My Honest Review of the Final Season of TOP BOY-MIXED Emotions/What Happened To the Other Episodes?? 

This season needed 12 episodes minimum in order to cover everything brought up, specifically the Irish plot line which should have stretched throughout the entire series

Season 1 they go to Jamaica, season 2 they go to Morocco and Spain, so why did we not have them go to ireland with the irish gang and link that story into lizzie that would have been exciting to see dushane and sully involved in ireland with more episodes

Simply put, more episodes were needed due to holes in the storyline + focusing on less important character storylines. I still think the last episode had some amazing scenes such as the sully and dushane talk with the wall dividing them at the end.

No sis! It couldn’t be anyone! It’s not Sopranos. It was Jaq. Taking out Sully completes her arc. She leaves the roads to start a life with her nephew and girlfriend. It’s her redemption story. She gets revenge for Kieron and puts a stop to the drugs being sold in summer house. There was foreshadowing of her guilt about contributing to the ruined lives of summer house throughout the last 2 seasons. Lol. First when Ats died which was emphasised when she wrote the sorry card for his mum and also when her sister died in the final season because of drugs that she sells. Sully had to die at her hand. Her character doesn’t survive otherwise. No one else’s fate or arc changes by Sully being alive. Only Jaq which is why she had to kill him. The only person among the “suspects” who isn’t negatively effected by Sully’s departure is Jaq since she left the roads and wasn’t going to continue selling drugs anyway as evident by her attempt to destroy the drugs she stole from Sully in the first place. To be honest, I think Sully’s killer was quite clear, it’s not like the Sopranos ending which was designed to show that he had many enemies and his killer could of been anyone because of the life style. This was more personal. There’s foreshadowing all over it. Jaq not only has a distinct and signature walk she was wearing the same greenish bomber jacket she was seen wearing earlier in the final season. This was purposely done. Even though the killer was blurred out you can still make out the clothes. Even a ticktoker pointed that out and uploaded a video about this.

I agree. At the start I was thinking this might be one of the best seasons yet. Then it just ends. Dushane was always my favourite character because he's ruthless but very smart. This season he made rash decisions and his ending was a bit too pitiful. Shelley came off as a gold digger too. All of a sudden the life was too much for her when she couldn't get her salon money lol

Thorough review, well done! In regards to Dushane's behaviour in this season, I get why people are disappointed with his behaviour, he was definitely moving mad but I think this is part of the beauty of the script. Top Boy showed us humans on paper rather that gangster stereotypes, humans don't always make rational choices and in terms of Dushane in particular they already planted the seed of implication towards Dushane's PTSD last season but most viewers seem to simply want ignore it because they prefer watching the "bad man" he portrays on the surface. Moreover, there is misconception that Dushane is this ultra calculated gangster just because he is a highly intelligent good problem solver, the two things are not the same. From the original Top Boy series to the Netflix show he makes a plethora of mistakes he is just good at resolving those fuck ups. In other words, all the shit they Sully and Dushane went through caught (and done) up to them in more than one way. Mental health as always been an undying issue explored in the show and Dushane's clearly starts to slip away from him in this final season. When you consider these things it is easy to accept how Dushane was moving, if you have been on the roads or know people who have you have seen the mental toll it can take on people and how it can start to screw with their patterns of thinking, behaviour etc. Another thing I think people are really looking over when moaning about this season only being six episodes (not saying you were moaning as you made valid points as to why it should have been longer) is that the original Top Boy series only had four episodes per season (or series as UK TV used to use the term series and season interchangeably) with a year between each! Australian and South African shows tend to only get the funding for six episodes for each season of their Netflix commissioned shows and the ones written well work perfectly fine in this format. In the case of top boy people like The Irish exiting as fast and they entered the story is a hard reflection of how no matter how big and bad of a roadman you are, you can get taken out at any moment (we saw this with Sugar and the Jamaicans). With that said, Aaron was not in this season because the actor who plays him did not want to return as he felt nothing was done with his character to warrant his involvement in the story over the previous seasons. I do agree the brothers being separated does manifest as a strange move story wise though but I guess the writers did not want to recast which I can also understand.

Facts upon facts! So disappointed with this season … and to know it’s the final season just leaves a bitter taste! Loving the reviews 🔥🔥

The final scene between Sully & DuShane was phenomenal. The symbolism of that barrier/divide that was between them spoke volumes. It gave semblance to how they were divided throughout the entire show. You can tell that Sully felt bad about shooting DuShane. It’s like, he shot him but didn’t mean to shoot him shoot him lol. DuShane was like “You shot me!” Sully, “You robbed me.” Their responses were both that of shock. I saw an interview with Ashley (who plays DuShane) who basically eluded that there were some issues with the execs. So, I’m sure that had a lot to do with the number of episodes, why Aaron was M.I.A., why Lizzy was gone, why a lot of things felt rushed. Overall, I enjoyed the season, mainly because Kano & Ashley are such amazing actors who went above & beyond in their roles.

When I first saw the trailer, I thought Jonny was Lizzie's brother or nephew. I also thought Steff was going to kill Sully's daughter. So many things I knew would be done. There was really good stuff in it and other things I didn't want to be a part.

The whole season represented death/the end of an era unfortunately I did not at all care about the death of summerhouse/Mandy storyline. It was unnecessary time spent that could have been developed elsewhere. And still the Shelly/Duschane snooze of a love affair was still dry. No chemistry or heat at all. Didn’t care about their breakup at all and they removed the daughter who was a tiny piece of joy in their relationship. The whole Jaq stealing the drugs was completely implausible even in her grieved state. Then there was no finale to the Lizzie/Lithe relationship which would have been nice to see them celebrate their score. With Dushane it’s totally unbelievable that he gave every dollar to Lithe and couldn’t touch a few mil for Shelly’s shops🫤. Sully’s story was fine but the Irish being out by ep 3 was ridiculous. Steph and Dris’s daughter was nice but if they conspired to kill Sully together would have been more satisfactory. Basically they continued to show what an idiot Dushane could be with the clean up scene was just bad writing when they want us to believe he was such a mastermind. Would have liked to see Si set up for next leadership after his humiliation. Aarons absence was unnatural but he was always outish on the family stuff and seemed removed from the family unit but NO contact with Steph was illogical. They should have done a wrap up episode of the impact of the deaths of Dushane and Sully and it could have wrapped things up better. I def think Jaq killed Sully but it was disempowered by not naming her Top Girl. Idk. I’m mixed about the finale season too. I love the story.

The more I think about the more i realize that they truly had nothing else up their sleeve after the death of Jamie! He was the only true antagonist to Dushane and Sully and nothing beyond that! The WHOLE season was filler for that final scene between dushane and Sully because all the story lines up until that point led to nothing! Apart from Stef's arc the really were that adventurous with the dynamic between sully and dushane! Dushane was not the dushane we've known all those past seasons!

If Jaq really did Smoke Sully they need to make a spinoff series and call it TOP GIRL.

I think people miss the point with Kieron; basically, if the home office had been successful he might still be alive. Also, with Mandy it's a gentle criticism of unfocused rebellion; Mandy is just a busy body with a higher sense of morality than she deserves. The local community was fighting to stay in the drug infested hellhole that was summerhouse for what? She was like the musicians who played as the titanic sank. No one on the show beyond Stefan and Erin really came out as "heroes". Everyone else was a lot more conflicted, damaged and "human". I think with time people will come to appreciate this season a lot more.

Dushane being so chaotic wasn’t completely out of place for him . When he killed that guy in Jamaica he reacted the same .

Aaron was definitely old enough to look after steff Aron was 19 /20 in the last episode and Jamie was 24 so Aron would’ve been 21/22 in this season and could look after steff

This season had some of the best scenes of the show but it was incredibly rushed. So much wasted potential but I thought it ended perfectly. No one deserved a happy ending. Mandy got way too much screen time tho, would have much rather had that time dedicated to the Irish 9 episodes would have been excellent

Lizzie had mentioned both her brothers were into the drug trade so making Taghe her brother would’ve been brilliant!

I give Top Boys final season a 6/10 and thats me being generous. Overall, TB was about getting a message across rather than telling a complete, coherent story with so much interms of plot and character arcs that felt rushed, underdeveloped due to there being only 6 episodes instead of 10 like the last 2 seasons prior. Lets talk about them. 1)Jaq's attack of conscience over her contribution to the damage she helped inflict on the summerhouse community after her Lauren took her own life via heroin overdose was no surprise since in S4 she was full of about guilt about what happened to Ats since she helped groom him into the drug trade simply for who he was. Friends with the brother of her bosses former opponent(Jamie). The choice to steal the food from Sully thus betraying hus trust was a poor one since not only did it endanger her life and that of her girlfriend and nephew but also got Keiron killed. 2)After such a strong introduction as a force to be reckoned with(beheadings and all), the Irish gangsters were treated like lumps of coal for the furnace after Sully & Dushane took them out with impunity. Them being tied to Lizzy would've been dynamite. What a waste. 3)I don't believe Shelley came off as a gold digger but a girl frustrated at her man being unable to open up to her and being shut out. Good idea in theory but it was poorly executed. But the length the last 2 seasons went to build a bond between them and highlight Shelley herself has her own secrets ended up in the "we kinda forgot" list. 4)Sully's degradation in character was a sight to behold. With nothing left to lose other than his daughter, no one left to trust after being betrayed one too many times and made too many enemies, Sully fully embraced his monster and lost his soul to the street game to which he gave his life. Sully may have commanded fear in the streets but had no respect. With all that said, unlike Dushane, Sully was written in a way that allowed him to stay true to his character/nature. 5)I would've loved to see Lizzie's reaction to Jamie's murder since they were lovers. I also wish we saw more build up to her and Lithe's scheme to steal Dushane's(whom she never liked) millions and leave her husband(to whom she was never loyal) to be eaten by the Wolves. Dushane was fairgame for a teardown the moment he put his money and trust in those white collar criminals who never liked him to begin with. 6)I could fully by into Dushane's panic after being ripped off since he was on top of the world and on his way out of the Narco Trade. The problem was, the money he made and the access to power and respect he accumulated were what he measured too much of his ego by. What happened after the embezzlement(to which he was fairgame since he trusted someone who once worked alongside his rival with his millions), his whole life and persona fell apart like the domino effect. Shot by his best friend turned enemy in his desperate to escape Summerhouse, Dushane died at square one. His qualities eventually turned against him. 7) I'm one of the many who expected Stefan to go off the rails, bent on revenge after seeing his big brother, Jamie gunned down along with having to see his killer(Sully) take his daughter to his school everyday. Abandoned by his other brother Aaron who left to work in Leeds while he's left in the hands of the care system, there'd be nothing stopping him. Though the need to highlight that he's still a kid at heart was much appreciated. Stefan's relationship with Erin was sweet and heartwarming. Both suffered a loss at the hands of Sully yet Erin was more at peace with what happened in a way Stefan was yet to be. It was also that through young love, Stefan can be saved. I'm glad he walked away rather kill Sully because inspite of the wrong path Jamie took to provide for his brother's after their parents passed, he wanted more for Stefan than life on the roads. 9)I guess Mandy's function as a community leader was to hold the mirror to the main characters and be the voice of civilians who've had enough of the stranglehold drug traders have on her community at large. 10)I guess the cops were left out of the equation because the fall of the summerhouse crew was meant to be internal rather than external. As for the message, Ashley Walters said it best. Life in the Drug Trade could end one of three ways before witness protection. Back to square one, prisonor death. In the long term, there are no winners.

You got it wrong with Shelly, you ducked because she was fed up with the way Dashane was treating her , not because of the money.

I honestly feel as though Shelly left because dushane wasn’t telling Shelly what was going on and what’s happening to him

Haha, "we need to get to the point sis speed it up.."😂

Kano is a really good actor its like you can see the pain in his eyes! BUT i was Pretty disappointed with this season! Way too rushed. Good review by the way.

Writers of shows are in a sticky predicament as they must know they have to bring it to a close in order to give a start, middle and end. The quandary is rush (like Top Boy and GoT) or drag it out like The Handmaid's Tale. In terms of the latter they must have known it has to come to a conclusion but that should have been 3 series ago

Feel it was a little rushed in 6 episodes, hitting a crew as big as the Irish mob like they did, and Jaq's turn then u-turn... both uncharacteristic and random despite even her latter circumstances, and would definitely have liked to have seen a little somin more with regards to the overall aftermath of catastrophic events. But, guess it had to end somehow, and the ends /demise for Sully and Dushane were ultimately inevitable. With streaming as it is, maybe one day, they'll be a spin off... 🤔 Ps... One of the best and honest reviews I've seen on this so far... 👍🏽

I notice this happens with most final seasons of tv shows. They tend to rush them just to finish it and move on to other things instead of giving a good well scripted ending. They probably didn't have as much funding for this season i wish they waited another year to drop so they could of prepared for it better. Good video :)

This season really just felt like an epilogue tbh, not really extending the story but winding it down. Now that the dust has settled, I’m not totally sure it was needed. Especially the ending, they decided to do a Sopranos, which was contentious as hell.

Feel like Jaq is the obvious killer of Sully, but I like to think it was Stef. Hear me out.. He knew Sully wanted to die when he had the gun pointed at him. When Sully told him "Stefan, the feeling done left me a long time ago," (which was cold af by the way), Stef completely changed up. He denied Sully the soldier's death he wanted. He let Sully walk away, but he was never going to let him live. Think about it -- Stef was the only one who knew where Sully was. He denied him the death he wanted, and came back to give him the ignoble death Stef felt he deserved. Much like Dushanbe dying like a bum in the alley, Sully was murked like a common roadman in his car. Personally, I loved the ending. The season obviously could have been better, but that last episode was good. But gah damn man, this season was off the charts bleak. Anyhow, thank you for the review, I really enjoyed it!!

When Jamie died I was like ayee oh well, after the last episode I wished he never died at all 😐

Rushed and shouldn’t have happened Dushane always the level headed one , they wrote him like a noob

I agree it needed more episodes or longer episodes to explore the topics you mentioned. Sully operated on different levels, for example to eliminate a high official in law enforcement in Morrocco and leave no witnesses then do Jaimie at his apartment and leave 2. I disagree Sully was through or broken. Sully throughout has had emotion moments that effected him deeply. I was disappointed the writers did not allow Sully's revenge for Jason. The confrontation with Steph in my view is Sully recognizing Steph did not have the thing that allows a person kill someone. If Sully would have felt his life in danger, he would have blasted first. I think as you say this season needed to longer then maybe a final season after that to explore the aftermath of the loss Dushane and Sully. The game will and does continue

Another problem I had was Dushanes heart problem. I thought something would of happened with that as they kept on touching on it throughout the show. But it lead to nothing really. What was the point of it. I thought he would collapse from it at least once. Hell, I thought that was how he was gonna die in the end. They shouldn't have made a issue about his heart throughout the show if it never leads up to anything

Totally agree. Series 1 and 2 were absolutely superb. Series 3 was a total mess. Far too many important people written out like Aaron, Emilio and the Moroccans.

I agree with all of your points. This season was so rushed and a huge letdown.

It felt like they where not even into it like they used to do in terms of acting but props to Kano in the final episode.

It hurt my heart when she said “the actor who played Sully” he’s not just an actor, he’s a UK living legend! KA!

I really wanna know what was going on behind the scenes.. Like why would they only do 6 episodes.. Maybe problems between the director and Netflix

You missed the point with Shelly. She left because Dushane wouldn’t comunícate with her and treated her like shit when she pressed him to tell her what the issue was.

You’re right about Sully’s eyes 😍 I find myself always getting lost in them lol. But, yeah…he does wonders communicating with them😍😍😍

Topboy can continue without dushane and Sully but most likely a spinoff as it was the 2 lead characters that wanted out and not the producers or Netflix for that matter

Good review! I agree with most of you said. They really messed up with only 6 episodes and I’m disappointed. So much was left undone.

Kane Robinson and Ashley Walters created two outstanding characters with their own strengths and weaknesses. Dushane was ruthless but also a strategist, but absolutely tied up and locked down by his insecurities. Sully had a heart but was tormented by the runaway nature of the game they were in. For me, it will always be series 5. I watched the first two on Channel 4 and was absolutely hooked and at the same time disappointed it was the end. The Netfliz franchise gave more life to the characters. I thought the last episode was rushed and did the actors a massive disservice. They should have followed the money to Ireland. They were up to that. It's a shame the writers didn't let the character live up to how astonishingly brilliant they were.

Top boy Summerhouse, Top Boy S1 & S2 are absolutely incredible; I can’t speak highly enough about them; love them; amazing. Season 3 is soooooooo shit I can’t put into words how shit it is, like…if you want to “end” the show; fair enough, but you don’t have to force the destruction of the world you created. It was so weird. I can’t be bothered to offer any in-depth analysis of the plot, structure, writing etc, but the fact that the Mcgees weren’t tied into Lizzie, and that they were built up as this super organized high level crime family that basically did nothing and were killed so easily without repercussions was just extremely underwhelming…and summarizes everything wrong with the season for me.

They should have linked Johnny to Lizzie or Lithe somehow - with some sort of shock factor (not sure how they would’ve achieved this). Steph should have threatened to kidnap Tash and had Sully on his knees apologising for what he did to Jamie - which would show us a more vulnerable side to Sully. Aaron, afraid for stephs safety should have taken him to Leeds with him (I was disappointed that he’d left him alone 😭). Rafe and Ranell from the first episodes should have made a suprise comeback towards the end to add to the suspects! I think they should’ve had Jaq literally break down and SAY that she’s done with all this and why to sully and dushane herself - I think it was frustrating to know all of them eventually wanted out some way but didn’t speak about it. I also think it would have been so interesting if after sully walks off from shooting dushane and thinking he’s dead that he somehow staggers back up so we’d be wondering if it might have been dushane in the end too? Ahhh so many different things they could have done! I’d love to have seen the undercover cops have at least another scene too. Eastenders has better cliffhangers

Made no sense Dushane stealing money and acting dumb like he was this season. He had enough money to give 16 million for the summer house project, so he would have had millions more stashed. You don't throw money around like that if you don't have more. But we are meant to believe he was broke and didn't have a penny because he gave it all to some random. Also, half of the product was his.... £250,000 the amount he needed. Also Dushane has a multi million pound apartment, which he could have used as collateral for the smuggler to help him. Smh BAD WRITING that relied on us being stupid. Jack was just ridiculous in this. Would have been good if she just left with her girl and you saw them driving away while summer house was burning. So much wasted time on Kieran and that other girl. Like I don't care about them, this is the last season we didn't need that much screen time with them. I could go on for days about this failure of a season.

I agreed with everything you commented in your video. I also have mixed emotions about the final season. I felt like we the fans deserved better. Before starting the last season, I thought each episode would be an hour and half once I heard 6 episodes. But no, they were 50ish minutes 😭 Jamie’s death should have been addressed more. I wish Aaron was in this season. Si should have gotten revenge after that nasty scene with Sully. The Irish weren’t used enough. Dushane…ugh let’s not talk about Dushane. Jaq’s storyline was honestly the worst. The writers tried, but it was just so mid.

Definitely needed more episodes I watched all of them in 2 1/2 days

Apparently the actor for Aaron’s character didn’t agree with the direction of Aaron’s story. There’s a video of him explaining. So the writers just sent him to uni as a way to easily write him out.

If it wasn't Jaq I think it was Si, maybe he knew what Stef was bout to do and decided to finish the job, for Jamie, and for the beatdown couple days prior which was for no reason in his view.

They never brought back ra’nell :(

Kane- Sully acting character carried the last season. BTW what happened to the heart condition

The moment I opened Netflix and saw 6 episodes I was already disappointed to be honest. A lot of storylines where unnecessary and suddenly everybody turned dumb AF why would Jaq steal those bags as if that would end it all ? I didn’t care about driss his gf so why make a unnecessary storyline with her ? I really got annoyed when they were protesting for that kieron not to get deported I didn’t care ? Also SI deserved more screentime . The storyline with stef didn’t really go anywhere . Kieron who cared about him ? Nobody ? Why make a storyline about him ? The whole season was a let down. I only enjoyed sully . Dushane was pathetic all 6 episodes . He really annoyed me

We need this for snowfall. I think you’ll love it

The police were on to Dushane at the end of season 2 why didn't that develop, what about Curtis's sister she just went back to liverpool oh yeah it's ok you killed my bro no worries I'm going home, where was Aaron what brother would allow his brother to end up in a home when he's got job in marketing and take care of him, like the Jack storyline was crap. What about the Irish connection story could of been developed. You could've had 2 or 3 more successful seasons. They flopped disappointing end to a great show. I agree with the ladies points. There's so many opportunities with Top Boy I think the actors decided to cash out sad.

I feel better after watching this 😏, agree 💯

Great Review!

Erin was in college

Would you lots like a longer version of top boy final chapter

9:18 for real dushane was so annoying

I came to hate but listening to you made me realize that everything you said is true. I'm such a fan of the show that I didn't see all of this, I was just happy to see Jaq and Sully for one last season. But you're 100% right and spot on, very good analytical skills

I could be wrong, but from my understanding, Shelley didn't leave Dushane because of the money. She saw sides to him she didn't like. Like the way he came at Mandy in the beauty shop. When he snapped at her when she was asking what was wrong, all that kinda stuff turned her off it looks like. It was too short for me too, but that's cause I'm a fan of the show, but honestly I feel story wise they told a complete story from start to finish when you add the first 2 seasons of Top Boy with the Netflix seasons. I think it was crazy and tragic how Dushane came full circle...All those season was him trying to get away from Summer House and in the end he ends up back at Summer House. The show had so many turns like that. I feel they did a great job, but yeah I would always want more episodes with these excellent characters. I don't like that the show has ended 😞 Great review 🙂

Great review, but I don't know how you can say Sully's development this season was good. It wasn't. He went back to Summerhouse Sully again out of the blue after developing his character for the past two seasons. I gotta disagree there.

🔥

Way too rushed. The Irish storyline, Barry Keoghan, Lauren's end etc - all too rushed.

Such a waste of time honestly 😢 I was hyped for it.

Sully character made it. Very poor ending I have to say

Why was the No.42 (among other specific numbers) used in shows like this? Dris lived in flat 42 Ats wore & was killed in his 42 jersey top Jamie in Spain (just before Sully turns up) says to the waiter "put it on his room '402'" ... Miles Morales spiderman the spider that bites him is No.42 from Earth 42... ... The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with 'black' April O'Neil her helmet ⛑ has "XR" lol X the 24 letter & R the 18th, 24 + 18 = buhdomtsss lol ... Jackie Robinson wore what in ⚾ baseball? ... Why is black history month February, February =? ... How many derogatory words & names that put blacks down that equal 42? ... Answer to 42 & mor Come this way to gain innerstanding. Learn this code, this Matrix script code & you can even see around corners... Each one teach one... Unfortunately many zombie 🧟‍♂️ variants choose 😴 🔴 🤷🏾‍♂️ 🔵 #followthewhiterabbit 🐰 🕳 The choice is yours

It was Jaq who killed Sully

More was needed ........they cut it off too quick but characters ~ acting ~ production.....storyline superb.........but sad its over as more could have been shown....

I didn't watch this season. I've been hearing bad things about it. They also killed Jamie and Kit. It's not Top Boy without them.

I was addicted to Top Boy season 1 & 2. Season 3 completely cured me of my Top Boy addiction. Completely rehabilitated warp speed. It took only 6 episodes. Time to move on.

Lizzy dipped, feds cover was blown and they had nothing on him..... It's not realistic for all these random characters to turn up outta the blue

Sully has never done anyone wrong. Dris Jamie dushane all did something to him

the bags should have been cash

the guy sully got merked

Random…are you Somalian?

No Aaron couldn’t of looked after Stef. I’ve worked with teenagers who have been in the same circumstances where their older sibling were studying or even working legit jobs and their younger siblings still had to be placed in children’s homes because the court/social services deemed it best. How could Aaron even study marketing at Uni and look after his kid brother who is at school in another city. How would that even work? Where would the funding of come from during the short time between Jaimie’s death and where the final season picks up for him to even do both? How would he even have had the time to do both? He would have had to sacrifice his education and even then he wouldn’t have been seen fit to be guardian for Stef at the time of Jaimie’s death anyway.This was actually accurate. People love to nitpick and find faults that aren’t there. Back seat driver settings. Sofa football manager vibes. The shorter season was even intentional. It wasn’t to do with budget. It was a creative choice. It’s a technique often used in story telling to show the high stakes and intensity towards a climax. It shows urgency. The audience feel their isn’t enough time just as the characters feels they are running out of time. It’s a creative choice. It’s been used in other stories across various mediums, Telltales walking dead game’s first season where the 5th and final episode is significantly shorter than the rest and with the final season of Game of thrones where the last season had less episodes than previous seasons.

You hate it all lol

Very good review. Keep up the good work