The series finale of Max’s miniseries Full Circle, i.e., episodes 5 & 6, brings the show to a satisfactory conclusion. After the explosive premiere episodes, the Steven Soderbergh-directed show simmered down into a dysfunctional and typical investigative approach. While the show still stands out and benefits from the filmmaker’s deft touch and raw, anxious aesthetics, the puzzle that comes together eventually did not satiate me as a viewer.
Anyway, let’s get into the last two episodes of Full Circle in-depth, looking at its various follies and mishmashes as they come to a close. Please be aware that this article is full of spoilers and might ruin your experience if you haven’t seen the show yourself.
Full Circle (Series Finale), Episode 5 “Loyalty” Recap:
Episode 5 opens in Pete’s office, where Manny and the other colleagues that Harmony has been working with have been summoned. It’s obvious that the psych eval that Manny had sent to Pete has made his idea of Harmony change overnight and that he has called her there to suspend her. However, before he can do that, Harmony receives notifications that Xavier is trying to escape the ankle monitor that she had put on him. When she calls the hotel reception and investigates, she doesn’t like the answer and moves out of the office to check it herself, leaving Pete and the others hanging. She then rushes to the hotel room to find it empty, with the monitor lying on the ground.
Meanwhile, Garmen, who now has Xavier in his house, is eager to know how he got caught up with the Inspector. Xavier plays it intelligently and convinces him that he is still on his side. He then offers to call up Louis because he talked something about money, and Garmen, who is trying to escape from the city and go back to his homeland, is intrigued by the possibility. Xavier then calls him up and tells him that they need to arrange 60,000 by midnight if they want to leave on the private plane that Carmen has booked for his family to go to Guyana. Louis is unaware that the plan just has 5 seats, and apart from Garmen’s family, it could only be Xavier who would be going in it.
Chef Jeff and Kris pay a visit to Gene and his wife, Cindy. While they sit down with Gene still holding a grudge over Jeff for holding him out, they realize that the statement had the initials J.M, and it wasn’t Jeff, but Sam who gave him away 20 years ago. Since Sam doesn’t often use her first name, Gene always assumed that it was his brother who rattled him out. Now that the realization struck them both and the wives, they bury their hatches and go out for a drink together.
On the other hand, Derek comes back home trying to talk to Sam about everything that has transpired with Nicky and Charisse in the picture, but since Sam is extremely mad, she just asks him to leave.
The talk from the opening sequence finally arrives as Pete tells Melody that she is suspended and Manny will be taking the lead in the raid that they plan to do at Mrs. Mahabir’s house.
In the meantime, Aked gets his hands on the money Edward Chung was talking about in last week’s episode. Along with the bag of money, there’s Natalia’s phone which Chung had in his possession after she escaped through the bathroom window. Aked gets into Natalia’s phone and traces the location of Jared’s phone from it.
Natalie and Louis, along with Nicky, on the other hand, drive to Derek’s apartment building with plans to ask him for money. However, when they see him leaving, they follow him to a hotel where he is planning to stay after his fight with Sam.
The three of them go to his room in order to ask him for the 60K as hush money, but since everyone knows about Derek’s secret, what’s the point of giving them the money to keep their mouth shut? While they are having this argument, Aked shows up with a gun looking for Natalia.
A struggle between Aked and Louis breaks up, and he shoots Aked by mistake, killing him on the spot. This is where Derek tells Natalia and Louis to run away since this sticky situation may turn sour for them pretty soon. He then calls the police and paramedics and goes with Nicky to the hospital.
After the mishap, a scared Louis calls Xavier to tell him that Aked is dead, but they now plan to steal a painting that Nicky talked about earlier from Jared’s house. They tell him that the painting is worth a lot more than 60K and that they can get it by midnight.
Sam, who is now back at her parent’s house, is surprised to see her mother drunk during the day. Kris tells Sam that she had a few drinks at Cindy’s house before the discussion comes back to Derek. This is where Kris tells Sam that she knew about Derek’s connections with Charisse when she used to re-check the account before Derek took over. Sam gets mad at her mother, but Kris tells her that she kept it away from her because Derek was possibly the only good thing that happened to her in a long-long time. Since he was loyal to her and the company, she kept it away from her.
Melody tries to get something out of Sam as she goes back to her apartment. Something about Series A investments and Sam’s involvement in Essequibo, with the word ‘Guyana,’ comes up, but Sam dodges it again. With nothing to go forward, Melody rechecks the CCTV video from the fateful night. She learns the name of the company that gave Natalia and Louis the driving cart and follows it up.
Episode 5 ends with Manny and his raiding team fitting surveillance devices onto Ron, who would be their bait at Mrs. Mahabir’s party to fix the circle.
Full Circle (Series Finale), Episode 6 “Essequibo” Recap:
Episode 6, the finale episode of Full Circle, opens will all the law and enforcement authorities getting ready for the raid. They set up the parameter and ready Ron to be their eyes and ears at Mrs. Mahabir’s party. Manny, who is heading the operation, briefs Ron about asking a lot of questions and making sure he takes up lots of names when he is referring to the various people in the gathering.
Mrs. Mahabir, who is preparing herself for the gathering, enquires about Aked’s whereabouts from Garmen, who says that he is not aware of where he is. He requests the woman to come clear on her word and help him out with the money she owes him and the people from the Casino, who will have a representative (Ron) at the party. She agrees that Garmen has always been a loyal friend and that he will be treated for his loyalty once the circle, which is now an essential part of the party, is complete.
Ron enters the party but is too obvious of a mole for people to not notice. Manny and the other officers get scared of him blowing his cover before they are ready to take action.
Realizing that things might go south anytime during the party, Garmen calls Xavier and instructs him to take his wife and children to the plane before the scheduled time. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mahabir’s shaman, Mr. Willoughbhy, proceeds to conduct his ritual, asking everyone to gather around in a circle to break the curse.
Since Ron is about to blow it, the authorities move in early into the raid, capturing almost everyone in the party. However, Garmen, who is upstairs on the phone, tries to escape from there. Manny sees him running and chases after him to his own house, which is nearby. He calls for backup as he looks through Garmen’s house but Xavier and Garmen close in on him, killing him. Garmen then uses a secret tunnel in his house to escape capture.
Why does Sam let Louis take the painting?
A little affected by Kris’ words, Sam decides to listen to Derek’s voice messages. One of them lets her know that Derek is in the hospital because of Nicky. Sam decides to leave and go meet him, but before she can go out, Louis, who somehow bypasses the building security with the help of Natalia, enters and threatens her. He gets in a sort of tussle with her and tells her that he just wants the painting. Sam goes into the room inside, unlocks the safe, and takes a gun out, pointing it at Louis.
This is where Louis gets a little vulnerable and tells her the truth about them (him and Natalia) trying to save their son. Sam gets to know that Louis is from Guyana, more specifically from Essequibo. She somehow feels guilty for everything that has happened with Louis and the other kids from Guyana, who are currently caught up in this messed up situation, and lets him take the painting before leaving to meet Derek at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Harmony gets to know about an apartment that Mrs. Mahabir owns and how she hosts people sometimes. She enters the premises and finds out the passports of Mr. Willoughby and Clarence Joseph. This is when she receives a call from an FBI agent who tells her that Manny was killed in action during the raid. However, as she is about to leave, Mrs. Willoughy comes in, and Harmony finally gets a vague explanation of why and what Mrs. Mahabir wants to do with the whole Full Circle ritual.
Full Circle (Series Finale), Episode 6 “Essequibo” Ending Explained:
Who placed a curse on the Mahabir family?
Mr. Willoghuby tells Harmony the tale of what happened back in Guyana. She gets to know that Clarence was the one who put a curse on the Mahabir family, and he was the one who set up the conditions for the kidnapping of Jared in order to life the curse.
Why does Xavier decide to stay?
Meanwhile, Natalia and Louis reach the river where Garmen had asked them to come and where the plane is waiting. Garmen plans to kill the two of them and take the painting because there is only a place for 5 people on the plane. However, before he can do that, Xavier pounces on him with a katana and kills him.
He then instructs Louis and Natalia to get into the plane, lying to Garmen’s wife that he and Garmen will join them after finishing some business here.
Now, Xavier decides to sacrifice himself for Louis and Natalia because they are mostly innocent people who have not done anything. Xavier, on the other hand, decided to take the job and get blood on his hands. He sort of feels responsible for Louis’ condition and wants to unload some of his burden.
What were Clarence’s reasons for cursing the Mahabir family?
Sam reaches the hospital and meets up with Dere, who feels like an entirely different man. Now that all his secrets are out in the open, he has nothing to hide from Sam. He also tries to be more responsible towards Nicky, making sure he and Charrise are out. Derek’s arc feels like it’s coming to a close, especially when we see Sam forgives him later and asks him if he wants to move out of this lavish flat and settle somewhere quiet.
Meanwhile, Harmony visits Sam at the hospital and requests her to make everything right. She informs Sam about Manny’s death and confronts her about the bribes she sanctioned 20 years ago, leading Mrs. Mahabir’s husband, who was a politician back then, to make many natives of Essequibo leave their homes.
Talking more, Harmony tells Sam that Clarence was one of the residents of Essequibo, and when he refused to leave the estate, Mrs. Mahabir’s husband had his grandson kidnapped and killed. This made Clarence curse their family, a curse that could only be lifted if Mrs. Mahabir had Jared kidnapped and killed in the same way.
Does the circle close for all the characters?
It does for some, while it doesn’t for others. It’s pretty obvious that life and its many curses will never have a conclusion. The ending of Full Circle signifies all of that and more.
Mrs. Mahabir, who is under FBI arrest, is asked about routing numbers and names of people who were involved in receiving payments. She has been so busy keeping sure that the circle and her fate are in better light that she completely forgot about Aked. When she enquires about him, she gets to know that he is dead. This leaves a blow on her, possibly forever disabling the cycle of her believing in anything ever.
Harmony requests Sam to disclose and give up the info she is withholding. However, since she has destroyed all of it, she goes to Gene, who has a copy. Gene finally helps her as Sam apologizes for the agonizing pain she has caused him for all these years.
She then meets up with Harmony, who is suspended for a year. The fate of both these characters is crucial because they literally symbolize that nothing comes to a close and that we don’t know everything. Sam enquires about what kind of punishment she is looking for, and for a moment, we see these sort of rivals leave their guards down and have a drink together, basically accepting their fates.
The final sequence of the Full Circle finale finds Natalia and Louis arriving back home in Guyana. They walk towards a deserted and possibly abandoned house complex with an advertisement that says “Colony of Essequibo.”
The show ends there, but we can assume that the reason the two of them escaped this place in the first place is because they never truly had a home there. Their family invested their entire livelihood in the estate, but when corruption and exploitation ran through, they could not do anything but live there in half-built homes.
