place in her life? Both motives may be true at once. Either way, Jan is still the mother of his daughter, so wanting to protect her makes sense. Their divorce isn't finalized, so if you ask me, they're still a couple.

The Harrigans believe Harry will always be at their disposal. He does an incredible job of showing up for them, and he makes little to no time for his family, whose life has been repeatedly interrupted because of the Harrigans. But when push comes to shove, they won't be first on his list. His family will. He doesn't need an announcement. It becomes obvious through absence. He isn't available. He doesn't explain enough. Somebody discovers their emergency has slipped down his list.

He still works for them, but protecting his family is his exclusive responsibility, and he can perform both duties at once. When his family is in danger, especially because of his work, how can he hang them out to dry? Meeting both requirements is difficult, but not mutually exclusive. A man this entangled might first discover freedom through one refusal, then realize what it costs. He might even find that staying within reach of the Harrigans could be useful while he protects his family. The question is who benefits when he has to choose.

What Conrad and Maeve have that Harry and Jan don't

Imagine if Harry and Jan had what Conrad and Maeve have. Conrad celebrates his outlaw life with Maeve. He can build his whole account of himself around the woman beside him, and his marriage gets to sit inside the family mythology. They're the perfect duo. You can't tell who is crazier. Even when they're arrested, they sing together in solidarity. Through all the chaos, they know they have each other.

Harry's marriage, on the other hand, becomes more of a complication every day because of his work. Conrad might sincerely believe Harry belongs with them, but that doesn't mean he would tolerate Harry's position as a husband with competing obligations. People can call you family while expecting the privileges of an employer and the devotion of a relative. Harry's remark to Kevin cuts across that arrangement. Once he names the job as a job, the expectation that it owns every hour becomes harder to disguise.

What Harry has to do to prove he chooses Jan

From Jan's point of view, perhaps Harry could have tried harder. She tries to talk to him and tries to get him into counseling, and he misses most of the sessions. One could say she tried her best. What else could she do for her life to matter more than another Harrigan's in this power struggle? She can be wrong, frightened, destructive and impossible to reach, but Harry's obligation doesn't disappear because she's difficult. The Harrigans receive his loyalty through an extraordinary amount of bad behavior. If Jan has to be calmer and more grateful than they are before he chooses her, what exactly is he calling love?

Killing someone who threatens Jan wouldn't settle it for me. Harry can do that and carry on exactly as before. Cleaning up the mess she created with Donnie wouldn't cut it either. That's familiar territory. If he wants to be in Jan's good books, he needs to do something he can't repair afterward by being excellent at his job. Otherwise the marriage becomes one more problem he manages while leaving the arrangement that damages it untouched. So far, despite Jan's efforts, he is surviving a pattern, disappointing her again and again. If she doesn't feel chosen, she has good reason.

And what if Jan never gives him the ending he wants, whatever he does? There's an interesting chance of that. He could put her first and still lose the marriage. Once she finds someone who makes time for her and gives her attention, she could leave. That's what happened with Donnie initially, and who's to say it would be the last time.

I can't wait to see what happens next. Not the next expression of regret or another promise about finding time, but what Harry decides when his professional and marital responsibilities collide. Kevin has heard him separate himself from the surname. Maeve has heard the warning. Jan has made him change an order. There are interesting times ahead for Harry and the Harrigans.