Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Government Cheese’ ends with a tumultuous finale for the protagonist, Hampton Chambers, who experiences a continued chain of bizarre experiences, but not without consequences. At the end of the previous episode, Astoria discovered his involvement in the robbery at Temple Hillel, which puts a lot of things into perspective for her, including the fact that her husband has not changed one bit. Despite his repeated declarations of having become a reformed man who wants to focus on his family and provide for them, the core of his character remains the same, and he cannot help but get into trouble. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Hampton’s Mistakes Drive Astoria Away for Good
In some ways, Astoria always knew what kind of man Hampton was. She knew he cared for his loved ones, but at the same time, he was too self-centered to see how he was using everyone he said he loved. She points this out to him during their argument, where she confronts him about the robbery and all the lies he concocted to cover it up. Before the cops showed up at her door, she was almost convinced that her husband had changed, and she could give him another chance. In fact, she was so convinced that she had second thoughts about taking the designer job in San Francisco, a dream she had held on to her entire life.
However, now that it’s clear that Hampton has not changed his ways, she decides to pack her bags. For a minute, she has doubts about leaving her sons behind. At first, she thought she could trust Hampton to take care of them. But now, she wonders how she can leave the boys alone with their father, who doesn’t seem to have any sense of responsibility. However, Einstein and Harrison convince her that she needs to focus on herself this time, as they are old enough to take care of themselves. Encouraged by their words, she decides to go for the interview.
The next morning, Hampton wakes up with the intention of fixing everything. He had the pictures from the fishing trip with his son as an alibi for the robbery, so he didn’t really worry about the cops. However, there was the issue of the Prevost brothers and the money he still owes them. The day before, he’d shown up at Rocketcorp and ambushed its owner, Mr. Dremel, into buying Bit Magician, his self-sharpening drill, with a little help from Einstein. However, when he shows up at the office the next day to collect his advance check, he is told that in order to work with the company, he has to fill out the form and wait for six weeks before they can vet him. Even then, there is no guarantee that he will be cleared to work with them. In any case, they cannot give him the money instantly, which leaves Hampton with no option to clear his debt with the Prevost brothers.
Is Jean-Guy Dead?
When a dejected Hampton walks out of Rocketcorp, he crosses paths with the fisherman who almost stole his money. This time, the mysterious man tells him to walk into the belly of the beast, having faith in god that everything will be fixed. Hampton doesn’t completely understand this, but he does it nonetheless. He drives to the Prevost farm, where he sits in front of the brothers and accepts that he doesn’t have the money. He knows that they are already thinking about killing him, so he turns to Jean-Guy and offers him the drill. Earlier, Jean-Guy sought him out in person with the deal of buying his drill in exchange for clearing his debt. What Hampton didn’t know was that the guy was making this offer without his brothers’ knowledge.
His intent was to earn their respect by providing them with a profitable and legitimate business, like the drill. So, when Hampton agrees to give him the drill in front of everyone, he is caught off guard. His brothers start questioning him, which leads to an argument that escalates pretty quickly. By now, Hampton is too confused to figure out what has happened, and before he knows it, he is being thrown out of the house and into the trunk of Jean-Guy’s car. Jean-He and his brothers are still shouting, a word which Hampton does not understand. But it is clear that Jean-Guy’s brothers are not happy with him, and the only reason they haven’t killed him is because of the rule that they cannot kill a brother.
As Jean-Guy backs up the car, Hampton finds a small knife in the trunk and tries to use it to make an opening for himself into the backseat. Before he can figure out how to do it, his captor crashes the car, the impact of which throws him in the backseat and pushes the knife into the back of Jean-Guy’s head. One would think that the Prevost brothers would definitely kill Hampton now that he has killed their brother. But their twisted logic means that Hampton has executed justice for Jean-Guy’s betrayal and avenged them because they couldn’t have done it themselves. With this, he has cleared his debt and is free to go.
Is Hampton Caught? Will He Go to Prison?
After the divine intervention that frees him of the Prevost brothers, Hampton drives back home but remembers that he still has to deal with the cops. He has the pictures as evidence to prove his innocence, so he goes to the police station, only to find Astoria there. She reveals that she gave a false alibi to the cops by telling them that she was there with him and Harrison on the fishing trip. Before he can confuse it with her forgiving her, she makes it clear that she is still going to San Francisco. She helped clear his name because she doesn’t want her sons to see their father go back to prison all over again.
When Hampton goes back home, he sees that Astoria isn’t the only one who has walked away from him. Neither of his sons is at home at the moment. Earlier that day, Harrison drove out to witness the solstice ceremony of the Chumash people, which he’d found out about from Rudy. There, he meets Rudy’s nephew and discovers that the man he revered and respected died in a prison riot. This is another secret that his father kept from him, which makes Harrison hate him even more. After the ceremony, he is still at the top of the mountain where he lets go of the feather Rudy gave him.
The fact that he hasn’t returned home in the evening shows that he might not be so intent on living under his father’s care, and instead, might choose to be with Rudy’s family. Meanwhile, Einstein is at the Devonshire Downs concert with Minnie, and he isn’t back home either. At the end of the day, Hampton finds himself all alone in the house and goes to the roof to look around and take in the day and the shocking events that transpired in quick succession. Being alone in his house gives him the space to reflect on his actions and how, despite his best efforts, he is back to square one, but this time, he has distanced himself from his wife and children so much that he might not get them back again.
Read More: Is Government Cheese Based on a True Story? When Does It Take Place?
