“The Beast In Me:” The Song In MobLand’s Finale & What It Means Explained

Warning: Major spoilers for the season finale of MobLand

The season finale of Paramount+’s streaming juggernaut MobLand is titled “The Beast in Me”, inspired by a classic song that plays multiple times during the episode. The end of episode 10 of MobLand saw the Harrigan/Stevenson war come to a swift and bloody conclusion, as multiple key character deaths contributed to the Harrigans’ now unchallenged control over the drug and gun game in London. As always, manipulation, betrayal, and cold-blooded murder drove the narrative for the season finale, and the aftermath of Harry Da Souza’s masterstroke was set to the melancholic melody.

“The Beast In Me” plays at two key points in the episode, and it bookends the majority of the carnage. It first plays when Harry’s associates clean up Alan Rusby’s house after Kevin killed him, just as Harry is fetching Kevin and setting him straight before Harry kicks off the endgame. It plays again as the wreckage of the attack on the Harrigans’ safe house and the attack on Richie’s headquarters is shown, and the surviving Harrigans return to the manor in the Cotswolds. It’s a thematically significant song, which is certainly why the episode drew its name from it.

Related

Will MobLand Season 2 Happen? Everything We Know

MobLand’s season 1 finale certainly seemed to set up another season for Tom Hardy’s Harry Da Souza, but Paramount+ hasn’t officially renewed the show.

Who Sings “The Beast In Me” In MobLand

The Iteration In The Show Comes From A Legend

The song “The Beast in Me” was originally written by the English musician Nick Lowe, a popular figure in the new wave/pub rock genre. However, it was first recorded by Johnny Cash in April 1994, and his version is the one that plays in MobLand, and is typically regarded as the most popular version of the song. From 1979 to 1990, Nick Lowe was actually married to Carlene Carter, Johnny Cash’s stepdaughter, making Cash the stepfather-in-law of Nick Lowe. While there have been more than a dozen recorded covers, it’s Cash’s version that has had a lasting impact.

What “The Beast In Me” Means & How It Fits MobLand

Several Characters Have A Darker, More Destructive Side

The lyrics to “The Beast in Me” speak to the demons that reside within every person. The beast is a metaphor for our most destructive tendencies, whether they relate to rage, addiction, self-sabotage, etc. There is often no quelling the beast, as it is caged by “frail and fragile bars“. It speaks to how easy it is for anyone to return to those base, dark characteristics that are ingrained in our personalities. The song acts as a plea for help from God in stopping our darker half from winning, as we are often helpless to stop it ourselves.

It directly applies to several characters in MobLand, and makes for a fitting pseudo-synopsis of the show’s first season. It most specifically relates to Harry, who is gentle, polite, and calm by nature, but capable of extreme, sudden violence if necessary and called for by the Harrigans. Harry is, by all evidence, a good man at heart, but his job requires him to act evilly; in this way, it’s the Harrigans that are the beast for Harry. Their demands are what unleash his violent side, along with his undying loyalty (which could be a beast in its own right).

The song applies to Kevin as well, although his beast isn’t unleashed suddenly and often like Harry’s has been. Kevin has pushed down his shame and anger for decades, thanks mostly to his torment at Rusby’s hands, but now that beast has been unleashed. By killing Rusby, Kevin freed himself from the self-inflicted mental shackles that kept him on an even keel. The song speaks to the new Kevin that has been set loose, the one that wants to take over the Harrigan crime empire and revels in killing enemies, and the one that should dominate season 2 of MobLand.

MobLand

Release Date

March 30, 2025

Network

Paramount+

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  Pierce Brosnan

  Conrad Harrigan