This article contains spoilers for MGM+‘s The Westies Episode 8
One of the interesting things to watch during the first seven episodes of The Westies was not only the tensions between the Irish and Italian mafias, specifically the Gambino family, but also how fractured each side became as the episodes wore on. In the season finale, “The Irish Goodbye,” the Irish split into two camps and went to war with each other.
The conflict threatens them and everyone around them, including the Italian mob. Needless to say, it’s an action-packed hour that makes the finale interesting and fun, despite some predictable outcomes.
Jimmy Roarke and Eamon Sweeney Fight for Control
From the start of Episode 8, it becomes a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between the Irish leader Eamon Sweeney (J.K. Simmons) and the smart, tough Jimmy Roarke (Tom Brittney) over control of the organization. Sweeney’s decision to execute a member of Jimmy’s crew for “the good of everyone” was the last straw, and it’s now kill or be killed.
Sweeney sends his men to the local bar where Jimmy and his boys hang out to kill Jimmy. They fail, leaving a couple dead on both sides and the bar riddled with bullet holes. Jimmy calls Sweeney, tries to set him up for a chat, but Sweeney sends his second-in-command, Eddie (Vincent Walsh), who Jimmy takes hostage and lets Mickey (Stanley Morgan) torture.
While this back-and-forth is underway, Bridget (Sarah Bolger), who managed to lure her target into his room, is discovered. It looks like the man who had her parents killed was about to get the last laugh. However, she escapes, but not before killing him and uncovering that Brendan Cahill (Allen Leech) gave her parents up.
It goes without saying she is not in a good headspace when Cahill shows up at Jimmy’s. But she lets him go, threatening his life if he ever comes near her again. I don’t think that will keep him away, since he professed his “love” for her before he left.
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Meanwhile, Jimmy has been busy. He repays Ruby Stein (Richard Schiff) and offers him a partnership in a new drug deal. He says the Irish will soon have new leadership. Stein then presents the offer to Gambino boss Paul Castellano (Ron Lea), effectively cutting John Gotti (Hamish Allan-Headley) out of the deal.
Jimmy also has a separate plan in which Glenn Keenan (Titus Welliver) steals three kilos of cocaine from the evidence lockup for him to use. Jimmy is a smart man, but at this point it’s hard to believe it will go smoothly.
The Westies Finale Sets Up a Dangerous New Power Structure
Keenan’s son, Danny, goes missing, but Sweeney has actually brought him back to Hell’s Kitchen. He uses his charm to invite Danny into the gang and assigns him the task of removing a rat, his own dad. Father and son face off, with Danny even pulling a gun on him, but Danny is not quite ready to cross that line and chooses to leave instead.
For Keenan, wonderfully played by Welliver throughout the series, his choices about how to deal with his son are yet another in a seemingly endless string of bad decisions that have put him where he is today. Friendless, at odds with his son, and forced to work with the FBI to keep his job, he is stuck in a cycle he can’t seem to escape.
The final act is brutally efficient, as is much of the series. Jimmy and Mickey use Eddie to arrange a meeting with Sweeney, and, as Sweeney suspected, it is a trap. After dispatching Sweeney’s men, Jimmy and Sweeney have a brief sit-down, but instead of killing him, Jimmy has the cops come and pick him up.
It seems the drugs Jimmy got from Keenan found their way into Sweeney’s trunk. He’s arrested and taken away. Jimmy then takes over Sweeney’s business, becoming the new head of the Irish mafia and vowing to do things their way. It’s a bold statement, and Jimmy will find out that taking the seat of power is very different from keeping it.
Shout-out to Tom Brittney and J.K. Simmons, whose characters are excellent adversaries. Titus Welliver made Keenan a tragic figure, yet it’s hard to pity him because he was his own worst enemy. It was odd to see Gotti take a backseat in the finale, but to be fair, the Irish mafia storyline was much more interesting.
That said, some outcomes were easy to predict, but the actors did a good job selling them. As of now, there has been no announcement about The Westies Season 2, but here’s hoping it happens. The show still has interesting stories to tell and great actors to bring them to life.
The Westies Episode 8 is now streaming on MGM+.
