Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Territory’ focuses on the power struggle within the Lawson family following the death of the man who was supposed to have been holding everything together. When Daniel Lawson is found dead, torn apart by the coyotes in a secluded place of the Lawson land, the question of succession arises within the family. It isn’t just the Lawson who are trying to get control of their farm, Marianne Station, but the newly formed conflict within them has also attracted other parties, who are ready to do whatever it takes to get their hands on the property and finish the Lawsons once and for all. SPOILERS AHEAD
Why did Sandra Want the Lawsons’ Farm?
The Lawsons have many haters, but no one hates them quite like Sandra Kirby. While herself a billionaire and in control of all kinds of businesses, Sandra seems to have her heart set on Marianne Station. In the beginning, her interest seems to be limited to the gold mines that fall on the Lawson land. However, it later becomes clear that she harbors a particular hatred for Colin Lawson and is ready to go to any lengths to defeat him once and for all. She knows that the only thing he truly loves is Marianne, so she focuses all of her energy on getting to it. Initially, she makes it seem like her interest in Marianne is to enter the cattle business, and some other excuse she makes up about wanting to go sustainable. In the final episode, however, it turns out that her plan had been to destroy Marianne such that no one else would ever be able to do business on it again.
Following Susie’s tragic death, Lachie sees the true face of his mother’s hatred for the Lawson family. In his anger, he decides to foil her plans and tells Emily what she’s really planning. It turns out that Sandra wants the gold mines not to restart them but for the infrastructure they provide. She is going into the business of enriching uranium, but it means that she needs a place to discard the radioactive waste. The mine, which is on Lawson land and within Marianne Station, is a perfect place to do that for two reasons. The first reason is the infrastructure and the seclusion that the location provides, ticking all the boxes in the requirements to run the business of enriching uranium.
The second is that the presence of radioactive waste, or even a simple mention of it, will scare the prospective buyers who would want to stay away from any livestock on Marianne because they wouldn’t want to buy something that has been poisoned by the radiation. Because all the Lawsons have is Marianne, the loss would hit them pretty hard as no one would buy their cattle ever again, leaving them destitute for life. Sandra knew that her plan would face major backlash if it became public, which is why she breaks it up in parts to make it seem that her actions are random while keeping the true nature of her intent secret. She even agrees to give Marianne to Campbell Miller in return for his help in getting it, but he has no idea that once she gets what she wants, Marianne will be worth nothing. Luckily for the Lawsons, Lachie tells them the truth, which leads to a deadly shootout.
Is Campbell Miller Dead or Alive?
Apart from the mine, what Sandra really needs is to build roads. This is why she makes a deal with Nolan about building a port on Indigeneous land. She makes another deal in the guise of helping boost the economy of the Indigenous community, but it isn’t until much later that it is discovered that the deal allows her to build a road through land considered sacred by the locals. When they ask her to get the road from somewhere else, she refuses to do it. To make it worse, the land would have been declared legally protected, had it not been for Colin Lawson. Now, it’s time for the Lawson family to rectify his mistake. So, they all drive to the site where Sandra’s people are ready to blow up the whole thing.
Sandra had expected this intervention in her work, which is why she sent Campbell Miller to protect her interests, promising him Marianne Station in the future. Even as they try to de-escalate the situation, shots are fired, and while Campbell’s men are shot dead, he pushes the button that leads the whole thing to explode, rendering the whole conflict fruitless. An angry Nolan, who also feels deceived by Sandra, goes up to Campbell, ready to shoot him down. However, Graham calls out to him to contain his anger and not do something that he’ll later regret. Still, Nolan fires the shot, but not to kill Campbell. He shoots Campbell in the shoulder, which means that the man will survive. However, due to his actions, he will have to spend some time in prison, especially after Sandra has washed her hands of any responsibility in the matter.
The destruction of the site angers the Indigenous community, and they decide to take a stand against Sandra’s operations. This means that they will now move to have the land declared sacred, which will prevent Sandra and anyone else in the future from exploiting or destroying the place. This time, Colin Lawson will back them rather than stand in their path, and with his connections, things might work out the way the community wants. But their troubles haven’t ended just yet. The deals made with Sandra still stand, especially the one Nolan made regarding the port. He has already received the short end of the straw, and Sandra’s deception has taught him not to be manipulated by anyone like her in the future.
What’s in the Safe?
While their family and friends are busy fighting Campbell Miller and his men, Marshall and Colin are held hostage at their house by Rich, who wants compensation for all the money he has lost due to the Lawsons. He was told to burn the land by Campbell Miller, but when he failed at it, he decided to get the money he was owed in a different manner. Having snooped around the house during Dan’s funeral, Rich knew about the two safes in Colin’s office. As leverage, he abducts Marshall, and the threat to his grandson’s life leads Colin to give up the key to the bigger safe.
Now, there is enough money in the big safe. If Rich leaves with all of it, he will be set for life. However, his greed and curiosity lead him to ask for the contents of the smaller safe. It turns out that Colin is not as eager to give up its contents. For starters, he doesn’t think Rich’s threats are real. It is only when he shoots Marshall’s hand that Colin decides to give it up. However, he doesn’t open the safe himself. Rather, he tells Marshall to do it. While Marshall opens the safe, Rich holds Colin at gunpoint, which means that when the safe is opened, he doesn’t get a good look at it. Marshall, however, does and is so shocked by the contents that he immediately shuts the safe and tells Rich that he will have to kill them to get to it. This only adds fire to the fuel of Rich’s curiosity, but he never finds out what’s in there.
While the show conveniently leaves the mystery of the safe for the second season, there is enough for us to speculate what might have been in it. Considering Colin’s reluctance to open it, we can imagine that whatever is in it has something to do with Marianne Station. It is the only thing that Colin seems to value above everything else. It is also the only one that holds a lot more value than the cash and jewelry he has in the bigger safe. Now, anything pertaining to Marianne would be in documents, most likely the deeds to the place or any other legal thing that the Lawson family needs to have to lay their claim on the land. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could be their undoing.
At the time, Rich had been working for Campbell Miller, and Marshall knew that if the documents from the small safe fell into Rich’s hand, he would either sell it to Miller or to Sandra or anyone else who would pay a higher price for it. Neither Marshall nor Colin could have that, especially after the death of Susie, who also held a strong desire to revive the family business. Marianne means more than anything else to the family, which is why Marshall immediately shuts the door on it. He doesn’t care whether Rich kills him or not, but he cannot let his family and its legacy go down the drain due to a moment’s weakness.
Interstingly, his reaction could also have been a ruse. Perhaps the smaller safe did contain important documents, or perhaps it had nothing at all. In any case, Marshall saw it as an opportunity to distract Rich so that Colin could make a move and get the gun out of his hand. This is exactly what happens. Marshall’s refusal to show him the contents of the safe sparks his curiosity even further, and he gets so distracted that Colin attacks him and gets the gun out of his hand. Then, Marshall jumps on him and beats him to a pulp.
What Happens to Marshall? Where Does He Go?
The reason Marshall had walked away from his family was because he didn’t want to end up like them. His grandfather was an abusive tyrant, his father was an alcoholic, and his mother was dead. While he did have affection for Emily and Susie, Marshall didn’t want to be around the toxicity of his family and their obsession with having control over Marianne Station. They tried to rope him into it, but he decided to break free. Still, the events conspire such that he ends up at Marianne Station and gets so entangled in everything that he becomes the very thing he’d been trying to escape.
In the end, when he starts beating Rich, he loses control of his actions and would have killed the man he once considered his best friend if Sharnie hadn’t shown up and stopped him. Even then, Colin shoots Rich, and he is ready to shoot Sharnie as well. But by that time, Marshall has cooled down enough to make his grandfather cool down as well. With Rich gone, Marshall tries to convince Sharnie to stay with him, but she has seen enough violence by now to know that she doesn’t want to be anywhere near the Lawsons. Worse, she has seen Marshall turn into a violent man just like his grandfather, and she can’t stay around to completely turn into Colin.
Sharnie’s parting words hit Marshall very hard, and he is forced to look back on his actions, particularly the times he got violent and how much it cost their family. He still blames himself for Susie’s death, considering that had he not lost his cool and gotten in a fight with Lachie, Susie would still be alive. This is exactly what Marshall had been running from, this cycle of violence that seems to trickle generation through generation. He sees the same with his grandfather and his father, and he worries that Sharnie might be right in believing that if he stays around long enough, he will turn into them, too. This is why, when the dust settles, he decides to pack his bags and leave.
Who Gets Marianne Station?
All the conflict in ‘Territory’ begins with the fight over the control of Marianne Station. Colin had put it in the hands of Daniel, who seemed more equipped to handle the challenges, but it turned out that he was barely holding things together. Moreover, he was ready to sell the place to Sandy and be done with it, having no care of what his family wanted. This is what leads Emily to leave him wounded and stranded in the wilderness, which ends with him being eaten up by dingos. Once Daniel is out of the picture, the fight for control begins again, but no one seems as well-built for it as Emily. Despite not being a Lawson by blood, Emily has everything a person needs to have to run a place like Marianne Station. Not only does she have the aptitude, but she also has a drive, and she genuinely cares about the place. She cares about it so much that she is ready to back Marshall as Daniel’s successor if it means that her daughter will have a place there as well and be a part of the family’s legacy.
Everyone, including Marshall and Graham, accepts it, but Colin refuses to give the keys to the house to someone who is not only not a Lawson by blood but is a Hodge, a family of criminals who have made their fortune through legal theft. In the end, however, it becomes clear to Colin that there is no other recourse. There is no else apart from Emily who can handle the pressure and the challenges that come with taking care of a place like Marianne. Moreover, with all that she has done for the family and lost for the family, there is no question about her dedication, making her a real Lawson, even more real than his own sons. So, in the end, he hands over the keys to her, saying that she and Graham can take over and handle things as they wish. It’s quite a win for Emily, but it might be short-lived.
What Does Elton Give to Colin?
The chain of events in ‘Territory’ begins with Dan’s death, and it turns out that Emily is behind it. When she shot his horse and left him to fend for himself in the wild, she had done it out of anger. She never thought that he would die, worse, be eaten by a pack of dingos. However, when it happened, no one was around to see it, and she could get away with it. Or so she thought. When her fight with Dan took place, Elton, known for prowling about the territory, was around. He saw the whole thing, which means he knew the role Emily played in Dan’s death.
Later, when he trades Dan’s horse’s saddle with Dezi and the elders, Emily seeks him out to figure out exactly how much he knows. She is shocked to discover that he knows the truth. However, he decides to keep her secret if she does what he wants. Having called the place home his entire life, he doesn’t want any foreign forces to show up and disrupt it. He doesn’t want people like Sandra Kirby or Campbell Miller to take over the Lawson land, as it would mean that Elton loses his monopoly over the place. With him, it isn’t just about having his claim on the land. He is deeply respectful of the place and its history, especially when it comes to the sacred land. He knows that people like Campbell and Sandra will destroy it. If Emily prevents that from happening, he will prevent her life from being derailed as well.
The deal seems good enough as Emily, too, wants to protect the Lawson land at all costs. In the end, however, she fails at the task. The sacred site is destroyed when Sandra sends her people to line it up with explosives, and Campbell flips the switch. Because Emily didn’t come through on her end of the deal, it makes sense that Elton will have to make her pay for it as well. So, in the end, when she thinks that the storm has blown over and she has won, Elton shows up with Dan’s horse. He gives Colin the two bullets that Emily had fired that day and speaks something to him that makes Colin look back at Emily. If Elton tells Colin the truth, it will turn him against Emily, which means that he will start creating problems for her, trying to bring her down and taking Marianne away from her. This means that the conflict within the Lawson family for the control of Marianne Station will continue in the second season.
Read More: Territory: Is the Netflix Show Based on a True Story?
