The Continental Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Brothers in Arms
Denis Kimathi
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The John Wick universe has always had two main characters: John Wick and The Continental. There was a reason Winston hung on to it so much in the movies.
While John's story has always been interesting, it felt like there was a lot to be said about the lore surrounding John's line of work, including the vast hotel network and The High Table.
The films didn't have enough time to explore many of these aspects because the clock was ticking, and they had a narrative to follow while serving as many action scenes as possible.
When the idea behind the show was announced, it was interesting in the least. For one, there was curiosity on how the creatives would pull off a show centered around an inanimate object, and two, was it a cash grab?
Many shows have been made from successful movie franchises, but the television version never quite measures up to the big screen's execution.
There were concerns that the show would not be as good as the movies.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick Season 1 Episode 1 put all those fears to rest, introducing us to a familiar yet not-so-familiar world.
Cormac: I can't kill you. Not here. Charon, what becomes of someone who breaks that particular rule?
Charon: Excommunicado, Sir.
Cormac: That's Latin for "You're fucked". I'd be persona non grata. Deprived of all the privileges and protections that this hotel has to offer. Imagine me walking out these doors. You know, alive. But suddenly unprotected from all the people that I've heard over the last 40 years. My enemies hunting me down.
For eighty minutes, the episode successfully introduced stories and characters spanning years and across continents and tied them together where all their interests converged at New York's The Continental.
The cold open introduced Frankie, who appeared to be the central character, where all the other characters' narratives intersected.
Frankie was depicted as being a risk taker, unafraid to challenge authority. He was also loyal, especially to the people he loved.
In 1955, he took the fall for something Winston had done, but several years later, their bond had seemingly waned even if no love was lost between them.
He was daring. Everyone with a basic understanding of The Continental knows it is a death sentence to conduct business on the grounds, and the same is true for any guest who would try to rob the place.
After proving himself as an actor aficionado for six years on Animal Kingdom, there was no doubt Ben Robson would embody Frankie perfectly.
It was unclear why Frankie decided to steal the coin press after all this time, but maybe there was a final straw that broke the camel's back.
Scraping by as a child, then going to war, and finally returning to New York to work for a man whose sentiments you had changed must have done something to Frankie.
Winston: What's the point? Really? I feel like I'm getting dragged back into another one of Frankie's hornet nests.
Charlie: The point is: He's your family
Winston: He's family? That's the point? I don't even know who he is anymore. And I'm supposed to throw away everything that I've built because my brother returns from Vietnam and goes back to work for the monster that ruined our lives, took our house, put our family on the street, and let him rot in jail. Charlie: Why don't you give your brother a break, okay? He didn't get a golden ticket to someplace post like you did.
Across the ocean, we were also introduced to Winston, older than he was in 1955 and younger than in the movies and not doing much better than Frankie, but he knew how to present himself and create an illusion of wealth.
There was nothing striking about Colin Woodell's version of Winston.
But the truth was that he was a conman just like any other. He was trying to swindle Mr. Davenport out of his money, and he had a direct ticket into the man's mind through Mrs. Davenport.
Back in New York, we met more characters.
Lou and Miles were siblings whose main trade was selling guns.
The first deal we saw them do went south, and it was clear that they were clever and could hold their own.
But there was a problem because they were not on the same page. Lou would have been happy leaving the gun business behind and running the dojo, while Miles stressed that you needed money to make money.
The guns brought one final player to the picture. KD was a cop who had just made detective and was working on a case about illegal firearms being sold in the city.
She was introduced as an atypical woman who had braved hardships to get where she was.
There was an air of overt dominance in how she operated, from her preference for dominating sexual partners to smearing dog poop on someone's windscreen.
She was courageous, which is usually a good thing but, in this case, might have put her in danger.
Her chase for the guns landed her in front of The Continental. Despite Mayhew's initial warning, she gathered enough courage to walk through the doors, and her detective instincts kicked in.
The place, as we know, was no regular hotel. It had operating methods, but the kicker was that everyone was an assassin waiting for a job.
To most people, they would have had their drink, paid with real money, and left.
Winston reunited with Cormac, a man he and Frankie had a history with, who was the current manager of The Continental. Cormac gave him an ultimatum.
However, Cormac was smarter than he appeared. He knew there was no way Winston would help bring his brother in. But knowing that Frankie was in danger, Winston would try to find and warn him, and that's how they would get to Frankie.
And just as he predicted, Winston turned over some stones and found Frankie.
Family reunions are usually weird in one way or another, but nothing can beat finding your brother hanging from the ceiling by his neck on your wife's account.
In all those years Frankie and Winston had been apart since Frankie went to jail for Winston, there were some things unsaid which they let out.
Eventually, their brotherhood bond was restored, and Winston was willing to give anything for Frankie's safety.
Winston: What is it?
Frnakie: An ancient coin press.
Winston: Cormac wants you dead over this thing?
Frankie: Cormac's one thing. But the people he works for, the people that he fears. After what I did to him, Winston, they control everything. They have eyes and ears everywhere. They make people disappear. They make whole buildings disappear.
Winston: Well, I have money, Frankie. A lot of it right now. I can buy you that way out that you are robbed of. You can go anywhere you want. You can be anyone.
Frankie: That's not gonna work.
But he wasn't the only one. Yen lived and breathed Frankie.
They were so in love that Frankie learned Vietnamese to communicate with her. If a white man in the 1970s learned a language for you, he was deeply in love.
Yen was always ready to go to war for Frankie, and she seemed almost eager to fight to a fault.
However, she could hold her weight because she was a great fighter.
Action sequences in the John Wick movies have always stood out. Their complexity, style, duration, and entertainment have always been unique.
It is not a John Wick gunfight if someone doesn't take at least two bullets, whether they're dead or not. It is not a John Wick shootout scene if there isn't blood everywhere.
It is not a John Wick action scene if the protagonist doesn't push themselves beyond their physical capabilities to survive.
The episode delivered signature John Wick action scenes, from Frankie's attempt to escape The Continental to Yen's attempt to save Frankie from Cormac's men.
Yen was the best fighter in the show, and it will be interesting to see how she dials it up, given what happened to Frankie.
Frankie's death was shocking. From its first minutes, the show set itself up as a story about two brothers, but in the end, one was dead. While that might be justification enough for Winston to avenge him, we will still miss a brother dynamic that we had grown to expect.
Frankie: You both need to look after each other. You hear me?
Winston: What are you saying?
Frankie: That they want me? And this?
Winston: Frankie!
Everything about the show was spectacular, based on this episode. Given the creative license the show offered the creators, it felt like a better version of John Wick, which cannot be found in films for rating purposes.
It was an immersive experience in the times it was set in. Using relevant music like Boney M's Daddy Cool only enriched it.
The only concern is that the show will not satisfy the hunger it created in three episodes only.
I need guns. Lots of guns.
Winston
Intrusive thoughts
- KD received a file with Frankie's information, and the look on her face told of a different story. Is there a connection between KD and Frankie?
- Setting up human characters and their dynamics is great, but it didn't feel like we dived into The Continental's operations properly.
- The late Lance Reddick who passed away earlier this year did a great job with his consigliere character, and Ayomide Adegun's Charon is also great, but he needs something more personal injected into him. For now, he appears like a talking statue.
- They might be cold-blooded killers, but I love the twins. Hansel and Gretel are mysteriously attractive.
Frankie knew he would eventually die, but what made him think that Cormac and The High Table would not go after Winston and Yen?
If anything, he courted more trouble for them. His sacrifice was pointless.
What did you think?
Did the show live up to your expectations?
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
