The limited crime series Black Rabbit landed on Netflix on Sept. 18, quickly rising to No. 1 on the streamer’s Top 10 list. This gripping show pulls viewers into a world of high-stakes crime, with Jude Law playing Jake Friedken and Jason Bateman as his volatile brother Vince. The fantastic ensemble cast also includes Amaka Okafor (Roxie), Sope Dirisu (Wes), Cleopatra Coleman (Estelle) and Troy Kotsur (Joe Mancuso). Whether you’ve finished the series or are still catching up, you’re likely wondering about the Black Rabbit ending explained. Read on for a breakdown of how the story concludes and the key moments you need to know.
What is ‘Black Rabbit’ about?
At its heart, Black Rabbit is about family loyalty colliding with ambition and deeply seeded secrets, as Tudum explains. Jake Friedman is the responsible brother who works hard to transform Black Rabbit, which is a stylish restaurant and nightclub in New York, into more of a legitimate success. By contrast, his older brother Vince, has led a very different life. This has included burning bridges through countless reckless choices, including gambling debts, failed business partnerships and ties to some dangerous figures.
When Vince resurfaces, his troubles quickly become Jake’s problems too, causing family wounds to reopen. Along the way, employees, rivals and underworld players are all swept into the fallout. Ultimately, Black Rabbit traces how far loyalty can really stretch before it snaps. But it also explores whether either brother can truly break free of the past.
What happens to Jules?
Jules Zablonski (John Ales) is a wealthy artist and a regular at the Black Rabbit establishment. As viewers learn, his flashy presence hides some pretty predatory behavior. Throughout the series, he spikes drinks and assaults women, including bartender Anna. But his misconduct doesn’t just reveal his corruption – it also shows how powerful men can exploit nightlife spaces. Unsurprisingly, Black Rabbit showcases how the people around Jules look the other way, despite his truly villainous behavior.
Jake, as the owner of Black Rabbit, is caught in the middle of things. Protecting Jules means protecting the restaurant’s reputation and profitability. But ignoring Anna’s claims chips away at Jake’s integrity. So, this moral tug of war exposes Jake’s own complicity. He wants to be seen as the respectable brother and business owner, and yet he compromises when it suits him. Anna’s attempts to speak out about the matter bring Jules’ crimes closer to public view, which escalates the danger around her.
By the finale of Black Rabbit, the truth catches up with Jules. The incriminating security footage Jake holds becomes a bargaining chip in the larger web of debts and leverage. That evidence then leads to Jules’ arrest, which provides one of the few moments of clear justice in a story otherwise filled with unresolved pain. So, in this way, Jules’ fate represents both the dangers of unchecked privilege and the cost of silence when people in power abuse it.
Why was Anna killed in ‘Black Rabbit’?
Anna Dixon (Abbey Lee) is a bartender at the Black Rabbit who becomes a victim of a tragic turning point in the story, as Decider reports. After being drugged by Jules, she tries to expose him. And while Jake initially hesitates to confront the problem, Anna’s courage in speaking out draws attention. As the scandal threatens to spill into the press, the criminal network that is connected to Vince and Jules’ fixer Campbell (Morgan Spector) takes steps to silence her.
It seems things are solved when she is bribed with a plane ticket to Mexico and a chance to start a new life. But in episode four of Black Rabbit, Junior (Forrest Weber), the son of a mob figure, and his enforcer Babbitt (Chris Coy) break into Anna’s apartment to intimidate her. The confrontation spirals out of control and ends with Anna fatally striking her head. Though her death is portrayed as an accident, which really underscores the series’ critique of how those who are vulnerable are often crushed by the powerful.
Explaining Trevor’s paralysis
The series also reveals a painful piece of backstory in episode three. Trevor, who was once a Black Rabbit employee and partner in crime of Vince, is living with paralysis after a rooftop accident years earlier. The incident happened when Trevor and Vince attempted a cocaine-fueled reckless rooftop stunt. Although Vince managed to catch himself at the last second, Trevor wasn’t so lucky. He fell and suffered a life-altering spinal injury. Ultimately, Trevor’s injury becomes a wedge that shapes the brothers’ futures. Trevor blames Vince for egging him on and coming out unscathed.
The injury also triggered a lawsuit and financial strain. This eventually forced Vince out of business with Black Rabbit and left Jake running it alone. So, this fallout created lasting bitterness between Vince and Trevor and also the Friedken brothers themselves. With Jake seeing Vince as somewhat of a liability, this situation illuminates Vince’s reckless streak. It also sets up one of the show’s recurring motifs, which makes a return in the finale: that rooftops are dangerous thresholds.
What happens at the end of ‘Black Rabbit’?
Jake and Vince, both desperate to pay off the latter’s mounting debts to the Mancuso crime mob, hatch a dangerous plan. They stage a lavish event at Black Rabbit, which lures in wealthy guests wearing expensive things. Then they scheme to use the chaos of a staged robbery to settle what Vince owes. But the plan quickly unravels.
Some rivals clash during the event, gunfire erupts, and in the middle of all the commotion, Wes is fatally wounded. Then Junior, determined to take control, lashes out, which forces Vince to kill him in order to protect Jake. In the aftermath of the botched heist, Vince goes on the run. Mancuso seizes the opportunity to kidnap Vince’s daughter Gen, which pressures Jake to deliver.
To bargain for her release, Jake turns to the incriminating security footage of Jules. While using the footage as leverage, he pressures Campbell, Jules’ fixer, to help. But the betrayals and double crosses keep piling up, and their plan to escape spirals out of control. The drama culminates on the rooftop of Black Rabbit – the same place haunted by Vince and Trevor’s past. There, Vince confesses the deepest secret he has been carrying for years. He reveals that years earlier, he killed their abusive dad by dropping a bowling ball on his head. But surprisingly, Jake reveals that he had known all along.
Do Jake and Vince survive?
This is where things take a turn, as Radio Times reports. Vince then calls the police to report his location before making one final, irreversible choice. He leaps from the rooftop and ends his life in front of his own brother. After all of this stress and trauma, Jake tries to salvage what he can from all the mess that went down. He hands over the aforementioned footage to the authorities, which ensures that Jules is finally arrested for his crimes.
Then, Roxie, who is no longer tied to the Friedken brothers’ chaos, opens up her own restaurant named Anna’s, which is a heartwarming tribute. Elsewhere, Jake steps away from having such high ambitions and returns to bartending. In a poignant final scene, Mancuso pays a visit to Jake. As viewers know, their history would suggest it is a visit where retribution is imminent, but he recognizes Jake’s grief and chooses to spare him. So, for the first time, all the violence stops, and the ending is both devastating and redemptive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Black Rabbit based on a real restaurant?
In conversation with The New York Times, series co-creators (and real-life couple) Zach Baylin and Kate Susman confirmed the on-screen eatery is inspired by hotspots in the Big Apple. Specifically, the Spotted Pig, which closed in 2020, caught the pair’s attention.
Will there be a season two of Black Rabbit?
As Esquire points out, Black Rabbit has been billed as a miniseries, suggesting Netflix subscribers likely won’t see a second season of Vince and Jake’s antics.
