Critics say they’re blown away by Top Boy’s final season – as they call the ‘chaotic, ultra-violent’ episodes ‘TV at it’s best’

• WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
• Top Boy’s final series has premiered on Netflix to rave reviews from critics  
• READ MORE: Top Boy fans laud ‘powerful’ ending to the last ever series

Critics have been blown away by Netflix‘s Top Boy, with some calling it ‘TV at it’s best’ despite the ‘chaotic and ultra-violent’ episodes which wrap up the show. 

Top Boy is a crime drama which has wowed audiences around the world as it  takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the stories of those who live in the ends. 

It’s a look at the paradoxical aspiration and realities of those who are marginalised by society yet form a tight-knit community as they try to better their lives on the estate. 

The programme is set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in Hackney, London and focuses on two drug dealers in particular, Dushane and Sully. 

Dushane is played by British actor Ashley Walters and Sully is played by actor and rapper Kane Robinson, also known as Kano. 

The series first aired in 2011 and was first produced by Channel 4, but the broadcaster dropped the show after the second series. 

Top Boy is a crime drama that takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the lives of those who live in the ends

However, following interest from Canadian rapper Drake, Netflix then decided to take on Top Boy, going on to produce series three, four and five with the original cast, with the singer as an executive producer. 

Despite the bumpy start to the production of Top Boy, it seems it has come a long way since then, with critics thoroughly impressed with how it has ended. 

Here is a taste of what critics have to say… 

THE TELEGRAPH

Rating:

The Telegraph’s Jasper Rees gives the series five stars and says that whilst the first episode starts with the thought of hope, ‘it’s a cast-iron rule with Top Boy that whenever anyone has a smile on their face, it won’t be there for long.’ 

He wrote that director, Myriam Raja’s biggest challenge ‘is a teeming set piece in which Summerhouse residents protest to thwart a Home Office deportation. 

‘Perhaps a storyline inspired by the Windrush Scandal feels a bit behind the curve. 

‘Not so a script that entraps a fresh generation of children and even babies. While this addictive saga will exit with a satisfying bang, that’s the real story that never ends.’

THE GUARDIAN

Rating:

Leila Latif for The Guardian reviewed the last series and also gave it five stars, describing the last episodes as ‘chaotic and ultra-violent.’

She wrote that despite the fact that Top Boy is compared to HBO’s modern classic The Wire, ‘it doesn’t crumble under the weight of its US counterpart.’

She continued by saying: ‘In the final episode, Top Boy serves its audience all the chaos, violence and scope its long-gestating tensions have promised. 

‘The camera rarely pauses and the dialogue is sparse as the estate descends into chaos. Monologues and farewells are expertly delivered, and violence is depicted with the full weight of human loss.’

THE EVENING STANDARD

Rating:

The review, penned by Nick Clark, started by writing ‘thank goodness for Drake’ as he helped bring attention to the show, which ultimately led to its revival by streaming giant Netflix. 

He wrote: ‘What has always elevated Top Boy is that it was not just about the drugs and the guns, the gang culture and the money, but it’s about the families, friends and communities too. 

‘It’s a show that touches on real social issues from police and politicians’ treatment of those in the estates to gentrification, Brexit to immigration.’

Clark also says that the series goes at ‘breakneck pace’ and that viewers may be left wondering how they will wrap everything up in such a short space of time.

But he reassured them that they do manage it and ‘it’s done brilliantly.’ 

THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Rating:

Dan Einav starts his review by recapping on last season’s savage finale – when Sully murdered rival Jamie (Micheal Ward) in front of his siblings. 

Commenting on this season, he wrote: ‘As ever, Top Boy transcends gang matters to consider its wider impact and contexts. 

‘A quasi-novelistic saga of the streets, it continues to immerse us in a fragile community and to probe failing social systems. 

‘Thoughtful writing and instinctual performances meanwhile give real human texture to supporting characters — not least Jasmine Jobson’s drug dealer Jaq, who sees how the life that sustains her destroys those she loves most.’

THE INDEPENDENT 

Rating:

Nick Hilton’s review for The Independent states that the six-part final series ‘feels altogether more nightmarish,’ as the hopes and dreams of young men are consumed by ‘needless violence.’ 

He also wrote: ‘There an inescapability to Northern Irish writer Ronan Bennett’s vision of London’s criminal underworld.

‘Dushane is eating in fancy restaurants and spending millions on a nail shop chain, but a few scenes later he’s smashing someone’s head in. 

‘There is something inexorable about the way that this final season of Top Boy ends in civil unrest, gunfights and dead men. “We are not monsters,” Sully observes, tearfully. “We’re food.”.’

THE RADIO TIMES

Rating:

Morgan Jeffery rated the final series four stars and commented on how it has fewer secondary plots compared to previous seasons. 

Jeffery says that series five focuses in on four characters, Dushane, Sully, Jaq (Jasmine Jobson) and Stefan (Araloyin Oshunremi). 

Jeffery writes: ‘[They] mostly take centre stage, a more focused approach that allows the show to wring every last drop of rage, upset and anguish out of this talented quartet of performers.’

While some fans may be disappointed their favourite television series has come to the end, The Radio Times reviewer wrote: ‘This was certainly the right time to wrap things up – there’s only so many times we can see Dushane and Sully at loggerheads before circumstances once again force them back into an uneasy partnership, the characters themselves even remarking on the familiarity of that premise here – but regardless, Top Boy and its captivating characters will be sorely missed.’

THE i

Rating:

TV Editor Emily Baker says that Top Boy ‘isn’t afraid to take its fans to the darkest parts of the gang lifestyle. 

Commenting on Stef’s character development, she wrote: ‘Stef’s transformation from an unassuming geek to a gangster is difficult to watch but the all-too-familiar story of a young boy turning to a life of violence is handled without judgement and with pathos by the 19-year-old actor. 

‘That Stef is venturing into his first romantic relationship makes his trajectory all the more tragic.’

She writes about the attention to detail and noted that even ‘even the smallest subplots are told with passion and, at times, righteous anger.’

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