At the heart of the action drama Crooks is a man desperate to protect his family and ready to face any challenge that comes his way. Charly, a locksmith, got in trouble for his involvement with the local gang. He was locked up in prison for months, and it was then that he decided to live an honest life. Charly’s life drastically changed after he met Samira and Jonas. He was in love with Samira, and he adored her son, Jonas. Life was finally safe and happy, but that was before he received a call from a man waiting outside a bowling alley. Charly assumed it was a call from a client, but after helping the man with the lock, he realized the gang had set a trap for him. Stepan, the boss, needed Charly’s help, and they were not ready to take no for an answer.
Spoiler Alert
How did Charly get involved with the Al-Walid gang?
Charly refused to help Stepan steal money from a vault tucked in the basement of a nail salon. But Stepan was a persistent man, and he threatened to harm Samira and Jonas if Charly failed to deliver. Charly agreed to the deal, but with one condition: he did not want any money out of the job; he simply wanted Stepan to never contact him again. The deal was finalized, and it was time for Charly to make his way into the basement with Stepan’s son, Nero, assisting him. Opening the vault took longer than anticipated, but ultimately, the technique used by Charly worked. Charly was told that they were breaking in to steal money, but he soon figured out that they had lied to him. It was not the money that Stepan and his gang were after, but the 1780 half-imperial Catherine the Great coin that had been recently stolen from the museum. Charly realized that the stakes had been extremely high all along, and it was not the easy robbery that he was promised.
Stepan had designed a foolproof plan, and everything should have worked out fine, but unfortunately, it did not. Some things were beyond Stepan’s control, and that was where the error occurred. Hassan and Karim Al-Walid got into an argument, and Karim was determined to take back the coin he had stolen and put it to good use. The vault at the nail salon belonged to the Al-Walid gang, and Stepan was paid by Big Guy’s (Karli Bachofner) gang to steal the coin. On the night of the robbery, Karim spontaneously decided to head to the salon to take back the coin, but upon entering the basement, he realized that a robbery was taking place. Nero pointed his gun at Karim, and Charly hit him so hard at the back of his head that he collapsed.
Charly and Nero managed to escape from the basement and were on their way to the car when Karim attacked Nero with a dagger from behind. Nero shot Karim, and at that moment, Charly knew that it would now be impossible to escape from the mess. He tried to help revive Karim, but the man had already lost too much blood. Nero was bleeding as well, but he somehow managed to make it to the car. After the car took off, they realized that the coin was with Charly. Charly managed to escape from the scene, and he used the coin as leverage to get himself a better deal.
What led to Charly and Joseph’s friendship?
Charly contacted his friend from prison, Rami, who lived in Marseille, and requested that he shelter his wife and kid. While Stepan catered to his son’s wounds and searched for a doctor, the Big Guy’s men, Joseph and Zwanziger, knocked on Charly’s doors in the hopes of getting back the coin. Charly was ready to hand it over, but he demanded money in exchange for all the trouble that he and his family had to go through. Charly, Joseph, and Zwanziger headed to meet Red, who agreed to pay the German man for the coin.
The Vienna gang was previously headed by Karli Bachofner, but he was on his deathbed, and his brother, Red, was desperate to take over the business. He tried his best to force Karli to sign the inheritance documents, but the mafia boss refused to do it. Joseph was Karli’s illegitimate son, and even though all his life he hid the truth, before his death he decided to recognize him as his own and leave behind all his wealth to his son. After Karli’s death, Red got hold of his will and was disappointed to learn that his brother left him nothing. He refused to accept the decision made by Karli, and he planned on killing Joseph to inherit the wealth. Joseph worked as a driver for the gang, and even though he had heard the rumor, he never dared to confront Karli about it. On his deathbed, Karli confessed the truth to his son and advised him to stay away from Berlin and go into exile in Burgenland. As it turned out, Karli had predicted that his brother would always be a threat to Joseph, and that was why he devised the plan to rob the coin. He was well aware that his brother would not be spared by the Al-Walid if he dared to steal the coin from them, and he hoped that after the gang war, there would be peace in Vienna and Joseph could live a happy and prosperous life.
Red came up with a plan to kill Joseph, and he contacted Zwanziger to get the job done. Charly had noticed a change in Zwanziger’s demeanor after he received the call from Red, and the minute he pulled out his gun to shoot Joseph, Charly ran over Zwanziger. Joseph initially refused to believe that Red wanted him dead, but eventually, it became quite obvious. Joseph and Charly realized that they could only trust each other, and that was the beginning of their friendship. Joseph was ready to help Charly get back to his family, and Charly protected Joseph from Red and his goons.
Did Rami protect Charly’s family?
Rami was entrusted by Charly to protect Samira and Jonas; he owed Charly for always protecting him in prison. Charly assumed that after he got the money, he would head to Marseille and be reunited with his family, but there were too many ups and downs, and the plan that seemed simple at first kept getting complicated. Meanwhile, Samira realized that Rami was in trouble when a gang led by a woman tortured Rami at his own house. Samira decided it was better to run away with her son and stay at a hotel than seek help from Rami. She was worried that he would bring more trouble into their lives, and staying away from him seemed to be the only solution. The problem was that the Al-Walid brothers refused to give up on finding Charly and his family. They were hellbent on seeking revenge on those who dared to kill Karim. They had already dealt with Nero, and they would stop only after they killed Charly. Al-Walid contacted the local gang in Marseille and used their network to track down Samira and Jonas. The mother and son somehow managed to escape, and they ended up spending the night at a stranger’s apartment that they broke into. Charly was already on his way to Marseille, and he begged them to hold on a little longer.
The next morning, Charly was ready to get back to his family, but unfortunately, there were too many people after them. Rami was involved with Madame Griselda’s gang, and they forcefully dragged Samira and Jonas into their car and took them to their property. Charly realized that the only way to find his family was by reaching out to Rami, who was held hostage by the Al-Walid brothers. Charly managed to break Rami free, and he guided them to the place where Samira and Jonas were kept. Joseph and Charly parted ways, but not for long. Charly had trusted Rami, and he assumed that his friend would go out of his way to keep his family safe, but he was left disappointed. Samira was right; Rami had gotten involved with the wrong people, and instead of helping his friend, he ended up getting Charly involved as well. Madame Griselda Delacroix was the most influential and feared gangster in Marseille, and she needed Charly’s help with a cocaine delivery.
What did Madame Griselda want from Charly?
Rami had provided a tip to Griselda: a tanker ship was supposed to arrive, and customs would turn a blind eye if they bribed the inspection officer. But it did not go according to plan, and customs found a ton of cocaine hidden in tin cans. The cocaine was in the evidence room, and Griselda wanted Charly to help them steal it. Rami had the blueprint of the police station, and according to the information, a sewer passed diagonally to the basement of the station. Rami suggested that they break the wall between the sewer and the basement, and the minute he finished explaining the plan, Griselda shot him dead. He was no longer useful to her, and it also acted as a warning for Charly not to double-cross her.
Charly suggested that they arrive at the station using the water route and cut the power. He would make his way to the basement before the generator was turned on. He would enter the evidence room, collect the cocaine cans, and then flush them down the toilet. Another team would be waiting at the sewer to collect the cocaine; that way, they would not have to break down any walls. Charly requested that Griselda allow him and Samira to spend some time alone, and Madame agreed to it. Samira was carrying a phone, and she passed it on to Charly to contact Joseph. Joseph was now assisted by suspended cop Nina, who was determined to get the coin to seek revenge on the Russian mafia her father had gotten involved with before his death. Joseph sneakily got hold of the key to the room Samira and Jonas were locked in, and he made a copy of it. He hid the key in a football and managed to drop it on the field where Jonas was playing football. The mother and son were aware of the plan, and they did their part in getting hold of the key.
Did Charly and his family make it out of the mess alive?
The time had come for Charly to execute his plan. He hopped on the boat to make it to the police station, but there was a problem: Madame’s trusted man, Serge, was keeping an eye on the entire operation. The power was cut down as planned, and Charly made it to the spot where Joseph was waiting for him. Since Serge could not see beyond a point, he assumed that Charly had made it to the evidence room. Joseph and Charly drove out of the police station, and they planned to get Samira and Jonas from Madame’s place and run away. But to make matters worse, the duplicate key to the room where Samira and Jonas were locked did not work. Charly panicked, and he decided to enter Madame’s den to get his wife and kid. Jonas refused to give up, and he calmly used the key once again, and this time it worked. Samira and Jonas were on their way out of the house when Griselda was informed about Charly making a fool of them.
During Crooks‘ ending, Charly managed to help Samira and Jonas escape, and Joseph stepped in as well, and he got grievously injured. Griselda’s men got hold of Charly, but instead of shooting him dead, they decided that he deserved to be killed brutally. They brought Hassan Al-Walid into the room, and as it turned out, Sharif broke Hassan’s trust and handed him to Griselda. Hassan had been waiting for this opportunity for days, and he was determined to kill the man who murdered his brother. During the fight, Charly tried to talk sense into Hassan. He reminded Hassan that even if he killed him, Griselda would murder them both in the end. There was no happy ending unless they tried to find one. It was also true that Charly did try to save Karim, and his death was not his fault.
Crooks ends with Hasan and Charly jumping off the hill and into the sea to save themselves. And in the end, we find out that both Hassan and Charly are living a good life after dealing with all the mess. Most of their threats were dead, and it was only Griselda who could disrupt their peace, but for now they seem to be safe and happy. The final scene of Crooks suggests that Nina and Joseph have teamed up to face Arkadij. It was not money she was after, but revenge. The coin continues to play a decisive role, and who knows where it will ultimately end up? A second season is surely a possibility, with maybe Nina taking center stage this time. Since Joseph has inherited everything that belonged to his father, he has the power to take on the Russian mafia, and we can expect another action-packed drama.
