Diksha Sundriyal
Hulu’s ‘Welcome to Chippendales’ arrives with its penultimate episode to deliver the crime that had been bubbling since the beginning of the season. Steve finally reaches his breaking point with Nick and takes a drastic step that changes his life completely. While we find Steve crossing a line that would rattle most people, the ending indicates that this isn’t where he is going to stop. Getting away with murder is only going to make him more confident about other things that he can get away with. The final scene underlines this fact. Here’s what it means for Steve going forward. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Welcome to Chippendales Episode 7 Recap
As Nick’s Chippendales tour takes flight, things get worse by the minute for Steve in LA. Steve tries to mirror the tour’s success and sends one of his own out there, but this puts him in direct conflict with Nick’s plan. Steve loses the case against Nick, which infuriates him even more, on top of the fact that Nick had duped him with the simple “in perpetuity” clause in their napkin deal.
It is when Irene figures that they might have to sell their house that things take a more drastic turn for Steve. In his desperation, he tries to make money by ignoring the rules that his establishment had already violated. Another transgression puts his business in jeopardy and LA Chippendales is closed down indefinitely. This becomes Steve’s last straw and he gives the order to Ray Colon to have Nick killed.
Meanwhile, Nick has the time of his life going on tour and drowning in money. When another leg of the tour kicks off, Bradford asks Nick to slow down and come back with him to New York. Nick tells Denise that she can handle everything going forward and that he wants to focus on his future with Bradford. Back in their New York office, Nick and Bradford plan for the Europe tour, but before anything concrete can happen, a man walks into Nick’s office and shoots him.
Welcome to Chippendales Episode 7 Ending: Did Steve Banerjee Keep the Gun That Killed Nick De Noia?
No, Steve Banerjee didn’t keep the gun that killed Nick De Noia. He was never directly involved with the actual events that took place in New York. He just gave the order to Ray, who then passed on the task to Gilberto Lopez. Steve gave Ray the money to hire the man as well as the gun. But he never touched or even saw the gun himself. In fact, when the FBI conducted a sting operation with Ray’s help, Steve asked Ray about the gun and whether the FBI knew that he gave the money for it, which proves that he never had it in his possession. The gun that we find in Steve’s hand in the last scene signifies something else entirely.
Much like everything else that he’d been doing lately, Steve doesn’t put much thought into how the investigation into Nick’s death might proceed. He believed that the case would be under the jurisdiction of New York police, and because Steve lives in LA, they would never connect the murder to him. Later, he discovers that it is the FBI investigating the case. Because Chippendales is spread over different states, it falls under federal jurisdiction. And for FBI agent Scott Gariola, it doesn’t take much to deduce that Steve is behind Nick’s murder. But there is still the matter of evidence.
While the FBI might take their time to figure out how to get Steve behind the bars, there are others who have no doubt in their minds about his guilt. The moment Denise hears about Nick’s death, she comes banging at Steve’s door, accusing him of the murder. Much like her, there are other people who have known about the bitterness between Steve and Nick, and who knew the distance that Steve was capable of going, driven by his hatred. Irene tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but now, even she runs out of faith in him.
The first time Irene tells Steve about Nick’s death, we find the thought crossing her mind. She does wonder if her husband was involved in it. But she shakes off that thought. She sees Steve as capable of doing shady things, but she doesn’t want to believe that he will cross that line. Eventually, however, she has to open her eyes, no matter how painful it might be, and see that Steve is not the same man she fell in love with anymore.
As if his wife leaving him was not enough damage, Steve is taken by surprise when he finds out about the FBI’s involvement in the case. Still, he knows that there is no evidence to prove that he had anything to do with the case, and it makes him all the more confident about himself. As is known, Steve went on to commit a few more crimes, trying to sabotage competing businesses and conspiring to murder two more of his ex-employees. The final scene, with a gun in his hand, proves that he has no intention of slowing down. Things are going to get a lot messier before wrapping up for good.
Read More: Steve Banerjee and Nick De Noia’s Napkin Deal, Explained
