Aahana Swrup
‘Code 8 Part II’ expands upon the dystopian society introduced by its 2019 forerunner sci-fi flick, chronicling the opposing but inherently similar lives of Connor and Garrett. Following the events in the first film, Connor seeks to distance himself from Garrett and his troublemaking ways. However, trouble naturally knocks on his door when a Pavani, a young superpowered girl whose brother fell victim to corrupt policing, somehow ends up crossing paths with Connor. As a result, the duo finds themselves seeking out dubious help from Garrett, who has built a powerful drug ring populated with other oppressed, superpowered individuals like themselves.
This film brings a new enemy for Garrett and Connor— Sergeant Kingston, a corrupt cop whose two-faced approach to law enforcement proves to be a bigger threat than ever before. Furthermore, Pavani— a young but strong— superhuman addition to Connor’s side, puts him in a precarious situation. Thus, viewers must be curious to see how things go down for the superhumans. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Code 8 Part 2 Plot Synopsis
After the fallout from Connor’s last misadventure with Garrett, which resulted in a prison sentence for the former, Connor cuts all ties with the other man, even turning down his offer to help him get back on his feet after his prison release. Thus, Connor attempts to live as a model citizen— only his status as a powerful superhuman with electric powers minimizes his employment opportunities. As a result, he begins working as a janitor at his family friend Mina’s abandoned high school.
Meanwhile, Garrett continues helming his brand new drug cartel, finding better ways to source and sell Psyke, a drug made from the spinal fluid of superhumans. Furthermore, he has set up a deal with Police Sergeant Kingston, favored for the union run, who is secretly a dirty cop. Sharing a percentage of his profits with Kingston, Garrett maintains control over his territory of the neighborhood.
As a part of his union-rep campaign, Kingston introduces the newest police surveillance initiative— robotic dogs called Canines. Although Canines are still created for superhuman inspection, like the androids and drones that are a staple throughout Lincoln City, Kingston insists they’re much safer. The Canines are programmed to doggedly hunt down their target but stand down as soon as the superhuman individual puts their hands up.
Nevertheless, Tarak— part of Garrett’s crew, learns the same is only an empty claim the following night. After Kingston catches Tarak in an incriminating act and sets his Canine on the man, the robotic dog ends up administrating a lethal dose of Psyke on Tarak to kill him despite his surrendered hands. Still, things worsen when Tarak’s younger sister, Pavani, witnesses the entire thing. Although the Canine attacks her under Kingston’s remote orders, the girl’s unique transduction powers fry the robot, allowing her a moment to flee.
In a stroke of luck, Pavani ends up choosing the shed outside Mina’s school as her hiding spot, leading her straight to Connor. Therefore, once the cops come looking for her, Connor and Mina help her escape. Nevertheless, it puts Connor on Kingston’s radar. While Connor attempts to keep them safe with his powers, he realizes he needs reinforcements to bring Pavani to safety.
Consequently, Connor reluctantly reaches out to Garrett, cashing in on the favor the latter owes him. Even though Connor wants to get Pavani out of Lincoln City, Garrett talks him into a different plan. After revealing his business deal with Kingston, Garrett assures the duo that erasing Pavani’s memories will get the cop off their scent. As such, he takes Connor and Pavani to another superhuman who can take away Pavani’s memories.
However, once Connor realizes the procedure will erase all of Pavani’s memories of her brother, he uses his powers against Garrett’s crew to escape from their clutches. Afterward, Connor decides to try and smuggle the girl out of town on his own. Yet, Kingston’s sharp policing, paired with Garrett’s chase, prevents them from going far. Ultimately, Garrett’s reluctance to kill Connor makes them both a target for Kingston’s robotic army.
Still, Connor, Garrett, and Pavani manage to escape with their lives. Pavani realizes the only solution to her predicament is to bring Kingston down. However, his impeccable public image and high-up connections make him an untouchable target. As a result, the trio concludes that they must reveal footage of Tarak’s death, as recorded on Kingston’s Canine, to the public to prove the cop’s corruption.
Code 8 Part 2 Ending: Does Pavani Retrieve The Footage of Tarak’s Death?
Although Kingston has been a corrupt cop for a long time now, as proven by his partnership with Garrett and his drug ring, he has managed to evade evidence proving the same. However, the night of Tarak’s death changed the same for him. Tarak was desperate for money, which compelled him to attempt to steal the cash Garrett’s team dropped off for Kingston as per their agreement.
Nonetheless, Tarak ends up getting caught by Kingston, leading the latter to set his Canine loose on the man. Tarak could potentially testify about Kingston’s involvement with Garrett. Thus, Kingston uses his Canine to kill the man. For the same reason, the cop is hellbent on hunting down Pavani since she witnessed Kingston’s Canine murdering her brother. However, Pavani realizes that his Canine also holds footage of the night.
Yet, Connor, Pavani, and Garrett’s decision to overthrow Kingston comes with many complications. Still, they come up with a risky but probable plan to infiltrate Kingston’s house, where he keeps his Canine, to allow Pavani the opportunity to use her powers and retrieve the footage from the robot. With her abilities as a transducer, Pavani can uniquely interact with technology and bend it according to her will. Therefore, if given enough time with the Canine’s memory, Pavani can theoretically extract the footage of Tarak’s death from the robo-dog and transfer it to another device.
Although Connor and Garrett’s plan to infiltrate Kingston’s house fails— and surprisingly reveals the cop’s secret status as another electric superhuman— it isn’t a total failure since Pavani manages to steal the Canine. From there, Garrett takes the duo to his lair with the promise to provide Pavani with the equipment to transfer the video. Nonetheless, at the last moment, Garrett shows his cards, revealing he intends to keep the footage hidden from the media to be used as leverage against Kingston.
By doing so, Garrett plans to allow Kingston his corrupt position so that he can exploit it for his own benefit. Nevertheless, upon confronting Kingston to blackmail him into a new deal, Garrett finds him overpowered as the cop simply stabs him and storms the building to destroy his Canine as well as Pavani.
What Happens to Pavani?
After Kingston and his police squad storm the building, Garrett’s superhuman crew attempts to fight against them but quickly realizes they’re outnumbered. As such, one of the crew members helps Connor and Pavani escape through a hatch. Still, a cop and his functioning Canine manage to catch up to them, compelling Connor to unleash his full strength, shorting out the building’s power. Nonetheless, the Canine robots are designed to withstand attacks from Electrics.
Therefore, the incident leaves an exhausted Connor on uneven footing since he no longer has any energy to fight off the mechanical beast. Thus, Pavani finds herself in a familiar situation, with Connor’s imminent death via Psyke injection mirroring Tarak’s demise. Nevertheless, the past few days have intrinsically changed Pavani, pushing her to see her abilities as a resource and a shield.
Consequently, Pavani uses her powers to take control over the Canine, overriding its programming and using it as a weapon of her own. Although she successfully kills the cop on her tail with the Canine, the girl also gets caught in the crossfire, taking a bullet to the torso. Inversely, the half-administered Psyke infuses some energy in Connor, allowing him to carry Pavani out of the building, where a crowd of police, press, and civilians awaits them.
More importantly, Kingston’s Canine, housing incriminating footage against the cop, also lies steps away from the duo. In the end, Garrett uses his abilities to keep Kingston away from Pavani as the injured girl transfers the Canine’s memory to a reporter’s live-streaming camera, exposing the Sergeant’s crime to the city.
The excessive utilization of her powers, paired with her bullet wound, put Pavani’s health in a danger zone, leading to a crash that knocks out the young girl. Nevertheless, Pavani manages to survive the incident. Months later, she continues living with Connor, with the pair revitalizing Mina’s old school to provide a safe space for their community.
Is Garrett Arrested? What Happens to His Drug Ring?
Kingston’s exposure as a corrupt cop has largely positive consequences on the Lincoln City residents. Even though he was a superhuman, Kingston betrayed his own people by hiding his true identity and climbing the law enforcement ladder. Worse yet, instead of using his position to do good within the community, Kingston operated for his own benefit, regardless of the community’s welfare.
Therefore, Kingston was open to striking a partnership with Garrett even though the same gave him free rein to operate his drug ring within his territory. For the same reason, Garrett favored utilizing the footage of Tarak’s death to blackmail Kingston instead of exposing him. However, in the end, he has no choice but to help Connor, effectively signing his own metaphorical arrest warrant.
As such, the film’s end finds Garrett in prison since his drug operations came out in the open alongside Kingston’s corruption. Even so, Garrett isn’t one to get caught off guard. Prior to his imprisonment, the man put procedures in place to continue his drug ring outside the prison walls with the power still in his hands. Thus, the supply of Psyke continues to flourish in Lincoln City, as does Garrett’s business, marking him a covert crime boss in the city.
Read More: What Happened to Park? Why is Sung Kang Not in Code 8 Part 2?
