Drama
Doctor Who
The good Doctor’s been flitting around time, space and the BBC since 1963. Now he’s also a fixture in the US, toting his curiously British brand of sci-fi in his highly mobile TARDIS. Just how safe is this contraption?
If you’ve seen the John Wick films, then you already know that The Continental is a hotel that acts as a safe house for the crime underworld elite.
Like a normal high-end hotel, guests here can count on a soft bed, room service and other luxury services. But they can also obtain weapons, armor and anything else they might need to, say, take out the guys who killed their dog and stole their car.
The Continental has just one rule: no business is to be conducted on the grounds. And since most of the Continental’s visitors are employed as assassins, that means they have to take their killing elsewhere.
But long before John Wick made a name for himself as “The Boogeyman,” there were two brothers pulled into The Continental’s shady business dealings. And that’s where this story begins.
Frankie and Winston Scott haven’t had an easy life. Orphaned young, the brothers were taken in by The Continental’s manager, Cormac O’Connor, and pulled into a life of crime.
Frankie went to jail after the brothers were caught on a job for Cormac. He cut ties to his younger brother after that. After he was released, he was enlisted to fight in the Vietnam War. And when he came back home, he wound up working for Cormac once again.
Winston, for his part, did everything he could to get out of the life. He moved to London and began working in finance. And things were actually looking pretty good until Cormac’s goons attacked him, drugged him and flew him back across the Atlantic to account for Frankie’s actions.
Because while Winston was busy scamming people out of their money overseas, Frankie accepted a job to betray Cormac. He snuck into The Continental and stole a money press.
What’s so special about a money press, you ask? Well, the coins minted by this invaluable object serve as The Continental’s sole form of currency. No coin, no room. And there’s a lot of angry people out there who’d love nothing more than to catch some of those assassins out in the open.
Frankie’s benefactors promised that they would get him out of the life as well if he succeeded. But then they never paid up. And now, members of the High Table (who uphold the Continental’s practices and circulate those special coins) are ordering Cormac to hunt the brothers down and retrieve the stolen property.
If the Scotts want to survive, they’re gonna need guns.
Lots of guns.
Like the rest of the John Wick franchise, The Continental is a violent, bloody show. The hotel’s rule about killing doesn’t apply to the rest of New York City, so characters are liable to get shot, stabbed or just plain beaten up the moment they step off the premises.
This show has quite a bit more sexual content than the movies, however. Early on we’re exposed to sex, nudity and extramarital affairs.
Characters imbibe, use narcotics and smoke. The f-word is frequently dropped, among other harsh profanities. And of course, we can’t forget all the illicit activities that take place in New York’s crime underworld.
So if you’ve seen the John Wick flicks, you know what to expect. But viewers should also beware the addition of intense sexual content in this TV-MA rated spinoff.
After Frankie steals a money press from the Continental, his old boss, Cormac, forces his younger brother, Winston, to find him and retrieve the invaluable stolen object.
People start dying almost immediately. Frankie somehow eludes multiple onslaughts of bullets. The carnage here easily hits a kill count in triple digits by the episode’s end. But his allies prove equally lethal. And when guns aren’t an option, knives or fists are readily substituted. (Frankie’s wife, Yen, chokes a man with the cord from an iron before shoving his hand into a garbage disposal. She then impales her attacker with the iron in the neck.)
Cormac gives a man the choice between jumping off a balcony or having his family killed. We later see the man hit the ground after taking the leap. Someone is hit by a car. Another car crashes and flips over. A man’s fingers are blown off after his weapon misfires (and someone forces him to pick up the severed digits). Frankie takes a bullet in the shoulder to save Winston. A man is tortured for information. (He’s chained to a chair and heavily beaten and headbutted.) Winston is nearly strangled when someone puts a noose around his neck, but he manages to get his hand under the rope, and he’s later cut down. Bloody clothing is laundered at The Continental. A woman cuts herself on broken glass after someone breaks her window.
Many threats are exchanged. A man is disturbed by how good Frankie is with weapons, stating that most guys who went to Vietnam had to “get used” to killing. Whereas Frankie took to it instantly. A police officer laughs about breaking a man’s jaw. We hear a man was shot in the perineum.
A flashback shows a young Frankie and Winston using a Molotov cocktail. They’re caught, and Frankie is arrested after taking the full blame.
A naked couple has sex (we see the woman’s breasts and bare rear). As they dress, the man drops his wedding ring, and they briefly discuss the terms of their affair. Winston gets into bed with a married woman (she’s in lingerie); we don’t see the act, but it’s implied they have sex. We see the silhouettes of other couples having sex in a club. We see a woman in her underwear and another woman from the shoulders up in a shower.
There’s a portrait of a naked couple in the background of one scene. A pin-up of a naked woman hangs in a man’s trailer. Several female characters wear revealing outfits, and some male characters are seen shirtless as well. Frankie lies that he just had sex with someone else’s wife to distract a guard from what he was really doing in an off-limits room. Couples kiss. A woman says she has a “pervy” uncle.
People drink and smoke cigarettes throughout. We also see some people smoking cigars and pipes. Someone snorts cocaine at a party. And a man is injected with an unknown drug from a syringe. Someone is called a “dopehead.”
We hear more than 50 uses of the f-word and more than 20 of the s-word. There are also frequent uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “b–ch” and “h—.” We hear single uses of “c–k,” “d–k,” “douche” and “pr–k.” God’s name is abused twice, once paired with “damn.” And Christ’s name is abused four times. There is also a statuette of a monkey showing its middle finger.
Someone vomits offscreen. A woman smears dog feces on a man’s windshield after he neglects to clean up after his dog. Characters lie, cheat and betray one another.
A man makes a sexist remark. Someone mentions racial discrimination. We hear about a 10-year-old gambling. People drive recklessly both in and out of a car chase. A woman kicks the back of her husband’s seat in frustration.
There’s a brief remark about fate. A neon sign says, “Jesus Saves” and displays a big cross in the background of a few scenes. A man crosses himself and thanks the Lord that his car was unscathed.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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