‘The Waterfront’: Jake Weary Breaks Down Gnarly Season 1 Finale, That Shocking Death & Cane’s Future

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Waterfront Season 1.]

The Buckley family went to hell and back to save each other and their empire in The Waterfront’s first season. As Harlan (Holt McCallany), Mae (Maria Bello), Cane (Jake Weary), and Bree (Melissa Benoist) sought to right the ship, they found themselves in the crosshairs of a maniacal drug lord named Grady (Topher Grace). When the diabolical Grady didn’t get what he wanted, he made sure everyone around him suffered. (We’re still shuddering over that jellyfish torture scene.)

Grady wasn’t afraid to hurt the Buckleys—in fact, he thrived on it. From accidentally grazing Bree’s son with a bullet on a hunting trip to shooting Bree and then throwing her overboard, Grady had to be put down. When Cane and Harlan cornered Grady in the Season 1 finale, it was Cane who pulled the trigger. Together, the father and son blasted the drug lord with bullets until he fell from his boat into the water below.

As Cane worked alongside his family to protect what they built, Harlan and Mae’s oldest son reconnected with an old flame, Jenna (Humberly González), despite being married to Peyton (Danielle Campbell). In The Waterfront finale, Cane returned to Peyton in hopes of fixing their marriage. Peyton was onboard, but she’s the captain now. Jake Weary spoke with TV Insider about The Waterfront’s wild finale, Cane and Peyton’s future, and his hopes for Season 2.

Let’s start with Grady’s death. What is going through Cane’s head when he pulls the trigger?

Jake Weary: When you’re faced with a potentially life-altering decision. At least for me, in those moments, as myself, I get this tunnel vision, and I kind of felt that way when reading the episode. I applied that to Cane because I think that all the events that have led up to this moment are events that I think he needs to internalize in order to carry out this physical act. These are events that involve his family and the protection of his family, so I think it’s this fight-or-flight moment for him, and it really does involve the preservation of his family. He sees his father, who has been beaten to every inch of his life, and his sister, who Grady’s kidnapped and basically threw out to sea. All these things are swirling through his mind, but the tunnel vision is just: Grady is in the way of everything that he loves and cares about. So, pulling the trigger should be easy for him, but taking a life for him is not easy.

It’s one thing to teeter on the edge, as Cane did the whole season, and another to jump right into the chaos. What will be the emotional repercussions of killing Grady, and what does that weight do to somebody?

Weary: I think you even get a glimpse of it with Cane in that final moment we see with him and Peyton at the end. I tried to carry that over into that scene, this kind of paradigm shift in his life. I think he’s very cerebral in that moment, but he’s also letting life unfold in front of him. He’s not sure the course of action to take, and he’s letting someone else make the decisions for him at that point, which is interesting to think about because he’s taken life into his own hands. I think he’s at this moment where he’s kind of unsure now that life is there in front of him. It’s protected to some degree now. There’s kind of this reassurance that Peyton wants him back, and that life should continue as planned. But there’s something kind of off. It doesn’t necessarily feel like everything’s back to normal, right?

Dana Hawley / Netflix

After all the gunfire, the kitchen scene between Cane and Peyton feels like the scariest moment. Cane looks a bit scared as she talks about their future together. 

Weary: It was really interesting to do that scene because, in that moment, we didn’t feel that way, me and Danielle. I think the way we came into that scene, and that’s a testament to Kevin [Williamson]‘s writing and the way he’s crafted these characters. But working with Danielle was such a treat because I think every time we approached a scene, we approached it with this abandon. We promised ourselves to just be completely vulnerable with each other, which is interesting because our scenes leading up to that point have been guarded in this emotional restraint. But this scene felt like a moment where the floodgates could open a little bit, and it’s crazy because after we had shot the scene I remember our director of photography for that block had come up to me after, and I said, “How did it go?” And he was just like, “It’s sexy and terrifying and just uneasy but also beautiful. It was just all these kind of conflicting emotions.” And I was like, “Well, that wasn’t our intent, but I’m happy that it’s provoked so many different feelings.”

Cane’s got a certain love for Jenna and a certain love for Peyton. Do you think there’s one who’s ultimately better suited for him?

Weary: I think Peyton is the love of his life. I think that Peyton was always the one that was there for him. I think she’s so supportive of him and really cares about him, and I think he really trusts her and loves her. I think Jenna is just that representation of this moment in his life, this turning point. I think he realizes that the rug has been pulled out from under him, and Jenna is the only thing that he can grab hold on. It’s the escapism of it all. And that’s not to say that him and Jenna don’t have an organic connection. I think there’s something youthful about their connection, which represents that side of Cane that we maybe haven’t seen yet, that charming part of him and the goofy, childlike sensibility that he really does harbor within him that’s maybe hasn’t presented itself yet.

Dana Hawley / Netflix

Cane and Bree have a complicated sibling dynamic, but once he learns about the trauma she experienced in the past, it feels like their relationship turns over a new leaf. 

Weary: I think there was always something there with her that maybe he suspected. I think when he finally hears it, there’s the shock of it, but there’s also that part of him knew and could never ask. He’s resenting that part of himself that never pushed her to tell him that they could be honest with each other as siblings. I think that that’s also because of what transpired later in our lives with the whole custody hearing and everything. Me testifying against her, I think that it’s an interesting dynamic because testifying against her is the ultimate betrayal, but in a way, I think it was also Cane protecting her and looking out for her. And I mean, it ultimately was in her best interest.

After Animal Kingdom, a show focused on the dynamics between a mother and her sons, what was it like forming a father-son dynamic with Holt over the course of the season?

Weary: I’m a mama’s boy in real life. I had a relationship that was so different with my mother than the relationship I had with my father. So it’s interesting to kind of bring those dynamics into your scene work and your character development. Working with Ellen Barkin those first few seasons [on Animal Kingdom], we had formed such a strong friendship and bond that it was interesting to see how that manifested onscreen. Jumping into this and getting to work with Holt just felt like that other part of me. I had to establish this paternal connection there, and it adds a different dynamic. You’re able to be more vulnerable with the maternal side, at least from my perspective. I think Cane and Harlan’s relationship is so physical. They’re not able to really be them 100% genuine with each other. I think there’s a guard up there for obvious reasons. I think Harlan really held Cane back from becoming the man that he wanted to become and kind of infused this self doubt that was shrouded in trying to embolden his son, but I think it went the opposite way. I actually think it gave him a lot of self doubt, and that was in Harlan’s own self preservation. I think he wanted to keep his family together, but it had the opposite effect on Cane, and I think it really screwed with Cane and stunted him emotionally as well.

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What are you hopes for Season 2? The finale leaves so much still in motion. 

Weary: The end of the first season feels like it’s still moving because you don’t want it to stop, right? So that’s a good sign, I think, for Season 2. I would like to see it just keep moving. I would like to see the family come together to stave off some universal villain.

There needs to be more Cane and Shawn [Harlan’s secret son and Cane’s half brother].

Weary: Just getting to work with Rafa [Rafael L. Silva] more would be incredible. I love Rafa dearly. The whole cast is incredible. There’s a bond there that can’t be broken. Even if we don’t do a Season 2, we’re all gonna be friends for life. I love them so dearly. Rafa, too, that’s my boy. He’s such an incredible actor, and that would be cool to see more of and Cane and Shawn for Season 2, for sure.

The Waterfront, Season 1, Streaming Now, Netflix

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