Netflix’s Turkish thriller drama series, The Town, is about Efe, Selim, and Ahmet and the trouble they end up getting themselves into when they come across a trunk full of cash. Efe and Selim were reunited at their mother’s funeral. Selim had moved to Istanbul to pursue a career in medicine, while Efe stayed back in the small town with his mother. From afar Selim seemed to have a sorted life, but we gradually discover that he and his wife were going through a financial crisis and he was searching for ways to make some money. Efe and Ahmet’s lives weren’t comfortable either, so naturally when they saw bags full of cash, all three of them couldn’t resist their temptation. They stumbled upon a car with two dead men inside, and in the trunk they found the cash. At first they thought of calling the police, but they changed their decision when they saw the cash. They knew that their lives could drastically improve if they kept the money, but they were also aware that people would soon come searching for the money, and fooling them won’t be easy. So, did their lives change for the better? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Efe upload a confession video?
Efe realized he’d crossed paths with evil when his brother was shot in the head. The notorious gang, Sepekcis, had the cops and the local people under their control. When Efe, Selim, and Ahmet had decided to take the cash, they knew they would be in trouble, but they never expected things to go so out of control. Even his cop friend, Turgut, turned out to be working for the mafia gang. Selim had trusted a cop, Pembo, who’d insisted he get in a vehicle that would apparently take him to the police station. Turns out, the cop had handed Selim to Caner Sepekcis, one of the leaders of the gang. Caner was frustrated with the cat-and-mouse chase, and the moment his men had brought Selim to his place, he’d immediately decided to get rid of him. Caner believed it was his way of getting even with Efe and his friends.
Efe suspected Selim was in trouble when he didn’t show up at the police station. He feared that the Sepekcis got to him, and well, he eventually discovered that he was right. Efe didn’t care about the money; he was ready to negotiate with Huseyin Sepekci to safely bring home his brother, and when he figured that the Sepekcis didn’t leave any room for negotiation, he was ready to burn everything around him. He didn’t care about himself anymore; he simply wanted the world to know about the ruthless Sepekcis. This wasn’t the first time Efe had lost one of his brothers, and Selim’s demise made his pain unbearable. Efe believed that the only way to punish himself was by being alive and living with this constant agony.
Efe teamed up with Inspector Isa, perhaps the only cop in town who didn’t work for the mafia, to bring the gang down. Yildirim, the gangster whose daughter the Sepekcis had kidnapped, agreed to put a tracking device in the car that the gang agreed to send to bring him to Caner and Huseyin. Isa followed the car, and he’d taken pictures of the base from where the gang operated. He was in talks with Mehmet from Special Ops, who was also invested in bringing down the gang.
Meanwhile, Efe had kidnapped Pembo and had recorded a video where he confessed to working for the gang and also admitted that he was indirectly responsible for Selim’s death. He had sent the video to the police chief. Later, he shot Pembo in the leg to force him to send a message to Caner. Pembo didn’t have much of a choice, and he ended up lying to Caner, stating that there was another mole (apart from Nihat) and they wanted to meet to discuss the issue. But things didn’t really go as Efe had planned; Caner had sent his men to meet Pembo, and that, of course, wasn’t good enough for Efe. At first Efe trusted Isa’s plan, but eventually he realized how impossible it was. There was no way that a cop could just take down the gang when the entire system was corrupt. Also, he wanted to do something that would truly destroy Caner and Huseyin. According to Isa’s plan, Yildirim agreed to guide Caner to the money, but before that he demanded that they release his daughter. While they stuck to their end of the bargain, Caner was disappointed when he only found six bags of cash at the spot Yildirim had guided him to. Yildirim’s condition was simple: he would not reveal the location of the rest of the bags unless he was reunited with his daughter.
Meanwhile, as Caner was about to drive back to their base, Efe drove his truck and blocked the road. He stepped out of the vehicle and attempted to shoot Caner, but his men soon showed up at the spot. Isa had been following Caner, and during the shootout, he instructed Caner and his men to put their guns down. Efe begged him not to trust the gangsters, but Isa was a righteous man who simply wanted to do his duty right. Since the gangsters had agreed to put down their weapons, he considered walking up to them. Now, of course, they didn’t really do as the officer had asked of them. One of their men slyly shot the officer, and it was enough reason for Efe to completely unleash his fury. He fearlessly walked up to them, shooting a round of fire, but as expected, he ran out of bullets, and Caner immediately had a smile on his face. He had been waiting for his moment to seek revenge on this random ‘commoner’ who dared to cross paths with them.
During The Town’s ending, just as Caner was about to shoot Efe, Begum came to his rescue. Efe had handed her a gun and had asked her just to keep it close, especially after the incident with Selim. The gun came in handy, and she finally shot the man who had killed her husband. Efe requested Isa, who was shot but was still alive, to take the blame for Caner’s death. He hoped that the officer would not let Begum, who had recently found out that she was pregnant, rot in prison for killing an evil man. Efe uploaded his confession video after the shootout. He believed that the world should find out about the gang and their monstrosity. He refused to stay silent even if it meant admitting to his crimes. In the video he took sole responsibility for the deaths of Sepekcis’ men, Sami and Berat. Since Caner was already under police custody, Efe chose to emphasize that Huseyin Sepekci was responsible for his brother’s death. He didn’t want him to go unpunished, and he hoped that public pressure would finally bring justice to his brother. He admitted that he had stolen the illegal cash that the gang had smuggled into the country. Efe also didn’t shy away from mentioning that the cops were involved with the mafia. He added that Fuat Uskan, the police head, was responsible for handing over his brother to the mafia. He further stated that one of the police officers who had been taking orders from him, Pembo, had admitted on record to working for the gang. Efe chose not to turn himself in because he feared that he would’ve been silenced, and he prioritized sharing the video on social media rather than just handing himself over to the police, who would have done exactly what the mafia would’ve asked them to. Efe emphasized that rich men like Huseyin and Caner always get away with crime, but he hoped that his video would bring about a change. At the end of the confession video, Efe fearlessly stated that he was ready to steal all of Huseyin’s money and run away because that was the only way to seek revenge on people like him.
What happened to Yildirim?
Huseyin was fuming with rage; after all, no one had the courage to challenge him the way Efe did. Also the fact that he was a random man who neither came from wealth nor influence infuriated him all the more. The moment he came across Efe’s confession video, he figured that Yildirim had no intention of revealing where the rest of the cash was. Efe had already mentioned that he intended on running away with the money, so he knew that it was impossible for him to recover the cash. Yildirim couldn’t hold back his laughter; he was glad that Efe had the courage to stand up to someone like Huseyin. He was well aware that no matter what they did, there was no way that Huseyin would let them go. After all, you can’t really negotiate with a mafia! Huseyin refused to accept that he had lost the game, and since he couldn’t get to Efe, he punished Yildirim.
During The Town’s ending, Huseyin shot Yildirim. In his dying moments, Yildirim thought of his daughter; he’d failed to be a good father, but he hoped his daughter would forgive him. Huseyin had already released his daughter as part of the negotiation, and while she waited to be reunited with her father, all she got instead was a bag full of cash. Efe was aware that the money wouldn’t compensate for the loss, but at the same time, he hoped that she would make something of her life with it. Yildirim had risked his life for the money to secure the future of his child, and the least Efe could do was leave his share of the cash with her. Efe dropped the bag and sped away in his car.
Was the mafia gang punished?
Efe’s video had gone viral; over seventy-seven thousand people had viewed it, and the video already had over a thousand retweets. Efe’s plan had worked; the people of Turkey now knew about the atrocities of the mafia gang. But does that mean they’ll be punished? Well, we can only hope so! Efe did his part by throwing light on the crimes committed by these gangs and on how the system helped them operate. Hopefully, there were still honest officers and government personnel who will put pressure to have Huseyin arrested. Clearly, the public was on Efe’s side; while most knew about the gang, they lacked the courage to stand up to them and publicly call them out. So, we can expect that the common people will not let the issue die down. They will likely put pressure on the government to put an end to the free operation of the gang. There was really no way out of the situation. No amount of money or influence can help Huseyin escape. Now if he tried to illegally flee from the country, the government would be held responsible, and there would be mass outrage.
Did Efe, Ahmet, Begum, and Zeynep manage to escape?
In The Town’s ending, we witness Efe, Ahmet, Begum, and Zeynep escape from the town with the bags full of cash. They wouldn’t ever really recover from the loss of Selim, but at the same time, they were hopeful about their future. There were moments when they’d considered letting go of the cash, but in the end, they managed to retain a portion of it. They had realized that the world wasn’t black and white; handing themselves over to the cops wouldn’t really solve the bigger issue. Ede, Ahmet, and Begum regretted the decisions that they’d made, and living with his constant guilt was their way of punishing themselves. Selim would’ve wanted them to start their lives afresh; at the end of the day, they were honest people who had made questionable decisions during a very difficult phase of their lives. Also now that Begum was pregnant, Efe felt the need to be by her side and protect her. He wanted to ensure that she and her unborn child lived a peaceful life, away from the madness that they’d gotten themselves into. Now, thousands of people had already seen Efe online, and they knew the crimes he’d committed, so is there really an escape? Well, it can be assumed that maybe Efe’s honesty and courage had won the hearts of the common people, and even if they come across him, they might not report him. Also, they had a lot of cash to move to a remote place and start their lives all over again. Maybe with a new identity? That seems quite likely. The cops too wouldn’t give up on finding Efe; he was a fugitive in possession of illegal cash and murder charges. Efe will have to be careful, but considering the kind of person that he is, he will prioritize protecting his loved ones, so if their situation ever gets challenging, he might as well surrender.
