When showrunner and writer Peter McKenna says “He’s really like a monster out of the closet,” you know that season two of award-winning Irish crime drama Kin is going to just as gripping and unpredictable as season one.
McKenna is talking about Brendan ‘Bren’ Kinsella (Francis Magee), who’s unexpectedly released from prison, creating all kinds of problems for his family, right when they need to be united to take on a new and powerful threat, the ruthless Batuk crime family.
“He's this guy who has been locked up. And now he's back in the middle of it. And what it really gives us is a character that is unlike any external body in a show. He changes everything. He's within the family. He's inside the family. All the people who had alliances and allegiances and enemies, that’s all shaken up or in the air and that's all changed. Suddenly, people who are at each other's throats are joined together against him, and other people who had very close relationships, they’ve been kind of severed by Bren’s presence. He’s a charming, bullying, sociopath.”
Lovely. But he’s hardly the only hard character battling for place and power in this gritty drama.
Season one introduced us to Dublin crime clan the Kinsellas, led by Frank (Aiden Gillen), who soon become engaged in a David and Goliath battle against the powerful Eamon Cunningham (Cairan Hinds). Frank is not as comfortable in the seat of power as it might seem, and when a family member is murdered, the bonds of kinship are tested. Amanda (Clare Dunne), a Kinsella by marriage, wants revenge for the death of her son. Michael (Charlie Cox), fresh out of jail, appears to have little hope of staying away from the life of crime that put him inside. Jimmy (Emmett J. Scanlon), Amanda’s husband and Michael’s brother, is a violent man, but also embodies one of the truths of Kin: these are not one-dimensional baddies.
Emmett J. Scanlan as Jimmy Kinsella with Aidan Gillen as Frank Kinsella in season one of 'Kin'. Credit: Kin Series Holding UK Ltd and Headline Pictures (Kin) Limited
[ Note — The following paragraphs contain some spoilers about several cast members returning, and therefore reveals some of those who survived season 1 ]
Season two picks up nine months after the explosive end of season one, and along with the ripples from Bren’s return, the family face an external threat, a powerful Turkish crime family led by Turkish actors Öykü Kayarel as Nuray Batuk and Kenan Ece as Hamza Batuk.
The Batuk’s are bigger, wealthier, more powerful – although of course that’s not going to stop the Kinsellas. But with Bren’s return opening up old family wounds, the family face problems inside and out, and sometimes they won’t have much time to think.
Francis Magee plays Brendan ‘Bren’ Kinsella. Credit: Steffan Hill
“What season two does really well is really build on season one, and it just feels like a bigger, more exciting, more fast paced, more epic story,” says McKenna.
Emmett J. Scanlan, who returns in his role as Jimmy, describes season two as season one amped up. “It is high intensity, high stakes, and ferocious action. What I loved about reading the scripts of season one was it made no excuses, it told a beautiful story, and it told it in its own time. There is speed for season two, an action and adventure. It's got it. It's got all the things that you want, as well as the time to let things breathe and to sit in it, which is which I think is very important.”
Also back are Charlie Cox as Michael Kinsella, Clare Dunne as Amanda Kinsella, Aiden Gillen as Frank Kinsella, Sam Keeley as Eric 'Viking' Kinsella and Maria Doyle Kennedy as Birdy Kinsella.
Says Charlie Cox: “I think that whereas in season one, there was this external enemy that was fracturing the family from outside, what happens in season two really is that the fracture comes from within, with the release of Bren and everyone’s opinions and feelings and attitudes towards him. It really divides all of us through everyone's feelings and histories with that character.”
Charlie Cox and Clare Dunne in 'Kin' season 2. Credit: Steffan Hill
The Dublin setting is a key part of the powerful nature of the show, just as much as the storyline and cast.
“What's been really important for Kin across both seasons is how we portray and how we represent Dublin,” McKenna says. “We wanted to tell a story and show Dublin in a different way in using locations and places that hadn't been seen all the time on TV, that even Irish audiences would be surprised by and find interesting. Kin is not designed to be a documentary. We're not telling the exact lives of criminals who live in Dublin. We wanted to create an almost fictional Dublin and find locations that present the city in a different way to make it feel modern and striking. I think the best shows on television, my favourite shows all have a really distinct sense of place. It feels like you're in that world and feels specific and real and truthful, and we tried to do that with Dublin.”
Aiden Gillen relished the chance to work in his home city for the series: “I definitely enjoy working in my home city, shooting on the streets and I’ve always loved that, especially having been away for 20 years, building up a career elsewhere.”
Aiden Gillen in 'Kin' season 2. Credit: Steffan Hill
Season two, like season one, puts family at the heart of things, and McKenna thinks this is one reason why the show has been a success.
“I think everybody understands a family story. Everybody understands family and what that means and Kin is not unlike many, many other shows that really explore the relationships within the family dynamics. It just happens that this family are Irish and live in Dublin and happen to be criminal. But really, the themes and the emotions we're exploring I feel are universal and people can connect with that regardless of where you live. I think one thing we all understand across the world is family and how important family is and regardless of your culture. I think that's something that resonates. Kin explores elements of a family: of jealousy, of rivalry, of love, of loyalty, all these things are aspects of life that people around the world can really connect with.”
Seasons 1 and 2 of Kin are streaming now at SBS On Demand. Kin season 2 will also air weekly on Wednesdays at 9.30pm on SBS.
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