Episode Title: ‘The Sins of the Father’
Writer: Mitch Glazer
Director: David Petrarca
Previously on “Magic City:”
Episode 2.07 “…And Your Enemies Closer”
Just as I was starting to come to terms with what “Magic City” is, and more importantly what it isn’t, STARZ goes and pulls the plug on its Miami pool party. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming, as the show gets little critical love and several cast members come with movie star price tags. But it’s never fun to see a show with such potential get the axe.
At the very least, “The Sins of the Father,” which serves as the series finale, does feel very “final,” at least for a few characters. To put it more bluntly, a lot of people die in this finale and those who do survive are pretty much screwed, in one or more sense of the word. So let’s take a play-by-play look at our last hour in Miami before we hop a flight to a more exciting locale, like say Albuquerque?
With damning evidence against Ben (Danny Huston) in his possession, Ike (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) offers up the Butcher’s ledger to Jack Klein (Matt Ross). But the vengeful D.A. wants the hotelier to pay for what happened to his daughter at the Miramar Playa. However, when Danny (Christian Cooke) pleads his father’s case to Klein, he has a change of heart and takes Ike up on his offer of the ledger in exchange for dropping the charges against him.
With one mess cleaned up, Ike deals with another by telling Victor (Yul Vazquez) that the CIA is closing in on “El Tiburon” (Esai Morales). Oh and by the way, “the Shark” lied about Maria dying in his arms. Victor isn’t ready to forgive Ike for cozying up to Castro, but he is ready to confront El Tiburon about Maria, just as he’s about to ship off with with his men to take on Castro. Victor knows he’s going to die and so do we when he leaves a note for Mercy before heading over. At the dock, words are exchanged, El Tiburon shoots Victor who pulls the rebel leader into the water with him and kills him. However, Victor is rescued by one of El Tiburon’s men, meaning he may have survived to season three but the show didn’t so…that’s that. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of Esai Morales and Sherilyn Fenn as both were cast in intriguing roles.
As for Victor’s daughter, Mercy (Dominik Garcia-Lorido), she tells Vera (Olga Kurylenko) she wants what she has: a loving marriage and Vera wants what Mercy has: a baby on the way. Unfortunately for Vera, Mercy miscarries or so she has Antonio tell Vera after the two have a talk (off screen) about whether or not Mercy wants the baby. Again, this storyline might have gone somewhere next season, probably leading Mercy back to Danny with some major baggage.
While several subplots are tied up in this series finale, the centerpiece is the showdown between Ike and Ben as the gambling bill finally comes up for a vote. It looks like Senator Sloat has got things under control until a last minute smear piece written by Ike and Meg (Kelly Lynch) hits the front page of the paper after a meeting of the “Secret Six.” It’s enough to sway the vote against gambling and seal the fate of Ben Diamond. Well aware that Sy Berman (James Caan) will kill him if the bill doesn’t pass, Ben sends Bel Jaffe (Michael Rispoli) and his boys to take out Sy. End result? Everyone appears to be dead, except Sy, who then gets into his car which explodes. So yeah, that takes care of Ike’s Chicago mob problem.
After spending the night of the failed gambling bill vote snorting coke and drinking, Ben watches from above as Stevie (Steven Strait) and Lily (Jessica Marais) go at it. Then we get the greatest moment in “Magic City’s” short history as Stevie, who now knows Ben knows, thanks to Lily, fires a gun up into the two-way mirror causing Ben to come crashing down onto floor. He’s not dead but in bad enough shape to go to the hospital where Jack Klein promises to send the Butcher to the electric chair.
Back to Vera, besides losing Mercy’s baby, she’s also fearful about losing Ike to Meg. Oblivious to Meg’s feelings for him, Ike assures Vera that as partners go, Meg is a much better choice than the Chicago mob. Maybe so, but Vera knows the word “partner” means much more to Meg than a fifty-one percent voting share in the hotel. And Meg lets Ike know this when she plants one on him after they agree to the deal. And from the look on Ike’s face, all he can think of is Vera begging him not to turn to Meg for help.
If it felt like “Magic City” was crawling along, this season-turned-series finale accomplished more in one hour than the entire second season. If only some of the events in this finale were spread out through the season, maybe things would be different. As Danny tells Klein, his father may be crooked but he’s not evil. Yet. This finale gives us glimpses of what might have been to come. We see Ike telling Vera “it’s right in front of me,” meaning total control of the Miramar Playa, while she’s right in front of Ike, begging him not to go to Meg. By the end of the hour, we know he’s lost her as we see Vera pull up outside Stevie’s hotel.
And then there’s Danny in the Miramar Playa driveway telling his father he’s leaving town. Judi’s dead, thanks to Doug, who realized she was the one who informed on his relationship with Ben. Danny can’t take it anymore and he tells Ike he doesn’t want to end up like him. Ike defends himself with the ridiculous claim that he’s protecting his son from the bad guys by working with them. Danny doesn’t buy it and begs his father not to love him if loving him means running with mobsters, whores and murderers. And with that, Ike is more alone than ever as we see him on the beach the next day, drawing a picture of his hotel in the sand as it looms behind him.
While leaving a number of minor characters left for dead, it’s those who survive who’ve got it the worst, namely Ike and Ben. For Ben, it’s the wrath of Jack Klein who relishes the fact that he’s finally got the Butcher “dead to rights.” For Ike, it’s the loneliness of knowing that all he really has left is his precious hotel. Though heavy handed at times, “Sins of the Father” accomplishes much. Unfortunately, it’s all too late to matter now.
