DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Continental: From the World of John Wick Season 1 Episode 3, “Theatre of Pain,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
The John Wick prequel ends today with “Theatre of Pain,” unarguably its best episode, by and large. It’s balls-to-the-wall insanity from start to finish, stuffed to the gills with intricate fight choreography and badassery. There were moments when I was genuinely on the edge of my seat. Not only is there high-octane action and ultraviolence that feels more like John Wick than the previous outings, but the stakes feel real. Of course, we know Winston and Charon live to tell the tale; however, the other characters are fair game. I also felt the music wasn’t quite as distracting in “Theatre of Pain” because I was so engrossed by the gripping narrative.
That said, I would’ve loved a few extra episodes to spend with these characters. I grew to love them by the end. Perhaps we’ll get another series with Winston and Charon overseeing their new empire and the challenges that it brings. I’m game for it.
Ready to delve into “Theatre of Pain”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with a flashback to 1955. Young Frankie and Winston lie in the trunk of a car, wrapped in blankets, while their mother arms them with a gun. She’s heading off to work. She promises her sons it won’t always be like this before she closes the trunk and leaves them inside. Mama Scott embarks on her trek to her job. Fast forward to the present, wherein adult Winston (Colin Woodell) trains Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour), Yen (Nhung Kate) and Lemmy (Adam Shapiro). They’re preparing to infiltrate The Continental (and kill Cormac, obviously).
Later, someone snaps photos of Lou (Jessica Allain) and Lemmy carrying cargo into Burton Karate. KD (Mishel Prada) waltzes into the establishment and asks Lou and Lemmy about Winston. Have they seen him? Lou and Lemmy pretend not to know him. After Lemmy departs, KD gives Lou her card. As KD leaves the building, we see the person behind the snapshots is Mayhew (Jeremy Bobb), who followed KD. Creepy.
Meanwhile, Jenkins (Ray McKinnon) chats up Patricia (Tamzin Griffin), a woman who resides near The Continental, to gain access to her window to shoot baddies from a distance. He pretends to be an exterminator. He claims she’ll need to leave for a few days so he can fumigate her home. At Burton Karate, Miles and Lou butt heads as the latter learns her brother has kept secrets from her.
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Then, The Twins, Hansel (Mark Musashi) and Gretel (Marina Mazepa), accompany Charon (Ayomide Adegun) to interrogate the bus driver who witnessed Charon’s interaction with Winston. Said driver claims he doesn’t know where he dropped off Winston. Charon steps out as the Twins kill him. Speaking of Winston, he meets with Mazie (Zainab Jah) in an abandoned bank.
Thankfully, Winston has Mazie’s support for the attack on The Continental. To solidify that support, Winston gives her the bank in which they’re standing. That and two racks of suits. Winston tells her a story about how his mother was fired from that bank, and they were temporarily homeless. He likes the idea of poetic justice — Mazie taking control of a building from an asshole in a suit. She can change the narrative.
Later, Lou calls Winston’s hotel from a pay phone, asking the hotel concierge to pass on a message to him. She’s being followed. We see Mayhew approach her. Then, the pair erupt into a scuffle inside the phone booth. That had to be a fun fight sequence to choreograph. I love the stunning backdrop of Manhattan behind them. Anyway, Lou emerges victorious from that fight, knocking Mayhew unconscious. Meanwhile, Winston returns to the hotel he’s staying at and gets Lou’s message from the concierge.
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Next, Charon updates Cormac (Mel Gibson) on the Winston situation. There’s also the matter of the missing coin press and The High Table potentially snuffing him out if it’s not recovered. Cormac claims he needs his “fun fumes.” You know, his “medicine.” Priorities, man. After sniffing his “medicine,” Cormac prays to God to save him. He complains about all the incompetent people around him. Well, except for Charon. At the Rhodes Hotel, where Winston is staying, the Twins hold the concierge at gunpoint as they search for him.
KD learns Mayhew was following her when she visited Burton Karate. He also rummaged through her belongings in her apartment. He knows she’s on a mission of vengeance for the death of her family. Enraged, KD kicks him out of her car. Meanwhile, Lou reunites with Winston as Cormac’s crew attacks them. KD enters the hotel as Winston attempts to depart undetected. As they cross paths, KD realizes who he is. She whips out her gun and trains it on him. Unfortunately, the Twins take him hostage. One of Cormac’s men shoots KD as she fires at him, killing him.
Thankfully, KD is alive. Mayhew barges into the hotel to find her cradling her cheek. She crouches over the man she killed, searching for something to get her access to The Continental. She finds a gold coin. Mayhew wishes her luck. Sure enough, The Continental concierge accepts her gold coin and offers her a room. At the same time, Cormac circles a subdued Winston while Charon stands behind them. Cormac intends to kill Winston but wants to play with him first.
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Next, as Cormac’s men prepare to dangle Winston over the balcony’s edge, Jenkins, who’s situated in Patricia’s apartment, shoots them in the head. Winston and Charon turn on Cormac. Cormac’s incensed that Charon betrayed him, and that’s when the racism comes out. (Was Gibson acting here, or…?) Cormac reaches for his shotgun, but it’s in Charon’s hands. Winston and Charon demand Cormac hand over his key to the Armory. Naturally, Cormac refuses. Winston urges Charon to shoot Cormac; however, the latter hesitates, allowing Cormac to escape. Winston communicates with his team to implement Plan B.
Meanwhile, Ronnie (Chris Ryman) sets up his station with numerous TVs to monitor what’s transpiring in The Continental. Lemmy enters the fray, along with Miles and Yen. Lou reunites with Weiko (Roy Hu), the young boy with Orphan Master. He tells Lou that his Master is coming for her. Sure enough, Orphan Master (Dan Li) has a crew and weapons outside. Orphan Master informs Lou that her father isn’t who she thinks he was. He killed the former owners of Burton Karate. He worked for the mob for the rest of his life. Weiko begs Lou not to let Orphan Master take him. She holds him close while Orphan Master and his crew destroy Burton Karate.
Then, Lou detonates a bomb nestled inside the building, killing everyone inside and exploding the hell out of it. She sheds tears, realizing she’s incinerating her late father’s passion. At The Continental, Cormac struggles to open a door that leads to the Armory, so he bashes a hole in the wall and enters that way. Charon injects Winston with a drug that vanishes all his aches and pains. They notice the red light flick on, meaning the assassins within have free rein to kill on hotel grounds. Cormac sends a notice to the hotel patrons to kill Winston and Charon on sight.
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Lemmy encounters a woman in the hotel’s lower levels who immediately attacks him. They battle it out. Listen, let’s give her a prequel story. She looks intriguing as hell. She knocks him unconscious as he lodges an ax in her chest. Miles, Yen and KD wander the hotel while fighting whoever gets in their way. The fight choreography in these scenes is top-tier. Meanwhile, Winston and Charon wind up standing outside the Armory. Cormac reunites with them. We see this trio and a handful of other assassins standing in a circle. Cormac still refuses to open the safe.
Suddenly, the lights flicker off, and everyone starts shooting at each other. After the fight in front of the Armory, Charon searches for Winston, who’s alive. Cormac fled again, though. We see him traveling to the hotel’s basement to pull out the big guns. Speaking of guns, Jenkins brandishes his at Patricia when she wanders inside. She claims she forgot her medicine. Uh-oh.
While Winston and Charon try to determine Cormac’s whereabouts, KD takes Winston hostage. That’s the second time today, y’all. Cormac pays Orson (Connor Crawford) a visit. He needs the IT guy to lend a hand. KD explains why she’s holding Winston hostage. Remember that family young Frankie and Winston burned in the flashback? That was her family. She was the only survivor of the fire. She dumps gasoline on him. KD wants Winston to feel the pain her family felt. Winston apologizes, claiming he and Frankie were so little. However, Jenkins shoots at her from afar before she can do anything.
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Winston hands KD the drug Charon gave him for his injuries. He urges her to keep pressing on her wound and promises to return. He and Charon reunite. They head to Charon’s room, where he stores money and supplies. Charon also reveals he was much closer to Frankie than he let on. Frankie was the only person who talked to him. He accepted this mission to avenge Frankie. Thankfully, that intimate bond yielded monetary and materialistic fruit. Eventually, KD injects herself with the drug. Meanwhile, Yen distracts the Twins by luring them away from the mayhem.
Outside the hotel, Jenkins holds Patricia hostage. I suppose that’s what happens when you forget things. Miles catches Yen with bombs attached to her chest. She’s about to blow herself up to be with Frankie while killing the Twins. He tries to talk her down from it. Fortunately, he’s successful. Yen can still get hers, though — she squares off against Gretel on the hotel roof.
Meanwhile, Hansel and one of Cormac’s men chase Miles into the bar. Speaking of Cormac, the coward becomes besties with Orson, who’s utilizing algorithms to predict who survives/who dies in The Continental’s free-for-all death match. Upstairs, Miles ducks behind a bar as Hansel fires at him. Believing this is the end, he calls Lemmy, unsure if the latter is alive. Lemmy wakes from his fight with the interesting lady. Lemmy’s in the mailroom, so he mails a special device to Hansel: a bomb. Boom!
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Next, Lou decides to get in on the action. Outside the hotel, she urges Ronnie to watch Weiko while she heads inside. Miles realizes Hansel is sending a gift to Lemmy in response to the bomb. He calls Lemmy, urging him to run. Unfortunately, the connection is weak, and Lemmy can’t decipher what Miles says. Suddenly, a bomb detonates in the mailroom. Distraught, Miles fights Hansel and his pal with everything he’s got. That’s when Lou appears, saving the day. She fights alongside her brother, and it’s badass. You can see the karate influences in their combat styles.
At one point, Hansel stabs Miles with a pool cue while choking Lou with a triangle pool ball rack. Weiko appears in the ceiling, dropping a gun for Lou to catch. If you recall, she’s not a fan of using firearms. However, her and Miles’ lives are on the line. She shoots Hansel. Downstairs, Winston and Charon find Lemmy after the explosion. He looks worse for the wear. Lemmy urges Winston to grab his bag. Oh, and he thinks ascots aren’t that bad. He passes away. RIP. Meanwhile, Cormac mulls over hitting a few buttons that would cause The Continental to self-destruct. End it all right here.
But we’ve still got Yen and Gretel’s fight to watch! As expected, it’s brutal and brilliant, with Gretel proving she might be superhuman with her immense flexibility. Thankfully, our girl Yen rises victorious. After an underwater scuffle leaves us on the edge of our seats, she detonates the bomb she put on Gretel. (The one she wore earlier.) We see Gretel literally explode into bloody bits. It’s like something out of The Boys. In the basement, Cormac speaks with the Adjudicator (Katie McGrath), who asks about the coin press. Cormac states he has bigger problems and needs assistance.
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After killing poor Orson, Cormac places the latter’s hand on one button while Cormac presses the other simultaneously. This puts the building into lockdown and sets the self-destruct timer. Yen realizes she’s stuck on the roof while Cormac hurries to his escape pod. KD spots him on the elevator as he descends into the hotel’s underbelly. Winston and Charon make it to where Cormac was, only to find Orson dead. How can they reverse the self-destruct timer? Winston has an idea.
He finds Cormac on the train tracks underneath the hotel. It seems the pair might finally get a last showdown. After a bit of a struggle, Cormac admits he knew KD’s family was in their apartment when he ordered Frankie and Winston to set it ablaze. He wanted to get them acquainted with death, as it were. Unfortunately for him, KD overhears this. She shoots Cormac in the head. When we think she might also kill Winston, she merely lowers her gun and claims she’ll see him around before walking away. The building is still in self-destruct mode, mind you. Side note: I’m glad KD got her revenge.
Then, Winston spots Cormac’s getaway car. He has another idea. He quickly returns to Charon and slams a hand down on the buttons to reverse the self-destruct. Well, he uses Orson’s hand and Cormac’s, which he cut off the late mob boss’s arm. The lockdown reverses, as well. Huzzah! And, even better, the red light switches off. The killing spree is over.
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Later, Jenkins prepares to depart Patricia’s apartment after the mission ends. He unties her. However, before he leaves, Patricia asks if he’d like to accompany her to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden sometime. Huh? He threatened her life, and she wants a date? Okay. Next, our crew reunites in the lobby — everyone accounted for except the late, great Lemmy. Winston gets shots for everyone. They toast Frankie and Lemmy.
Then, Winston meets the Adjudicator, who arrives outside the hotel. She claims The High Table wishes to shut down The Continental temporarily. During their interaction, we learn where Frankie hid the coin press: in the trunk of their mom’s old car, where he and Winston used to sleep. Full circle. Winston concealed the coin press in Mazie’s new bank, but not before making gold coins for his army to infiltrate The Continental.
While Winston killing Cormac and seizing control of his operation is admirable, it wasn’t supposed to happen. Unsatisfied with her answer, Winston shoots the Adjudicator in the head. He answers to no one. As she falls, her mask slips off. We see her true face. My only real gripe with this miniseries is that Katie McGrath was woefully underutilized.
Winston heads back inside. The camera pans up the immense height of the hotel as days, perhaps weeks, pass. Finally, we see Winston at the top, standing on the balcony he almost dangled over as Cormac’s hostage. He sips a martini and enjoys his new kingdom.
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The Continental: From the World of John Wick is now streaming on Peacock.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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