John Wick did not and does not require a prequel. Creators could tell a million stories within the criminal underworld under the Table. Connecting this series to John Wick necessitates two reactions. Judging the miniseries on its own merits, it's entertaining and compelling enough for all its terrible jokes and cliché characters. As a part of the evidently expanding John Wick franchise, it's a vestigial limb the films would be better off without.
"Night 2: Loyalty to the Master" was directed by Charlotte Brändström, a Swedish-French director with her name on dozens of well-known TV projects. She stepped into American TV in the 2010s, crafting episodes of shows like Chicago P.D. and Arrow. She made big moves in The Witcher and Outlander before joining the famed directing team for Amazon's Rings of Power. This will be her only entry in The Continental.
The Continental's structure has become visible in its second episode. Arranging a "miniseries" into three feature-length outings is a rare approach. The first episode set the players on the board and killed a central character as an inciting incident. The second episode arranges the team for the upcoming "suicide mission" that the audience inherently knows will succeed. The third will be the fireworks display they've spent two weeks and the length of two films setting up. Most of "Loyalty to the Master" is dedicated to Winston's negotiations with various underworld figures. There are other plot threads. Lou fights a small army of Chinatown gangsters to maintain her father's martial arts academy. A violinist tries to leave Cormac's employ. The Adjudicator stands around menacingly. It's strange to see a show repeat notes by its second episode.
A significant B-plot in this episode follows Charon. The dedicated concierge of the Continental is not a character who requires greater depth. "Loyalty to the Master" is named after Charon's commitment to Mel Gibson's Cormac in the face of several better options. Lance Reddick's Charon is a microcosm of John Wick as a franchise. He arrives fully formed and asks the audience to feel his personality in his brief screen time. It worked well enough for Charon to remain a beloved character across four films. John Wick walks into a mysterious hotel, and a well-dressed man named after the ferryman who brings souls across the Styx takes his coin and grants him passage to the underworld. It's a straightforward mythological reference that perfectly matches the tone.
The Continental seeks to unpack Charon's devotion to the titular hotel. What brought him to New York? Why does he talk like that? What did his dad do for a living? Is Charon a better character after having learned this information? No, he's considerably less compelling as a man with a generic motivation than he was as the living embodiment of John Wick's willing walk into the darkness. This is not a performance issue. Ayomide Adegun does a decent Lance Reddick impression. This is the fatal flaw in the premise of this series. Most prequels fall flat because no one cares how Han Solo got his surname or why Hannibal Lecter started eating human flesh. The Continental is piling backstory onto a film franchise that worked partially because of how it dispensed with that burden. Whether it breaks the rules established by the previous text, which it regularly does, the simple act of filling in the blanks damages the long-term viability of this beloved series.
The Continental has a few good action scenes. Its premise is faulty, but its execution is decent. There hasn't been anything on par with any given set piece in John Wick, but that expectation is apparently unfair. The first episode's first action scene is the closest the series has come to mimicking its source material. Lou, the show's martial arts instructor, hates guns and insists on fighting like Bruce Lee. Her presence is clever, offering a new avenue for the show's violence. Her scenes are shot like classic kung fu movies. Removing guns from John Wick is enough to create a new path forward. Lou should've been the main character. Imagine a show about a martial artist trying to survive under the Table without picking up a firearm. It's just another reminder of how easy it would have been to expand this franchise without wounding it.
The Continental might be forgotten by this time next year. It will fare better if Keanu never puts on the suit again. John Wick can absolutely survive without John Wick. It can't go on with spin-offs undermining the excellent creative decisions that made the franchise what it is. The subtitle says it all. The Continental is a decent enough show, but it's From the World of John Wick. If they had hanged a few character names and put that subtitle in the trash where it belongs, the show and the movies would be stronger. The Continental isn't a complete waste of time, but it's hard to ignore the myriad ways it shoots itself and its predecessors in the foot.
The Continental
"Night 2: Loyalty to the Master" follows Winston Scott as he gathers a team to assault the titular hotel.