AMC+’s Parish is a sort of return-to-home turf for star Giancarlo Esposito (you may remember him as Gus Fring from the popular AMC series Breaking Bad). For one, Giancarlo is back to the Network after being busy with numerous other projects, and second, he plays a sort of extension of his own personality from BB. While Parish Episode 1 is far from perfect – in fact, it plods through so many uninteresting characters and devised moments that you fail to find it intriguing; it’s always great to see Giancarlo being extra neat doing what he does best.
In the new series, he plays a suave getaway driver who has retired from his old life to be with his family, but desperate times make him slip back into it. Based on the BBC One series ‘The Driver,’ the show uses fairly conventional storytelling beats with caricaturish side characters. If there’s any interest for a viewer to anticipate what’s going to be next, it would just be out of our love for Gus Fring. Anyway, in the following article, we will take a detailed look at what happens in Episode 1 of Parish, with speculations on what will happen next. Please be aware of spoilers.
Parish Episode 1 Recap:
Gracian “Gray” Parish is the co-owner of a car service that isn’t doing very well at the moment. He is in huge debt and will probably lose the house where he lives with his wife, Ros (Paula Malcolmson), and daughter, Makayla (Arica Himmel).
It is evident that Gray is quietly lost in life. One of the reasons for his sadness is the death of his young son. It’s not made clear what happened to his son yet, but we can sense that there is some form of injustice in a ‘supposed’ violent murder.
Gray is a character who you can recognize as a perfectionist with a secretive life that is now dormant. However, old habits die hard, and when Gray is rejected from a loan application, and his friend Colin (Skeet Ulrich) from his older life begs him to help in one of his jobs gone wrong, he decides to dive back in. Colin tells him that the job would entail a simple drive and pickup, which also makes him aware of the Zimbabwean gang that he is involved with.
Who is ‘The Horse’?
Colin takes Gray to meet The Horse (Zackary Momo) – the chief of operations. However, he first meets Zenzo (Ivan Mbakop) – a deranged sidekick who is not happy with Gray getting involved with their business. Gray is quite professional, though, and instructs him to let him see The Horse.
When we meet The Horse, he is cleaning up weeds in his backyard. The writers try their best to make him feel intimidating by saying “plant-based metaphors,” but he just comes off as a stick figure. Anyway, Gray inquires if they are okay with bringing a stranger into their plan, and The Horse, who is aware of Gray’s family, including his dead son, ensures that they will have a clean slate if the job is done right.
On his way out, Gray also briefly meets the gang’s getaway rider, Shamiso Tongai (Bonnie Mbuli). The job is simple: Gray must stay alert on the streets near a skyrise as Colin and one of the firm’s partners go in and get a bag from the safe on the 45th floor.
Before the day of the job, we also see Gray trying to bond with his daughter after becoming distant from her after his son’s death. He takes her for driving lessons, and since he is a little less self-consumed due to the job coming up, he and Makayla have a good time until Zenzo calls him up and instructs him about being very careful with the key. We also realize that The Horse’s father is not happy with what the gang is able to earn.
What happens on the day of the job?
On the day of the job, Gray gets into the car assigned, which is really old and barely working junk. He then picks up the man with the key to the safe as Colin joins him on the way up to the 45th floor. The guy messes up opening the safe, and his code doesn’t work, so he calls one of the other partners for the new code.
This and the interference of a homeless man delay the pickup, and the police show up on the scene. Gray is, of course, quick on his feet to get rid of the junk car by spilling coffee onto the spark plugs (essentially blasting it on the open road) and quickly moving to the red Porsche we saw in the opening sequence. With his skills, Gray is able to somehow put the police away from his tail, taking Colin and the guy to their place of meeting.
The three of them are worried about what the bag contains and why the police showed up unannounced, in spite of being very particular about everything. Colin is frantic and wants Gray to open the bag and look inside; however, Gray, who is peculiar about the way he operates, dismisses him.
Parish Episode 1 Ending Explained:
What’s in the bag?
The Horse, Zenzo, and Shamiso show up and question Gray about the changes to the plan and the consequences it would have. Gray ensures that he managed to secure everything up tightly, with nothing tracing back to them.
This is where they open up the bag, and instead of cash or drugs, the bag only contains a few passports. While it’s not made clear what the passports are supposed to be, we can assume that The Horse and his people exploit undocumented immigrants for money, and Gray has just participated in something that would be against his personal justice system.
Anyway, they take up the passports and brutally murder the guy with the key in front of Gray and Collins. This shocks Gray, who hadn’t expected such a response from them. So, he refuses to take the money and tells them that he will walk away from this like he intended. However, The Horse gives him the money for the job and welcomes him like he now part of the family.
The ending of Parish Episode 1 finds Zenzo walking away from the scene, leaving Colin and Gray unharmed despite his wish to kill them, too.
What to expect from Parish Episode 2?
Will Gray be able to return back to his normal family life? Well, Not yet! In spite of claiming that he has left no loopholes, we know that the homeless guy in front of the building has seen Gray’s face, which makes him susceptible to law enforcement’s encroachment if the clues line up.
Additionally, the brief call for the codes might have triggered the police, and we can assume that an investigative team would be set up. Gray’s future doesn’t look good, especially after he just wanted to do one last job.
