'The Westies' Episode 5 Recap & Ending Explained: Is Jimmy Working For Gotti?

In The Westies episode 4, Sweeney advised Keenan to take care of Danny because he had started suspecting both Sweeney and Keenan of being involved in Pat’s death. Keenan tried the easy way, and had a conversation with Danny to convince him that neither he nor Sweeney had anything to do with Pat’s passing. When that didn’t work out, Keenan had Danny arrested on fake charges and sent away from NYC. That was the least of Sweeney’s problems though. Since Jimmy and his friends wanted to help Pat’s family with their financial situation, they were pooling money, and they were falling short of the desired amount they wanted to donate. Jimmy had stolen cocaine from the Starship Club, and he asked Sweeney if they could sell it. Citing Paul’s “no drugs” rule, Sweeney not only prevented Jimmy from selling those drugs, but confiscated them as well. Jimmy was under the impression that Sweeney was gonna destroy the drugs, but instead, Sweeney sold them to Leon. Now, Gotti was on the lookout for his drugs, and when he learned from Charlie about Sweeney’s transaction with Leon, he put out a hit on Sweeney. While doing his daily errands, Jimmy learnt about Sweeney’s treachery and decided to confront him. But he ended up saving Sweeney from being assassinated by Gotti’s men. In addition to all that, Bridget officially joined hands with Brendan after she learned that he and his crew weren’t looking to carry out a terrorist attack; they were actually trying to protect Bridget by killing Markham. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Paul Orders Another Truce Between Sweeney And Gotti

The Westies episode 5 opens with Sweeney and Gotti arriving at Paul’s house for a meeting about the drugs and the (failed) assassination attempt. After a whole lot of bickering about who is right and who is wrong, Paul gets Gotti to promise that he is not going to touch Sweeney or anyone from his crew, and both Gotti and Sweeney agree that they are gonna stay away from drugs; they even shake on it. Sweeney heads back to his Javits Center office, and he tells Jimmy about what went down at the meeting. He says that they have all agreed on never selling drugs, not targeting each other, and ignoring the part where Gotti almost had Sweeney killed. And it is because of that last clause that Sweeney wants to defy both Paul and Gotti. Since Gotti has been put out of commission when it comes to selling drugs, Sweeney wants to enter that arena. Moreover, Sweeney agrees that it’s pointless to not tap into a market where they can make tons of money. Jimmy is happy to hear that, because their disagreement on that matter was leading to a major conflict, but Jimmy wonders how they are gonna get the drugs they wanna sell. The last batch that they sold was stolen from the Colombians. They can’t go stealing any more. Sweeney says that Jimmy is gonna work with Leon; he’ll supply Jimmy the drugs, and then the boys in their crew are gonna cut it up and sell it. But Sweeney makes it clear that he doesn’t wanna be involved in it so that he remains in Paul’s good books; the whole operation has to be handled by Jimmy and his boys, and they have to be discreet about it so that Gotti doesn’t find out.

Brendan Gets The Explosives From Randall

Bridget is seen meeting up with Brendan, Mary, Logan, and Donal at the abandoned Bushwick Antique Store (which is the IRA’s American base of operations) and getting the lowdown on Markham. After a brief look at his crimes, Brendan tells the room that Markham is gonna arrive at the British Consulate on the 14th to receive an award. So, Brendan intends to put a car bomb right at the entrance of the building and blow Markham to smithereens. Ideally, Brendan would have liked to do that job from a distance with the rocket launcher, but since that option is gone, car bomb it is. Bridget doesn’t like this new plan, because she’s worried about civilian casualties, but Brendan cites seniority and shuts down Bridget’s concerns. The following day, Brendan talks about his first meeting with Markham in Maze prison, and the kind of torture that he inflicted upon Brendan. He wants to make Markham feel some of that pain; and by the sound of it, the whole team is on board with making Markham pay. Bridget and Brendan meet with ex-sergeant Randall Kent. Why? Because he’s the guy you go to if you wanna buy Semtex, which is what will be used in the car bomb. Randall says that he’ll do it for $50k, but Bridget thinks that’s too steep a price to pay for a simple car bomb. Bridget plays the “good cause” sentimentality card, but Randall doesn’t fall for it, because supporting a cause isn’t gonna help him pay the bills. Brendan assures Randall that he’ll get his fees, which doesn’t sit well with Bridget. Brendan invites Randall to the IRA’s HQ for the exchange. Brendan gets the Semtex, but Randall gets a bullet in his brain instead of money in his pocket, which understandably shocks Bridget.

Polk Tells Keenan To Cast Doubt On Breen

Keenan visits Polk at her office, and asks her how Danny is doing; she says he is fine. Since Keenan had essentially said that he’d do anything for the feds if Danny was protected from Sweeney, Polk tells him to wear a wire and get a confession out of Sweeney. Polk has kept her promise, and now Keenan has to hold up his end of the deal. Of course, Keenan doesn’t want to do that, because he is afraid that if he’s caught with a wire, Sweeney is gonna have him killed. But since Polk wants some solid proof against Sweeney to bring him and his gang down, the wire is the only way to deal with him. Hence, Keenan has no choice but to put himself in the line of danger and wear that secret audio recording device. That said, Keenan is not confident that Sweeney is gonna share confidential details about his job with him. So, Polk advises Keenan to lie to Sweeney about Breen being a federal informant. What’s that gonna do? Hopefully it’ll get Sweeney to start yapping about all the stuff that Breen knows about his operation, which will be recorded on Keenan’s device, and then Bob’s your uncle. Keenan shows up at Sweeney’s office and almost gets into a tiff with Breen and Dukey because he wants to have a private conversation with Sweeney, and those two are against that proposal. Sweeney calms everyone down and takes Keenan to his private chamber. As per Polk’s instructions, Keenan informs Sweeney that Breen might be a confidential FBI informant. Sweeney obviously doesn’t believe a word of it. Keenan asks him the kind of dirt Breen might have on Sweeney to get the better of him so that he can record Sweeney confessing to all the crimes he has committed. Sweeney doesn’t fall for that. Hence, Keenan leaves after promising Sweeney that he’s gonna get back to him with more info on Breen.

Sweeney Learns That Keenan Is A Snitch

Since the false accusation against Breen hasn’t worked out, Polk orders Keenan to arrest Breen to make the lie look authentic. Keenan is extremely hesitant about that, because that’s some extremely serious business. He says he’ll do it if he gets complete immunity for any crimes he has committed in the past (or he’s about to do in the future). Polk accepts those terms, but there’s just one caveat; she won’t protect Keenan if he murders anybody (well, Keenan has murdered Pat). Soon after that, Keenan arrests Breen and brings him into the station so that he can be questioned by Polk. Breen immediately understands that Keenan is double-crossing Sweeney. To make things worse, Polk actually admits that she’s merely using Breen to get to Sweeney. When Polk sees that Breen isn’t very keen on betraying his boss to save his own skin, she exits the interrogation room with Keenan and tells him to be prepared for Sweeney’s call, which is gonna arrive as soon as he learns that Breen has been arrested. A few moments later, we find Keenan at Sweeney’s Javits Center office, explaining the circumstances under which Breen was arrested. As Keenan is about to extract a confession out of Sweeney, Breen returns and, together with the rest of the gang, they beat the living hell out of him and destroy the wire that he has been wearing. Once the beatdown is over, Sweeney tells Keenan that he is off the Westies’ payroll now.

Leon And Charlie Are Dead

Jimmy and Mickey meet Leon and Charlie and, well, they make a drug deal. No, they don’t exchange drugs. They decide the price, the amount, and the location where the exchange is gonna happen; that’s it. Bridget returns home to see Jimmy sitting on the bed and packing a bag with tons of cash. It doesn’t take long for Bridget to figure out that this is about a drug deal, and she thinks that, if Jimmy goes ahead with this, they are gonna end up in federal prison. Jimmy defends this move by saying that he is taking risks now so that, in the future, he, Bridget, and their kids will never have to worry about making ends meet or having access to basic amenities. Bridget isn’t entirely convinced by this reasoning; hence she requests that Jimmy try his best to stay out of prison. Jimmy meets up with the boys and lays down the ground rules of dealing coke, and of course, everyone is on board with this new line of business. Jimmy’s meeting with Leon and Charlie goes sideways pretty royally, because Charlie kills Leon and tries to pocket the money and the drugs (on Gotti’s behalf), and then Mickey shows up and kills Charlie. Jimmy and Mickey take the money and the drugs and head home. Mickey asks Jimmy if they are keeping the money and the drugs; Jimmy doesn’t give a straight answer, he just wants to clean up the blood and brains that are strewn all over his face. Bridget sees this whole mess and reminds Jimmy about her warning.

Gotti Wants Jimmy To Work For Him

Gotti learns about this whole incident, but he doesn’t want to make a move against the Irish without consulting Paul. Meanwhile, Jimmy drops off the money at Sweeney’s office, informs him about how the deal with Leon and Charlie went awry, and tells him that the boys are preparing the drugs for sale. Sweeney tells Jimmy to be careful, because Gotti is gonna come for his jugular, and Paul won’t stand between him and the Irish if they know that they’ve been dealing drugs. Gotti doesn’t get Paul’s permission to teach Jimmy and the boys a lesson; yet, he has Jimmy and Mickey kidnapped and brought to his premises. In episode 5’s ending, Gotti makes a deal with Jimmy and Mickey, where Gotti is gonna provide them the drugs, they are gonna sell it, and then do a 50-50 split of the earnings. Jimmy wonders what Paul’s gonna think of this arrangement, and Gotti says that he doesn’t care about Paul’s opinion anymore. He wants to do business, he knows that Jimmy needs someone to resupply him with drugs once the current stock is exhausted, and he is willing to forget about all the friction they had in the past. Jimmy and Mickey initially reject Gotti’s offer, but he indicates that rejection will lead to their death; not instant death though. Gotti gives Mickey and Jimmy some time to think it over, but he’s confident that they are gonna come back to him. I mean, Gotti is clearly trying to weaken the Irish. He knows that he can’t fight them in a straightforward way. However, if he gets the ambitious members of Sweeney’s gang on his payroll, Sweeney will have no support and Gotti will get stronger. When the opportune moment arrives, Gotti can kill Sweeney and his men in one fell swoop. Do you think that that’s what’s gonna happen? Let me know in the comments section below.

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