Fifty Kilos & a Funeral in "This City is Ours"
"How can I grieve when I don’t know where he is? He’s just gone." –Cheryl
Episode 5 of This City Is Ours opens with Diana, home alone, remembering the trauma of her teenage years, and trying to untangle the mystery of her abusive father’s death. She flashes back to locking herself in the bathroom while her mother (Leanne Best) begs her teenage daughter (Amber Harrison) to open the door. A large, bloody kitchen knife lies in the sink. Modern-day Diana, shaken by the vivid memory, texts her mother, currently serving a prison sentence for murdering her husband. It’s the first time we realize for the first time that Diana is an utterly unreliable narrator, and that her mother may be serving time in her daughter’s stead.
Michael joins her in the kitchen, asking if she feels different, now that she’s (only just) pregnant. She asks him how he feels now about Ronnie Phelan, whom he murdered in Spain. “I loved him, but he gave me no choice,” he replies. As for Ronnie’s son Jamie, heir apparent to the crime empire, Michael intends to make him see sense. “He wants what he can’t have. He wants what’s ours.”
Meanwhile, across town, the Phelan household is in mourning. Elaine plays Ronnie’s beloved old vinyl crooner albums as they prepare to receive his casket so he can stay with the family one last night. Jamie tells her he and Michael are OK, knowing that she fears violence, but it’s a lie, as he tells his wife, Melissa (Darci Shaw), that it’s time to get rid of him as he orders Bonehead to start selling their product. (Melissa asks if he knows what he’s doing. Glad she’s not a fool.)
Last week ended with Billy stealing the gear, so Bonehead is in for a rude surprise when he finds the cabinet unlocked and empty. He shouts at the laundromat owner, who tells him Billy came in, and Bonehead orders Steve (aka Blink) to break into Molly’s house. Steve asks what he’s looking for. “Fifty kilos, you can’t miss it.”
Molly has the presence of mind to take them to a hotel, but Billy is planning a whole new life with his newfound wealth, despite Molly explaining that the drugs are in his possession, but are not his. (The owners will hunt them down and probably kill them.) She’s terrified, insisting they return the drugs (still in the boot of her Mini) to Jamie. He eventually caves, but points out he’ll have to use her car.
Michael leaves to attend the viewing at the Phelans’ house, and Diana is concerned that her mother hasn’t texted her back. Ronnie’s casket arrives with Bobby and Rachel soon after, followed by Michael. Jamie’s phone continues to ring, and Elaine suggests he answer it. Hearing Bonehead’s incoherent babble, he takes the call outside the house. Michael, suspecting something is seriously wrong, asks Bobby and Rachel what’s going on. Rachel tells Michael it’s Jamie’s business, and Michael asks her in return if she’s implying that Jamie is not one of them anymore. Melissa attempts to stand up for her husband, only to be silenced by Bobby.
Jamie, outside on the phone, barks orders at Bonehead to find Billy and the drugs, using whatever violence is necessary. Elaine, standing by the coffin, watches her son in distress outside. She raps on the window to get Jamie’s attention and invites Michael into the room, and then, before leaving, tells them that she wants “white smoke.”
At this point, Michael knows Jamie stole the drugs and tells him it was cleverly done. But it’s not too late for common sense, for his mother’s sake. Michael just wants what’s his – ours, he corrects himself – and Jamie has to confess that the drugs are missing. Michael tells him that it would have broken Ronnie’s heart, but Jamie taunts him with the father-son closeness Phelan Sr. and Jr. had on that last night in Spain. Then he accuses Michael of stealing the drugs, and after an intense cold staring match, Michael tells Jamie he was the reason they were in Spain, and Jamie should take responsibility.
As he exits, Elaine asks Michael how it went. He tells her Jamie has his own ideas, but won’t share them. Those were Ronnie’s ideas too, Elaine tells him, and Michael assures her it’s just not yet Jamie’s time to lead. They’re interrupted by the arrival of Cheryl, who has come to pay her respects. Michael asks Elaine if she still wants him to speak at Ronnie’s funeral, and she says she does, because Ronnie trusted him the most, and she’ll sort out her son.
Banksey is waiting for Michael outside, having tasked Freddie with keeping an eye on Molly’s house, where Jamie’s minions are swarming. The security alarms go off, and the neighbors are showing interest, so they beat a retreat before the police arrive. Molly arrives and rushes to see what’s happened to her house as Billy drives off without her. Michael and Banksey are right behind them and chase Billy through the darkening city. Billy, high as a kite, heads for a tunnel, where the police, alerted by his wild driving, follow, as the van crashes, causing further traffic chaos. By the time Michael and Banksey are waved through the tunnel by the police, Billy is dead, and (no surprise) the drugs have disappeared again.
Lesley finally calls Diana, but doesn’t want to talk about her father, fearful for her daughter, but possibly more so for the loss of her prison haven. Diana tells Michael about her dad’s funeral, which she attended with a social worker, with no other family members present, since she’d sided with her mother. Although Michael tells her she doesn’t have to attend Ronnie’s funeral, she has made up her mind to be with him. Elaine and Jamie are steeling themselves for Ronnie’s funeral, and trying to give each other some comfort. “None of this was supposed to happen,” Elaine tells her son. Bobby and Rachel are also getting ready when they receive a call from Michael, who needs the £2m they raised. Rachel is skeptical, reluctant to let Michael take ownership, but Bobby sees Michael and the Amigos as their only choice.
Elaine and Jamie arrive at the church, where a large crowd of mourners has gathered. Michael breaks the news to Jamie that Billy is dead, and all of the drugs have disappeared from the car. As pallbearers, they face each other across Ronnie’s casket, to the strains of Tony Bennett’s “It’s a Good Life,” one of Ronnie’s favorites.
Cheryl enters the church alone and takes a seat beside a stranger. He recognizes her as Davy’s wife and introduces himself as DS Barney Stiles (Shaun Fagan). Interesting! She responds, she is the wife of “known but absent criminal Davy Crawford.”
Michael’s speech is eloquent, emotional, and full of admiration and love for the man he murdered. All is well until he flashes back to killing Ronnie, and, in a nice Shakespearean touch, has a nosebleed. Jamie looks disturbed, Michael’s speech ends, and he takes his seat next to Diana, who has beamed encouragement at him throughout.
There’s a reception after, once again featuring George Gallagher. Elaine ponders on the mix of sadness and comfort she feels when listening to Ronnie’s favorite songs. Rachel aggressively asks Michael if he’s happy now, and tells him he should know her well enough now to know she needs to win, too. He shrugs her off, and he explains to Diana that Rachel wanted to let him know she enjoyed the nosebleed. While the band takes a break, Bobby arranges for the Phelan family favorite, “The House of Bamboo” to be played.
Cheryl and Diana run into each other in the ladies’ room, where Cheryl admits she’s on the verge of making a scene. Diana advises against it because people will just think she’s drunk, not grieving for Davy. She rejects both the answer and a hug. Outside, the party continues. Michael and Elaine share a drink as she thanks him for helping to get Ronnie home. If it hadn’t been for Michael’s leadership, Ronnie would still be evidence in a freezer in Spain: “You did him proud.” As Jamie has a Freudian stare across the room at them, Elaine asks who murdered Ronnie. She doesn’t want a war, but the killer should be punished.
Michael tells her the problem is finding the guilty party. Elaine tells him that when he finds out who killed Ronnie, she wants them to feel the way she and Michael feel now. Jamie has had enough and interrupts them over the microphone, telling Michael to stop talking to his mother; he’s not family. There’s a struggle to get the microphone away from Jamie, who then accuses Michael of killing Ronnie before Bobby and Banksey drag him away. Elaine is horrified and tries to apologize to Michael, but he brushes it aside. He knows Jamie is upset, drunk, and wrong. Michael loved Ronnie like a brother, but he regrets that he cannot be friends with his son.
Michael and Diana leave the party. On the way home, she asks him if he needs to kill Jamie now; she’s concerned about Melissa and the baby. Cheryl takes a cab home and asks the driver to detour to the police station, where she leaves her phone number for DS Stiles.
This City Is Ours: A Crime Family Saga continues with new episodes on Thursdays through April 23, 2026.
This City Is Ours
