Spoilers: The Chaotic Ending to Netflix's 'The Waterfront' Explained

Here we go, folks: What’s become a regular feature in these parts: Explaining the end of last week’s top streaming show is back, this time for The Waterfront. It’s not exactly a mystery, so it’s not quite as fun to spoil, but I already know a few of our regular readers bailed early — some before the Topher Grace episodes. And to that I say: You wouldn’t have quit if you’d made it that far!

The setup: The Buckleys own a fishery and restaurant, but the only way to get out of debt is by using their fishing boats to run drugs, which is an obviously terrible idea. There’s Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany), the hard-drinking, womanizing patriarch with a bad ticker who had sworn off the drug trade after it got his father killed. Then there’s Cane Buckley (Jake Weary), a young Joshua Jackson lookalike who dragged the family back into the business to save their land and livelihood from the bank. Cane’s also stuck in a miserable marriage to the cold and controlling Peyton (Danielle Campbell), while carrying a torch for his high school sweetheart, Jenna (Humberly González).

There’s Belle Buckley (Maria Bello), the savvy matriarch who runs the restaurant and has a solid head for business. She tries to resolve their financial woes by striking a deal with a developer, Wes (Dave Annable), with whom she also starts sleeping. Then there’s Bree Buckley (Melissa Benoist), the alcoholic daughter/sister who lost custody of her son and is sleeping with a DEA agent she’s trying to manipulate into arresting Cane. Finally, we meet Shawn West (Rafael L. Silva), Harlan’s illegitimate son, working as the restaurant’s bartender while secretly trying to connect with his biological father and new family.

Here’s what goes down: Things spiral when two of Cane’s guys are killed by their middleman, who turns out to be crooked sheriff Clyde Porter (Michael Gaston). Harlan ends up killing Clyde and replaces him with his wife’s cousin, giving the Buckleys control over local law enforcement. That pretty much insulates them from legal consequences —except from Bree’s DEA boyfriend.

But once Bree learns the agent is targeting her whole family, she turns on him. She exploits his heroin addiction, leaving him with enough to overdose, removing the last legal threat. That leaves two problems: Wes, who double-crosses Belle and calls in the debt on the land; and Grady (Topher Grace), the drug-supply kingpin and total sociopath.

Grady tries to strong-arm Harlan into compliance, but Harlan resists, setting off a bloody turf war that kills a few redshirts. With no other option, the Buckleys strike a deal with a bigger drug family, the Parkers. But Grady kills two of the Parkers’ men in retaliation.

Eventually, Grady kidnaps Bree — and accidentally, her son Diller — and holds them hostage on his yacht to force Harlan’s hand. Chaos ensues: Bree gets thrown overboard, but Diller helps her survive by tossing her a lifeboat. Cane and Shawn storm the yacht, and Harlan ultimately kills Grady with a bullet to the head. RIP the best reason to watch The Waterfront.

With Grady dead, the Buckleys are finally free. Cane returns to Peyton. Bree survives and begins to heal her relationship with the family. Shawn earns their trust and is embraced as a Buckley. And in a season-ending move, Belle cuts a private deal with the Parkers: she’ll run the Buckley operation going forward, but she doesn’t tell Harlan. In return, the Parkers torture Wes and neutralize the threat of foreclosure.

That’s the broad outline. There’s plenty of juicy, soapy drama not covered here that makes The Waterfront a blast to watch, but what matters most for the finale (and for next season) is this: the Buckleys survive, Grady’s gone, the family business is safe (for now), and Belle is now secretly calling the shots.