'The Westies' Ending Explained & Finale Recap: Will There Be A Season 2?

In episode 7 of The Westies, Bridget came up with the plan to honey pot Markham, isolate him in his hotel room, and then kill him; that way, there would be no collateral damage. Brendan wasn’t on board with that plan because there was a chance that Markham would recognize Bridget and not fall for the honey pot. But since Bridget was adamant about taking this approach, Brendan had to sign off on it; also, he got creepy when he saw Bridget in the dress she was going to wear to honey pot Markham, and it seemed like his whole motive behind coming from Ireland to the USA was to get into Bridget’s pants. Bridget kept the focus on Markham; she got to the hotel he was staying at, and successfully convinced him to take her to his room. Sean got himself into a world of trouble by getting himself arrested for selling cocaine at the club. Keenan tried to get him to talk about Sweeney’s business while he was in custody, but Sean kept his lips sealed. Eventually, Sean was bailed out, but he wasn’t completely out of the woods, because he would have to stand trial for peddling drugs. Paulson, the lawyer for the Irish, said that he’d ask the court for a decade of jail time; with good behavior, Sean would be out in five. Sweeney was afraid that if Sean went to jail, he’d either flip, or Paul would learn about this whole affair. This angered Jimmy a lot, because he didn’t like the fact that Sweeney prioritized Paul over Sean. Adding fuel to the fire, Keenan turned Jimmy against Sweeney by revealing the fact that he had a hand in Pat’s death. Before Jimmy could act on the basis of this accusation, Sweeney, on Gotti’s advice, went ahead and killed Sean, thereby making sure that Paul never learned about the fact that Gotti was working with Jimmy. The decision to kill Sean was taken at Gotti’s HQ, which had been bugged by Polk. So, Keenan got a copy of the recording of that conversation between Gotti and Sweeney, and passed on that info to Jimmy. Jimmy confronted Sweeney and almost killed him, but then he chose to bring his relationship with Sweeney to a close in a non-violent manner; at least for now. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Declan Is Dead

Jimmy tells Mickey, Connor, and Declan about the fact that Sweeney is the one who gave the order to have Sean killed; so, the boys decide that they are going to kill Sweeney in return. Jimmy says that they have to tread carefully because killing Sweeney at this juncture is going to be detrimental to their cause in the long run. Jimmy wants to make a deal with Paul, and once he is sure that the big man is going to back him up, then they will move in on Sweeney and his minions. Meanwhile, Sweeney informs Breen and Cliffie about his altercation with Jimmy, which prompts Breen to suggest that they should attack Jimmy and his guys and bring this affair to a close once and for all. The thought of killing Jimmy gets Sweeney emotional, because he has known him ever since he was a little kid. But Breen says that there’s no point in getting sentimental, because Jimmy will never forgive Sweeney for having Sean killed; which means that the only viable option that they have is gunning down Jimmy and his gang. A few moments later, Ryan comes running into the bar to tell Jimmy and his men that Sweeney’s car has been seen circling the area. Jimmy tells everyone in the bar that if they don’t want to get shot, they should slink out the backdoor; if they want to stay and fight Sweeney’s men, they can hang around. With the exception of Jimmy, Mickey, Connor, and Declan, the patrons leave, Ray among them. During the gunfight, a couple of Sweeney’s men seemingly die, while Cliffie and Breen survive. Jimmy and Mickey come out of the ordeal unhurt, but Declan dies and Connor is “clipped.” So, Jimmy and Mickey carry Connor out of the bar and to his apartment to fix him up. However, Mickey quickly realizes that this situation cannot be fixed with liquor and bandages; they need a real doctor.

Markham Is Dead

Markham takes Bridget up to his room and tells his security detail to wait outside. Bridget and Markham chat for a while, and then Bridget excuses herself so that she can go to the washroom and get ready for the grand finale. But when she steps out of the washroom, she sees Markham pointing his firearm at her because, as feared, he has recognized Bridget. Moreover, Markham reveals that he has actually been looking for Bridget so that he could finish what he had started in Ireland. His visit to New York isn’t strictly diplomatic; by having Father Michael followed, Markham had learned that that’s where Bridget had built a new life for herself. So, he essentially put himself up as bait so that Bridget would try to kill him and fall into the trap that he had actually laid out for her. I’m guessing that, as per Markham’s analysis, he assumed that Bridget wouldn’t kill him using a car bomb, and she’d go for the honey pot option. Hence, all he had to do was play dumb to corner Bridget. As Markham is about to violate Bridget’s dignity, she tells him that Brendan is about to barge through the hotel room’s door and kill him. That threat doesn’t work on Markham, because Brendan had made a deal with him; he had given up the location of Bridget’s parents to secure his freedom. Markham finds it hilarious that Bridget put her trust in the man who is the reason why her parents are dead. As he sees Bridget’s resolve breaking, he advises her to offer up her body to him without struggling, because that’s the only way she’ll get to walk out of that hotel room in one piece. When Bridget eventually leaves the hotel, she looks visibly disturbed, and it seems like Markham has had his way with her. That said, when Markham’s bodyguard goes to his room to check on him, he finds Markham’s lifeless body lying on the ground. And going by the blood on the floor, it looks like Bridget did manage to use her secret knife to slice Markham’s throat open.

Jimmy Calls For A Truce With Sweeney

Bridget returns home to witness the aftermath of the horrific altercation at the bar. Jimmy gives her the lowdown on what happened at the shootout with Sweeney’s men. That’s when he notices the bruises on Bridget’s face, which finally gets Bridget to talk about everything she has been doing to kill Markham. When she is about to bring up the matter of Brendan’s supposed betrayal, Mickey starts calling for Jimmy to help him with Connor; Bridget assures Jimmy that she is alright, and advises him to focus on Connor. Back at the Javits Center, Sweeney has ordered extra protection for himself after the shootout; in fact, he reprimands Breen for talking him into attacking Jimmy and his men, because now Ken Duffy (one of Sweeney’s guys) and Declan are dead. Breen thinks that, instead of wasting time being remorseful, they should double down and attack Jimmy again. Sweeney keeps Breen from going out there, full tilt, so that he can think about the next steps. In the meantime, Keenan and Polk show up at the bar to examine what has transpired. Polk assumes that it’s the result of a drunken brawl that got too violent, but since Keenan has been pushing Jimmy to act against Sweeney, he tells her that the shootout is the result of a civil war among the Irish. Given how this means that the gang is at their weakest, Polk advises Keenan to look for the window of opportunity that they can use to nab Sweeney and get him talking about all the illicit operations happening in New York. Going back to Jimmy’s apartment, Connor has been stabilized, and Mickey pays the doctor for his troubles. Once the doctor has left, Mickey tells Jimmy that they should rock up to Sweeney’s office and kill him and his men. Jimmy does the exact opposite of that: he calls Sweeney to arrange a truce meeting. Jimmy says that he is at the body shop, and Sweeney says that he is on his way there with Breen. Once Sweeney hangs up, Jimmy says that Sweeney will be sending Breen to kill him at the body shop; that’s going to be their opportunity to capture Breen. Jimmy’s assumption turns out to be correct, because we see Sweeney tasking Breen with killing Jimmy as swiftly and as painlessly as possible.

Bridget Confronts Brendan

Gotti is at his HQ complaining about how his dealings with the Irish have ruined his entire business model. That’s when one of his associates spots an FBI bug in the ceiling, which prompts Gotti to have the whole place searched thoroughly for more such bugs. Gotti immediately knows that it’s the work of the FBI, and he is afraid of how much Polk and her team have heard about their secrets. Back at the FBI office, Polk informs Keenan that Gotti has found their bugs. Keenan doesn’t seem to care a lot about that, because he has just learnt that Danny has escaped from the rehab center that Polk had admitted him to. Polk assures Keenan that Danny will be fine, hence, Keenan should worry about using Jimmy to get to Sweeney. Speaking of Danny, he is picked up from the bus stop by Cliffie and taken to the Javits Center office for a meeting with Sweeney. Sweeney butters up Danny and makes him an official member of his gang by giving him a revolver. What does Danny need to do with it? Kill Keenan. As Sweeney is busy indoctrinating Danny, Jimmy and Mickey capture Breen and hold him captive at the body shop. Jimmy takes off to make that deal with Paul, but before leaving, he tells Mickey to torture Breen without killing him, probably because he doesn’t want any more blood on his hands. Back at Jimmy’s apartment, Brendan shows up to celebrate Markham’s death with Bridget. Bridget asks Brendan if the allegation that he used her parents as his get-out-of-jail-free card is true. Surprisingly enough, Brendan denies that accusation, and keeps saying that he loves Bridget. There’s a good chance that Brendan is telling the truth, and Markham lied to Bridget to weaken her resolve. At the same time, it’s possible that Brendan was in cahoots with Markham and he roped Bridget into this assassination plan (which was fake from the get go) to help Markham kill her. I suppose we will never know the truth.

Jimmy Makes A Deal With Paul And Stein

Jimmy somehow gathers the money that he needs to pay to Stein (I am guessing he has sold a lot of Gotti’s cocaine). Stein doesn’t care much about how Jimmy got his hands on that kind of cash when, one episode ago, Jimmy was asking for more time to pay him off. He is glad that Jimmy has paid his debt and he doesn’t have to call a hit on Jimmy for defaulting on his loan. That’s when Jimmy reveals that he has a proposal for Stein. Jimmy says that Sweeney is going to take an early retirement very soon, which means that Jimmy is going to take care of the Javits Center business. When that switcheroo happens, Jimmy wants Stein to put in a good word for him in front of the big boss, Paul. In exchange for that, Stein will get a huge chunk of the profits that Jimmy and his gang are going to make by selling cocaine. Stein doesn’t straight-up reject the offer, which means that he is willing to work with Jimmy (despite having a longstanding arrangement with Sweeney). Jimmy then meets up with Keenan, who has brought 3 kilos of cocaine from the evidence locker, which Jimmy is supposed to use for a purpose that’ll be beneficial for both Jimmy as well as Keenan. After Jimmy and Keenan part ways, Keenan spots Danny walking on the streets and goes after him. We get a brief glimpse of Gotti worrying about why Jimmy hasn’t established contact after the last cocaine sale, and then we go back to Keenan, who confronts Danny at the bar. As per Sweeney’s instructions, Danny does pull out the revolver to kill Keenan, but he yaps so much that Keenan has the time to yank the firearm out of his hands before he can even think about pulling the trigger. Keenan tries to empathize with Danny, but Danny just runs away as the realization sets in that he was about to kill his own dad for a criminal like Sweeney.

Sweeney Is Arrested

Stein meets up with Paul to talk about Jimmy replacing Sweeney as the king of the West Side. Initially, Paul expresses displeasure at the idea, because he has been working with Sweeney for a long while. But then Stein starts talking about how Jimmy will split the profits of the cocaine that he is going to sell with Stein; Stein is going to share that money with Paul; moreover, he promises to launder all that money in a way that Paul is never accused of selling drugs. So far, Paul has been adamant about not dabbling in drugs. However, after listening to Stein’s proposal, he has clearly softened that stance, because he asks what Stein wants in exchange if he agrees to partake in this drugs business; Stein requests that he and Jimmy be granted immunity. Paul’s silence means that he has accepted Stein’s proposal. Speaking of Jimmy, he returns to the body shop. Even though Mickey has gone a little overboard with the torture, Breen is still awake enough to get on the phone with Sweeney, lie to him that Jimmy is dead, and call him to the warehouse to discuss the matter. Before Breen can say anything else, Mickey hangs up and Sweeney discusses this odd conversation with Cliffie. Both of them think that there’s something off about Breen’s request, so instead of going alone, Sweeney heads to the warehouse with his entire army. A full-blown shootout ensues at the warehouse, with Jimmy and Mickey taking out all of Sweeney’s men on their own (Cliffie is injured but alive). Echoing Davey and Vinnie’s last moments in that warehouse, Jimmy sits down with Sweeney for a conversation. It seems like Jimmy is about to kill Sweeney, but he gives Sweeney up to Polk and Keenan, right after telling him about his new deal with Paul. Polk and Keenan arrest Sweeney as well as Breen for the illegal possession of drugs and send them packing to jail.

Season 2 Expectations

In The Westies’ ending, Jimmy and Mickey march into the Javits Center office and sit on the throne that was once occupied by Sweeney. That’s when the phone rings, and on the other end of the line is Gotti. Mickey asks Jimmy what he’s supposed to say to Gotti, and Jimmy tells Mickey to send the message that they have other plans, and those plans don’t include Gotti. Mickey conveys that statement in the harshest words possible, which prompts Gotti to exclaim that he is going to kill all the Irishmen. Now, if the show miraculously gets greenlit for Season 2, I suppose we are going to see Gotti going to war with Jimmy. It is going to be an uphill battle, because Jimmy has Paul on his side now. Gotti has been playing nicely for quite a while. He has been respectful towards Paul as well. And yet, he has been disrespected and backstabbed one too many times. Gotti might seem like a pushover, but he has a lot of street cred. Maybe the time has come that he uses his influence properly and teaches the newbie on the market, Jimmy, a lesson on how to be a gangster. Jimmy is obviously not going to let Gotti walk over him, because it has taken quite a while for him to reach the position he is in currently. With Paul and Stein by his side, he will be virtually untouchable. However, if that arrogance gets to his head, he will make mistakes, and that’s when Gotti might move in for the kill. Keenan and Polk are going to regret letting Jimmy go because he might become a monster that they won’t be able to negotiate with. They might bring Sweeney out of prison and give him a new gang so that he can work his magic and make things easier for the Feds. Well, those are some of my major expectations from a potential second season of the show. If you have any thoughts on the same, let me know through the comments section below.

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