Amsterdam Empire introduced us to a bunch of characters who played a crucial role in the lives of Betty and Jack while they were trying to negotiate terms and file for a divorce. So, let’s find out who these characters were, why they chose to support either party, and what happened to them at the end.
Spoiler Alert
Jacob Derwig as Jack Van Doorn
Jack felt he knew the tricks of his trade and the people he had to deal with in order to make his business thrive. But in his quest to build his empire, he somewhat underestimated how powerful an emotion hatred was. He had no clue what his wife, Betty, was capable of, and that, I believe, was his biggest mistake. In my opinion, something that I mentioned in my explainer for Amsterdam Empire too, was that I found Jack quite selfish, unempathetic, and not very loyal. I get that he didn’t like what Guido told him, but he should have had better control over his emotions. Jack knew no limits when it came to protecting his territory, and because of that, I believe he took some tactically unsound decisions that will definitely backfire if there is a season 2. Jack survived the bullet wounds at the end of season 1, but he lost his entire empire to Betty. I don’t think he was the kind of man who would just sit and grieve after losing his most prized possession. I guess he will go after his ex-wife, and his quest to build an empire will go on.
Famke Janssen as Betty Jonkers
My first take on Betty was that she was a gold digger who was so spiteful that she wanted to destroy Jack just because he had decided to leave her. But as the series progressed, I realized that there was much more to Betty than I’d assumed. Betty, as a person, might have seemed superficial at first, but that woman knew how to love, knew how to be loyal, and was much more than a starlet.
Betty was quite rational in her approach, and in the chaos she hadn’t forgotten that she didn’t need to burn everything she touched to the ground in order to attain what she wanted. She was kind towards others and made sure that nobody who didn’t wrong her got hurt in the process. I didn’t think I would say this, but Betty deserved to take over the Jackal, as she had proved what she was capable of. Betty had people around her whom she could trust, and even they could be sure that she wouldn’t throw them under the bus.
Jade Olieberg as Katja
Katja was Jack and Shanti’s daughter, and she had ambitions of one day taking over the business and expanding it. Jack’s way of teaching his kids some useful life lessons was a bit extreme. Like one time, he got Katja mugged just to show her the kind of perils she would have to face in the future. There were times when Katja felt that her father didn’t think she was prepared to lead the empire, when in fact she had a lot of faith in her own intuition and potential. At the end, Katja went against her own father, and that came as a shock to him. She had no plans of betraying his trust, but she just made the call she felt was right. She loved Jack, but he had pushed her to the edge, and that’s when she started looking out for herself rather than just blindly following his commands.
Jesse Mensah as Patrick
Patrick was Aktja’s brother, and he ran his own coffee shop because he probably didn’t want to be associated with his father. He got tied up in the mess when Katja dropped her entire stash of weed at his store after the police raided Guido’s compound. Patrick didn’t have ambitions of winning over the world like his father, but he just wanted to lead a quiet and peaceful life. Patrick loved his sister, but at times he felt that she unnecessarily invited trouble and made her life difficult.
Victor Low as Bolle
Bolle ran a club in the city, and he had been one of the earliest associates with whom Jack had partnered to open his business. Bolle had lent Jack his seed money, which was why he owned 10 percent shares in the venture. Bolle was infatuated with Betty, but she had chosen Jack instead of him back in the day. Things didn’t pan out well between Bolle and Jack, which is why they hadn’t been on talking terms for the longest time. When Jack and Betty got into a legal battle, they realized that Bolle’s 10 percent share could make a huge difference in the outcome of the case. Bolle had no interest in the business whatsoever, but he just wanted an opportunity to get intimate with Betty, which he didn’t get till the end.
Shanti
Shanti was Katja and Patrick’s mother, and she hadn’t been in touch with anybody for the last decade or so. Shanti, unlike Betty, never felt close to Jack, even in the initial days. She was just too stubborn to accept that fact, but in retrospect, when she looked back on the time spent, she realized that she and Jack were never really a match. It was Shanti who decided to hire a hitman and send him after Gijs and his family. Shanti had her contacts in the red light district, which is why I think she could play a critical role in season 2, if there is one. I wouldn’t be surprised if Betty makes use of her connections to reenter the picture and get the better of Jack in the future.
Elise Schaap as Marjolein Hofman
Marjolein was a popular TV anchor, and she was Jack’s new lover he left Betty for. Marjolein, I believe, didn’t have much of a clue about how Jack conducted his business and the kind of risks he took on an everyday basis. Marjolein was rather shocked after Jack was shot and the entire town got to know that there were people after his life. Marjolein, at the end of season 1, took the decision to take some time off, because the events that had unfolded were a lot for her to process. I believe she made the right call, because she needed to bring her life back on track, and that wasn’t going to happen so long as she was with Jack.
Bart Slegers as Gijs Tichelaar
Gijs and his sons were basically growers who had these secret farms where they grew weed. They didn’t have retail stores, but they dealt with store owners and provided them with as much weed as they needed. Gijs was a dangerous man, and it was his son, Noud, who shot at Jack, on his orders. At the end, Gijs met his fateful end as Betty, Shanti, and Katja got the better of him. I believe Gijs was an opportunist who sided with whoever could make him more of a profit. His word meant nothing, and he could betray anybody at the drop of a hat.
Guido
Guido was Jack’s supplier, and he had an underground farm, where he did cannabis cultivation. After Betty found out about Jack’s affair, she reported Guido to the authorities and told them about the secret farm. Guido had to go into hiding, and the worst part was he couldn’t escape because his wife was suffering from a terminal illness, and he didn’t want to leave her behind. Guido made the decision to confess to his crimes, something that Jack didn’t want him to do. I believe that if he would have gone to the police without informing Jack, he would have still been alive. But he committed the blunder of telling Jack so that he could be prepared, and that’s where he realized that he had trusted the wrong man.
