Amazon Prime’s latest heist thriller show, Steal, starring Sophie Turner and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, is gripping, binge-worthy albeit predictable. It is just another weekday at the trading firm, Lochmill Capital, when suddenly a group of burglars forces their way into the office. They have semi-automatic weapons, they seem extremely professional, and they know exactly what they are going to do. Immediately after locking down the place, they ask the trading processing team to step outside. Zara, one of the team members, who had already been complaining of a bad hangover, couldn’t believe what was happening. She and her teammate, Luke, are asked to transfer 4 billion pounds from pension accounts to a private account. Luke experiences a tremendous meltdown, so Zara figures she has to step up to survive. She receives the call from the bank asking to reconfirm the transaction that she consented to. Zara turns out to be a terrific liar, and she manages to convince the man on the other side of the call to approve the transaction. By the time the transfer was complete, one of the employees had successfully signaled a nearby office to call for help. Soon, the cops arrived at the scene, but by then the robbers had already left. Who were these robbers? And what was their goal? Let’s delve into the details.
Spoiler Alert
How were Zara and Luke involved?
By the end of the first episode, the heist was over, and Zara’s sly smile indicated her involvement in it. But Zara wasn’t the mastermind; she was roped into the plan by her colleague and friend, Luke. Zara was under the impression that the people who’d contacted Luke were planning on hacking the company system; she had no clue that they would storm the office, guns and all. She believed she wouldn’t have agreed to the deal if she’d known that was the case. Zara was apprehensive when Luke told her that he was talking with a few men he’d met virtually, through an online game, who planned on stealing money from the firm; she thought it was a joke. They apparently needed a backup person, so Luke suggested Zara. She made it very clear that she would only agree to the plan if she got to speak to those involved face-to-face. They agreed to a deal, and the fact that Zara was refused a promotion at work further convinced her to take the job. She was tired of being stuck in the same place even though she knew she was capable of so much more.
Later, Zara went on to learn that Milo from risk management was also involved. She assumed that maybe he was the mastermind behind the operation, but after confronting him (post-heist), she discovered that he was also just another insider who’d helped the robbers. Unlike Luke and Zara, who were paid 5 million pounds each, Milo received twenty million. When Zara learned about it, she was infuriated. She had the cops and MI5 after her, whereas Milo didn’t have much to worry about. Luke and Zara were targeted because they were frustrated with their jobs, and the opportunity to make a quick 5 million was obviously tempting. But Luke couldn’t stand the pressure after the heist. He feared that the people he’d shaken hands with were dangerous, and he’d come to the conclusion that they would eventually kill him. The robbers figured that he could pose a threat to them if he spoke to the cops, so they ended up abducting him. And thus, Zara was left all alone to deal with the pressure.
Who was the third insider?
DCI Rhys had already figured out that Zara and Luke were involved; since they were yet to track down Luke, he was desperately trying to put Zara under surveillance. But with MI5 trying to steal his case, getting permissions was particularly challenging (we get into this in the next segment). He figured striking a deal with Zara would be easier than getting the paperwork cleared. Zara needed to get away from MI5, and the detective promised to help her, as long as she could provide him insider information. She started her investigation by going through all the investment committee meeting details, and she discovered that just before the heist, the committee had received a risk report, and according to Zara’s theory, someone could have tweaked the numbers in the report, which resulted in the committee’s decision to move the investments into cash. The heist took place a few days later, making it very convenient for the robbers to get away with four billion.
As Zara dug deeper, she discovered that Milo, the senior risk analyst, was responsible. To keep his name out of the investigation, Milo readily agreed to hand over a mobile phone and a number that he had received from the robbers in case he needed to contact them in an emergency situation. After Zara discovered the Milo angle, she wondered why she was dragged into the mess in the first place, since they already had two insiders, so they technically didn’t ‘need’ her. Milo was a little apprehensive, but he decided to ultimately state the actual reason why they roped in Zara. They needed someone to take the fall, someone frustrated with their life and their job, someone who was clearly struggling to cope with their everyday routine, someone who didn’t really have a family and was mostly lonely, and unfortunately Zara had fit the bill perfectly. Zara was heartbroken when she learned that Luke knew it wouldn’t be just a hack, but an armed robbery, and he chose not to tell her because he knew she wouldn’t have agreed to go along with it. After going through everyone’s profiles, the thieves chose Zara, and according to Luke and Milo, it was because they planned on killing the weakest link and making it look like suicide. We don’t really get to find out why Zara was chosen. Was it really because she was a mess? Maybe they figured she didn’t have a lot to lose, so she might be unafraid of the risks involved. After her conversation with Milo, Zara realized she had to do something drastic to let the world know that no one was allowed to walk all over her. From her best friend to her colleague, everyone believed that she was a mess and was easy to emotionally manipulate. Zara decided that henceforth, she would only make logical choices.
Why did MI5 swoop in to take over the case?
MI5 believed there was a large conspiracy at play that might be way beyond the jurisdiction of DCI Rhys, which was why they didn’t really want the cops to get their hands on evidence or information before they did. They even got in touch with Zara and tried to convince her to share information that could be crucial to the case. MI5 refused to offer her a reduced sentence for her involvement with the robbers; instead, they agreed to give her a new identity to start her life afresh in a new country. After speaking with Milo, Zara realized that maybe she was making the wrong decision by helping the detective. She had developed a connection with the DCI, but she wasn’t ready to make an emotional fool of herself once again. She had gotten herself involved with criminals for the sake of friendship, but she refused to let the opportunity to start her life afresh in a new country go to waste for a romantic possibility. Zara ended up handing over the mobile and the number that Milo gave her to the MI5 agent she was in contact with. They tracked down the number and busted the safe house where the thieves had been staying for a while. Although they couldn’t catch them, they hoped to find evidence that could help them track down the mastermind. DCI Rhys arrived at the scene half an hour late. He had enough reason to be grateful to Zara, since the fingerprint that she had taken off a vial that she found at Luke’s apartment building after he was abducted helped him track down Morgan, one of the thieves involved in the heist.
What resulted in the shootout?
Morgan had made a deal with Luke, who had been held captive at the safe house. In exchange for freeing him, Luke had offered to take him to Zara, whom he could kill and take the five million crypto that she had in a cold wallet. Luke had attempted to run away from Morgan once they managed to leave the safe house, but eventually Morgan caught up with him. He led the short-tempered thief to Zara’s house, and Morgan made it very clear that he shouldn’t be messed with. Zara was ready to begin her life afresh in a new country. She’d convinced her narcissistic mother that the cold wallet she’d been hiding was destroyed, and therefore she couldn’t give her any of her share. She’d even considered offering the DCI a portion of her bribe to clear his gambling debt, but he wasn’t interested in the money. The detective had been suspended from his job since MI5 had pretty much taken over the case. Rhys thought it was insulting that Zara assumed offering him money would make him ‘feel better.’ Although he was deep in debt, he had no intentions of making money out of the situation. His passion for his job was what kept him out of the gambling dens during the day, but now that he’d been taken off the case, he found himself battling with his addiction.
When Zara returned home, hoping to pack her bags and leave, she found Morgan and Luke there. She figured the only way to stop Morgan was by offering him more money, so she decided to reveal that her colleague, Milo, had twenty million. They ended up at Milo’s posh apartment, and while Morgan planned on taking the twenty million along with Luke and Zara’s cold wallets, he didn’t expect to be pepper-sprayed by the sheepish risk analyst. Morgan ended up stabbing Milo and stealing his cold wallet. Milo’s passcodes were in the office, so Morgan, Luke, and Zara headed there. As soon as he had the codes, Morgan established that he would be getting rid of Luke and Zara. In a desperate attempt to save his life, Luke struck him with a heavy object. While Luke stepped out to call the cops, Zara held Morgan’s gun and threatened to shoot the robber once he regained consciousness. Morgan managed to overpower Zara, and he started firing at random. While Zara managed to hide herself, she was surprised to see Rhys arrive at the scene. He’d figured out Milo’s involvement (Zara had mentioned he was on the risk management team), and he hoped to find more information in Lochmill Capital. By the time the cops arrived at the scene, Rhys had been shot in the chest by Morgan, and Zara had managed to kill Morgan with Rhys’ taser. The rest of the robbers had also shown up at the spot to take down Morgan, since he was a loose cannon, but in the process all of them ended up dead.
What did the robbers want to prove?
As the case unfolded, it became evident that the purpose behind the heist wasn’t just to steal four billion pounds; it was about exposing the corrupt system at play. The stolen pension money was routed through tax haven accounts to not only expose thirty-two celebrities, but also to highlight that the world’s biggest tax havens were all British overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands and the British Cayman Islands. The heist and the exposé that followed created mounting pressure on the Prime Minister, resulting in a thorough investigation into these British overseas territories and their role ‘as leading international tax havens.’ As soon as the investigation plan was announced, the four billion that was stolen was once again deposited back into Lochmill Capital’s bank accounts. This further emphasized that the goal wasn’t to steal the pension money of hardworking individuals; it was a stunt that was pulled to bring the discussion around corruption into the foreground. While the objective was noble, Morgan brought in the destruction.
In the end, it was obvious that executing such a plan while involving people like Morgan, someone with a criminal past, was a risky move. It looked like the robbers were promised a good sum that they were guaranteed to be paid as soon as the objective was achieved. In the meantime, their job was to be on the lookout in case things didn’t go as planned. Such as in Luke’s case, they had to make the call to abduct him to stop him from sharing information with the cops. But ultimately, they all died in the shootout at Lochmill Capital. We don’t get to find out if the robbers felt as passionately about the cause as their mastermind, or if they simply did it because they needed the money. For someone like Morgan, it was evidently the latter. To close the case and to put an end to the global panic, Milo was announced as the main perpetrator. We don’t get to find out if it was the mastermind behind the heist who’d made Milo’s murder look like a suicide, or if it was a narrative framed by MI5 to convince the public that the threat was taken care of. It was likely MI5, considering Luke and Zara knew the truth, and they must have told them that Milo wasn’t the one who’d planned the heist, but they were asked to remain silent in exchange for immunity from arrest.
Who was behind the robbery?
The ending of Steal revealed that Darren Yoshida was behind the robbery. When Zara showed up at Rhys’ doorstep and insinuated that he was perhaps the mastermind, it got Rhys thinking. She’d stated that during her altercation with Morgan, he’d mentioned that she must ask the policeman if she wanted to know the ‘point of the heist.’ He was at first appalled by Zara’s baseless assumption, but then he figured that Morgan wasn’t talking about him; there was another policeman he had reason to suspect. Darren Yoshida, the child of immigrants, who had seen poverty up close before he became a successful multi-millionaire investment manager, was frustrated with the system. While the working class struggled to make ends meet, the privileged were busy exploiting the corrupt machinery to make more money. His conscience didn’t allow him to continue working as an investment manager, so he ended up as a financial investigator in the police department. His goal was to fix the system, or at least do his bit instead of conveniently ignoring the mess. When Rhys confronted him, he played innocent at first, but then he ultimately figured there was no point in lying anymore. Rhys suspected him because, on the night of the shootout, he’d contacted Darren and asked him to meet him at Lochmill Capital, but he never showed up. He figured that there was an informant in the department when the thieves abducted Luke just before he reached Luke’s apartment. When the detective dug deep to find out how Darren got the assignment, he discovered that Darren had rejected two prior cases before the Lochmill case. This suggested that he had intentionally kept himself free so that he would be assigned the case, since insider information played a crucial role in executing his plan. Rhys had mapped out the pattern, and he figured out Darren’s motive as well. Although they only knew each other on a superficial level, Rhys had learned that Darren had money, but he also ‘hated money.’ There had also been instances when he’d strongly expressed his disgust with the corrupt system.
When Rhys described the stunt as a ‘firework show,’ Darren felt insulted. He wanted to believe that the heist had changed the world, or at least acted as a catalyst. Rhys wasn’t as optimistic; he believed that the government inquiry would go on for five years, and by then the public would have moved on and forgotten about the case altogether. Darren was hopeful and optimistic; he knew that he might come across as ‘naive,’ but he figured someone had to do something to at least challenge those in power. Rhys could either arrest him or accept the ten million that Darren offered him and walk away. While Darren had returned the pension money, he’d kept the money from the tax haven accounts; he possibly had planned to pay the thieves with this money. Rhys, accompanied by Zara, chose to walk away without the money. After everything she’d been through, Zara had realized that the moment they would accept the bribe from Darren, they would be forever tied to him, making it easier for him to manipulate them whenever he wanted. They walked away because they’d figured Darren wasn’t really the problem, and his objective was well-intended. Hopefully, the money from the tax haven accounts will be utilised to uplift the working class, and not for personal benefits.
What does the future have in store for DCI Rhys and Zara?
Rhys was still in debt, but thanks to Zara, he had finally found a solution. At the very end of “Steal,” Zara revealed that while her cold wallet that had the five million was confiscated, she had stored Milo’s cold wallet in a showpiece. As luck would have it, when she was handed over her belongings on her final day at the office, the showpiece was in the box. Zara believed it was fate that brought the cold wallet back to her. With twenty million in cryptocurrency, Zara finally had the opportunity to reimagine her life and Rhys will not have to worry about his gambling debt anymore (hopefully he’ll change his ways and not fall back into the same trap). Considering Darren was free, it’s likely that he’ll consistently put pressure on the government to release the findings of their investigation. But will the system change? That remains debatable.
