Things come to a heated conclusion as Hezekiah recovers from a personal loss as the biggest match of his life approaches. Here’s our review of A Thousand Blows episode 6.
Things certainly took a turn at the end of A Thousand Blows episode 5. Hezekiah’s best friend Alec was mistaken for Hezekiah and brutally stabbed by the Elephant Boys as a way to send Mary a message. Not to mention, Sugar beat up his brother Treacle so badly it was hard to tell whether the man was dead or alive.
Episode 6, the grand finale of A Thousand Blows, deals with the immediate aftermath of Alec’s death. Hezekiah, still a bit of an outsider in London, is now alone, completely submerged in his grief over losing his best friend, his brother. There’s no good time to lose someone you love, but Hezekiah is so close to reaching his dreams. His fight against the world champion of boxing is mere days away. “Why should I fight?” he asks, seemingly having lost all will to fight, maybe even live.
In fact, all our characters find themselves alone in this episode. Treacle is still alive, but Sugar has certainly crossed a line. Mary is being abandoned by her fellow Elephants who no longer believe in her leadership. “We were in this for life, but you’re not leading us to a place we understand,” a tearful Eliza tells Mary before the women pack their bags and leave. Oh, and Lao is days away from being given to the Chinese government and he knows he will face almost certain death.
Episode 6 feels completely different from the five episodes that preceded it. Not only are things coming to a conclusion – we’ll get to that part in a minute – but writer Steven Knight really dives into the themes that have been brewing under the lid throughout. The series got off to a slightly slow start, but things improved in episode 4 and 5. I said in the review for episode 5 that the finale has the difficult task of making sure we remember A Thousand Blows as a triumph, not another uneven streaming series, and that’s exactly what the episode does. It’s an impressive feat.
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Now then, the end. We won’t spoil anything here, but it might just be the episode’s weakest bit. A Thousand Blows is coming back for season 2 so the ending doesn’t feel complete. Instead, it sets the stage for the next season. No, it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, but it comes rather suddenly. “Wait, that’s it?” was my immediate thought when the screen faded to black.
There’s a teaser for season 2, which doesn’t have a release date yet, but I do wish there was more satisfaction at the end. Arcs come to a light, slightly rushed conclusion, but thankfully, the episode is otherwise so thrilling and tense that I’m willing to overlook that.
A Thousand Blows is full of exciting performances, especially from Stephen Graham. Sugar, who started out as the series’ villain, has emerged as a complex, quite tragic man, and Graham brings all those little nuances to the surface. Equally impressive is Malachi Kirby as Hezekiah, who is trying to make a new life in a new country but constantly faces racism and rejection everywhere he goes.
A Thousand Blows isn’t a complete knock-out, but the series got better as it went on and the final three episodes do an awful lot of heavy lifting. In a world full of Star Wars and Marvel, it’s pleasing to see such an original, spirited original series hail from a major streaming service.
All episodes of A Thousand Blows are available on Disney+ from 21st February.
