Mike's control over Kingstown is threatened as new players compete to fill the power vacuum left in the Russians' wake, compelling him to confront the resulting gang war and stop them from swallowing the town. Meanwhile, with those he loves in more danger than ever before, Mike must contend with a headstrong new warden to protect his own while grappling with demons from his past.

In season three, a series of explosions rock Kingstown and its citizens, as a new face of the Russian mob sets up shop in the city, and a drug war rages inside and outside prison walls. The pressure is on Mike McLusky to end the war but things get complicated when a familiar face from his incarcerated past threatens to undermine the Mayor's attempts to keep the peace among all factions.