Abhiroop Das
Created by Éric and Capucine Rochant, Netflix’s ‘Bandi’ chronicles the story of the Lafleur siblings, whose lives are turned upside down after the death of their mother. Rendered orphans, the siblings find their once unshakeable bond now fraught with uncertainties, and this prompts some of the older kids to take matters into their own hands. While some, like Milord, take to organized crime as a way of amassing wealth and respect, Kingsley, the third eldest son, has very different ideas. Together with his ragtag band of friends, he decides to rob anything and everything of value, even if it means putting his own life in danger at every turn. By the final episode of this crime drama series, Kinglsey realizes that his drastic choices have now circled back with even more drastic consequences, which leaves everything at stake. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Kingsley is Hanging to Life by a Thread, But is Most Likely Still Doomed
The final scene of ‘Bandi’ season 1 shows Kingsley move one of his fingers, confirming that the initial blow of the accident was not enough to kill him. However, it still leaves him with mangled limbs and a barely functioning body, which means that he might just be minutes away from death. In addition to that, there is a good chance that he has multiple bullets lodged in his body, and with no help arriving any time soon, only a miracle can save his life. As things stand, the most likely scenario here is that a passerby catches sight of him and gets him the medical care he so urgently needs. However, even that best-case scenario leads directly into another, bigger problem, that of Kingsley getting arrested for good.
Though Kingsley’s survival of the assassination attempt almost sounds unbelievable at first, it makes sense when we take context into account. To begin with, he was hit on a moving bike, which likely rules out the chances of a clean, critical hit. Though the two attackers tried to double down with multiple shots, we don’t actually see any of the bullets land. As such, the most worrisome thing right now is Kingsley’s huge fall off the cliff, which not only breaks a number of his bones but also probably leaves him hard to reach. Almost ironically, the rest of the Lafleur siblings zoom past that exact spot not long after, unaware of their brother’s fate. To that end, it will probably take someone actively looking for Kinglsey for him to be found and saved.
Kingsley’s Arc is a Cautionary Tale About Feeding Into the Cycle of Bloodshed
Kingsley’s shooting is drenched in a palpable sense of irony, in that it is a child who takes the shot. In episode 1, Kingsley sets up his own little brother, Leo, to take a person’s life, and now it feels like that act has returned to haunt him. In both cases, the real tragedy is that of children giving into the cycle of violence, knowing that it is bound to breed more death and destruction. Things hit particularly close to home when we take into account Milord’s conclusion this season. While in the car, and possibly around the exact spot where his brother fell, Milord throws off his ring, signaling a complete severance from the Lafleur set of values his mother instilled in him.
In a way, Milord’s symbolic rejection of a simpler, more righteous life has a real-time consequence through Kingsley’s fate. During the fall, Kingsley also ends up losing the key to the ferry that is scheduled to get him to safety. This essentially means that, even if he survives by pure chance, he now has no way to make it out of Martinique and away from the cops’ attention. What’s worse is that Milord will likely interpret his brother’s lack of contact as an intentional move to stay well-hidden, which means that it might take him months, or even years, to realize that something has gone terribly wrong. The two brothers’ criss-crossed paths have been leading to doom from the very start of the show, and though all narrative signs point towards Kingsley surviving the attack, that doesn’t mean that life will begin looking up for him or his siblings any time soon.
Read More: Is Netflix’s Bandi Based on a True Story?
