Entertainment

In recent years, Netflix subscribers have been treated to a wealth of excellent foreign language outings and crime dramas, with some even spawning whole cinematic universes. One such project, a Dutch series titled Undercover, loosely adapts the true story of notorious drug kingpin Janus van Wessenbeeck. Though Undercover has wowed audiences far and wide, the series has been largely overshadowed by other spinoff efforts that further explore the life and childhood of the central character, Ferry Bouman. In a slightly confusing turn of events, Netflix has produced both a film and a series titled Ferry, which have each garnered massive audience acclaim. The long-awaited sequel Ferry 2 has finally been released, though many fans are understandably having a little trouble keeping up with the narrative chronology.

Luckily, we’ve got you covered, with a comprehensive guide to the plot, narrative and themes of Ferry the feature film and Ferry the series. This quick recap should give you everything you need to head into the recently released film with clear eyes and a fresh mind. As always please be advised that the following write-up will contain full spoilers for both the 2021 movie and the entirety of the 2023 limited series. Those who haven’t seen one or the other in full should be sure to bookmark this page and return at a later date, as the franchise is truly bolstered by its shocking twists and turns. For everyone else, let’s don our leather jackets, double-check the pockets for loose product, and dive right into the events of the Ferry universe.

What Happens in the 2021 Feature Film?

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Ferry (2021) serves as a prequel to the events of Undercover, highlighting the life of Bouman before his rise to the top of the criminal underworld. Inspired by true events, the film sees Bouman meeting and growing close with his mentor, Ralph Brink. Though Brink is a ruthless criminal, he seems to have a soft spot for a young Ferry, which is only exacerbated by the boy’s contentious relationship with his father. Shortly after joining Brink’s crew, Bouman begins accepting contracts to kill Brink’s enemies, which comes with a hefty sum of cash. Before long, Bouman has gone from a penniless child with no adult supervision to a big baller with a shocking excess of wealth. The bulk of the 2021 film centers on one specific job, which sees Ferry tracking down a group of thugs who robbed one of Brink’s stash houses and shot his son.

As Ferry roots out the would-be thugs, he also works to uncover the mole in Brink’s operation, further insulating himself into the criminal underworld as a high-ranking associate. In a shocking turn of events, Ferry comes to learn that it was Brink’s own son Mattijs who set up the robbery and that the son was only shot by accident. By the end of the film, Ferry has easily dispatched two of the three half-stepping high-jackers but has difficulty killing the third. As it would turn out, the getaway driver, Lars van Marken, is the brother of Ferry’s girlfriend Danielle. This complicates things for the young killer, as Brink increasingly puts pressure on him to take out the third man, despite his personal connection. For a time, it seems like the job is driving a wedge between Ferry and Danielle that cannot be undone.

How Does ‘Ferry’ End?

In the end, Ferry chooses Danielle over Ralph Brink. He refuses to kill Van Marken, in direct opposition to Brink’s orders. As the two grow more frustrated with one another, tensions boil over, and Ferry winds up killing his boss and fleeing from the Amsterdam area. Surprisingly, Danielle is willing to uproot her life and follow him across the country, exemplifying the attachment that the couple feels for each other. In a post-credits scene, we see that Ferry has also teamed up with Lars, employing him and several of his buddies to manufacture MDMA for his drug trafficking operation.

The film ultimately proves that Ferry Bouman’s greatest strength as a crime lord was his ability to read people and forge connections from unlikely origins. When he met Lars, Ferry could never have imagined that one day they’d be going into business together. Obviously, even honor among thieves falls by the wayside when matters of the heart are concerned.

Bouman’s Journey Continues in ‘Ferry: The Series’

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Ferry: The Series picks up a few years after the events of the 2021 film and sees the gangster forging his own path in Brabant, a remote province nearly 100 miles South of Amsterdam. After doing away with Ralph Brink, Ferry has opened up a massive power vacuum in Europe’s criminal organization, which he intends to fill himself. As shown by the film’s post-credits scene, Ferry hires Lars van Marken and a few other men named Dennis and Remco and puts them to work crafting synthetic drugs. Ferry hits the streets with the product himself, selling ecstasy and Molly in small doses to local addicts. Though the money begins rolling in, the newly minted boss seeks to level up his operation rapidly, by teaming with local distributors to tap into the international narcotics market.

Ferry’s next big break comes when his main competitor, Artie Tack, is arrested on drug trafficking charges, causing his entire network of distributors to screech to a halt. In a bid to corner the market, Ferry reaches out to Tack’s main distribution network, a biker gang known as Pusaka, and makes it clear that he’ll be running the show from now on. The higher-ups of the gang agree to Ferry’s partnership offer, but make a ludicrous demand of one million pills per month to prove that Ferry’s crew can keep up. Blinded with ambition, Ferry agrees and begins instructing Lars and his friends to ramp up production rapidly.

The Landscape of the Criminal Underworld Keeps on Changing

Much to the surprise of Ferry and the Pusaka crew, Artie Tack is released shortly after his arrest and sent home with an ankle monitor. Rather than seeing Ferry as a threat to his stronghold in the drug business, Artie offers to go 50/50 with him. As Lars points out, this would make it significantly easier to meet their one million pill order, especially since Ferry’s crew lacks the raw materials necessary to synthesize a million ecstasy tablets to begin with. Ferry, being the overconfident industrialist that he is, not only declines Artie’s offer but actually stages a robbery of Artie’s manufacturing plant, stealing more than enough materials to make the first delivery. This plot point serves as an interesting foil to Lars and Ferry’s first meeting, where Lars is the one on the hook for robbing a local kingpin.

Ferry and Artie aren’t the only duo fighting for control of the drug operation, as several shifting loyalties shake up the leadership of the Pusaka gang. The gang’s leader, Mick, was initially very open to dealing with Ferry, even though his second in command, Ricardo, held reservations. As Ricardo continues investigating his boss’ strange behavior, he eventually uncovers the truth – that Mick was the one who set Artie Tack up with the feds. He also discovers that Artie was only able to escape a harsh prison sentence because he had been cooperating with the police and offering to give up the names of his accomplices. This also explains why Artie was so willing to partner with Ferry after he was released from police custody. After presenting his findings to the rest of the gang, Ricardo kills Artie Tack, kills Mick, and takes over as the gang’s new leader.

Ferry’s Personal Problems Complicate the Business

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As all this is going on, Ferry faces numerous difficulties and stressors in his personal relationships. For starters, Ferry’s wife Danielle becomes pregnant at the very beginning of Ferry: The Series, only to suffer a miscarriage part of the way through the show, sending her into a deep depression. To make matters worse, Danielle begins taking issue with Ferry’s criminal lifestyle when she learns that a local woman was gravely injured by a pool of chemical waste produced by his ecstasy plant. After an enlightening conversation with Lars, Danielle comes to realize that Ferry’s criminal past goes much deeper than simple drug dealing, which leaves her shocked and emotionally scarred. Planning to divorce Ferry and escape from his world of danger, Danielle packs her bags and heads to her best friend Sabien’s house, though she finds little refuge there.

As luck would have it, Ferry had just gone into business with Sabien’s husband Marco, meaning the criminal activity is still very much a factor in Danielle’s new living quarters. Marco runs a beauty salon and agrees to purchase large quantities of raw chemicals through his business, which Ferry and Lars can repurpose for their massive ecstasy shipment. This also allows Ferry to launder some money through the shop, increasing profits for everyone involved. Somewhere along the way, the feds begin catching wind of Marco’s unusually large chemical orders and begin snooping around, pressuring him to talk. At first, Marco remains quiet, though he is eventually compelled to snitch on Ferry by a very emotional Danielle. Marco goes so far as to wear a wire when discussing incriminating information about the business and suits up one day to go speak with the police.

How Do Things End in ‘Ferry: The Series’?

Just before Marco can bring the entire drug empire of Brabant crumbling down, he is stopped by Ferry, who is already two steps ahead. As we come to learn, Danielle had a change of heart just before Marco left for the police station, and returned to Ferry to let him know that his associate was plotting against him. Even though it was Danielle’s idea to turn Ferry into the police in the first place, she ultimately realized that she still loved him when he gave Marco a bundle of money to hand off to her. Before sending Marco to the police station, Sabien recommended that Marco keep the money, and turn it in as part of a comprehensive package of evidence collected against the crime lord.

Danielle saw this as a betrayal of her friendship since the cash was meant for her, causing her to turn on her friend and get back with her husband, who is a good provider if nothing else. In the end, Ferry manages to dodge numerous legal and life-threatening issues throughout the show, rises through the ranks to become Brabant’s sole drug trafficker, and even gets his beloved wife back. As the series concludes, Ferry’s relationship with Ricardo and the Pusaka crew is as strong as ever, and he is already looking to expand his empire into larger territory. Those who have already watched Undercover already know where things go from here, as Ferry faces additional difficulty in his role as a drug kingpin. With Ferry 2 now streaming on Netflix, you should be mentally prepared to tackle the supposed final installation in the sprawling franchise.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’re likely already familiar with Squid Game. The South Korean survival thriller became an instant runaway hit upon its premiere, bringing millions of new subscribers to Netflix from all across the globe. Ironically, Squid Game has grown to become one of the most financially lucrative critiques of modern capitalism to ever be released, having wrought millions for the streamer and launching many of its core performers to superstardom. Whether you’re fresh off a binge-watch of season one or haven’t revisited since the initial nine episodes landed back in September 2021, you may find yourself needing a quick refresher course.

Luckily, we’ve got you covered, with a comprehensive guide to the themes, narrative, and characters of Squid Game season one. With any luck, this quick refresher should leave you bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready to tackle season two now that it’s available. As always, please be advised that the following write-up will contain heavy spoilers for the entirety of Squid Game season one, so be sure to bookmark this page and return later if you’re not up to date. Otherwise, let’s don our pink jumpsuits, trek to the mysterious island where the games are played and unpack season one’s most important moments.

What Happens in ‘Squid Game’ Season 1?

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When the narrative of Squid Game first kicks off, viewers are introduced to Seong Gi-Hun, a down-on-his-luck gambler with a massive line of debt accrued to a gang of local loan sharks. Like many of South Korea’s residents, Seong struggles with his finances amid a rising cost of living, though his gambling habit has only served to worsen his financial future, even estranging him from his daughter and wife. When we first see him, Seong is stealing money from his own mother’s rainy day fund to pay off a minimum balance to his violent bookies. One day, after he is beaten senseless by his loan sharks, Seong crosses paths with a well-dressed man in the subway who invites him to participate in a mysterious high-stakes gambling pursuit.

After Seong agrees, he is quickly transported to an island along the Pacific coast where he meets a crowd of over 400 other players, guarded by a team of jumpsuit-clad soldiers with strange masks and machine guns. The game offers billions of Korean won to a sole winner, accounting for roughly $38 million in USD. Before the games can begin, Seong realizes that he knows some of the other players and takes a moment to interface with them. Cho Sang-Woo is a childhood friend of Seong’s, who claimed to be a successful investment banker. Much to Seong’s surprise, Cho is actually broke and has entered the game in hopes that he can keep up his guise of success to his friends and family. Seong also recognizes a man who robbed him earlier in the series, leaving him unable to pay for his daughter’s birthday gift.

Red Light… Green Light

The contestants of the Squid Games are guided to an open field and instructed to play the children’s game Red Light, Green Light at the behest of a robotic game master. As they begin the game, however, those who fail are executed via machine gun. This terrifies many of the contestants, causing them to panic and move out of turn. The few who survive this game, including Seong Gi-Hun, are outraged at the threat of violence and demand an end to the gamble at once. Together, the contestants activate a democratic clause in the Squid Game’s manual, which allows them to quit the game and relinquish their shot at taking home the money. The mysterious game masters send the survivors home to continue wallowing in debt, though each of the players eventually finds themselves returning to the game a year later as their finances have only become more dire.

The players’ collective decision to return to the game signals just how hopeless they have become in the fast-paced economic landscape of Seoul, as they now know that signing on to the Squid Game means risking life and limb. Still, the players proceed, and begin forming bonds and alliances to strengthen their shot at the money. Seong creates something of a rag-tag partnership with a group of lovable misfits including an elderly man by the name of Oh Il-nam, a meek Pakistani migrant and a woman who defected from North Korea. Meanwhile, a police officer named Detective Hwang Jun-ho surreptitiously makes his way onto the island by posing as one of the guards in hopes of finding answers about the disappearance of his brother. While investigating the annals of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure of the games, Jun-Ho begins to uncover a black market organ harvesting operation.

The Games Continue

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As Squid Game continues, the players continue participating in a series of childlike games with lethal repercussions. First, they are made to perfectly cut complex shapes out of honeycomb candies without breaking them, then engage in a game of 10 vs. 10 tug of war and eventually compete against each other in a series of basic marble games. Between rounds, a violent gang member named Jang Deok-su rallies many of the strongest male competitors into an alliance. This group of thugs are not only ruthless during the games but take to rioting and attacking other players in the night, forcing the majority to craft prison-style tools and find creative hiding places to survive. Throughout the affair, Seong Gi-Hun and company narrowly manage to survive, forming a strong bond with one another along the way. That is, until it becomes time to perform the marble challenge.

At this point, there are very few players left, meaning the survivors are determined to lie, cheat, steal and backstab one another at every turn. Cho Sang-Woo takes advantage of Ali’s trusting nature and tricks him into throwing the game, as Deok-su brutally casts aside his right-hand man. In one of the most shocking and tear-jerking scenes in the show, Seong Gi-Hun exploits Oh Il-nam’s dementia, to muscle him out of the game. Before departing the arena to his demise, Il-nam explains that he was aware of Gi-Hun’s deception all along, but allowed it to occur because he has grown to think of the young man as his closest and most trusted friend.

Violence Grows Out of Control in the Final Rounds

Traumatized by the events of this game, the remaining players are made to cross a two-panel bridge made of tempered glass. As they progress, some panels shatter beneath their feet and drop them to their death. Many of the key players see their demise in this round, including the villainous Deok-su, who is pushed to his death by another cunning player. In the end, only Seong, Sang-woo and Kang Sae-Byeok (the North Korean woman) manage to survive. Despite their success, the trio is looking worse for wear, having taken numerous shards of glass and shrapnel during the bridge round. Still, the games aren’t over yet, and the next challenge sees them engaging in direct physical combat. Sang-woo kills Sae-Byeok, much to the shock and disgust of Gi-Hun.

When Gi-Hun gets the drop on his childhood friend, he refuses to kill him and instead begs to enact the democratic process, which would see them relinquishing the prize money. Sang-woo feels that they have come far too close to the end to quit, however, and stabs himself in the throat to give the reward to his peer. As he draws his final breaths, Sang-woo asks Gi-Hun to watch over his mother for him knowing that he will receive the multi-million dollar payout.

How Do Things End for Detective Jun-ho?

As the Squid Games are taking place, Jun-ho continues poking around behind the scenes, searching for answers about the bizarre organization or any clues which may lead him to his brother. In a shocking twist, he comes across a record book that confirms that his brother played the game – and won – back in 2015. During the final round of the games, a group of foreign VIPs are invited to a secret viewing booth on the island, where they indulge in a variety of delicacies and place bets on the contestants. One VIP corners Jun-ho, who is still posing as an ordinary guard, then demands sexual pleasure. Not wanting to blow his cover, Jun-ho takes the man into a private room and quietly kills him before attempting to make his escape from the twisted island.

Eventually, Detective Jun-ho makes it onto another nearby body of land, where he is eventually discovered by the guards. After he is captured, the man responsible for overseeing the entire game reveals himself to be Jun-ho’s missing brother, In-ho. At first, In-ho attempts to recruit his brother into the game, offering him a high-ranking position running the organization. When the detective refuses, In-ho shoots him in the shoulder, causing Jun-ho to fall off the edge of a cliff into the ocean, presumably to his death. For now, there’s no way of knowing how Jun-ho’s story will continue in Squid Game season two. While he certainly seems to have been mortally wounded and left for dead, we never officially saw proof that the gunshot or the drop into the water killed him, so some fans are still holding out hope that he’ll return in the new episodes.

Who Truly Runs the Squid Games?

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After winning the game, Seong Gi-Hun returns to Seoul, only to learn that his mother has passed away. He honors the memory of his fallen friends by arranging for Sae-byeok’s brother to escape North Korea and sending money to Sang-woo’s mother. Over a year after the games have concluded, Gi-Hun is still traumatized and has refused to touch any of the money for his gain, opting instead to live frugally on scraps and reserves. One day, he is surprised to receive a letter from Oh Il-nam, which suggests that the elderly man is still alive outside of the game. Searching for answers, Gi-Hun travels to the address on the letter and discovers Oh Il-nam on his deathbed. In yet another shocking twist, Il-nam reveals that he was the original creator of the Squid Game, having drawn up the concept decades ago to entertain his wealthy friends.

Knowing that he was nearing the end of his life, Il-nam decided to play the game himself and wound up genuinely enjoying the bond he shared with Gi-Hun during the traumatic affair. Gi-Hun is understandably disgusted and dismayed and attempts to reason with the dying man, to little avail. After a brief chat about morals, life and the state of society, the two make a wager on the fate of a homeless man who has fallen asleep in the cold outside the building. The man seems to be representative of everything wrong with the modern world as people step over him carelessly, failing to display any basic humanity. Just before the time runs out on Gi-Hun and Il-nam’s bet, someone helps the man, signaling that society is still worth saving. Though Gi-Hun wins the bet, he isn’t able to prove his point, as Il-nam dies just moments later.

How Does ‘Squid Game’ Season 1 End?

With most of his pressing questions answered, Gi-Hun attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter. He buys a plane ticket to Los Angeles, California, but just before he can board his plane, he sees the same well-dressed man who recruited him for the Squid Game enlisting another desperate man in the terminal. Gi-Hun attempts to track the man down but loses him in the crowd before snatching the invitation card from the newly recruited player.

When he calls the number on the card, he demands to know who is running the game now that Oh Il-nam has perished, though the voice on the other end simply commands him to get on his plane and never look back. Just before Squid Game season one cuts to the credits for the final time, we see Gi-Hun contemplating his future, and solemnly turning away from the plane. We can surmise that Squid Game season two will see Gi-Hun using his newfound money and influence to infiltrate the game from a whole new angle, and perhaps rallying others to put a stop to the inhumane system.

Strictly Come Dancing, the long-running British reality competition that inspired the U.S. hit Dancing with the Stars, crowned RuPaul’s Drag Race UK alumna Tayce as the winner of its Christmas special. According to Metro, it marked the first time a drag queen has taken home the glitterball trophy.

The festive episode pairs six celebrities with professional dancers to perform Christmas-themed routines for a star-shaped trophy. Tayce, partnered with Kai Widdrington, competed against actor Tamzin Outhwaite (with Nikita Kuzmin), comedian Josh Widdicombe (with Karen Hauer), podcaster Vogue Williams (with Gorka Márquez), racing driver Billy Monger (with Nadiya Bychkova), and Olympian Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, better known as “Nitro” (with Nancy Xu), The Guardian reported.

Tayce and Widdrington’s cha-cha to Kylie and Dannii Minogue’s “100 Degrees” earned them the trophy, Metro shared.

In an interview with the BBC prior to the special airing, Tayce described the public response to her casting as “overwhelmingly positive,” with only minor negativity from trolls.

“It’s such an honor to be part of this amazing and highly popular show, pushing the envelope and breaking boundaries as the first drag queen to appear on it,” she said. “Some people may not agree and think drag is overtly sexual and not something that should be on prime-time television, but there’s nothing sexualised about it. Drag has been around for centuries whether people like it or not, so I think this may open people’s eyes a bit and give them a different view.”

The 30-year-old who has a famous father in former Wham! bass player Roger Radix, also praised her dance partner.

“Kai is amazing and such an attentive teacher,” she said, as reported by Yahoo! Entertainment UK. “We get on extremely well, which is a bonus and adds to such a great connection when dancing together.”

Tayce, is one of the most popular and notable alumni from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and is one of the most-followed queens from the franchise on social media. She was a runner-up on the second season of the show and has gone on to have a plethora of modeling and on-screen commercial and presenting gigs.

Netflix series Squid Game became one of the most popular shows on the streaming platform, following protagonist Gi-Hun as he competed in a deadly game to win a staggering 45.6 billion won. While the prize seems enormous, its value in Korea and the U.S. might surprise you.