Diksha Sundriyal
Max’s crime drama, ‘Full Circle,’ is set around a botched kidnapping, the investigation into which leads to unraveling the lives of the people involved. The show features a star-studded cast, which includes names like Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, Zazie Beetz, CC Pounder, and Dennis Quaid, with the episodes directed by Steven Soderbergh. The first two episodes set the grounds for conflict by giving us an insight into the lives of the many characters who play a part in the story.
Several pieces move around the chessboard, and it’s important to keep track of all of their movements because their arcs are intricately linked to each other and require all of your attention. Here’s a look at the events in the first two episodes and what that ending means for the characters. SPOILERS AHEAD
Full Circle Episode 1 and 2 Recap
Sam and Derek live a posh life, away from the dangerous things going on in the criminal circles of New York. They maintain the brand built off of Sam’s father, Jeff’s image, who is a chef. Their son, Jared, has a weird habit of losing things with no idea of how or where he lost them. By the time we are introduced to the family, Jared has already lost his favorite hoodie and Mac, and this time, he loses his shoes in which he kept his phone. It later turns out that Jared wasn’t losing these things, but they were being stolen by a boy named Nicky.
In a different part of the city, a member of a Guyanese gang is killed. He was the brother of the leader of the gang, Savi Mahabir, who is convinced that this tragedy is brought upon them by a curse placed on their family long ago. The elders of the community reveal that the only way to break the curse is to balance the scales. Years ago, they wronged a man. By doing him a favor, they can bring the story full circle, break the curse and go back to living their normal lives.
The favor for this man involves the kidnapping of Jared. It’s not revealed why the man wants them to target that family, but he reveals that it has something to do with his grandson’s death. He wants them to feel the same pain he did when he lost his grandson. This indicates that it might have to do something with Jared’s grandfather, Jeff. Mahabir orders her nephew, Aked, to go forward with the kidnapping, but doesn’t tell him the entire plan.
Meanwhile, Aked’s girlfriend, Natalia, introduces him to her brother, Louis, and his friend, Xavier, who received help getting out of Guyana and coming to New York. However, they have to pay back the debt by doing some stuff for the gang. This is when Louis and Xavier realize they have gotten themselves in trouble. Xavier is approached by Inspector Melody Harmony, who is looking into the gang even though she has been told to stay away from the case. Believing that she might be his way out of the gang, Xavier tells her that something is about to go down (referring to the kidnapping).
Full Circle Episode 2 Ending: What Happens to Nicky? Does He Die?
In the first two episodes, the story of ‘Full Circle’ reveals four legs on which its story stands— Jared’s family, Nicky, the Guyanese gang, and Inspector Harmony. In the gang’s case, the story becomes further entangled as Louis and Natalia decide to do something about the kidnapping. Working as a masseuse and being in close proximity to the gang has revealed a very dangerous picture to Natalia, and she doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore. When she overhears Savi Mahabir’s plans to kill Jared, she decides to do something about it.
Louis is brought in on the plan by Aked, believing it is just a kidnapping and the boy would be returned once they receive the ransom. However, discovering that the boy will be killed makes Louis anxious. He’d already been contemplating how to leave the gang and not become a part of any crimes they commit. Together, they decide to save the boy. Natalia steals a mannequin from her workplace and asks Louis to meet her somewhere no one will notice them exchanging the real boy for the mannequin. Things go as planned, and it turns out they’d been right to do so because soon after, Garmen’s man puts a bullet into the mannequin, which is stuffed inside a black bag.
The funny thing is that none of them knows that the boy they kidnapped or rescued was the wrong one. When Aked and the others followed Jared leaving his house on a bicycle wearing a red hoodie, they lost him for a while. In that window, Jared met Nicky, with whom he’d developed a friendship online. Nicky was wearing a similar red hoodie, which he’d stolen from Jared. He got the bicycle to take it for a few rounds around the street, which is when the gang catches up with him. Without confirming his identity, they jump on him and get him into their van, leaving the behind the bicycle.
Jared witnesses Nicky’s kidnapping and realizes that he was the target. By the time he comes back home, his parents have already received a ransom call. Seeing that their son is fine, they struggle with paying for a boy they know nothing about. Ultimately, they agree to pay the ransom, and Derek leaves the house with the bag full of money, not knowing the kidnappers had always planned to kill the boy. On the way, his phone dies down, and he loses communication with Aked, who is shocked to discover that the plan involves killing the boy. With the money gone and no sign of the boy, Derek and Sam go to the cops to report the kidnapping.
Because they know nothing about Nicky besides his name, there is nothing much the cops can do unless someone reports him missing. Luckily, Nicky is safe and taken away by Natalia. He sustained injuries when Aked tortured him to show Jared’s parents he would not hesitate to hurt their kid. He will require medical help, which will be tricky for Natalia, who cannot simply take him to the hospital because it might lead the gang to discover that the boy was switched and not killed. Of course, she doesn’t know that they think Nicky was Jared. However, this information is bound to come out in the following episodes, which might lead Savi Mahabir to take an even more drastic step to break the curse.
Read More: Is Full Circle Based on a True Story?
