Netflix series Top Boy will go down as one of the greatest ever

Netflix series Top Boy will go down as one of the greatest everTop Boy stunned Netflix viewers with an emotional finale that might be hard to beat by any series ever again. Why haven't you watched it yet?

by James Freemantle

05-10-2023 16:03

in Culture

Dushane is the hardened criminal running Summerhouse. Image: TechRadar

Netflix users have been raving about the much-acclaimed Top Boy and it's easy to see why. If you haven't seen it yet, what's wrong with you bruv?

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What is Top Boy? Set in the hostile housing estates of East London, Top Boy follows the lives of all those trying to survive in a community ruled by drug gangs and violent crime. Dushane Hill, the story's suave and clinical main protagonist, is hell-bent on becoming the Top Boy of Summerhouse and staying there.

Netflix hit the jackpot with Dushane, Sully and co Dushane and Sully, long-time friends and apparently the two men at the top of the tree, alternate between brotherly bonding moments and utter distrust. There's no surprise there, with money and power at the top of both their agendas. The series is at once brutal, touching, tender, gritty and heartbreaking. What really sets Top Boy apart from a series of its kind, both past and present, is that many prominent characters got handed their first acting roles in it. As if the show needed any more authenticity.

Long-time friends Dushane and Sully run Summerhouse in brutal fashion. Image: Digital Spy

Top Boy has it all Violence, romance, drama and all of the usual things you expect from a critically acclaimed series are all there. The music, the cinematography, the realness and relatable human emotion, as well as the poignant and sometimes starkly depressing societal commentary, make it a unique package. Top Boy's writing is sensationally good to the point that it makes you see the honour, humanity and integrity possessed by cold-blooded killers and apex predators of the drug scene.

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Jamie fights for family Young Jamie, played by Michael Ward, must look after his two younger brothers after both their parents died. He must be their protector and breadwinner in his early 20s while still juggling his own life and ambitions. Jamie emerges early in the third season as a precocious pretender to Dushane's throne in Summerhouse, where you quickly discover the charming lad will do anything for his blood. Family is everything, even for the most hardened characters in Top Boy.

Jamie with his brothers Aaron and Stef. Image: NME

It's been quite a journey Top Boy: Summerhouse, the first two seasons of the show comprising eight episodes, debuted in October 2011. The fifth and final series of this gripping show had its emotional finale play out just last month, in September 2023. Why the huge gap in their CV?

That's a rap The initial plan was for the show not to return after its first two seasons, but Canadian rapper Drake got involved. He took to his Instagram to punt the show, helping to revive interest in it and Netflix picked it up. Drake would serve as an executive producer. Dushane, played by Ashley Walters, is a member of So Solid Crew, a UK garage and hip-hop collective originating in the late 90s. Sully is played by Kane Brett Robinson, aka Kano, and he's also a prominent rapper. A few other characters on the show also have burgeoning careers in the music business.

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Jax. Image: Mashable

I'm not crying, you're crying A poignant line from Sully in the season 5 finale goes like this: To be honest, Stefan, feeling left me a long time ago.

Go and find your ex's Netflix logins and watch Top Boy, because it will be spoken about for years and decades to come.

The ever-unpredictable Sully. Image: Decider

Meanwhile, hit up James Freemantle for more stuff on sports and popular culture.

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