Taylor Sheridan fans just found their next obsession from a Mayor of Kingstown standout

MGM+ is clearly not mucking about when it comes to serious prestige telly, and July is looking busier than ever with the arrival of The Westies. Set to land on 12 July, this eight-episode drama dives into New York in the early '80s, where the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center is stirring up all sorts of trouble in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen. If you like your crime series rammed with both classic mob posturing and intra-gang bust-ups, well, this is your next binge.

The Irish Mob Meets the Mafia - and Property Developers

The Westies, the not-particularly-friendly local Irish-American crime squad, have spotted the chance to make a proper killing (financially and otherwise) as the convention centre springs up on their patch. Sure, they're absolutely outmanned by the bigger Mafia outfits in New York, but what they lack in numbers, they more than make up for in bloodthirsty tactics. Their reputation? Let’s just say it’s less 'nice lads next door' and more 'you will not be missed'.

They do try to keep the peace; there’s a wobbly arrangement with the more established crime clans to divvy up the loot without endless bloodshed. Unfortunately, like every good gangland saga, there's tension within as the old guard and young upstarts of the Westies treat the truce with all the seriousness of a warm pint.

Who’s Who in the Carnage

• J.K. Simmons as Eamon Sweeney – The top dog among the Westies. Expect plenty of chewing the scenery and absolutely zero time for nonsense.
• Hamish Allan-Headley as John Gotti – Yes, that John Gotti. The series catches him pre-fame, before he became the Gambino crime boss seen in countless Hollywood takes. Here, he’s squaring off with Simmons's character and you just know there’s going to be enough swagger and stare-downs to fill a Sopranos box set.

Hamish Allan-Headley Talks Playing a Proper Gangster

Now, Hamish Allan-Headley is probably best recognised for storming rooms as a bent copper in Daredevil: Born Again and running SWAT operations on Mayor of Kingstown. What’s genuinely interesting here is watching him trade in the badge for full-on gangster mode. In conversation with MovieWeb, Allan-Headley sounded pretty buzzed about the shift:

'Oh man, well, yeah, yeah I am. But also, just this particular role is so fun, right? You know, the one thing that I read about John Gotti was that he just loved being a gangster, so playing somebody like that is really exciting.'

Certainly makes a change from the usual tight-arsed lawman roles.

Comparisons and Vibes: Mayor of Kingstown, Sheridan, and the Lot

The Sheridan-verse hasn’t exactly been subtle in influencing the latest crop of crime dramas, and it’s clear The Westies isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. When Allan-Headley was nudged about whether fans of Mayor of Kingstown might recognise similar undercurrents – think moral haze, bitter loyalty, badly-behaved brothers – he nodded along:

'I think it deals with, like, a lot of Taylor's themes, and themes in this are you know, family and loyalty, and yeah, so I think there's a lot of sort of, and Taylor sort of has these archetypes that run through his series, and you'll see a lot of those in here as well, brothers, all that sort of stuff.'

Whether The Westies manages to match (or outshine) the kind of brooding, messy energy that’s driven Sheridan’s shows up the charts, that’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? At least with this set-up and cast, there’s a fighting chance.