Top Boy – Season 3 Episode 6 Recap, Review & Shocking Ending Explained

If We Are Not Monsters

Episode 6 of Top Boy season 3 begins with the riots over at summerhouse hitting fever pitch. With the estate going up in flames, Isaac shows up to see Dushane. This is the guy that Dushane’s lawyer, Wilson, recommended. With a passport and some cash, he’ll be hiding out in Turkey. Dushane shrugs off his goodbyes, claiming he has no one to see him off now. Unfortunately, he’s missing the down payment and the passport, and until Shelley shows, then he’s stuck.

Isaac is not a patient guy and he sniffs at the idea of being flexible. He understands that time is money and decides to leave instead. However, he gives Dushane instructions to message “yes” when he does have the cash and passport. Before they part ways, Isaac reminds Dushane that being on the run is “f*cking expensive”, an ominous warning over what’s going to play out.

What happens to Kieron?

Sully rings Kieron and tells him about Jaq. Obviously he already knew but Sully wants Kieron there at the handover to see how it all goes down. Kieron promises his mum he’ll be back soon but there’s an air of uneasy tension hanging over this whole thing.

Becks is really not sure this is a good idea, and although she doesn’t know Jaq is lying about getting a free pass, she does know that this world is full of backstabbers and liars. Jaq is not safe and in this world, words mean nothing. Kieron rings and informs of the handover. Before she goes, Becks reminds Jaq that she’s the strongest person she knows.

It’s worth noting here that Stef is kept inside all this time, given the riots over at Summerhouse, so he’s isolated from the rest of the drama going on. Erin tries to get hold of Stef, but he’s holding out in his room, reading the news reports and contemplating his next move. As we know, he has that gun and he could well use it.

Anyway, Kieron meets up with Sully, who’s stoic and reflects on the incident over at the Fields. Of course, Kieron was the one who suggested they go over there and confront Si and the gang, which almost ended in bloodshed. Sully knows that Kieron was in on this and lied about Si’s gang.

Kieron is beaten off-screen and Bundled into a van, having presumably been outright killed.

Does Dushane show up at the community center?

Dushane and Sully both prepare for the handover at the community center at 8pm. “Goodbye mum,” Dushane says, as he leaves her place for the last time after hiding out. He immediately meets with Jaq before seeing Sully, beating her down and taking the bags for himself.

Jaq shows up at the community center and points out that Dushane has just jumped him. She was the one who rang originally, and with the bags gone, Sully leaves with a chilling omission that Kieron has been taken care of and can’t be trusted. Jaq suspects the worst, especially when he’s not at home, and starts to spiral out of control.

Dushane, with both bags, messages Isaac and tells him he has drugs and can trade extra to get him out. Isaac counteroffers with 20 kilos. Dushane eventually concedes, and Isaac agrees to bring a couple of guys to take him out. However, Dushane needs to survive for an hour for that to happen. The meet point is some disused garages out the back of Summerhouse.

Who comes out on top in the gunfight?

Jaq is shocked over what’s happened with Kieron, and with Summerhouse going up in flames, Sully gives orders to take the bags back from Dushane no matter what, even if it means killing him. As for Sully, he starts moving through the houses and heads back to Dushane’s mum’s place, believing that’s where he’s at. Dushane watches this from afar and runs the other way. However, he charges right into a dead-end given the earlier barricades we saw.

Of course, it’s not just Sully that’s after him, given his goons are also hunting him down. Dushane flees from Sully, leading to a foot chase between them. Unfortunately, Bradders (the guy with the gun earlier) is shot for his troubles while Sully gives chase. The shaky cam chase sequence is very reminiscent to season 1 of Top Boy: Summerhouse too!

Dushane makes it to the meet spot, just as Sully gets there too. Junior is shot in cold blood, while both the guys Dushane was supposed to leave with are killed too. Sully catches up with his old brother and shoots him as he’s trying to climb over the fence. Dushane is shot in the gut and begins bleeding out.

Dushane is incredulous and points out that he usurped the meeting because he needed the drugs in order to leave. Sully bemoans that he didn’t come to him originally. Dushane shrugs that off and points out he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Why did Dushane steal the bags?

On either sides of this fence, the pair trade ideologies about how they’ve survived all this time, with Dushane eventually bleeding out and losing consciousness. To Sully, it’s all about survival and if anyone steps in his way – even his own brother – then so be it.

Dushane deciding to take the bags is not just his way of taking the drugs to leave town, but also, in an indirect way, saving Jaq. He knew that Sully would probably have killed her, just like he “took care” of Kieron. This small act of selflessness, to save another soul, ultimately ends with him being killed. As Sully himself puts it, he’s now food. However, by the very end Dushane breaks the notion that Dushane only cares about himself, even if it does end in his death.

Sully, realizing that his brother is dead, climbs the fence and grabs the bags, leaving Dushane in a pool of his own blood. While this is going on, Jaq returns to see Becks, who breathes a sigh of relief that she’s returned.

Does Stef avenge Jamie?

In the morning, with the riots in Summerhouse having calmed down, Stef returns to the bench and speaks to Jamie one last time. He points out that it’s so quiet but that’s simply the calm before the storm, given what he’s about to do. “I miss the noise,” He says, going on to give a touching trip down memory lane.

Sully heads off to see his daughter off the back of Dushane’s death and tells her he loves her. The pair embrace but Tash can sense this may be the last time they see one another, given the way the camera focuses on her face. When they part ways, Stef shows up with his gun to see Sully in the park. The pair stare one another down, as Jamie points the gun at his face.

Sully reveals that he knew this was coming, pointing out that he’s okay with this because Stef is just “doing what he needs to do”. Sully admits that he’s an empty shell of a man now, given his feelings left a long time ago.

“You’re not worth it,” Stefan eventually says, and walks away. When he does, Sully heads off in the opposite direction and back to his car. Putting his seatbelt on, a strange, blonde-haired guy shows up and shoots him in cold blood.

The Episode Review

The identity of the killer is intentionally ambiguous at the end, and goes back to the themes running right the way through Top Boy. Violence begets violence. Violent behaviours promotes more violence, which in turn escalates further, and that’s something we’ve seen across the entire five seasons (if you count Top Boy: Summerhouse).

What’s particularly interesting here though is how Stef breaks that cycle of violence. He realizes that Sully is a broken man. He has no feeling left and given how he killed Dushane, reinforcing after that he “still needs to get the bags”, shows how far he’s fallen off the deep end.

Stef sees this at the end, and he’s flirted with the dark side all the way through this season. In many ways, he embodies both Dushane and Sully here, harking back to season 1 when they first took the plunge into this world of crime. 

Stef has the girl and the better life (typified through his relationship with Erin) while he also has the darker, tragic backstory and desire for revenge too. The former echoes Dushane’s relationship with Shelley, the latter with Sully’s mindset. In the end, Stef is the one who comes out on top, and having made peace with what’s happened, goes on to better things.

But what of Sully’s killer? Well, it really could be anyone. The idea here is that although the chain of violence with Stef and Jamie’s gang has been broken, Sully has so many enemies that he’s screwed either way. The Irish, the Moroccans, the other people in Summerhouse; he’s never going to be safe and just like Erin predicted, Sully gets his comeuppance. On his own with nobody to care, in his car with his bag of meaningless drugs. A brilliant ending to what’s been a pretty tumultuous season all things considered!