Since MobLand premiered, the acclaimed TV show has become a major hit among viewers. Arguably one of the best shows that has focused on the drama surrounding organized crime in years, MobLand managed to always keep viewers guessing what would happen next. There are many reasons why MobLand was so compelling for viewers, including the fact that it featured many characters who would say and do things that captivated fans.

On the other hand, there is also no denying that some of MobLand’s most notable characters made their mark on fans in a negative way. In fact, one of MobLand’s most-talked-about main characters consistently acted in ways that outraged many of the show’s viewers.

Why Many MobLand Fans Find Maeve Harrigan To Be Infuriating

When a new show like MobLand airs, it is fascinating to see how the viewers react to the different characters. After all, there is a long history of TV shows becoming dominated by a supporting character who became a hit with fans that nobody expected to be a big deal.

Of course, the opposite can be true as well. Sometimes a character that the people behind the show clearly expected to be popular winds up flopping with viewers. In fact, some past TV characters who were designed to be popular were hated instead.

When fans first learned that the show MobLand was coming, they expected to be excited to see Helen Mirren on the show. However, many of those same fans are now infuriated by Helen’s character, Maeve Harrigan.

When the first season of MobLand began, it didn’t take long for fans to realize that Maeve is a formidable character.

The wife of the leader of an organized crime family named Conrad Harrigan, who is portrayed by Pierce Brosnan, Maeve clearly has a lot of influence over him. In fact, Maeve seemed to have so much influence over Conrad that it initially seemed like she could be the one who was actually in charge.

However, it didn’t take long for fans to realize that Conrad was the one who truly is in charge. However, it is Maeve’s desire to pull the strings that quickly made many fans become infuriated by her character.

In April 2025, a fan on the r/Mobland subreddit posted to express their opinion about Maeve Harrigan as a character.

As the title of that post communicates, that fan found Maeve to be extremely frustrating as a character.

Under that title, the fan wrote about what it was about Maeve that drove made them so irritated. “Nothing she does makes any sense, she has a fragile little ego and causes nothing but problems, coddles eddies dumba** and his dumb choices and just wants to blow everything good the Harrigans have for no reason other than some weird delusion of a loss of strength and power, makes you wonder why Conrad kept here around so long.”

To that fan’s point, Maeve’s relationship with Eddie Harrigan is a source of frustration for many MobLand fans. A perfect example of a loose cannon, Eddie’s actions got the Harrigan crime family in the trouble that dominated the storyline during the first season. Despite that, Maeve insists that Eddie’s violence should be praised, and she seemed to scheme to get him more power in the family.

There is also no doubt that Maeve’s actions during MobLand’s first season often led to her family having big problems to cope with. Most notably, Maeve’s attempt to pull strings led to the death of her eldest son, Brendan Harrigan.

One of the responses to that post that received upvotes from MobLand’s other fans echoed the idea that Maeve is a hateable character.

While it is clear that many MobLand fans have been bothered by Maeve’s behavior, others see the character differently. The top most-upvoted response to the subreddit post was from someone who agreed that Maeve is insufferable. However, they wrote that they believed that Maeve was designed to be hated, which clearly seemed to indicate they believe the character works.

Helen Mirren Has Strong Opinions About MobLand’s Maeve Harrigan Too

In May 2025, Helen Mirren was interviewed by TVLine about MobLand. During that description, the interviewer called Maeve Harrigan bats*** and Helen was clearly delighted as she agreed with that description. “Love the word ‘bats***.’ That was a great description. It’s the first time I’ve heard it called ‘bats***’ and I love that. It’s a perfect description.” As that interview continued, Helen revealed how she feels about Maeve as a character.

While talking to TVLine, Helen was asked how Maeve felt about causing the death of her eldest son. In response, Helen stated she thought Maeve wouldn’t care about her son’s death as she continued to judge the character.

“I don’t think she cared. Because she certainly wanted to get rid of her stepdaughter, and she kind of cared about Brendan, kind of. In the immediate moment, [Brendan’s death is] a kind of devastation. She said, “Well, if I had to lose someone, it’s better that it was Brendan than anybody else.” I mean, she is bats***, as you say.”

After fully admitting that her character does wild things while talking to TVLine, Helen described what she thought Maeve was trying to accomplish with her schemes.

“She wants her family to run everything in the mob land, and she has identified her grandson as being the person who is the least moral, the most out of control — and she’s probably right. She thinks those are the qualities needed to do that particular kind of business, and what she’s worried about with Conrad is that, you know, he’s made his money. He’s sort of retiring. He’s got his dogs, and he’s fishing, and you know, as far as she’s concerned, he’s lost the plot, you know? She’s a city girl. She doesn’t want to be doyenne of the country society. She likes the streets. She likes to get down and dirty. That’s what she wants.”

Based on how Helen perceives Maeve as a character, it will hopefully be great to see what she does next if MobLand is renewed for a second season.