The Netflix show ‘Black Rabbit‘ is about the exciting story of two brothers whose love for getting into trouble together wherever they go succeeds in getting them into an impossible situation. Jake Friedken is the driven proprietor of the top up-and-coming restaurant in New York. His luck, though, soon takes a turn for the worse when his older brother, Vince, unexpectedly returns to town. And with the latter’s arrival, a world of earlier complications is laid bare, placing the couple at the top of the list of local bad bookie Joe Mancuso. Though threats overshadow them, the Friedkens hold together, fighting their way out of every corner they’re pushed into. That is, until the very real possibility of losing it all comes crashing down on them, pushing the duo’s devotion and loyalty to one another to the very limit. Ultimately, as their troubled lives approach their point of conclusion, the brothers are inevitably forced to face an endgame they never could have conceived. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Black Rabbit Recap
In New York City, Jake Friedken makes preparations for potentially the biggest night of his restaurant, Black Rabbit, which anticipates being visited by a major critic. A single good review would be all it would take to establish the local establishment’s status in the city’s culture, providing the owner with sufficient credibility to influence his investors into opening up the brand at a second, high-visibility location. In the meantime, his brother Vince attempts to acquire a quick profit from his dad’s collection of pennies but ends up on the receiving end of a robbery. While he survives the ordeal, he’s left broke and with one dead body on his hands. As a result, he has no option but to seek the help of his brother and persuade him to pay for a visit to New York, hoping to stay low for a while.
However, what Vince finds in the Big Apple is the last thing from security. The previous time the elder brother departed from the city, he also left a significant debt of $140,000. Therefore, the moment the unsavory creditor, Junior, son of the feared but respected bookmaker, Mancosa, gets wind of Vince’s return, the news understandably does not sit well with him. Luckily for the latter, Jake is already planning to sell their mother’s house and enjoy a handsome profit from it in a couple of weeks. At roughly the same time, Jake’s head bartender, Anna, starts missing shifts, providing the ideal opportunity for Vince to get back into his brother’s life by assuming old responsibilities. Sadly, his efforts at a fresh start come crashing down along with the sale of the home. As a consequence, Vince falls back on his old unhealthy habits and tries to win enough money to settle his debts. Ultimately, all he gets out of it are one constant loss and a mangled finger, courtesy of Junior and his accomplice Babbit. At the same time, Anna’s dismissal starts costing Jake, particularly after his Head Chef, Roxie, finds out about the subtlety to the situation. He’s also hit by the botched house deal, which directly affects his expansion plans. Worst of all, the plans depend solely on the availability of the Pool Room within a Four Seasons building, an asset that will only be available to him for a limited time frame. For the same reason, news about his brother’s issues could not come at a more inconvenient moment to the restaurant owner. But he acquiesces to assist him, walking in to negotiate an agreement with Mancuso in person.
Even when the bookie will accept payment on terms, the brothers are broke enough to render even that option unaffordable. But things start to improve when Vince proposes a phony charity dinner as a means of raising enough funds to settle the debt in one sum. Though the event is a financial triumph, the buzz wears off quickly, particularly after Jake spends most of the proceeds to even out his restaurant’s books. Matters eventually get out of hand following Anna’s fatal suspicious murder that forces Detective Ellen Heung to go around the Black Rabbit in circles. The more pressure there is, the greater the tension between the two brothers, until it all comes to a head in a robbery at the restaurant, with Vince wearing a ski mask and Jake on the receiving end of his gun. Even so, worst comes to worst, the older brother murders Junior in order to save Jake’s life. Even with the complicated dynamic, the latter does not turn his back on his brother. But the choice gets made out of his hands when Mancuso threatens the life of Gen, the daughter of Vince. So, Jake has no choice but to turn against his brother and sacrifice his own life while trying to save it at the next instant. Still, as he goes on trying to save Vince’s life despite increasing odds, the elder brother is not as hopeful.
Black Rabbit Ending: Does Vince Die?
Why Does He Jump Off the Roof? Vince’s existence is still in danger from the moment he steps back into New York. Because of the Friedkens’ history with Joe Mancuso, his brother Junior has no plans on allowing the elder sibling to go free while his debt is unpaid. For him, the problem presents danger to his ego and to his authority. Of course, it strikes a chord when Jake disregards Junior’s authority and pays the debt himself to his father. For the same reason, he chooses to carry out the Black Rabbit robbery, even after Mancuso prohibits it. When his own business partner refuses to assist and abet in the crime, he compels Vince to play the part. All of this ultimately results in the wannabe crime boss being killed when the older brother shoots him to save Jake’s life. In the process, he puts his own life in danger.
Despite the tension between Mancuso and his son, the bookie is disposed to seek revenge for the latter’s death. Thus, he makes use of Jake and Gen to locate Vince. Nevertheless, with his own cunning and his brother’s impeccable timing, Vince gets out with his life. Even better, Jake promises to save his life by getting him out of the country. Due to some disreputable enterprises, the restaurant owner can hold secrets over Campbell, the fixer for a very wealthy and powerful artist. As such, he attempts to arrange safe passage out of the nation for his brother in exchange for trading a prized thumb drive. Ultimately, this leads the brothers back to Black Rabbit. Despite the fact that the venue is surrounded from all directions by police, Jake believes that Campbell will deliver, and he can rescue his brother. However, Vince, whose own head is literally on the chopping block, is in a position to see things more clearly. The police are already after him for the robbery and the shooting that happened at the restaurant. Likewise, it is only a matter of time before Mancuso finally catches up with the brothers and takes his revenge. In addition, even if by some chance Vince is able to deceive fate and get out of the country alive, he realizes he would be endangering his family. During the past month alone, his entry into New York has put Jake and Gen directly in danger. Nevertheless, even aside from that, he feels guilty for putting his brother through all that over their entire lives. The bad luck Vince had been given, which desensitized him to violence and addiction at an early age, has ultimately shaped the trajectory of the rest of his life. Again and again, the older brother lays the groundwork for greatness, only to sabotage it by his self-destructive tendencies. For the same reason, after divulging some of the worst of his troubles, Vince calls the authorities in a gesture of surrender. At first, Jake wishes to take the fall along with him. Seeing the same, his brother understands the only way in which he can keep the younger man out of trouble is to take himself out of his life completely. And so, ultimately, Vince chooses to take the blame for all of their wrongs himself by being the one to take the last fall.
Why Did Jake Never Leave Vince?
Throughout the book, Jake’s never-ending loyalty to his big brother is one of his most most defining features. Although he knows Vince is nothing but trouble, he gives him a warm welcome, making arrangements for his arrival in New York. Similarly, he never once really considers leaving the other man to handle Mancuso’s dilemma alone. Even though he is drowning financially himself, he is willing to go the extra distance and pay off Vince’s debt come hell or high water. While Jake falters in this pursuit a time or two, making his own errors and fighting with his brother at every other opportunity, he never really turns his back on him. Even when the older brother threatens him with a gun from behind a robber’s disguise, Jake prefers to look at the nuance of the situation and sympathize with the corner that he knew Vince had been cornered into.
The actual root of this blind trust goes beyond a casual brotherly bond. Jake and Vince shared a tumultuous childhood. Their father, Dick, was a con artist and a domestic abuser who frequently became physically aggressive towards his wife and children. One night in particular, he had an issue with Sheila’s social life, picking a fight and escalating it to punches and kicks. Then, Sheila attempted to defend herself from the multitude of injuries her body had undergone. Later on, the commotion attracted their oldest son, who pleaded with his father to desist, only to be threatened by him with the same abuse. So, when the situation became desperate, Vince made up his mind. He tossed Dick’s bowling ball squarely onto his head from the first-floor banister. Hence, he murdered his father and saved his mother’s life in a single stroke. Sheila then hired Mancuso’s services to stage the death as an incident in a bar so that people would believe it because of her husband’s reputation. The son and his mother promised to keep it a secret from everyone, including Jake. However, unaware to them, the younger brother had listened in on the whole thing in the name of pretending to be asleep. Jake has known for years the sacrifice his brother made in order to save their family. Unlike Vince, he acknowledges the killing as an act of courage and self-defense. For the same reason, he has been dedicated to sticking with his brother through thick and thin regardless of circumstances.
Are Wes and Tony Dead?
While Vince and Jake are in the middle of their own crisis, they also have an effect on the lives of the people around them, typically not positive. Wes and Tony are still the best example of this. Although the brothers are still deep under Junior’s debt, the older brother lets secrets slip regarding the issues Anna is causing to Black Rabbit’s future business. This forces Junior and Babbit to visit the woman. Instead of mere intimidation, however, they end up murdering her by accident. They later realize that the Friedkens would bring the police investigation directly to them. For the same reason, Junior kidnaps the duo intending to kill them to protect his own life. However, Jake is able to negotiate a deal for his life by presenting his jailors with a golden opportunity.
The Black Rabbit will be hosting a few million-dollar pieces of jewelry during one of his celebrity events. Jake has a plan for Junior to break into the event and steal the jewelry from the backroom. He’s willing to give the safe combination and key to the job so that everything goes alright. However, soon enough, the restaurant owner is in receipt of some major cash. Thus, he attempts to pay Mancuso off and cancel the robbery. Doing so, he succeeds in infuriating Junior, who still goes ahead with the robbery. Worst of all, he bullies Vince into going along for the crime. On the evening of the crime, things naturally get out of hand, involving a hostage situation at the restaurant, with a gun pressed to the head of Tony. The evening concludes with several shots being fired, two of which find their mark in the sous-chef and Wes. Though both are taken to the hospital, the musician dies from the wound. Nevertheless, his record label releases his unreleased material, posthumously honoring the artist. Conversely, Tony is able to live after he took a bullet to his neck and continues to work with Roxie in the future.
What Becomes of Jake? Does He Lose the Restaurant?
Vince rescues Jake from the worst of the consequences by shouldering the blame for the errors he had committed during the past few days. As he had been the official suspect in Junior’s murder all along, his death ties up that loose end, sidestepping the authorities as well as Mancuso. The fact that the older brother pays for what he has done by deciding to kill himself also precludes the younger man from martyring himself for love. In short, Jake cannot help but move on after Vince’s death. However, though he is in no legal jeopardy, it does not mean his image is out of harm’s way. Even prior to the robbery, Wes and Roxie had succeeded in convincing the investors away from the founder. So much so that Jake’s association with Vince likely also put his name in the crosshairs in the restaurant business.
But more significantly, Jake’s own belief must be elevated by the Black Rabbit’s magic. He and Vince built the restaurant themselves from scratch and operated as co-owners for longer than anyone else. A drunken, misguided error that medically impaired one of their workers eventually forced Vince out of his stakes in the brand. Nevertheless, the younger brother never had anything but fondness for the other man, as is seen in the way he readily accepted him. However, the location that stood as a reminder of their joint superiority probably becomes sullied under the shadows of Vince’s suicide. Therefore, perhaps Jake just did not want anything to do with the restaurant even if he were given the option. In the end, Roxie takes over the restaurant’s real estate, rebranding it as her own under the name Anna’s. Meanwhile, Jake goes on to work as a bartender in another establishment, turning over a new leaf.
