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From the mind of TV veteran David E. Kelley,A Man in Fullis a 6-part miniseries that made its Netflix debut on June 29, 2025. Jeff Daniels stars as Charlie Croker, a successful Atlanta real estate tycoon whose sociopolitical world comes crashing down when he faces sudden bankruptcy. Along with Charlie’s fall from grace, the once-prominent member of Atlanta’s upper crust finds himself besieged by business rivals and political opportunists at his most vulnerable. The show explores how race, politics, business, and the media collide in the American South.
AlthoughA Man in Fullhas garnered mediocre reviews overall, many fans agree that the series starts strong butjumps the sharkin the sixth and final episode. A shocking development that seemingly comes out of nowhere in the series finale has led to a vocal outcry among certain viewers who felt robbed, cheated, and fooled by the depicted events. To help make sense of the stunningly tragic and somewhat confusingA Man in Fullfinale, a closer examination of “Judgment Day” is in order.
The Downfall of Charlie in A Man in Full
A Man in Full
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Created by longtime TV scribe David E. Kelley,A Man in Fullis based on the 1998 Tom Wolfe novel. The story concerns Charlie Croker (Daniels), a self-made real estate magnate controlling the sociopolitical scene in Atlanta, Georgia. An upstanding member of Atlanta’s wealthy and privileged, Charlie facesan existential crisisupon learning he is bankrupt. In addition to dealing with his financial failures, Charlie’s ex-wife Martha (Diane Lane) must keep up social appearances, and his new demanding wife Serena (Sarah Jones) is looking to make a name for herself in Georgia.
As Charlie’s world crumbles around him, he carefully calculates his next moves to retain his societal standing. He meets an investment banker named Ray Peepgrass (Tom Pelfrey) who, unbeknownst to Charlie, is illegally preying on the real estate mogul’s financial hardship with plans to bring him down. Between the mounting debt he’s accrued and the public turning on him,Charlie skirts the law and acts immorally to retain power and influence at every turn.
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Additional characters inthe 2024 TV miniseriesplaying key roles include Charlie’s defense attorney, Roger White (Aml Ameen), Charlie’s business rival, Harry Zale (Bill Camp), Charlie’s assistant, Jill Hensely (Chante Adams), and Jill’s husband, Conrad (Jon Michael Hill). These characters converge in the shocking final episode that revolves around Conrad’s legal trial.
A Man in Full’s Inciting Event Sets up the Finale
To comprehendA Man in Full’s finale, it’s vital to grasp the inciting event that sets it up. As Charlie desperately tries to keep his business empire afloat, everything changes when Conrad becomes involved with the police. When Conrad attempts to prevent his car from being towed, he is brutally assaulted in public by the Atlanta police. Conrad fights back to protect himself and preserve his dignity. Still, Conrad is put in jail for assaulting a police officer.
An inclement judge sets Conrad’s bail at $1 million, prompting his wife, Jill, to seek help from her boss, Charlie. After agreeing to help Conrad, Charlie turns to his lawyer, Roger White, to get Conrad out of legal trouble and free him from jail. White provides video evidence acquitting Conrad and proving his innocence in the finale, “Judgment Day,” resulting in the judge dropping criminal charges and releasingConrad from prison.
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Although Charlie helps allow Conrad to avoid jail, Charlie is blackmailed by Atlanta Mayor Wes Jordan (William Jackson Harper). Jordan will absolve Charlie of his $800 million debt on the condition that Charlie accuses Jordan’s political rival of sexual assault at a public press conference. Struck by his moral conscience, Charlie denies Jordan’s offer. Yet, with Charlie resolving Conrad’s case and severing ties with Jordan’s sphere of political influence,one final shocking encounter with Ray Peepgrass ties the miniseries together.
A Man in Full Ending, Explained
ThroughoutA Man in Full,Charlie’s investment banking rival, Ray Peepgrass, moves closer to removing the real estate tycoon from power by exposing his mounting debt. Meanwhile, Ray also becomes romantically involved with Charlie’s ex-wife, Martha (anexcellent performance by Diane Lane). The finale comes to a shockingly tragic head when Croker catches Ray and Martha in bed during a steamy affair.
Upon confronting Ray, a violent melee ensues, with Charlie firmly gripping Ray’s throat. Just as Charlie is about to strangle Ray to death, Charlie abruptly freezes, grabs his chest, stares off into space, and suddenly collapses on the floor after suffering a massive coronary.The showends with Croker suddenly dying from a heart attack.
More shocking yet, after Charlie fatally collapses on the floor, Roger arrives and witnesses Ray’s corpse being wheeled out by paramedics under a black body bag. In addition to Charlie suffering a fatal heart attack,Ray dies via asphyxiation at the end ofA Man in Full. Roger comforts a bereft Martha before closing Charlie’s eyelids. Despite the stunningly tragic conclusion, David E. Kelley insists Ray found a modicum of peace in his final moments, tellingNetflix Tudum:
“There’s a look on Raymond’s face — his last act in life was to bring Charlie Croker down, and there was some satisfaction in that. It’s very perverse.”
Despite finding the moral righteousness to help Conrad avoid jail time and remain in financial debt, in the end, Charlie’s unethical behavior catches up with him in thesad and tragic miniseries. Some fans felt cheated by what was essentially a deus ex machina to resolve the story in such a quick and convenient fashion. The semi-suicidal, quasi-homicidal ending is wildly implausible, leading to the series' lowest-rated episode on IMDb (6.0). It’s a pointedly downbeat ending, one Kelley notes as a cautionary tale to always “Beware the male ego. If it’s not checked, it’s capable of all kinds of havoc.”A Man in Fullis available to stream onNetflix.
