Cormac Organizes an Anti-Mickey Alliance

Cormac Organizes an Anti-Mickey Alliance marks the shift from Cormac MacKay’s grief and suspicion into practical opposition to Mickey MacFarland. Rather than beginning with an open assault, Cormac seeks out men whose loyalty to his father or disgust with Mickey might outweigh their fear. Their support is hesitant and conditional, but it gives Cormac the beginnings of a counterforce inside a family that no longer feels united.

The Problem of Mickey’s Power

Two days after returning to New York City, Cormac meets Patrick O’Hara, an older ally of his father’s, at the docks. The meeting unsettles him: Patrick has known him since childhood, but Cormac cannot be sure whether old loyalties still hold or whether the man might turn against him. Patrick greets him with an embrace and condemns what was done to Cormac’s father. His anger, however, does not amount to a plan, and Cormac presses him to explain why Mickey remains in power if other members of the family are so troubled by the killing.

Patrick’s explanation reveals the scale of the obstacle. Mickey did not act alone: he arrived with men recruited from other states, a personal force assembled over years as he prepared to seek the position of Don. Those followers include people from varied walks of life, and their numbers matter because the rest of the family fears the consequences of open conflict. Many have wives and children and, even if they believe Mickey’s actions were wrong, do not want to risk a war without a compelling reason. Suspicion compounds that reluctance: members are afraid to speak openly because they cannot tell who is already working with Mickey or might side with him.

For Cormac, this is a contradiction at the heart of the family. The killing of the Don ought to be sufficient cause for resistance, yet fear has made even shared outrage difficult to turn into action. Patrick’s account does not excuse the men’s silence; it shows how Mickey’s strength depends not only on the loyal force he has built, but also on the uncertainty that keeps potential opponents isolated.

Turning Old Loyalty into a Promise

Cormac’s appeal to Patrick is personal as well as political. He asks his father’s old friend to be ready to support him when he makes his move, whether that means acting against one of Mickey’s men or simply refusing to shoot Cormac if Mickey demands it. The range of possibilities makes the request deliberately concrete: Patrick is not asked to lead an uprising at once, but to make his allegiance clear when the confrontation arrives. Cormac invokes both his father’s affection for Patrick and his own, grounding the proposed alliance in ties that predate Mickey’s rule.

Patrick accepts and promises to be ready. The change is visible in the encounter: after initially appearing awkward and uncertain, he stands with a harder resolve. His commitment is significant but limited. He has not been shown taking action against Mickey; he has agreed not to remain neutral when the choice becomes unavoidable. For Cormac, that distinction matters. In a climate where fear makes loyalties hard to read, even a promise of support is a first breach in Mickey’s apparent control.

Smiley’s Disclosure and the Cost of Allegiance

The following day, Cormac meets Smiley at Lit, a quiet downtown bar where he expects not to be recognized. Smiley arrives visibly uneasy and explains that he is reluctant to become involved in undercover work or anything that might put his family at risk. He is married, and his wife, Sheila, is pregnant. Cormac does not dismiss that concern. He tells Smiley he does not want his wife or child hurt, while arguing that continued service under Mickey may not protect them either.

Smiley then discloses an incident that helps explain his fear and his disgust. He says Mickey assaulted a barmaid’s young child after the woman rejected Mickey’s attention. The disclosure is not merely a general accusation of cruelty: it gives Cormac a specific reason that a man close to Mickey might no longer accept his authority. Smiley describes Mickey as surrounded by men who worship him, so the danger is not confined to Mickey’s own conduct; his followers help make that conduct difficult to challenge.

Cormac narrows his request to the kind of support Smiley can offer. He does not ask him to spy or undertake covert work, only to promise that if a confrontation comes, he will stand with Cormac rather than Mickey. Smiley agrees. The exchange turns an abstract objection into a defined, limited commitment, while acknowledging that family obligations make the decision more costly for him than it is for Cormac.

Building a Fragile Coalition

Cormac continues recruiting through quieter, less conspicuous meetings. He meets Trevor, Dylan, and Liam behind a school during recess, choosing a place where he thinks Mickey will not look for him. They recount another account of Mickey abusing his power: one of Mickey’s men killed a woman’s partner after he objected to Mickey’s conduct toward her. The men say they are sickened by what happened and agree either to help Cormac or, at minimum, not to shoot at him if the conflict comes to a head.

Over the next several days, Cormac brings seven more men onto his side. The growing group is not presented as a secure army. He returns exhausted from the effort and knows that any recruit could report the discussions to Mickey in hopes of winning favor. His confidence rests instead on what he sees in the men: affection for his father. That loyalty offers a basis for resistance, but it also points backward, to a bond with the dead Don, rather than proving that the alliance can withstand the pressure ahead.

The episode therefore ends with a beginning, not a victory. Cormac has secured promises from Patrick, Smiley, Trevor, Dylan, Liam, and seven additional men, but he has not yet confronted Mickey or tested those commitments in battle. The alliance is built through individual appeals, shared anger, and carefully bounded pledges. Its central tension is already clear: the men may oppose Mickey, yet fear for themselves and their families can still keep them from acting together.