DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Continental: From the World of John Wick Season 1 Episode 2, “Loyalty to the Master,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Peacock’s John Wick prequel is back with another action-packed episode. This time, Winston amasses a crew and resources to make his dream of killing Cormac come to fruition. KD gets one step closer to finding the man responsible for the death of her family (Frankie). Lou really hates cigarette machines.
Yen and Lou have a few badass moments in “Loyalty to the Master,” while young Charon gets more screen time (and away from Cormac, praise be). The fight choreography continues to be top-tier. While the soundtrack is excellent, it’s pretty distracting sometimes. It pulls me out of the show. It’s also become repetitive — fun tune plays, cue ultraviolent fight scene. I found the scenes without music were more impactful.
I wonder how they’ll wrap this story up in one episode. It would have to be wall-to-wall action. As for the characters, they’re primarily bereft of charm and intrigue, save Yen and Lou. They’re the most interesting to me.
Ready to delve into “Loyalty to the Master”? Let’s get to it.
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We open on a flashback to The Bronx in 1955, with young Winston and Frankie committing a crime on behalf of Cormac. They toss a bottle that’s aflame into an apartment. Winston cries, feeling guilty as he hears the family’s screams inside. Now, we’re in the present. Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour) hands Winston (Colin Woodell) an envelope with Frankie’s dog tags and wedding ring. Then, he and Miles watch while someone burns Frankie’s (Ben Robson) body. RIP.
Next, we flash back again to Saigon in 1973. A man is assembling a bomb on Yen’s (Nhung Kate) body. He talks to her about honor and how she has the privilege to make one final sacrifice before blowing herself up. Yen wanders into a club, presumably to destroy it. Thankfully, the bomb attached to her doesn’t detonate. She spots Frankie from afar. He smiles at her, and she returns it. Later, we see Yen asleep after getting shot in the previous episode.
Meanwhile, Lou (Jessica Allain) catches a man putting a cigarette machine in her karate establishment. She lays the smackdown on him and his buddies. One man, known as Orphan Master (Dan Li), is impressed by her prowess. However, he makes it abundantly clear that every business in this neighborhood will have cigarette machines. You get lung cancer; you get lung cancer; everyone gets lung cancer!
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Then, KD (Mishel Prada) tells Mayhew (Jeremy Bobb) that she wants to pursue the buyer she traced to the Continental. Mayhew refuses to let her go further, though. When KD receives a phone call with the identity of said buyer, Mayhew eavesdrops like a creep. Ew. KD learns that her buyer is Frankie, and he’s dead. At Burton Karate, Winston, Lou, Miles and Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) stand before Frankie’s urn. Earlier, Winston discovered that Frankie got the last laugh. Cormac’s coin press was empty.
So, where did Frankie hide whatever Cormac wants? That’s the rub. Winston wants to track down Cormac’s prized possession and take him out of commission. Yes, he wants to kill Cormac so a morally sound individual can operate the hotel. Initially, the gang seems hesitant to join this mission. However, after some persuading, they’re all in. Yen emerges, asking where Frankie is. Uh-oh. She spots the urn with the wedding ring attached to it. Her eyes tear up. Rightfully enraged, she starts fighting everyone in the room. She almost takes out Winston, but the crew talks her down. She storms out.
Meanwhile, KD visits the morgue where Frankie’s body should be. She grills one of the workers for info regarding who took his corpse. He describes Miles, Winston, and Miles’ van. At the Continental, Cormac (Mel Gibson) receives a visitor — the Adjudicator (Katie McGrath). She threatens him while he eats, claiming there will be consequences if he doesn’t locate what’s supposed to be in the coin press in three days. The Adjudicator removes her mask and takes a bite of food. Based on Cormac’s reaction, her visage sans mask is … shocking.
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Later, Winston, Miles and Lou try to assemble their team as they plan to break into the Continental. Lou and Miles reveal a friend of their late father is still kicking it. He’s a hitman. Speaking of, Jenkins (Ray McKinnon) takes out a registered sexual predator with his deft marksman skills. Back in New York, Ronnie (Chris Ryman) and his kid go into hiding while Gretel (Marina Mazepa) and Hansel (Mark Musashi), everyone’s favorite killer twins, search the trailer for Cormac’s item. Charlie is nowhere to be found.
Then, Miles drops by Jenkins’ apartment. They chat, skirting around the issue at hand, until Jenkins asks Miles what’s really up. After learning about the crew’s mission to kill Cormac, Jenkins volunteers to join. Miles accepts him into the fold. Meanwhile, Winston tries to meet with Mazie, the only crimelord in NYC who’s not under Cormac’s thumb. He believes she could be a boon to their dangerous undertaking. At the abandoned theater, Yen encounters a handful of Cormac’s men sent to search for the stolen item. Thankfully, she singlehandedly kicks their asses, aka she kills them.
After encountering a fake Mazie, Winston meets the real Mazie (Zainab Jah). He attempts to persuade her and her crew to join him. Taking out the competition would undoubtedly benefit her, right? Mazie reveals she doesn’t want financial compensation. She only wants love. Huh? At the Continental, Cormac prays in his church while Charon (Ayomide Adegun), the Twins and the rest of his crew sit behind him. Cormac reveals that if he fails to procure that item, he’s taking them down with him.
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Later, Winston returns to Burton Karate, where Miles and Jenkins plan their next steps. Yen barges in with an intricate map of the Continental that Frankie drew. She throws it on the table for them to use. That evening, KD interrupts family night for Mayhew. She demands he let her pursue the Frankie lead. Otherwise, she might decide to participate in the rousing game of Twister with his wife and children. Affairs are messy.
Then, Yen accompanies Miles on a mission of their own. She’s going to be the getaway driver. Before Miles makes a move, he launches into a monologue about his time serving in the Vietnam War alongside Frankie. It’s a beautifully written piece that hits you where it hurts, thanks partly to Point-Du Jour’s tender performance. What nuanced, searingly vulnerable work. It also makes Yen cry. Oof. Hubert Point-Du Jour and Nhung Kate are my acting MVPs in this episode. They’re compelling as hell. Anyway, unfortunately, Miles’ plan fails hard, so he and Yen speed away.
On the other side of town, Charon sits on the hotel’s roof with Thomas Caine (Samuel Blenkin), Cormac’s cellist. We heard him play for Cormac during dinner with the Adjudicator. Anyway, Thomas learns Charon is writing a letter to his father. Thomas informs Charon about getting accepted into a music school in Ireland. He urges Charon to go with him. Charon deserves better than to work for Cormac in perpetuity. Charon insists he’s happy where he is.
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While they chat, Winston and Jenkins are in another building. Jenkins trains his gun on the pair. They work out the logistics of firing on the enemy from the outside. Perhaps waiting for Cormac to turn on the red light, which means the assassins in the hotel can kill on the grounds, will help their cause.
Later, Charon gets a letter from his father that distresses him. He reads it in a record shop. When he gets up and walks away, Lou surreptitiously scoops up the letter and hands it to Winston. Mayhew searches KD’s apartment while she’s out. Well, that’s an invasion of privacy. Outside Burton Karate, Lou chases a kid who chucks a rock through the window of her business. She runs into Orphan Master again. She battles his men this time, effectively taking them out in minutes. Badass.
Orphan Master sits with her while they wait for chicken feet. They trade stories about what chicken feet mean to them in their respective cultures. The conversation turns to racism as Lou accuses him of making assumptions based on her race. He reminds her that every establishment in the neighborhood will have cigarette machines. When she returns to her business, Lou throws the cigarette machine outside. She’s had enough of it.
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Then, Winston and the gang empty a bus that Charon’s on — well, save Charon. Winston chats with Charon. He encourages Charon to join them in their quest to rid the world of Cormac. Winston believes he can offer something better for Charon. He’s now the second person to try to get Charon out from under Cormac’s thumb. Meanwhile, Cormac calls Thomas in for an impromptu performance. He talks to Thomas about the importance of loyalty.
Thomas informs him about Charon’s unwavering, unequivocal loyalty. Charon would never leave Cormac. Cormac orders Thomas to play his cello. While Thomas plays, Cormac approaches him from behind with a golf club. He brains him with said club. It’s a bloody mess. Gibson’s great at playing an a-hole. Must’ve had a lot of practice… Anyway, the Adjudicator learns that Cormac murdered someone in the hotel, a big no-no.
Next, Charon returns to the hotel after his conversation with Winston. Will he change teams? Charon wanders into the room where Cormac killed Thomas. He finds Thomas’ bloody corpse near his smashed cello. Cormac descends the staircase, claiming he had to kill Thomas because the late cellist was disloyal. Cormac claims that Thomas tried to steal Charon away from him. Charon discloses Winston’s plan to storm the Continental and slaughter Cormac. After they embrace, Cormac divulges his choice for their next musician: Charon’s father, a violinist. Cormac will bring him to America. Uh-oh.
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How will Winston’s plan shake out? Can Cormac deliver the goods before the Adjudicator punishes him with his life? Will KD learn the truth? Only time (and one more episode) will tell.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick streams its series finale on Friday, October 6, 2023, only on Peacock.
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