IT ended as many crime stories do – with the violent assassination of a crime kingpin in a multi-storey carpark.
And the very final scenes of Kin leave viewers in no doubt that Amanda is now the Queen of the Kinsella cartel. Frank can only watch with a powerlessness and fury as Amanda hits fifth gear and vows to avenge those responsible for the death of his son. It has been driven, finally, by a threat to the life of her remaining child.
With Jimmy as well as Michael now firmly on her side, the momentum has swung her way. It’s not the only family fracture – Eric is jailed and placed in a protection unit, furious to learn that fellow inmate Bren has refused to protect him while behind bars.
Amanda demands a showdown with Eamon, threatening to burn the €50 million drugs haul that the Kinsellas have stolen from him should he refuse. It’s a last-ditch effort to negotiate peace with the crime kingpin before killing him – a plan that Frank is incredulous to learn of.
But Eamon is determined to have his pound of flesh, and admonishes Amanda.
“That’s your offer? Give back what you stole?” he growls. “That’s f***ing nothing.
“Everything I’ve done, everything I am, is all dependent on one thing. That people know I’m f***ing ruthless. Without that it all comes tumbling down.”
But he then offers her the option to select which Kinsella should die, a plot point that feels somewhat absurd and implausible.
Amanda attempts to pull off the ultimate hustle by setting up Eric to take the hit, informing Frank and Birdy that it’s their son that Eamon is after.
It’s a dramatic and twisty finale, carried by the show’s persistently strong cinematography, cityscapes and production design. But the issues that have niggled Kin throughout its first season make their presence felt in the season’s final episode.
The show’s deliberately ponderous pacing was an approach I was willing to get on board with through most of the series, the tradeoff being strong character development.
But does it really have to be this way? It’s not simply the pace that feels off, but the storytelling. There is a great deal of repetition in the dialogue that drives the motivations and intention
