Whose ears weren’t pricked up by hearing about Jude Law and Jason Bateman being tapped to play estranged brothers in Netflix’s new drama “Black Rabbit”?
We 100 percent bounced into that limited series the minute it dropped Sept. 18. So did the rockers-turned-restaurateurs patch up their differences and find a happily ever after?
Spoiler alert: Yes, and no. “Rabbit” took viewers down a long, twisting road of broken relationships, bad debts, and family trauma. So how did things end up for Vince (Bateman) and Jake (Law) in the end?
Here’s what we know. Warning, even more spoilers lie ahead!
What Is ‘Black Rabbit’ About?
When “Black Rabbit” begins, Jake and Vince haven’t seen each other in years. (There are a lot of time-jump flashbacks so we can see where and how things went wrong.)
The bros used to be in a somewhat popular band together (watching Law do Kurt Cobain-esque grunge is a particular treat), but after that ended they poured their hearts and money into a restaurant/VIP lounge called Black Rabbit based in Brooklyn, right by the iconic bridge.

But demons from his past have let Vince rack up several sorts of trouble, including substance abuse and debts — and years ago he fled New York City, leaving a daughter, his brother, the restaurant and those debts behind.
Meanwhile, Jake has been working hard to turn Black Rabbit into the next “it” restaurant while also turning a blind eye to activities among his shadier patrons in the upstairs lounge. Throughout the series he bounces between relationships with his ex-wife; his bartender Anna (who is drugged and 𝑠e𝑥ually assaulted by art gallery owner Jules, played by John Ales); Joe, an old family friend (and small-time mob boss played by Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur); Wes (Sope Dirisu), one of his investors in the restaurant, and Roxie (Amaka Okafor), his talented chef, among many others.
When Vince returns to town after burning bridges out West, though, the juggling act Jake has been starting to master crumbles bit by bit — thanks in part to Vince’s outstanding debts with Joe.
Why Did Vince and Jake Have Problems with Each Other?
Money is the current-day problem for both brothers — Vince owes Mancuso, who alternates between trying to make it right with him and sending his bumbling, vicious henchmen (Junior, played by Forrest Weber; and Babbit, played by Chris Coy) after him, while Jake keeps juggling funds to try and take over the kitchen at a classic New York City restaurant (the real-life, former Four Seasons).

But both are plagued by issues dating back to childhood. Viewers learn early on that their parents are no longer in the picture, and that their childhood home has to be cleaned out and sold (again, to give them some liquid cash) — and they know the Friedken brothers’ father died many years ago.
What viewers don’t know until the end of the series is just how their father died — and why.
Turns out that the brothers’ parents had a tumultuous relationship that came to a head one night when their father abused their mother … and Vince tried protecting her by dropping a bowling ball on their father’s head. For years he thought he’d saved Jake from knowing what happened, but Jake admits he did witness what happened, but said nothing.
What Happened to Anna?
Bartender Anna is one of the true tragedies of the story. Sexually assaulted at the club early on, she refuses to come back to work. Jake, not knowing at the time what happened, fires her.
Over time, the chance that she might tell her story to a reporter leads to two separate sets of visitors: Campbell, lawyer of the art gallery dealer who raped her (“The Gilded Age’s” Morgan Spector), who convinces her to leave the country — and Babbit and Junior.
Babbit and Junior, sent by Vince, show up as she’s preparing to go to the airport. As she tries to escape them, she falls and hits her head in the bathroom, which kills her.
Who Are the ‘Black Rabbit’ Robbers?
The idea to rob the Rabbit originates with Jake, who knows there will be valuable jewelry in the Rabbit on a particular night, and that the jewelry can be turned into cash to pay for various debts.
But he backs out of the plan, thinking it will collapse without him. Junior and Vince go forward with it, storming the restaurant wearing masks and waving guns.
How Does ‘Black Rabbit’ End?
Before Vince left town originally, he and a co-worker/friend named Trevor (Michael Patrick Thornton) drunkenly dared one another to leap from one building to another, and while Vince dodged the jump at the last minute, his friend was seriously injured.
Trevor relates this story in front of a crowd at the Rabbit early on in the series, ending with, “So as I see it, you owe me a jump.”

This might seem like a passing mention — but in the series’ final episode, as everything crashes down around the brothers, Vince and Jake both have to reckon with the decisions they’d made, and their relationships. Trying to outrun the cops, the brothers take a moment to finally confess their sins to one another — including Vince telling Jake, “I killed our dad.” And Jake saying, “I know.”
The pair end up on the roof of the Rabbit with the walls closing in. Vince calls in his location to the police and confesses to his recent crimes and some old ones. Jake tries to tell him they’d figure it all out and everything would be fine, but Vince says, “I should have untied you years ago,” then looks out at the Brooklyn Bridge and notes, “I owe a jump.”
A moment later, when Jake turns his back on Vince for a moment — Vince pays his debt, purposefully falling backwards off the roof.
As the series concludes, Jake listens to his brother on old tapes they’d made when they were in the band, then later goes back to work as a bartender at someone else’s restaurant while Ella Fitzgerald’s classic “Manhattan” plays in the background.