Spoilers are unmarked.
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Is Dushane Just a Gangster? Is he just a gangster for the money? Does being a gangster give him a sense of fulfilment? Is it a way of playing the cards he's dealt?
- Is Sully a Noble Demon? A remorseless killer? A broken man far past the Despair Event Horizon after being part of and witnessing so much death in his life? A haunted Anti-Hero trying to do better for his family? Just a Gangster?
- Broken Base / Base-Breaking Character:
- Sully is quite polarising to fans. No-one disputes how complex of a character he is, and his portrayal by Kane Robinson is commonly lauded as the best performance of the series, particularly in the Netflix seasons. However his contrasting actions can paint him in a different light to different people. Some fans feel he is a Noble Demon particularly post-Character Development, who's somewhat justified for some of his brutal actions as they aren't senseless and are shown to haunt him, particularly in series 4. Furthermore he is shown to have a moral code, particularly in how he values loyalty and whenever he calls out Dushane for being vain in the pursuit of power and money. Others feel he's simply a Jerkass, who's little more than a violent thug particularly due to him murdering several innocent characters such as Shaun Campbell(Kamale's cousin) and Leon. See Alternative Character Interpretation above.
- Fans are even further torn by his murder of Jamie: some see it as necessary especially because of Sully's vendetta and ruthless personality, others feel it was unnecessary because it deviated from his redemptive arc. A lot of fans lost love for Sully simply due to the popularity of Jamie's character.
- Draco in Leather Pants: The main characters of the series are, ultimately, objectively horrible people. They are murderous gangsters who are rarely shown having empathy for the victims of their actions. No matter how "bad" their victims are, they're very rarely much worse than Dushane and the gang. Yet, by the audience, they manage to be seen as badass Anti-Heroes due to occasionally showing the basic human ability of caring for other people. Obviously, the characters are more complex than this. But at their core, this is what they are.
- Magnificent Bastard: Dushane Hill begins as the crime lord of Summerhouse and when his drugs are stolen masquerades as the funeral attendee of the cousin of the man who stole his drugs to capture and kill him. Taking over Summerhouse, Dushane smooth talks his way out of a police interrogation and saves his best friend from the wrath of a furious man by convincing the man to kill another criminal instead. To avoid being incriminated, Dushane has his lawyer Love Interest work for a woman prosecuting him for killing her boyfriend and holds her son hostage to force her into dropping her accusations. In season 3, when forced to be paying off a murderous crime boss, Dushane manages to outmaneuver and kill both the boss and his enforcer and ends it making a deal with an incarcerated crime lord, intending to cut a deal and consolidate London's criminal underworld under their joint rulership.
- Retroactive Recognition: Letitia Wright, Benedict Wong and Michaela Coel have significant supporting roles in the first two seasons and aren’t mentioned since.
- The Woobie: Really all of the youngers are this.
- Ra'Nell, already has it rough at only 13:his Mum is psychologically strained after physical and psychological abuse from his father who he had to stab to protect him and his Mum. He lives alone for most of season 1 and gets involved with his Mum’s friend Heather, who is growing a cannabis crop to gain enough money to start a better life for her baby, by trying to cut a deal with Dushane and Sully, resulting in him getting betrayed and jumped seeing his only real father figure Leon get murdered in front of his eyes, whilst trying to protect him. At least he managed to ultimately get the money for Heather and her baby’s new life. Two years later in season 2 Ra'Nell is trialling to be a youth footballer which he sadly fails at and when he tried to help Gem deal with Vincent he get’s savagely beaten. At least by the end of the season it looks like him and his Mum might be getting things back on track, and his absence in season 3 implies that he and his Mum may have achieved a better life.
- Gem, trying to gain recognition on the ends which constantly just leads him into trouble, then to Trauma Conga Line.
- Michael, who is initially shown looking up to Dushane to the point of idolisation, and ends up betraying him purely because of police pressure. Furthermore his death is one of the most brutal of the whole series, which only serves to hammer how much like Child Soldiers some of the youngers are. Even after the show was revived by Netflix, it's never touched upon whether his death received any comeuppance or justice.
- Jason, literally Kick the Dog moment after moment. Let’s start with his upbringing: drug-addict Mum, physically abusive dad, little-to-no food so he has to scavenge and pickpocket to earn supplies. Gains a father-figure in Sully of all people, who does look after him until he goes to prison. When Sully is released, we soon learn not only has Jason been constantly waiting for him to return, to the point that he is the sole person there on his release day, but also that whilst Sully was in prison Jason fell into a drug habit. His mother also died during the Time Skip, which likely adds to his trauma. What's possibly the saddest part of his character, is that out of anything he could have in the world, all he wants to do is to watch a live Arsenal game. Jason's death stands out even further, due to it not even being tied to the larger drug game as most characters' deaths are. Instead, it's the result of racist thugs who set the house they're staying in on fire purely out of hate, which additionally has the Dramatic Irony of being similar to how he told Sully his Mum died. His death is also shown to have a very deep impact on Sully, to the point that he becomes even more withdrawn and sullen than he was previously.
Sully: That boy had no luck.
