Do you think Dushane felt different in Season 3 to the previous seasons of the show? Comment your thoughts below!

I did not buy into Dushane destroying Jeffrey, and not bothering to clean up the crime scene. I expect that recklessness from Sully. Yes, Ronan wanted to give his character a downfall, but as you say, it was too out of character for him. It used to be Dushane being so strategic that he would also be cleaning up Sully's mess.

The one part that really baffled me is when Dushane learns the cops are onto him after they find his prints linking him to Jeffrey's death by meeting his lawyer. His Solicitor literally says "DON'T GO ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR HOUSE" Right? Makes sense so Dushane visits Shelley's nail shop to get her help grabbing his passport and money so he can flee the country but remember the Solicitor also says "Don't send anyone closely connected to you." So they send Naomi to grab his things - She walks right passed the overwatching police and they don't notice, she manages to get in and out of his house without a single draw of attention at all and during this we cut to Dushane....literally watching her from the fence that goes around the apartment complex. I know he's desperate and rash but...he's not a total idiot, what was the point of that entire plan to get Naomi in there to grab his things instead of him if he's literally going to stand right next to it anyway and guess what- he gets spotted, like why would he be there and not just wait somewhere else and get Naomi to meet him via texting y'know, those burner phones they're all so fond of using. That part made 0 sense.

Dushane was desperate to retire, and losing Jamie hit him harder than expected thats why he agreed to the Nail shop Idea, he really thought he can walk away, money in the bank and still get regular payments from the Road to help him live a different life, so he took his eye off the ball and Sully took over as Top Boy, which meant Dushane had to follow not lead for the first time in the show thats why he felt different this season.

He was desperate and broke, you cannot realistically be a kingpin for long and that’s what they’re trying to show you in all of these shows. He was especially hopeless after the death of his retirement plan (Jamie) and his mother. It was over from the end of last season for him

Dushane was mentally checked out of game. He was already transitioning into retirement mode. The fact that the transition wasn’t going smoothly forced a desperation out of him.

Dushane’s ending was not at all bad. The script was actually accurate. His ending is the ending most kingpins have, either dead like a roadkill or in jail for life, look at Escobar, Chapo, etc. When you’re at the top of the drug game, everyone wants your position, its only a matter of time until you end up like all your other victims. One cannot sleep with one eye open for a lifetime. One thing I haven’t seen anyone comment about yet is how exhausted Dushane seemed. Undoubtedly, being on high alert for so long does take its toll. One thing Top Boy makes an excellent job in doing is depicting how stressful the life is, how the characters are always stressed, almost never at ease, a great reflection of how that life is.

what i hate most is how they made Lizzy out to be this galaxy brain genius girl 😭

Everything you said was spot on! Dushane deserved much more this season literally nothing went his way. His death saddened me more than Sully’s.

The only way that they could kill him off is for the writers to make him dumber. The old dushane would’ve make much better decisions.

What was the point of giving him heart problems?

There were flaws in Dushane's season 3 arc, but I actually think the weakness and lack of purpose were the best parts of it. In Shelley, he had someone to leave his previous life behind for, he had something that he could have loved more than power. He was able to back down from Sully so easily, because he didn't need respect and status on the roads anymore, as long as had respect and status in Shelley's eyes. The tragedy is, while Shelley thought that he loved money more than her, I think that he actually loved money because of the respect he thought that it brought him from people, especially her. He doesn't understand that she loves him regardless of money or power, and so he pursues those things in an attempt to elevate himself in her eyes, and in doing so he pushes her away by making her think that he loves them more than her. When he steps back, he loses his old purpose, but that's ok while he can still provide for and be adored by Shelley. When he loses the money, in his eyes he has lost that ability to do that, which makes him feel purposeless and embarrassed. He can't admit to Shelley that anything is wrong because he mistakenly believes that will make him lesser in her eyes, so he lashes out. Tragically, this drives her away, truly robbing him of purpose. Devoid of purpose he behaves recklessly and erratically, desperately trying to feel strong again. If he had just been able to admit his failings and had the bravery to be weak in front of Shelley things might have been different.

I think Dushane's demise was perfect. This was a kingpin, leader, rich drug lord that had it all but then due to desperation, he started to think illogically, started to due things that Sully would in the very first season. All his murders, theft, thug lifestyle eventually came back to haunt him and he does as he killed many people, in a pool of blood on the streets. Sad but fitting.

Ppl wanna call it bad writing bc they didn’t get the outcome they wanted. Think about it from dushanes shoes; he went from top boy with everything, money, his family, power and respect. To bottom tier, having to go through sully and having less say than even jaq did. His money, gone. His family, gone. Dushane had it all ripped from him. Had no hands to play. And when you have nothing, your true colours show. People have been saying dushanes evil for 4 seasons now. Been equating him to sully all this time. When sully had the power and dushane lost it, we saw how evil dushane really was.

I personally felt like the characters losing their purpose was one of the themes of the final season? With Dushane we were seeing both the emotional stress and physical health problems of living that lifestyle finally catch up with him and he starts to implode hence him being way more wreckless and stupid before.

Crazy how many people are trying to excuse bad writing because they like the show.

The reason he died so suddenly wasn't just the bullet but probably his heart gave way even sully was surprised one shot to the ribs took the whole wind out of Dushane and he bleed out so quickly.

I thought they were gonna tie in the Irish gang with Lithe an Lizzie an have an all out war but that was wasted...an who gives someone they just met a few months ago 16 mill lol

I feel like Dushane became more like old Sully and Sully became more like old Dushane this season

I feel like the wroters could have done more with dushane. Honestly felt nothing major happened.

Totally agree with all your takes.

No he wasn't weak he done a great job as an actor, and a boss no one is one sided in this life. People are very bipolar you have to be to get things done weather you like it or not... Good plot all round and it ended perfectly... this is the roads.

They made Dushane crash out like Franklin Saynt in Snowfall season 6.

The writing was terrible in this series period. They rushed the series and compacted in 6 episodes.

Great analysis, i think Dushane wanting to retire anyway is why he let sully to do what he did. Losing 16 mil also had his head scrambled. Dushane has flown off the handle plenty of times in the series, like when his brother got tortured and then he went to bottle the guy lool ...Dushanes love of money can also not be understated.. look how erratic he was moving.

They did him similar like Ghost from power. From being a thinker at first to a person that makes horrible decisions in the end.

As someone who grew up in london and lived there 20+ years around a similar environment, top boy summerhouse was so much more realistic and grounded and the dark tone of it all suits londons ghettos so well, but the Netflix series seems to fake to me, dushane was willing to do whatever to stay on top but just lets sully take over plus I totally agree a complete change in deshane didnt sit right with me I personally think being the shortest series everything was sooo rushed so many loose ends and storylines that just lead to nowhere such as the curtis’s sister from Liverpool i was really hoping to see retaliation from curtis but nothing? And same with the irish this session they were wiped out by ep3 ultimately this season was way to short to be the end but i guess Netflix said fuck it

Can we all agree that since Aubrey has become executive producer it turned a bit shit?

The murder would have been more robust if him getting caught was a result of an oversight or a degree of complacency despite taking the sort of precautions one would expect of him, and then that compounded further deterioration and reckless behaviour because that element of self doubt and loss of control further sets in. The lizzy and lithe thing could have also been undertaken in a manner where he wasn't completely finessed so he doesn't look dumb but also appears flawed. Something symbolic of a man whose head isn't in the game because he wants out so bad. I think the core beats were appropriate overall but the season being so bitesize prevented the show from having the necessary depth to fulfil its character arcs and ambitions.

It reminded me of what happened to Franklin in snowfall....really good characters that were so intelligent but couldn't manage their funds. No exit strategy

tha'ts a great analysis and for sure it's like we only got half a season this time out. he did have a measure of moral fibre at one point and its as if they closed out the story at the expense of a well constructed charactor. Obviously he can't win and neither could Sully but both might have gone out in a more noble way--just as they were portrayed to be. thanks you have answered a few things for me very well. just because crime doesn't pay does not mean you have to die with flies on your face lol cheers clive

He was extremely desperste and powerless all season

Netflix: Top Boy 1. What happened to Dushane’s heart condition? He sure was doing a lot of running under stress with heavy baggage. 2. Dushane has been thoroughly killing and moving strategically throughout the series, but now that he’s older and wiser why would he sloppily murder Jeffery? Why would Jeffery stay around and open the door when Dushane explicitly stated he would kill him if he didn’t find his money? 3. Why would Jaq rob Sully so stupidly? No exit plan. Didn’t destroy drugs? 4. Lauren named her baby Jaq, but no one knows. 5. Irish mob retribution? 6. What happened to Sully’s cousin Bashy? 7. Who killed Sully? 8. Why would Aaron leave Stef behind? Would he have not taken care of him like Jamie would have wanted? 9. What happened to Summerhouse after the riot? 10. What happened to the girl that’s got hit by the police car? S1 & S2: 9/10 S3: 5/10 - Rushed, Lazy writing… Cheated fans and themselves of a potential classic.

That part Of the him falling off n over the gate, was symbolic of him falling of the thrown n into hell n death..

Franklin Saint vibes dame 😢

Yah Dushane reminded me of a younger Michael corleone (godfather) at first. Always looking at things from a birds eye view. Even though he was still a villain, he smart and crafty. But this season 😮his irrational decision making, not seeing the Forest for the trees in a sense. It just seemed like he started letting all the distractions get to him. The main focused should of been to get the money back from the accountant. And your right his downfall was killing Jeffrey and not 🧹 the scene. I was like wtf?!? When I seen the cleaning lady come in, I was like ok he sent a professional, NOPE she was the actual housecleaner 😆

He went through it this season damnnn

Yes i can agree with your points in the video. Dushane was strategic in pass season only to be more off base in this new one. The writing was rushed and many things lefted either unanswered or unneccasary

I hear you brother but remember Dushane lost his cousin and his mum, plus he's always been obsessed with making quick money to get to the Top whatever means necessary, that theme has always been in his mindset to be the Top Boy since the Summerhouse seasons, even in Season 3 (Season 1) you saw that he desperately called the police to snitch when he purposely used Ats (a 13 year old kid) to drop the bag in Jamie's house just to desperately defeat Jamie and his gang, breaking the street Code that he's meant to live by that just speaks volumes what kid of man Dushane is that he would stoop low to get more money and whatever means possible to do it. This is why some of the fans were saying if it wasn't for the Albanians, Dushane would've kill Michael for snitching (not just because he snitched but because that younger was a liability to his business) When it got to the final season he came to a cross roads and the walls was closing in on him, he lost a whole 2.1 million bruv, plus have two con people play him up and run away with his money, he battered Jeffery to death with a frying pan...., he was a wanted man feds was on to him, he dropped Jaq for the bag of drugs and even shot a younger who got in his way, Dushane always had that desperate evil in him it just came to the surface when he lost everything, when you lose what you love you turn reckless for it which is why it lead him that way, I believe if roles was reversed Dushane would've probably shoot Sully to get back his drugs as well.

Dushane sort of reminded me of Ghost from power, in the later seasons his ego became so big, he didn’t treat anyone with respect An was all out for himself an he was eventually delt with for that

I can believe he recklessly murdered Jeffrey, Because he did kill Lesta impulsively in Jamaica in Topboy S1 without thinking about the consequences - and then had to try and navigate his way out of that mess and Donovan was killed

A few things were weird, Dushane stole the 25 keys when half of them were his. He could have took his 12.5 keys & offered that up for payment to get to turkey first before trying to steal it. Also he's been so smart in all the other seasons but he decides to give lyfe every single dollor he has? If u got 16 mill ur not gonna give it all to one person, ur gonna put a few mill up in a safe for an instance like this

It’s a real DuShame

Dushane is always smart and level headed

Top Boy ended how the road life usually ends, unexpected and without warning!

Dushame became more reckless like Sully and Sully became more coolheaded like Dushane

If you consider some of the most iconic on screen gangsters have all had similar fates. Tony Montana, Carlito Brigante, Avon Barksdale, Franklin Saint, Henry Hill and now Dushane Hill and Sully, all had sticky endings. In fact Tony Soprano’s story was based on his on going unraveling due to his mental health. It’s a narrative convention for the gangster protagonist to come to an untimely demise.

I don’t mind most of Dushane’s. Downward’s spiral but him not cleaning the crime scene and not looking to wipe the damn cameras was completely out of character. It didn’t make sense to me.

Dushane had a massive character assassination this season. His composure & intelligence were replaced by brashness & impulse. His sense of purpose was absent for laziness and empty threats. His descent into desperation was too quick of an arc especially when there was no consequence to show for his onset anxiety-inducing chest pains and increased heart palpitations since season 2; he should've been in the emergency room after running through the city like a track star bro got legs ngl. I felt his arc should've been like this: 1) he calls on the help of acquaintances to help him track down the old lady who stole his money 2) takes his money back and shoots the 2 bitches that took his money, then bury their bodies 3) threatens Jeff to stay quite, deny all elements of his partnership and have Dushane's men constantly monitor him 4) Dushane takes the money to give to his girlfriend to keep his promise 5) Dushane gathers up his gang to go and confront Sully so he can be the boss again 6) Sully relents and they both work together to go and raid the Irish and take back the food 7) After the raid, Dushane gets overconfident and gets blind to Sully's intentions, that's when Sully betrays him and they drag each other out into the forest, Dushane tries to run but his chest pains catch up to him so he gives up 8) Dushane and Sully have their final conversation, Dushane still steps up to Sully and forces him to shoot, Sully shoots Dushane into a ditch, but Dushane is the last one smiling If Dushane's arc went out more like this, in keeping with his character's personality and strengths, the season would've been a lot better.

💯 agree, Dushanes character thrown under the bus

How it went for Dushane, made sense, his last resort for his retirement plan vanished beneath him, from that point it was a downward spiral, being desperate and moving shabby

Yeah I was really rooting for Dushane, it was sad for me to see him deteriorate like that

Dushane wanted change, after Jamie's death, the business with Shelly was the new exit strategy.

It's a similar parallel with Franklin from Snowfall...he was smart and strategic up until he lost all his money....desperation makes you illogical

Because the writing was bad.

Some people change as they grow older and mature. They realise different things in life are important. So for me, his character change was fine. However, killing Jeffrey like that didn’t make sense to me. Also, I was a bit confused with the money situation. Did he leave every penny he had with Lizzie and Lithe? I thought he would’ve had money elsewhere as well. That didn’t make sense to me.

Anyone else think it was weird how the police had board with him on it as "top boy" and that plot just completely disappeared

When I saw sully shoot Dushane I said to my partner if sully wanted to kill him he would have shot him dead I actually thought he got him in the leg. The death was fine but I didn’t like that dushane was whimpering as he bled out and also it made no sense because we didn’t find out how Shelly felt about the loss

This is easy to dissect for Dushane's character. Dushane's whole world came tumbling down starting with the death of his mum. Then it escalated with Shelly leaving him, making him feel vulnerable, alone and *DESPERATE!* Aint no happy endings in the drug game- the street would claim characters like Sully & Dushane. Now, i cant reconcile the heart ting and those 2 undercover cops building a cSe against him, snatching Reuben to testify against Dushane. Those were bad loopholes. But everything else shows the descent to madness for Dushane.

Did anybody else think Netflix were splitting the season up originally like they’ve done with other shows and were massively disappointed when it was just over😢

This assessment seems pretty off to me. His “heart problems” were panic attacks, showing his lifestyle was affected him mentally in a way he wasn’t willing to confront. There was no need for it to have some big climactic physical manifestation - the point was to show how the life affected his mental health and that he wasn’t immune to these issues no matter how tough he felt (also providing a good contrast to Sully’s mental processing). As far as the radical shift in how he treated his girlfriend, well yeah, his entire self image was built around the idea of being a man who could always provide, so he couldn’t cope when he wasn’t able to be that person anymore. I do agree on some things tho - like why would someone that smart put ALL his money in one place (guess smart people can be naive though)? And the murder of Jeffery was super sloppy. I get they were intentionally trying to make him act a bit out of character just to illustrate his rage, but someone like Dushane would’ve collected themselves after and cleaned up the scene properly.

I feel like everything you mentioned in this video almost describe the very depression Dushane was going through with the lost of his mum, everything with sully and all else and because of that we got a "new" Dushane this season. Sully is the monster that never changed and always stayed true were Dushane was someone else for 4 season but this season showed who he really was to his core. That even intelligence can become a front, a magic trick and skill but if you lose who you are then it doesn't matter anymore intelligence becomes your downfall.

I can’t lie it was sad to me how Dushane went out from being on top of his game to dying in an alley, crazy part is if he didn’t kill Jeffrey he would’ve found Lithe and Lizzy that investigator was closing in on them then he snapped and changed the direction he’s usually so composed and on point but this season he was off it was almost like all the pressure and everything just finally got to him and he lost himself even when he stole the bags from jaq he literally stayed in summerhouse instead of having some sort of exit plan he could’ve made the play and drove off or have someone waiting for him instead he stuck around I duno they rushed the last season and tried to fit too much in only 6 episodes

In my opinion, dushane starts to act loose because of a change of mindset. Already obsessed with his retirement plan before, he once was Top boy, in this season he was just rich and chilling with his girl.... now about Shelley, a woman who accepted him for what he was, who was his good side, used to take care of his mother, now she starts to make big plans for her chain on his money, it felt also like a switch for me, could explain why he started to see and treat her differently

This season was just sad no happiness for none of the characters 😢

I felt a little sorry for him at the end because he wanted out and just needed the money to make her happy. But lots of things kept on spiralling. He went from being organised to sloppy in this season. He reminded me of Franklin Saint in the last season of snowfall, where he just had everything then lost his control, lost everything. I really thought he was going to get caught and get life, but I think they wanted to leave it so they’re dead and can’t ever bring it back.

All you’re seeing is that he was no longer a monster he was food

What a “snowfall” ending

I like to Compare Dushane to Franklin Saint in that we saw them both go from seemingly having it all together to crashing and burning in the worst ways possible, only difference is Franklin’s downfall was more drawn out and gradual, Dushane’s downfall was rapid.

Did they ever say why he ended up in jamaica.or why sully ended up arrested

Dushane was nowhere near his prime this season and at his lowest quite frankly but the show did a good job at portaying that. Can't be in your prime forever. Especially on the streets

All the plots from before must’ve been changed so much they deffo had other plans but actors and other people probaly had their say and it changed

This season was about Sully being in charge. So Dushane didnt need to be the main gangster..in the other seasons it was Sully who was more withdrawn and didn't say much

Dushane lost his drive it’s why he was so different S1 and summer house he was hungry to be on top make money do what he needed to do now he wanted to step back from the road when the money was right losing everything he worked for on the streets due to liz disappearing he just kinda gave up idk if it’s bad writing but the fact he didn’t clean up the scene after killing Jeffery due to knowing if he was even gonna make it out anyway without the money and it’s so true dushane has been in these situations so many times yet he loses all ability to fix it like he could for someone else he has no responsibility for himself but would treat people around him very intelligently it was a crazy season and a sad end to a legend

The producers of top boy should do a dallas..... and have that last season be a dream

What changed was that his heart was no longer in it.....Jamie was his retirement plan and when he was killed ......it was like he had no will to continue......That's why it was easy for sulley to take over with no fight......Then the idea of buying a chain of shops to clean the money was taken away.....then his money was taken away .....He lost everything so quickly he didn't have time to process everything....

1:24 I actually thought it was very in character for him to step down, they set that up in season 2, he was stressed and wanted to step back and let someone else take over so he could live a more peaceful life with Shelley. He wanted the new top boy to be Jamie but when sully killed him he was still happy to let sully take over as long as he got his cut.

What was with his mini heart attacks was that just his stress I thought it was gonna pay off a bit more

I was just legit talking to my work mate about this season and how poor his character was written for the finale

The heart thing was him having an anxiety attack not an actual heart problem

We just all saw a desperate Dushane who lost his way. I found it weird that everyone you wouldn’t expect to move like snakes, they all did over a bags of kilos.

People change and can get sloppy. You can’t expect someone to be on point 24/7

Now why df Chelly would even wanna open all those shops at once😒

I absolutely agree with how he acted with Shelly was out of character. I also don’t think he would kill Jeff, at least not in the manner he did.

Always thought the programme looked utter balls!

If I lost 15 million I’d be acting ruthless

the points made do make sense to an extent but still, he has gone through so much shit through all the seasons and when it all fell he couldnt possibly have his head right to be his usual calculated self, resulting in his panicked and rushed actions. it could not have been the old dushane and season 3 made perfect sense

The only thing I liked about the writing was how Dushanes true character was revealed. How selfish and arrogant he was. His estate tried to prevent one of his loyal employees from being deported and he got upset about it. His neurotic behaviour to try and bully and intimidate people into doing his bidding ended up backfiring each time.

Everyone was different in season three Jaq stole 15 keys from Sully like tf was she thinking 😂

it almost seems like they tried to do what snowfall did with franklin but they fucked up bc franklin and dushane are so different from each other

I hear what you're saying... Dushane changed because he Lost he's Mum... and he's Money... the Desperation Set In.... that added with the Heart Problems along with not being able to give Shelley the Financial Help for the Business. He got tired... and was questioning himself... also remembering what his Mother said to him before she died. Plus Sully... being a problem for him... because he could no longer Control him... at all. Yes... he was different... but he was still Deadly... and almost got away.

Thing is i think its realistic in a way, the man experienced some tragic losses, which can effect a man. Plus losing £16m quid will do things to a mans brain. That was the final stripping of his strength.

If anyone has watched snowfall, Dashane’s downfall reminded me a lot of Franklin. Cool calm and collected and then got more money and power hungry and eventually lost their minds, especially when the pair of them got their money stolen.

You gotta understand he’s older , he’s tired, he did all that work to get that money all those sacrifices, murders, he lost all fight when he got it taken, doing all that to get to the top then losing it all will make a man desperate and totally different

They made Dushane so soft in the Netflix reboot, they made him so soft, , why would he not immediately kill Jamie? it literally made so sense.

Truthfully that's the game. It's easy at first but as we grow some of us give in to emotions some don't. Especially in this hood shit. You grow u feel.

DuShane remind me of Franklin minus the death

I think it was too hurried. Jaq too - these moves made zero sense, even though people can give an 'explanation' as to why the characters made the decisions they made. I would have preferred to have seem their demise through their weak/blind spots instead of uncharacteristic actions

He was harsh towards shelley, but its cuz he cared and wanted to provide for himself and her, yk he wanted her to be happy and have that shop he was happy just at the start, but then evrything went downhill and he got more and more desperate so that led to him making alot of mistakes and eventually his downfall so it was different but it made sense cuz he was just so desperate

Dushanbe had a Franklyn saint type of desperation that ruined him 😂😂😂