There’s a lot going on in the ending of Crooks, which became more and more complex throughout Season 1 as retired safecracker Charly reluctantly teamed up with getaway driver Joseph, originally to steal a coin and eventually to rescue Charly’s family – wife Samira and son Jonas – from the head of the Corsican Mafia. Episode 8 takes place in Marseille, with Charly at risk from multiple angles and desperate to save his family by any means necessary.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
One Last Job
With Charly’s back against the wall, he agrees to help Griselda steal back a motherlode of cocaine that was impounded by customs after being seized from a tanker. The tip on that ship came from Rami, who is now dead, and the next morning Charlie uses Rami’s phone, which Samira swiped from his corpse, to call Joseph.
Joseph has agreed to give suspended cop Nina the coin if she helps rescue Charly’s family. So, they devise a plan, doled out to the audience in convenient flashbacks after Charly leaves his family behind to carry out the job at Griselda’s behest. It goes a little something like this.
The Keys and the Football
Crooks (via Netflix)
Nina is set up just outside the compound. Joseph, meanwhile, makes a mold of Serge’s keys that he uses to subsequently copy them. Serge is Griselda’s right-hand man, tasked with fitting a drainage pipe in the sewers that’ll allow Charly to flush the confiscated cocaine from the police station’s toilets directly into Serge’s hands.
But how can the copied keys be snuck into the compound? Enter Jonas. Samira negotiates with Griselda to allow Jonas the opportunity for a kick-around outside, the equivalent of a Death Row meal. Joseph and Nina sew the copied keys into the lining of a soccer ball and text Samira (on Rami’s phone) to say they’re ready and waiting. She gives Jonas a nod, and he boots his ball into the trees. Nina and Joseph swap it. Thus, Samira has the keys.
Escape Attempt
During the job, Charly legs it to Joseph’s car instead of breaking into the police station, and together they rush back to the compound. At the same time, with a bit of polishing from Jonas, Samira is able to use the key to break out of their cell.
Samira and Jonas try to run out; Charly and Joseph run in to help them. Naturally, it all goes a bit pear-shaped, resulting in Joseph being shot and Charly being left behind. What’s worse is that Charly is being held captive with Hassan, who wants to kill him as revenge for his brother’s death.
A Fight to the Death
Griselda wants Charly and Hassan to fight to the death, an idea the latter seems pretty keen on. But Charly explains to him that he’s fighting a losing battle. If he wins, the best-case scenario is that Griselda kills him anyway. There’s no upside other than avenging a death that wasn’t Charly’s fault in the first place.
Thus, Charly and Hassan leap over the compound wall together. They plummet into the ocean below, letting the waves decide their fate rather than the gangster maniac, which seems pretty wise.
Crooks ends sometime later, with Charly and Hassan both having survived on relatively cordial terms. Charly is back with Samira and Jonas.
Joseph and Nina also survive and travel to Tbilisi, Georgia together to continue their partnership, using the coin as bait so that Nina can get her own revenge.
You can check out my thoughts on the season overall in my Crooks Season 1 Review.
