Fightland Kills [Spoiler] In Game-Changing Season 1 Finale: Hear From Who's Calling The Shots Now, And Grade The Ep!

This post contains spoilers from the Season 1 finale of "Fightland." Proceed accordingly.

The first season of Starz's "Fightland" ended with a total knockout delivered by a surprise contender.

Though Duke has been on a revenge mission to destroy boxing promoter Kingsley Marshall since the boxing drama began, it was Kingsley's son, Zeek, who wound up pointing a gun at his father's chest. Kingsley's daughter, CeCe, eventually managed to talk her brother down... only to grab the weapon, aim it at her dad, and fire. (She'd go on to frame Kingsley's wife, Joy, for the killing.)

Duke later found Kingsley, bleeding out at the gym. As the older man gasped his last breaths, he let Duke know that Zeek — and not he — had put out the hit in Las Vegas that resulted in the murder of Duke's brother, Calvin. 

So Duke attended Zeek's big Jackhammer fight and, afterward, hopped in the ring and grabbed the mic to announce that he was returning to boxing and was challenging Jackhammer to "face a real champion." Just before the hour ended, Zeek goaded Duke: "I wasn't the only one trying to bring you down."

We jumped at the chance to discuss the game-changing season-ender with series stars Anita-Joy Uwajeh, who plays CeCe, and Charles Babalola, who plays Zeek. Read on to hear what they had to say about the future of their fictional family business.

TVLINE | I'm gonna start with you, Anita-Joy, but this is for both of you: Do you think that your character gave serious thought to offing Dad at any point before it actually happens in that scene?
ANITA-JOY UWAJEH | I think in any complex relationship, you have those moments where you're like, "I need to just put this person in a place." And I think CeCe definitely had those thoughts throughout the season, even when Kingsley's not there. When he's back he is constantly putting her in situations, or making her feel a certain way that I think warrants her wanting to do something to him. It's not something that she has articulated, perhaps, like Zeek may have. But I think it's definitely thoughts that she's had when she's been frustrated by Kingsley.
CHARLES BABALOLA | With Zeek, it's always been a thought. But in terms of having the conviction to do it? That's something that he deeply questions within himself. Because at the core of all of this beef is love for his father. He hates him. He wants to kill him. But he loves him. He's had the thought [about killing Kingsley], but in terms of conviction, he doesn't even know that, himself. It's very indicative of Zeek: It's like, "I've got this idea that sounds cool. I'm gonna do it, and I believe in it. I'm gonna make it work."

TVLINE | What might the Marshall business look like under a CeCe-and-Zeek reign, as opposed to when Kingsley was in charge?
BABALOLA | Well, that's a loaded question, because who is actually taking the lead, you know? ... Once that is established, I think it would be a shared leadership. On the boxing side I think Zeek is definitely gonna shape up how Marshall delivers its boxing promotions and boxing fights. He was already trying to do that earlier on in the series, when he was negotiating a deal with the legacy boxing group. So bigger fights with Jackhammer, bigger stadiums, streamers involved, rappers involved. And in terms of the business, I think Zeek would want the crime business. He wants to get back on top, to be the one to get the Marshalls back on top.

TVLINE | Anita-Joy, how about you?
UWAJEH | Throughout the season, you've seen her — when they've been given the opportunity to take the reigns — you've seen her try to, in many ways, replace Kingsley as the head. And I think she would perhaps continue in that vein. But there's also a world in which she really focuses on the things that she wants to develop. I think she wants to move the Marshalls away from a lot of their income being criminality. That doesn't mean she removes criminality completely, but she definitely wants to find another way of building on this empire, of building this generational wealth that hopefully will pass on to whoever comes after them. So I think that would be her focus. And perhaps, maybe to appease Zeek, she will have him like, "OK, cool, you do the boxing promotion side, we're doing it together.
BABALOLA | Or, "You do the casino side, and I'll do the boxing."
UWAJEH | [Laughs] I don't know about that.

TVLINE | Did you guys know from the start, about how Kingsley was going to die? Or was that something you found out when you got the script?
UWAJEH | We found out from when we got the script, we found out who it was that shoots him. [Smiles coyly] But you know, I think with the world of "Fightland," who knows if he's really gone? Who knows? We don't know. So for us, it was just like: Oh my goodness, it's Cebella that takes the shot, as opposed to as opposed to Zeek?!

TVLINE | Charles, did you know from the start that Zeek put the hit out on Duke?
BABALOLA | No, I found out — because we didn't get the last two episodes until later in the process, maybe whilst we were filming Episodes 5 and 6.

TVLINE | How much of a threat do you guys think that CeCe and Zeek think Duke is, as we end the season? Are they worried about him?
BABALOLA | I don't think Zeek is overly worried about Duke. You could even see that, in that final scene in the final episode, where Duke comes to sit down next to Zeek. [Zeek] and tells him Joy's gonna take the fall and laughs in his face. I don't know if Zeek is scared of anyone.

TVLINE | Apart from Cebella, just a little bit?
BABALOLA | [Off Uwajeh's grin] No, don't give her that ammo, man! [Laughs] Don't give her that.

Now it's your turn. Grade both the finale and the season as a whole via the polls below, then hit the comments with all of your "Fightland" thoughts!