There a
number of different adages you could probably apply to Cottonmouth and Mariah
if you wanted to. “Blood is thicker than
water.” “You can’t choose your family.” Even stuff along the lines of tigers not
changing their stripes and apples falling within reach of their trees. But though the relationship obviously has
its roots in these different ideas, it doesn’t feel clichéd or tropey. Instead, it’s a fascinating, fraught
connection that keeps both characters entangled in one another (a few spoilers
for Cottonmouth-Mariah.)
At first
glance, these cousins appear to be positioned as polar opposites – the crime
boss and the councilwoman. Really,
though, they have much more in common.
Having grown up surrounded by the family business, both carry it on in
their own way, and both have identities that are not what they seem. Mariah, although she presents herself as the
respectable politician, plays a shell game with official funds to help bankroll
Cottonmouth’s criminal ventures. Her illegal
activities are much more of a secret than her cousin’s; Cottonmouth is the sort
of man who’s widely known to be a crime boss, and his front as a legitimate
businessman/club owner is more cover-by-rote than anything else.
They play
the same game with the actual illegal activities they conduct and their
respective attitudes toward the family business/desire for power. Cottonmouth’s is much more out in the
open. He’s the one sending his
lieutenants out to “deliver messages” or bring gun deals to fruition, while
Mariah is eager to say that she’s “just” the money, that she doesn’t even fully
want to know what Cottonmouth is up
to as long as he takes care of it quickly and discreetly. But when push comes to shove, Mariah has a
much greater capacity for crime and power plays than she lets on. When she takes over partway through the
season, even as she insists that she’s just tying up loose ends so they can
never come back to bite her, there’s also that little piece of her that takes
pride in improving on Cottonmouth’s – by her estimation – sloppy operation.
It’s such
a messed-up relationship. Mariah wants
nothing to do with Cottonmouth (even though, deep down so far that it takes her
a good chunk of the season to admit it to herself, she kind of does,) but she
still can’t turn him down when he needs something from her. She knows
how her dealings with him could mess with her career if they come out, but she
does it anyway. Cottonmouth is beholden
to Mariah for the money she’s given him, and yet (maybe because he’s seen how
she can’t tell him no?), he still acts like he has all the power.
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