‘Gangs of London’ Episode 9: Did Elliot kill Sean for Shannon's sake or will his real motive be a part of Season 2?
Old scores are settled. New alliances are forged. Lives are lost. Elliot Finch (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) is forced to make a choice that will define his entire future. And Sean Wallace (Joe Cole) — who was supposed to inherit the Wallace empire — is dead!
‘Gangs of London’ ends with a huge shocker. How can the main character die so soon? What's even more appalling is how Elliot betrayed him and fired the bullet shot on his face. If you couldn't wrap your heads around the huge cliffhanger, here's an explainer on how it happened and why it happened.
In the final episode, Elliot heads into Sean's hiding spot where the hard truth is laid out: Sean knows Elliot is an undercover cop. Despite his anger, Sean makes an offer to Elliot and asks him to team up so they can bring down the investors, particularly Jevan Kapadia (Ray Panthaki). He also flashes a SIM card where his father stored years of information. At the same time, Alex Dumani (Paapa Essiedu) lands there and points a gun in Sean's face. Sean begs Alex to reconsider what he's planning to do. In a major twist, as soon as Alex puts the gun down, Elliot takes it and shoots Sean.
Why did Elliot kill Sean?
Through the flashbacks, we find out that the investors had blackmailed Elliot to kill the woman he loves, Shannon Dumani (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and her son Danny (Taye Matthew). Elliot has already lost his wife and son... and it's clear he doesn't want to lose someone else who has become an important part of his life. But was that the only reason he killed Sean? Or was the shootout always part of the plan? The investors also asked him to keep Alex safe, could Elliot be a part of an evil motive that the clan had?
“Elliot played the game and played it smart. He'll meet his Dad in Jamaica and he's got a new identity. Do you mean you didn't expect Sean to die?” one Reddit fan said and another posted, “I think Sean is 99% dead. The investors would be stupid to order Elliott to kill him and then don't assure themselves that he is definitely dead. So if Sean would have lived, they would have gotten rid of Elliott pretty quickly. The 'I didn't see the body' thing doesn't always work. If they would have shot Sean through his cheek from the side, I would say ok maybe... But this? My highlight of this season was Luan killing each and everyone in the hotel room and then f---ing off smartly.”
With Sean dead, Ed Dumani (Lucian Msamati) and Alex will most certainly take over the Wallace empire. In another key plot twist, Ed fired a shot at Marian Wallace (Michelle Fairley) in order to get her out of the picture. Later, it was revealed that she faked her death and is still alive. Several theories speculate that she might team up with Finn Wallace's mistress Floriana (Arta Dobroshi).
Billy Wallace (Brian Vernel) and his sister Jacqueline (Valene Kane) are also in hiding and they might join the two to take revenge on the Dumanis. If Sean is really dead, could Billy be the rightful heir? Very early on, we found out how it was Billy who pulled the trigger and shot the man under the bucket when their father took them for the test. His father snickered at Sean, “I thought you were ready.”
Through the episodes, we could see how Sean had pushed Billy away from taking the big decisions. Blessed with a fiery killer streak, quest for revenge, and a sharp mind, will Billy take Sean's place? Although he does have an addiction problem, will coming into power make him quit drugs altogether? Moreover, if Elliot starts working for the investors in the next season, we may find out their real motive and whether or not Elliot was involved in the master plan from the beginning.
‘Gangs of London’ premiered on AMC Plus this October 1, 2020, with the first three episodes and then a weekly schedule. The series has been renewed for Season 2 and reports claim viewers can expect new episodes in 2022.
