Over the past four nights I’ve been watching Channel 4’s excellent
drama, Top Boy. Set in a large London estate it was the story of how one gang
took over the illegal drug market on the estate. It was gripping stuff – well written,
well acted, brilliantly produced. There was so much tension it had my stomach
in tight knots by the end of each hour.
No justice
But it ended on a very dissatisfying note. There was no justice. All the
main character villains ended up in a better position than they had started in.
The Top Boy did indeed end up as top boy of the estate – his empire secure and
his troops enjoying the fruits of their crime. Even the lad who had rejected
the gang’s advances to join them was safe and unharmed with his mother.
This drama was sold as gritty realism and maybe that’s exactly what life
is actually like, with the bad guys always on top. If so, it’s no wonder we thirst for
eschatological justice.
