Black Rabbit Recap ‘The Cyclone’: Jude Law and Jason Bateman star as straight-laced and chaos in sibling drama

Black Rabbit Season 1 Episode 1

Black Rabbit began with the lingering sound of water, the universal symbol of life, the first clue to someone like me who watched it without seeing any previews or reading anything about it that this show is more of a drama and not one of those mysteries I tend to look for when I open Netflix. Jude Law –  later introduced as Jake, owner of the restaurant the show was named from – was washing his face on the sink, gathering himself, putting on the mask of the genial host, the master of ceremonies. 

As soon as he was out of the washroom, there was a stream of faces and names thrown around  – Mel, Kendra, Ray, Roxie, Tony, Joe, Beck – a familiar challenge when watching a Pilot episode. There was tension and history between Jake and a man later identified as Wes, who seemed to be a celebrity, but that was put aside, at least for that night. 

There was an event happening at the restaurant that included jewellery and expensive watches, the target of two robbers who came in through the back door (with a key, hmm). They headed straight for the safe but found it empty. Guns out, they burst into the party, with one of them grabbing Tony (a chef) as hostage and the other tackling Jake to the floor and trying to get his watch. 

This tense opening was a month into the future. Present day Jake was a mess. At 50, he was still closing out the restaurant every night, falling asleep right on the ground floor, not even making it to his office. He drove a Jaguar, but it did not at all look well maintained. He gave his ex a block of cash for their son’s private school tuition, but it was clear he was barely keeping his head above the water.

Jake, along with brilliant head chef Roxie, were looking forward to the New York Times food critic who was finally coming to their restaurant. A good review from the New York Times would put Black Rabbit on the map. More than that, the review was part of Jake’s plan to expand into what he envisioned would be the beginning of a food empire — a second restaurant, books, a tv show. For a man who needed to be reminded to take a shower, whose head chef had to haggle at the fish market for what they needed to serve a food critic because their supplier refused delivery due to them being two months behind in payments, these were indeed big dreams. For the prime location of his dream second restaurant, he needed a five million capital injection, money he simply did not have.  

But all this threading happened beneath the water. At least outwardly, Jake gave the appearance of a busy and successful businessman. Certainly, from the point of view of his messed up older brother Vince, Jake seemed to be the sibling who had his sht together. 

We met Vince (Jason Bateman) at Reno, cash strapped, gambling, and trying to sell his father’s coin collection. Only, the two prospective buyers were coin thieves, and one of them threatened him with a gun. Unable to stop himself from turning a bad situation into something worse, he ran over one of the thieves, killing him (it looked like it). The other shot at him until he ran out of bullets, but with his car all shot up, Vince could not go after him. 

Left with no other choice, Vince called Jake and asked for a ticket to New York, his brother with whom he has not spoken since their mother passed seven months ago. Jake was hesitant about having Vince back in New York just as his business was at a very important juncture, but he gave in. 

There was a lot of history between the brothers (including Vince being a co-founder of Black Rabbit), a lot of disappointment and pain, but also a lifetime of connection as only siblings would have. Jake of course knew that Vince wanted money. They were both about to receive some, as their mother’s house was due to sell in a couple of weeks. After all the loans and bills, the two of them could clear three hundred thousand dollars. 

Half that was a lot of money for Vince, who owned nothing, not even a phone (his brother gave him money to buy one). But all too soon, what he ran from in New York caught up with him. A couple of thugs, one of them called Junior, accosted Vince and demanded payment on his one hundred forty thousand dollar debt. Vince, who prior to that day did not even know that his mother’s house was about to be sold, immediately offered up the money. The thugs took the watch he claimed his father gave him as insurance.

One brother tried, the other just seemed to be a magnet for disaster. Jake was adamant about not letting Vince back into the Black Rabbit, but on the night of the food critic visit, with his bartender Anna refusing to come to work, Vince offered to help out, and Jake had no choice but to accept. Later, following a successful evening and looking forward to a good review from the paper of record, Jake asked Vince to stay, to fill in more formally for Anna, whom he fired. 

It was in what could have been a heartwarming scene of partial reconciliation that the show pivoted back into the future, with Jake on the floor with a gun on his face. Wes was shot. A man who appeared to be his bodyguard shot back. There were a couple more gunshots, then the telltale thud of a body hitting the floor.

I wrote this recap without having seen the rest of the series so whilst I have guesses, I don’t know for sure where this story is going. Would I recommend it based on the first episode alone? On the strength of the performances, particularly by Jude Law and Jason Bateman, yes. The story of brothers with diverging paths is not exactly new, so it was a good idea to bookend the episode with a tense future, so that we the audience already know that it is headed toward a violent climax. It was a smart decision to grab audience attention. Whether the journey toward it is a compelling one, well, I like what I have seen so far so I am hopeful it will be.

Rating: B+

Strays

🍽️Anna’s sudden decision to not come to work was treated as a mystery in this episode, but I am almost certain she was sexually assaulted.

🍽️Jake’s ex had a subtle reference to his womanizing ways. His son Hunter also mentioned his band days.

🍽️Jake told his money man Naveen that he was given first look at the Pool Room. He had not told Roxie yet, he wanted her focused on the review. Jake called the Black Rabbit a young man’s game. I’m struggling to believe that Jude Law is playing a 50-year-old. Where did time go? 

🍽️Wes’s girlfriend Estelle was the Black Rabbit’s designer. 

🍽️Jake did not buy Vince’s story about his girlfriend Marcee and the mechanic ex who jumped him with a wrench and a girl who came at him  with a gun. 

🍽️So far, it looked like Vince’s struggles involved drugs and gambling. 

🍽️Jake tried to shame Vince into looking into his daughter Gen.

🍽️Jake had no idea Vince took their father’s coin collection, tried to sell it, and lost it.

🍽️Based on their conversation inside their mother’s house, someone named Mancuso cut Vince off but he was able to borrow from Junior.

🍽️Vince’s friend Matt advised him that his debtors had moved on but he would not push it. Since Junior accosted Vince soon after, they clearly had not moved on.

Episode Title: The Cyclone

Episode Writer: Zach Baylin and Kate Susman

Episode  Director: Jason Bateman

Original Air Date: September 18, 2025