We can’t even imagine a John Wick story without some revenge and bloodshed. Throughout the runtime of The Continental Episode 1, we were eagerly waiting for that moment—the moment that would give a concrete reason to our hero, Winston Scott, to ask for guns—lots of guns, in a very John Wick-ish manner. And finally, he did. Hansel and Gretel, the deadly duo who had taken up the assignment to assassinate Winston’s brother, Francis “Frankie” Patrick, finally shot down the man, creating a ripple of chain reactions the consequences of which we are going to witness in the next episode of The Continental. However, the question we want to ask is what impact Francis had on Winston’s life and the reason why he stayed back in New York to make sure his brother survived. And therefore, without any further ado, let’s explore the possibilities.
Why Did Winston Stay Back?
If we start the story of the Scott brothers from the very beginning, we could surmise that their father was a gambler or maybe just a needy person who took a loan from a gangster, Cormac O’Connor. Unable to pay the debt, the Scotts lost their family home to Cormac, and they probably shifted to a bad neighborhood. What happened to the father after that, we don’t know. But what is suggested at the beginning of The Continental Episode 1, is that young and angry Winston killed someone in his childhood. In order to save his little brother, Frankie took the blame and spent the rest of his teenage years in a juvenile center. Frankie didn’t even let Winston visit him in prison, as he wanted to keep his brother away from the world of crime. However, as far as we know about the John Wick universe, one cannot escape his fate for too long.
Winston had a debt to pay to his brother for saving his life. And throughout his life, he had been eagerly waiting for a moment when he could pay back that debt. When Cormac brought Winston to New York and revealed to him the robbery his brother had committed, Winston couldn’t miss the opportunity to save his brother’s life, and there began a mission that was bound to fail. During the last conversation between the brothers, Frankie tells Winston that sometimes, one has to make choices in life that they don’t want to in order to protect the people they care about. And there it was, where he foreshadowed his own death. Frankie knew that Cormac’s men wouldn’t let his wife, Yen, and Winston escape unharmed, and therefore, the man sacrificed himself to protect the ones he loved. We could surmise that Frankie’s last words might be echoing in Winston’s ears, compelling him to take vengeance on the people who killed his brother. There you go, Cormac. It’s John Wick all over again.
Why Did Frankie Steal From Cormac?
In The Continental Episode 1, Winston fails to understand why Frankie went on to work for a crook like Cormac and why he stole the Ancient Coin Press. Frankie had told Winston that he had a plan, a plan about which we might learn in the later episodes, but for now, we have some theories.
It can be theorized that after his release from prison, Frankie went on to join the army and went on a mission in Vietnam. That is where he met his wife, Yen, and fell in love. The trope of American soldiers falling in love with Vietnamese women or resonating with their rebellion is nothing new. Trust me, I am not the one making it cliche here. So, after meeting Yen, Frankie finally decided to leave the US Army, and therefore, he went “missing in action,” as established by Frankie’s file left in Detective Di Silva’s house.
Miles, Frankie’s friend from the army, told Winston that he looked out for his brother when they came back from Vietnam. The small battalion had started running guns to the local gangsters in New York for a living. They even made or invented spiked bullets whose spark we had already seen in John Wick Chapter 4 and perhaps might witness again in the upcoming episodes of The Continental.
Nevertheless, Frankie didn’t stay in the gun business for long and quickly moved to The Continental for reasons we are not aware of. Now, the timelines are a bit blurry from here, but we believe it was at this moment that a group called the Nile contacted Frankie and promised him a happy and peaceful life in exchange for Cormac’s most prized artifact. Frankie told Winston that he had a plan in mind, and it most likely had something to do with escaping the country with a sufficient amount of money. He wanted to live forever with Yen, but alas, he got mixed up with some really bad people and ended up dead.
It is also possible that the Nile contacted Frankie after he deserted the army. Being a deserter, Frankie didn’t have the means to plan a safe future with Yen and, therefore, took the Nile’s offer and returned to New York under a false identity. Later, he waited for the right opportunity to infiltrate The Continental, and once he gained Cormac’s trust, he put his plan into action and stole the Coin Press from the locker. Nevertheless, these are just theories, and we might actually find the real motive behind the robbery in the upcoming episode.
What will Winston do Next?
For Winston, none of it matters. What his brother did or what he wanted to do is immaterial. Winston’s only mission from here on is to take revenge for his fallen brother and safeguard the only family he is left with, which is Yen. As far as we know, Frankie hid the Coin Press before sacrificing his life, and thus, we can speculate that either Yen or Winston know its actual whereabouts. The Associates of The High Table have suggested that Cormac’s reign is about to end, and we already know who is going to replace him. We believe that Winston will unleash his rage upon Cormac and The High Table in order to take revenge, and in turn, he will become the target of the entire world, just like John Wick. But in the end, Winston will find a way to make a truce with the High Table by giving them their beloved artifact and then eventually becoming the esteemed manager of The Continental. However, before he comes to that, there is indeed going to be a lot of action, and we are waiting for it eagerly.
