Not just "he was killed, duh", but based on the disused location, the military/NF hitmen, the dragging off and slamming of doors etc. What do you think ultimately became of Combo?
I'm imagining he's resting in a shallow grave in some disused field or forest in the Midlands, where he will never ever be discovered. Makes me think of DCI Hunt's fate in Ashes to Ashes.
Was it not left deliberately unclear? I do question why the attackers had to take Combo up the stairs to a room - why could he not just be dealt with downstairs in the old warehouse?
Overall, I was left feeling Combo's ending was just a deliberate shock close that didn't feel convincing.
For sure it was deliberately unclear. But the setup, as you say, was so specific - being driven from one location to another, handed off from gang to another, dragged up the stairs in a clinical, methodical manner - only to be left hanging as to what actually happens next.
As it's 99% a-given that Combo was murdered, there's only so many things that could possibly have happened in that room, especially with those NF-looking guys.
So it's interesting to speculate - did they torture him, or was it a straight execution, what could they have done with his body etc.
Is it genuinely 99 percent sure what did happen though? Otherwise, why leave it unclear? Milky's look of depression at the end could mostly be because he doesn't know for sure, has been told to drop it, Combo's gone and presumed dead. How do his family know for sure even? They may have left him with those two guys and driven the van away.
Was it a cop-out, the handing-over? So that the series did not have to show Milky's black relatives beating up Combo. If they were so sure they wanted him dealt with after 7 years, why would they just hand him over like that? They certainly looked burly enough to deal with him.
Some fans have commented that the room he was taken up to was more metaphorical than anything else - Combo was screaming he didn't want to die, but as in he didn't want to die known only as a thug and nasty person. I've also read someone commenting that NF members would go so far as to cut swastikas into ex-members' faces, disfiguring and shaming them permanently. It's plausible that could have happened, something sick like that and then he was told to move far away and never come back. Many have commented that he didn't deserve to die, since he had saved Lol from prison and then started to reshape his life - well, of course he didn't deserve to be killed. Combo was obviously a very damaged person, very nasty too and he did deserve some recompense for his past deeds and nearly killing Milky, BUT also his actions were the product of a mental illness, too. He struck me as quite a pathetic figure in fact, mostly.
For such a pitiful character to end up in that room at the top of the warehouse immediately reminded me of Dead Man's Shoes and Anthony. He was also damaged by bullying and had a learning difficulty, making his hanging himself all the more tragic. I'm not sure if there are clear parallels, but by the end we had a lot of sympathy for Combo and his screams reminded me so much of Anthony's. How the series really made us feel sympathy for Combo was interesting and powerful, but I still felt like the ending was sort of shoe-horned in...
Meadows and his co-writer must have been feeling the pressure to make a powerful ending, but Jack Thorne used to write on Skins and this felt like a Skins-esque 'what happened?' shock ending to hook viewers for a next chapter. A cliffhanger.
I felt sorry for him, he was a truly changed man if there was ever one and Milky has to live with that for life.
shareI feel like he was tortured really badly and then killed. I think it's obvious that while milky wanted this to happen, he wasn't exactly happy about it. I feel like he probably just wanted combo taken care of as quick as possible. And that maybe the guys who milky got to do it, took it way further than milky had imagined. Like I know killing him was always the plan but maybe they made it really slow and painful. Cause it's like when milky and combo are talking, and milky says how plans have been made when his family/friends were stood around his body, even though milky was the one who was actually attacked, for his family they had to watch him in that hospital bed day after day beaten and broken. So I feel like they wouldn't exactly have been merciful in their methods of murder.
The whole scene really reminded me of dead mans shoes too.
I feel bad for Combo. Not excusing his actions but his was a crime of passion whereas Milky knew before Combo even bumped into him that day what he was going to do. Shame! I've always been a fan of Milky.
shareThat was my problem with it. It wasn't even necessarily about what Combo did or didn't deserve. It just completely ruined the character of Milky.
shareAs much as it's hinted they're going to kill them I feel like it's more likely they badly beat him,possibly craved a swastika into his face and other things to permanently disfigure him and theaten him with death if he ever comes back. At first I though they were going to curb stomp him (as sort of karmic retribution) but they could have done that at the bottomof the stairs or even outside where they take him. All of it felt like it was designed to utterly spook him out of his mind (to the point of overly complicating to the extreme). I think milky never asked out of fear of the answer or they were vague ('hes sorted' type thing)
shareIt works both ways for Shane Meadows - he can blatantly imply that Combo was murdered (especially based on Combo's terrified reaction when seeing the skinheads)...AND it also leaves the option open if he wants to bring the character back in another season. I reeeally hope theres another season in the future with the return of (an assumingly disfigured) Combo cause TIE90 was such an unbelievably dark note to end the series on.
shareI'm interested to see if there is another series of TIE. But then as much as I want one set now it feels sort of pointless for the characters (would they even be the same people as before at this point?)
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