Netflix’s The Waterfront is an eight-part saga that has crashed onto screens with a gripping blend of family drama and southern, coastal crime. The new series centers on a decaying fishing dynasty with criminal ties based in Havenport, North Carolina. This fictional area’s respected Buckley family once was at the top of the local food chain, but after patriarch Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany) goes through two heart attacks, things seem uncertain. Harlan is not the only family member whose health inadvertently puts the business at risk; his daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist) is a recovering addict who used to be their financial expert. With the business crumbling and millions of dollars in debt mounting, the Buckleys are forced into difficult times.
And as viewers learn, the Buckley family is willing to do a lot to protect their name, including getting on the wrong side of the law. Drug smuggling, federal investigations and corruption all mount in the first season of The Waterfront. As Harlan and Belle’s (Maria Bello) son Cane (Jake Weary) takes charge, the family’s fate is called into question and their legacy is on the line. In this ending explained, we’ll break down the head-spinning crime drama, plus what may lie ahead for the Buckley family.
What is ‘The Waterfront’ on Netflix about?
The Waterfront plunges viewers into the twisted world of a powerful family in the simmering coastal town of Havenport, North Carolina. At the heart of the series is gritty crime, festering personal vendettas and a web of slow-burning betrayals. Although initially, viewers see the Buckley family as well-to-do business owners, things quickly unravel. As the first season explores, the family turns to desperate measures after grappling with their significant debt. After Harlan decides to mix business with drug smuggling in order to acquire $2 million in three months, things start spiraling in both their personal and professional lives.
Who is Grady? Does he die at the end of the series?
To salvage their fishing empire, the Buckley family gets involved with a smooth-talking drug lord, Grady (Topher Grace), from a neighboring town. This crime collaboration begins a tumultuous time for the Buckley family. The majorly wealthy Grady seems to be an unlikely ally to the family, but quickly becomes an unpredictable threat. He’s a man with a talent for manipulation who wants control and power, no matter if that means the downfall of his allies. When the Buckley family begins using their fishing boats for heroin smuggling, Grady gains leverage over them despite his charming ways. As the DEA circles in on their operation and Grady tries to push Harlan to do extra drug runs, things get fishy. But how does their business relationship pan out?
Yes, Grady dies at the end of season one of The Waterfront. Earlier on, Grady attempts to manipulate the Buckley family into doing more than they agreed to, which results in rising tensions. To protect his family and keep their secret business dealings under wraps, Harlan pushes back. But Grady makes it personal and targets his family to keep them all in line.
As a result, Harlan reaches out to the Parker family, with whom his family has a long-running beef. Back in the day, when Harlan’s father was involved with the cartel, his collaboration with the Parkers led to his untimely death. He was tortured and killed by a member of the Parker crime family as a result of his dangerous drug dealings. This traumatic end to his father’s life ultimately caused Harlan to get back on the straight and narrow with the family business.
But due to his circumstances with the dangerous Grady, he puts his pride aside in episode seven and reaches out. He turns to the Parkers to take care of Grady, but their attempt to ensure he sleeps with the fishes fails. Grady comes back, kidnaps Bree, shoots her in the leg when she fights back and then holds her son Diller (Brady Hepner) hostage instead. Once her family comes to her rescue, Cane shoots Grady in the head twice, marking his departure – for good this time.
Why did Bree lose custody of Diller?
The hostage situation with Grady brings the whole family together, which may make viewers wonder about Bree’s complicated relationship with her son. We can link the strain between them to the darker side of the family business. After witnessing the murder of her grandfather at the hands of the Parker family when she was a child, Bree had a difficult time dealing with her trauma. Eventually, she lost custody of her son Diller due to her addiction issues. In a drunken stupor, she sets their house on fire. Although she did manage to save her son from the flames, this incident clearly did not seem safe for a child.
So, with the illegal family business coming to a head and impacting both her and her son, things are likely to get even more heated. With an injury left behind by the crime boss Grady, her addiction to drugs and alcohol may become an even bigger issue as she tries to deal with the implications of the violent showdown.
Is Belle taking over the Buckley empire?
The Waterfront ending explained would not be complete without a deep dive into the role of Belle, Harlan’s wife. An intriguing sequence of events puts Belle Buckley at the forefront of the family’s business dealings, but only secretly. After Harlan’s heart attacks, she uses her charm and connections to influence the DEA’s investigation of the family. Overall, her role in orchestrating the smuggling is somewhat overshadowed. Her character arc drastically changes once viewers learn of her work behind the scenes, which helps her step out from behind Harlan’s shadow.
To steer the Buckley family legacy, Belle keeps the existence of an ongoing real estate deal under wraps. She tries to save the Buckley family from their overwhelming debt and impending bankruptcy by making a deal with the Parker family to develop their family-owned land. This is not something that Harlan would ever do due to the conflict between the families, which puts Belle in the position to cross lines that no one else will.
How does ‘The Waterfront’ end?
With some suspicion cast on the Buckley family’s business dealings, staying afloat seems almost impossible. One of the biggest tensions that arises is that Bree’s boyfriend, DEA agent Marcus Sanchez, is investigating her own family. This conflict will surely cause issues for the Buckley family in the future, but that’s not the only romantic connection that is jeopardized on-screen.
Cane’s marriage is on the line, with a fresh romance with his high school sweetheart Jenna (Humberly Gonzalez), a returning big-city journalist, heating up and increasing tension. Despite his wife Peyton’s avoidance and relatively quick forgiveness of the episode six affair, the hiccup spells trouble for the troubled couple. Even Belle has an affair with the local businessman who helps her with her secret real estate deal, Wes (Dave Annable). But this backfires on her when he manipulates financial documents he gets from Belle in episode six, which means the Buckley family properties will foreclose in just 45 days.
Unresolved issues suggest we haven’t seen the last of Harlan and co.
The end of The Waterfront may leave viewers curious about the fate of the Buckley family. For one, there is the unassuming Shawn, who is Harlan’s son from an affair with another woman. He moves to town and attempts to get to know his father. Viewers may somewhat overlook his character due to all the drugs and drama taking the stage. But as he develops a place in the Buckley family and helps rescue Bree, he may become a far more significant character.
In the intense finale, the Buckley family finally faces the consequences of their criminal entanglements. After the violent showdown on the dock with Grady, it is clear that the fresh and fragile alliances between the family members and their criminal contacts are deteriorating. Cane’s deadly encounter with Grady puts them in an even worse situation, but the family’s connections with the local authorities clean his hands of the situation. After the Sheriff scrubs evidence about the murder, the Buckley family has one less problem. But they still need to heal their (literal and figurative) scars as their connection to the dangerous Parker family lurks under the deck.