Chris Connor reviews the third and final episode of The Continental: From the World of John Wick…
The Continental has provided an intriguing if uneven examination of the John Wick universe prior to the dog-loving assassin’s time at the hotel. It has worked as a 70s-set thriller but its ties to real world events and stylistic choices make it often feel removed from its source material.
The finale sees Winston’s clash with Cormac come to a head: how will Winston come out on top, and will we see resolutions to the dangling series threads? Again we see plenty of gripping action throughout the 90 minute run time as the conflict spreads to the hotel itself and Winston’s rag tag crew look to rebalance the odds which appear stacked in Cormac’s favour.
Again it is stylish and the new characters make some intriguing additions to the world that may possibly be explored in future projects. In truth though the finale, much like the preceding episodes, lacks the zip and style of the films; perfectly serviceable on its own, but lacking for a John Wick-associated project.
Frustratingly the ending poses questions of whether this will remain a limited series or expand into something further as Winston’s conflict with Cormac and by association the High Table expands in scale as Katie McGrath’s Adjudicator comes more into play. How will this be resolved, if at all? As we already know, Winston is the proprietor of the hotel come the time of the Wick films.
In truth Keanu Reeves’ Wick as a character has been one of the main draws of the franchise to date and much of the charm around Winston is drawn from McShane’s performance and so while Colin Woodell does an admirable job he struggles to bring the charisma the character exudes later on. It will be intriguing to see if the show performs to Amazon’s expectations and if there are indeed plans to expand this era of the Wick universe further, giving a chance for its loose ends to be satisfactorily resolved.
As a first foray into TV for the world of John Wick, The Continental is decidedly uneven; certainly not without highs but making us question its necessity, do we truly learn anything new? We can only hope the upcoming Ballerina with Ana de Armas does more to justify itself and deliver what we’ve come to expect from the John Wick franchise through the Keanu Reeves movies.
Chris Connor
