A Thousand Blows Season 1 Ending Explained: What Happens To Hez After That Boxing Match?

The following contains spoilers for A Thousand Blows, now streaming on HuluA Thousand Blows comes to a surprisingly harsh cliffhanger in the season finale following Hezekiah's fateful boxing match. Set in London during the early days of boxing as a globally recognized sport, the show follows a number of characters who reside at the intersection of the growing athletic field and the criminal underworld that operates in the city. A Thousand Blows' cast of characters are constantly caught in one another's machinations and power plays, all while people like Hezekiah Moscow and Mary Carr try to carve out their own lives free of expectations.

Unfortunately, the contradictory goals of friends and rivals alike leave both Hez and Mary in a dark place at the end of the season. Despite their growing feelings for one another, the loss of important friends to either betrayal or death further isolates them as the storyline goes on. The result is a cliffhanger ending that's emotionally devastating for the characters and sets them all up to become less constrained and more dangerous as Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight sets up A Thousand Blows for an even more explosive season 2.

What Hez Killing His Opponent In A Thousand Blows' Boxing Match Means

Hez Killing His Opponent In The Ring Complicates A Lot Of Factors In His Life

A Thousand Blows' season 1 finale throws the lives of Hezekiah and Mary into disarray after Hez accidentally kills a fellow boxer. In the aftermath of Alec's death and Lao's arrest, Hez was left lost in his grief. This comes to a head when he faces off with an American champion in the ring. Although a clean victory or throwing the match for the American's manager would earn him plenty of money, Hez allows his anger to drive him, especially after his opponent makes racially charged comments. Hez goes all out, inadvertently killing his opponent in the ring.

While Hez had been growing in esteem as a boxer in London, this turn of events might risk his growing popularity with the locals. It also prevents him from gaining the money he needs to flee London with Mary, something that he loses any interest in after learning from Sugar that Mary is aware of who killed Alec. Hez is now adrift in London. While he may still have some connections across the city like Victoria Davies, the preview for season 2 suggests that his actions will keep him in the boxing ring while seeking vengeance outside of it.

Why Mary's Gang Turns Against Her & Will Hez Forgive Her?

Mary Ends Season 1 Without Many Of Her Allies

Mary's big plan in A Thousand Blows season 1 is a heist of valuables being brought to the English government from China. However, the overall lack of value from the heist, as well as growing issues between her gang and Lao killing one of the Chinese reperantives, leads Mary to be usurped by her lieutenant Eliza. Things are made even worse when her mother Jane and crime lord Indigo Jeremy disagree with Mary's plans and attempt to have Hez killed as a consequence of her actions. This is what results in Alec's death as a result of a misunderstanding.

While Mary ends season 1 retreating from her lover, it's likely that her lack of options will also make her more fearless in her efforts to escape London.

Mary ends season 1 largely isolated, as only her protege Alice remains by her side. Even her love for Hez is spurned when he discovers the truth about Alec's death. Enraged that she kept the truth from him, Hez tells an openly weeping Mary that she is "dead" to him, throwing off any hope she had of starting a new life with him after his victory in the boxing ring. While Mary ends season 1 retreating from her lover, it's likely that her lack of options will also make her more fearless in her efforts to escape London.

Sugar's Family Drama, Explained

Sugar And His Brother Come To Blows, And It Doesn't Go Well

Sugar Goodson is established early in A Thousand Blows as a dangerous man who knows how to operate on the border of the criminal elements of the city, and whose love for Mary further escalates his tensions with Hez. His closest relationship in the show is with his brother Treacle. However, that fraternal love doesn't spare Treacle Sugar's wraith, especially when his comments about Sugar's love for Mary become increasingly pointed. Sugar ends up attacking his brother and beats him so brutally that he ends up in the hospital.

Characters in A Thousand Blows with two looking at each other

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Regretful of his actions, Sugar accepts that his brother no longer wants anything to do with him and even goes to give him complete control of their pub. However, this plan is at least stalled by the arrival of Jane. This plays into Jane's efforts to keep Mary in London by using Sugar to turn Hez against Mary, ruining the latter's attempts to flee the city. Sugar's darker side wins out in A Thousand Blows season 1, but his season 2 storyline may further explore the limits of his vindictive nature.

Mr. Lao's Arrest & Escape Plan Explained

Mr. Lao Could Become An Important Ally In Future Storylines

In the morally murky world of A Thousand Blows, Mr. Lao is one of the few overtly kind characters. Whereas most other players in the narrative are focused solely on their self-interests, Mr. Lao extends a friendship to Hez and only reluctantly works as a part of Mary's conspiracy. However, the heist is seriously complicated when Lao murders part of the Chinese delegation, as they had been involved in the slaughter of Lao's village. As the authorities crack down on the criminal underworld looking for Lao, Mary is forced to use Hez's knowledge of Lao to get him arrested.

However, Mary also repays Lao's services and friendship with Hez by breaking him out of prison. With the help of Alice in the season's final episode, Mary is able to fake Lao's death and sneak him out of confinement, even setting up a false identity for him in Manchester. This serves as a reminder of Mary's genuine bonds peeking through her deceptive external layer and gives Lao a potential means of escaping the dangers of London. It also means that Mary and Hez have an ally outside the city that they can turn to in times of trouble.

What Real-Life History Reveals For A Thousand Blows Season 2's Story

Hez And Sugar Have Plenty More Boxing Matches To Fight While The Forty Elephants Rise In Prominence

Although A Thousand Blows takes liberties with real-life history, the fates of the people who inspired the show could give a clue about the general direction of the show going into the confirmed season 2. Hez seems to remain a boxer, but without people like Alec, Lao, or Mary to ground him, he may lose himself to his anger. Hez could go on a path of vengeance that crosses paths with Mary again. Mary's own criminal activities are far from over, but her real-life inspiration was replaced as leader of the Forty Elephants by Alice, who became a criminal mastermind.

Many of the characters in A Thousand Blows are based on real people, including Hez, Mary, and Sugar. However, their character arcs may be shifted to accommodate the plot of the show instead of commiting to complete historical accuracy.

It's likely that Mary and Alice's partnership will continue into season 2 but Alice will eventually replace her mentor as leader. This raises the possibility that Mary could end up in prison like her real-life counterpart, or could attempt to make a new identity. The real Sugar Goodson eventually attracted legal attention, which could set up a trial storyline for the brutal character in season 2. A Thousand Blows sets the stage for all sorts of intrigue both in the boxing ring and outside of it and leaves plenty of directions for season 2 to go down.

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