Despite valid criticisms, "The Dynasty" lands the plane with Brady-Belichick-Kraft finale
BOSTON -- Really, instead of a 10-part docuseries on the entire 20-part run of the Patriots' NFL dominance, the filmmakers and producers involved with "The Dynasty" might have been better off just focusing on the end of the Patriots' run. It's kind of been their obsession for a large part of the project, which -- among other things -- has led to quite a bit of consternation and complaints from New England football fans over the past month.
But at least there is this: When it came time to tell the story of how the dynasty finally ended, the series lands the plane.
With the final two episodes set to debut late Thursday night, the breakup of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick -- with Robert Kraft overseeing matters -- is finally told. And considering it's the first part of this docuseries that hasn't already been covered extensively, it certainly serves as the most eye-opening and interesting chapter.
The 10th episode, aptly titled "End Game," starts with the Super Bowl LII loss to the Eagles and runs all the way through Brady's return to Foxboro in Week 1 of the 2023 season. There was, of course, one more Patriots Super Bowl victory in that timeframe, but the focus of the episode is on how and why the relationship between Brady and Belichick soured to the point of a breakup.
Watching this won't be the most enjoyable experience for Patriots fans. But it's rather illuminating.
For instance, we learn that by the end, Brady and Belichick were barely even speaking to one another.
"I remember times like if Tom wanted something done, he would tell me to go tell Bill," Matthew Slater shared. "And I'm looking at Tom like, 'Tom, I'm not telling Bill. You tell Bill."
Kraft, who explained that he was willing to trade Brady after the 2017 season if he wanted to get away from Belichick, described how much the issues worsened in 2018 and 2019.
"Basically it was a silent relationship," Kraft said. "Before, there had been tension. But now, it was just totally dysfunctional."
Kraft also lets the world in on his thought process over those two years, saying he believed Belichick made a personal decision to bench Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia, a move that wasn't made with the best interests of the football team in mind. "A tremendous error," as Kraft dubbed it. Thus, the owner kept a watchful eye over the head coach in 2018.
Yet with a brilliant defensive game plan that held the No. 2-ranked Rams offense to just three total points in a Super Bowl LIII, Belichick had "reestablished himself." With that, the die was cast for Belichick to remain in Foxboro, with Brady on a path to play elsewhere.
(As a quick aside: The most common complaint about the series has been that it spends too much time "bashing" Belichick or diminishing his impact on the dynasty. The ninth episode, which focuses mainly on the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, will absolutely send those criticisms to another dimension. At the same time, the 10th episode makes sure to dig into the details of what Belichick did to fool Sean McVay and the Rams in the Super Bowl a year later, providing some balance for those who have felt it was lacking. That episode on the 2017 episode is also necessary to capture the general feeling of many players -- not just Brady -- at the time.)
The three principals of the Patriots' dynasty offer their postscript thoughts on what happened, and none are surprising.
Ever the optimist, Brady tries to put a rosy spin on matters, fighting off tears while recalling his time with the Patriots as "perfect" and "great."
Kraft, meanwhile, reiterated the point he's made numerous times: That keeping Brady and Belichick together for 20 years was a difficult task, but that nothing is perfect in business or in life. And he of course admitted plainly that the ending was "very sad."
And Belichick? Well, Belichick didn't offer any real feelings or thoughts for the entirety of this docuseries, and that holds true till the end. Outside of admitting that "saying goodbye is always hard," Belichick was not sentimental or reflective while discussing the best quarterback in the history of football leaving the organization after two years of giving each other the silent treatment.
That part is surely a letdown, but Belichick clearly did not want to share much of his story with this project.
The ending of the finale does put a nice bow on the entire dynastic run, with Willie McGinest and Ernie Adams encapsulating what made the Patriots the Patriots for so long. For any Patriots fans who hung on through the doom-and-gloom portions of the series, there is some payoff at the end.
But really, "End Game" hones in what was seemingly the main focus of the entire project, which was the split between arguably the greatest coach of all time and inarguably the greatest quarterback of all time. It's certainly not a pleasant tale for Patriots fans, but it's a significant chapter of football history. And thanks to the input from Kraft, Brady, and some other Patriots teammates, it's told in a thorough and compelling fashion.
Even if the series might have lost some New England viewers along the way, the finale is certainly worth watching to help close the book on a run of success and championships that the football world is unlikely to ever see again.
