McMafia finale review: It all comes home to roost

The McMafia finale on Sunday night was a culmination of a journey. It was a chance for Alex to respond to a certain part of his soul — one of the darkest corners of it. He spent the bulk of the story and Moscow and the longer the story went, the clearer it became that this was not going to end in anything other than a bloodbath.

There were two different components in some ways to this episode — Alex finding himself some peace (or at least keeping himself from being murdered in the immediate future), and then Alex doing everything that he could after the fact in order to further ensure that he has a future of his own.

The craziest thing in the aftermath of the craziness tonight is that Alex could sit there with a plain face and still refer to himself as a “banker,” even though it was just a small slice of who he was and what he became.

The longer the finale went along, the more intense it became. The closing minutes had Alex more in this “banker” role, working as a negotiator to show his strength in that capacity. (Never have financial negotiations been so intense, right?) The point of all of this was a way of signifying how Alex, in the aftermath of all he went through, was no longer the pushover who could be handed a small share — he was a power. To quote more of Walter White, he was in the empire business. Also, apparently he has no interest in picking up Rebecca’s phone calls, either. Stone cold.

Related – Is a McMafia season 2 even feasible after this ending?

CarterMatt Verdict

The McMafia finale was excellent television, gripping enough to compensate for the fact that this is not a particular genre of television we are particularly fond of watching. It was perfectly paced and gave you a true sense of the hardening of Alex Godman. Sure, he is a negotiator, a banker, and in many ways so much more than that.

We could argue that the finale needed more of a signature moment to get people talking, but we presume that this was more about a deliberate journey than just a story cultivated for the sole purpose of shock value. A tremendous performance by James Norton made McMafia worth the cost of admission.

What do you think about the McMafia finale as a whole? Be sure to share some of your thoughts now in the comments! Meanwhile, you can also like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some more updates regarding McMafia right away. (Photo: BBC.)