The City is Ours: Ending explained after dramatic final episode and news on a possible season 2
By Helen Fear | Mon Mar 24 2025This City is Ours has been hailed as the "scouse Kin", with many fans binge-watching all episodes after it landed on BBC iPlayer - and the ambiguous ending left plenty of mileage for a season 2.
The crime drama, set in Liverpool, landed on our screens this month and introduced Michael, a man who for all of his adult life had been involved in organised crime.
But, for the first time in his life, Michael was in love. And glimpsed a different type of future...
Here's the ending of This City is Ours explained, as well as news on a possible season 2...
***Warning: spoilers from This City is Ours ending ahead***
This City is Ours ending explained: Who won control of the business?
Viewers will know that after Ronnie Phelan's death, his son Jamie Phelan and his protégé Michael Kavanagh battled to take control of the business. Of course, we also knew that Michael had been the one to push the knife into Ronnie's belly in the first place.
Jamie Phelan ultimately gained control of the business, but not without a lot of unnecessary pain first.
In the final episode of This City is Ours on BBC One, paranoid and power-hungry Jamie (Jack McMullen) remained suspicious of Michael, despite his continued attempts to walk away.
In increasingly tense scenes, Jamie decided to go rogue, leading to a gripping final showdown.
In episode 7, the penultimate instalment, Michael had made the decision NOT to kill Jamie even though he had the chance. He finally chose to put his criminality behind him and start a new life with Diana. However, drug kingpin Ricardo had other ideas... He made it very clear that it wasn't going to be that simple for Michael to walk away.
Forced to come up with a plan to extricate himself, Michael gathered the gang together and suggested a proposal which potentially suited everyone...
He put forward the idea that Jamie continue to order their drugs from Ricardo and the "amigos" - 50 kilos of cocaine no less - allowing Michael to walk free. Jamie would then take over the shipment, and start a "new era".
While everyone agreed to it during the meeting, Jamie had his own plan to sabotage it.
Why did Jamie Phelan abduct Michael's girlfriend Diana?
Despite being handed control of the business - everything Jamie had wanted all along - he was not happy with the deal. Or, rather, that Michael had made the deal - and started scheming. It was like watching a car crash happen in slow motion. If you were anything like us, you would have been screaming at the bearded child during this episode.
Jamie did not believe that Michael would walk away. And, because of Ricardo's good relationship with Michael, Jamie did not want to buy the drugs from the Columbian "amigos". Instead, he wanted to trade with suppliers in Amsterdam, who were "faster and cheaper".
Meanwhile, Bobby's ambitious wife Rachel also let her ego get in the way. She refused to go back to just "being the book keeper", and decided to back Jamie who she believed she could control... Foolish!
They decided not to pay the amigos, but to buy the drugs from suppliers in Amsterdam instead. But Rachel and Jamie were actually double-crossing their whole family, who had agreed on the deal that Michael had set up.
Jamie said: "I've taken control. I'm going to blow Michael out of the water for good. [...] I don't want to lose again."
In the last desperate acts of a talentless man, Jamie called Bonehead - the most volatile right-hand man ever - and gave him the order to target Diana, who was subsequently kidnapped. Realising that "Diana was Michael's Kryptonite" and would do anything to protect her, Jamie pitched his demands.
In a twist straight out of Shakespeare, Jamie told Michael he would only release Diana if Michael killed himself. Only Michael, having found out that Diana was pregnant with their first child, had ideas of his own.
Recap of This City is Ours ending
After Jamie abducted Diana, his family and gang mates were horrified. Rachel realised she'd backed the wrong horse and decided to pay Ricardo the money for the drugs after all.
Meanwhile, Elaine saw her son for who he really was - someone she couldn't trust.
But all eyes were on Michael, who was snake-eyed with rage that his girlfriend had been put in danger. And, when he eventually found out that she was pregnant, he knew he couldn't take his own life. He hatched a risky plan that would teach Jamie a lesson - and left viewers gasping.
Cheryl, who was determined to help out of loyalty to Diana, visited Elaine's house pretending to want to help. However, she was really there on an errand for Michael. She took Jamie's baby Alfie and took him to Michael. Michael then told Jamie he would jump off a high building holding the baby. At no point did we ever think he would, though!
Eventually, a 'hostage' swap was arranged between Diana and Alfie, and tensions bubbled over. Michael gave Jamie some home truths, telling him to "take a good look in the mirror and try to find a bit of Ronnie". At the mention of his dead dad, an emotional Jamie pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot. After a tense stand-off, Micheal admitted he killed Ronnie "because it was necessary".
While Jamie saw sense - thanks to his mum's imploring - Michael was forced to look Elaine in the eye. She told him: "I will come to despise you. This isn't the last of it, that's all I'm saying."
This City is Ours ending explained: Did Michael walk away from crime?
At the end of This City is Ours episode 8, the path was clear for Michael to walk away and start a new life with Diana... But whether he will or not is something only a possible season 2 can answer (see below).
Diana suspected criminality is in his blood, but perhaps fatherhood could change that. And will Elaine and Jamie REALLY allow Michael a free life knowing he killed Ronnie in cold blood?
Talking about the series, Ronnie Phelan actor Sean Bean said: "The title hints at so many things. This City is Ours looks at possession, ownership, control and defiance. All these scenarios mean taking drastic actions and they have repercussions.
"They are trapped by their own successes of overseeing drug territories and the constant corruption of power that inevitably surround it."
Could Michael really walk away from everything he's known? Only time will tell...
Who was a police informant?
As series 1 of This City is Ours progressed, we discovered that Ronnie Phelan had been a police informant - aka "a snitch" - for years.
Which would explain why Ronnie hadn't been to jail. However, Micheal and Banksey had both "done some years".
Meanwhile, DS Barney Styles seemed to be trying to set up Davey's wife Cheryl Crawford (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) as a new police informant. Another twist which could be explored in a potential This City is Ours season 2.
What else happened at the end of This City is Ours?
- Diana told Jamie that Michael DID kill Ronnie, confirming all his suspicions. But he didn't quite believe it, until Michael later confirmed it himself. Her motives were unclear - was she trying to push Jamie into an impulsive move?
- The whole thing started because of Jamie. Even Elaine realised by the end that her son was not to be trusted with the business. He would be monitored in the future.
- Banksey killed Ricardo in the closing moments of the final episode. It was revenge for planting the bomb in his car and putting his son's life in danger. It was a mic-drop moment, which reminded us not to trust anyone and to expect the unexpected. Of course, this also paved the way for a potential war in a possible This City is Ours season 2.
- Michael and a pregnant Diana seemed stronger than ever, with Michael knowing the truth about her past - that she killed her abusive dad to protect her mum from being beaten to death.
Will there be a season 2 of This City is Ours?
The BBC has not yet confirmed if there'll be a season 2 of This City is Ours, but we'll eat our shoes if there isn't. So far, the show has been well-received and, although series 1 finished satisfyingly, there's still plenty of scope for a season 2.
There's the fallout from Ricardo's murder, how Jamie handles the business, and if Michael manages to walk away.
We'd want to know more about Micheal's backstory, too - how he started working with Ronnie, and where are his real family.
Although Sean Bean's character died in episode 2, the actor has high hopes for future series, saying: "There has not been anything like it before and I'm very pleased that I have been a part of it. I want it to have a long future - everyone involved in it deserves success."
Meanwhile, his on-screen wife Julie Graham, who played Elaine said: "It is a crime drama like nothing else on TV. I know the cast all agree on that, too. It's a drama series with mileage and longevity. There are eight episodes, and I would bite their hands off to make more. We all felt like that, and we still do."
