Warning: This post contains major spoilers for The Beekeeper

Summary

• The Beekeeper program is highly secretive & recruits agents as a last line of defense.
• Derek Danforth's shady dealings go beyond phishing scams & involves CIA exploitation.
• Adam Clay pursues Derek to prevent further corruption due to his influence on vulnerable people.

The Beekeeper ends with Adam Clay killing multiple FBI and Secret Service in his hunt for Derek Danforth, who doesn’t make it out alive. The action film, directed by David Ayer, stars Jason Statham as the titular beekeeper. A man on a mission, Clay makes it all the way to the White House in his quest to avenge Eloise Parker. Hiding beneath a truck headed to the event President Danforth is hosting, Clay gets past highly trained agents to get in without breaking a sweat. Once inside, Clay confronts former CIA director Wallace Westwyld, and Eloise's daughter Agent Verona Parker.

Inside the Oval Office, Josh Hutcherson’s Derek faces down his mother, who has discovered her son has been using Danforth Enterprise’s data mining software to conduct phishing scams. Derek also used dirty money to fund President Danforth’s election campaign. Danforth is angry, and Derek uses the situation to hold his mother at gunpoint and kill the deputy director of the FBI. Clay bursts into the room and shoots Derek in the head. Clay jumps out the window and makes it to the river, where he’s got gear waiting for him. Parker, who has a clear shot, decides not to kill him.

Who Are The Beekeepers? Secret Agent Program Explained

The Beekeepers operate off-grid

The Beekeeper program is so secret that even Wallace Westwyld didn’t know about it for a while. The program recruits agents to train as the final line of defense, and as a last resort. When all other agents and assets have been exhausted, the Beekeepers are given the responsibility of protecting the beehive, and are given resources to complete their work and to act on their own judgment. The Beekeepers are expected to act in the beehive’s best interests, though they can seemingly do so outside of CIA or FBI parameters.

Beekeepers are so highly trained that they make special forces and other bureau agents look useless. It’s unclear when the Beekeeper program began, but it’s been active in the shadows for a long enough time, with a Beekeeper’s identity wiped from the system so they can’t be found. They’re dangerous and, as Wallace tells Derek, “When a Beekeeper says you’re going to die, you’re going to die.” Clay and the rest of the Beekeepers operate on the fringes of the law, which means they’re capable of anything.

The Beekeeper's Derek Twist Explained

Derek was a lot more involved in shady dealings than just scamming

Derek had his hand in a lot more scams than initially believed. While he was in the business of scamming regular people, Derek was heading a company that US government agencies — and the CIA, specifically — used for their work. Derek took advantage of the systems in place to not only do his scamming job, but he used the CIA program to help his mother's presidential campaign, assuring her victory. Derek used dirty money to fund her campaign, all without her knowing. Derek didn't care about the rules, he cared about manipulating them at his will.

What Josh Hutcherson Has Said About The Beekeeper's Derek Twist

Josh Hutcherson fully invested himself in the role of Derek, who was unhinged in his behavior and in his exploitation of other people. Though Derek didn't think he was doing anything wrong, and the system and people around him enabled him in many ways, he was doing extremely problematic things. In an interview, Hutcherson discussed Derek's Beekeeper ending twist, how he wanted it to be "grounded in reality" while allowing creative license. Here's what the actor had to say about the big reveal:

The twist is great. I did not see that coming when I was reading the script, and when I got to that point, that informed me so much about who Derek is. Knowing that that person is your mother and what that means about what your life is a very informative little nugget to Derek as a character creative process.

Why Agent Parker Lets Adam Clay Escape At The End Of The Beekeeper

Parker wrestled with Clay's actions throughout The Beekeeper

Verona Parker is adamant about going after Adam Clay because, though she thinks he’s ultimately right, there are laws to deal with such grievances. Parker ultimately changes her mind because Clay asks her to make a choice — between the law and justice. Given the chance to finally catch him, Parker lets Clay escape because she sees his perspective, as well as what he’s trying to do to make Derek pay. Clay is a vigilante acting outside the law and Parker is caught in the middle of doing what she’s always believed was right and Clay’s brand of justice.

Agent Parker is the only one who understood the reasons behind Adam Clay's actions.

Every Death In The Beekeeper's Ending Explained

Adam and Derek dropped a lot of people at the end

The Beekeeper's ending has quite a few deaths, and things escalate, becoming increasingly chaotic as Derek's schemes are uncovered. After Derek's program exploitation and dirty money use is revealed, he kills FBI Deputy Director Prigg. Derek nearly kills his own mother, President Danforth, in a bid to protect himself, but Adam kills him first. Prior to Derek's death, Adam killed all of Wallace's mercenaries, as well as Lazarus, their leader. The latter death took Adam a lot longer to complete because Lazarus was one of the few people who could go up against him in a fight.

What’s Next For President Danforth After Clay Kills Derek

President Danforth has a lot to think about after everything is revealed

President Jessica Danforth was horrified after Clay killed Derek. But before Derek’s death, and prior to when he held her hostage, she said she would reveal to the country that her campaign money was dirty. Danforth believed it was the right thing to do, especially considering that she left her own company behind to run for president, and seemed to have some integrity (unlike her son). But now that Derek is dead, it’s possible she won’t go through with it. The public will want to know the reason behind Derek’s murder, and President Danforth might use his death to avoid further scandal.

The Real Reason Adam Clay Went After Derek Danforth

Clay could’ve stopped after destroying the first call center

Clay could have called it a day after setting the first call center, United Data Group, on fire. After all, it was United Data Group and its employees that scammed Eloise out of her money, and taking it out of operation would have avenged her death. But once Clay learned that there were more call centers and that Derek owned them all, the Beekeeper knew he had to take him out to prevent further corruption.

If Clay had only removed United Data Group from the equation, it wouldn’t have been a big enough hit on Derek’s business, and they would have continued scamming people from other call centers. The fact that Derek was President Danforth’s son meant the queen bee had been compromised, and Clay had to take him out to protect the hive. Clay wouldn’t stop until Derek was killed — he was an infection that was affecting the most vulnerable people, and his influence had to end.

Does Clay Get Eloise's Money Back In The Beekeeper?

Eloise died because of a phishing scam, but that money doesn't resurface

Although Adam Clay goes on a revenge killing spree on behalf of Eloise, The Beekeeper doesn't confirm whether the titular character gets Eloise's money back from her scammers. Considering Eloise is dead and Clay burns the scamming centers, as well as kills Derek, it's doubtful he was able to retrieve everything Eloise had lost. Clay avenged her death by killing Derek and those who worked for him. It seemed easier than attempting to get the money back — money that was no longer going to be used by Eloise.

How Adam Clay’s Ending Sets Up The Beekeeper 2

There's definitely room for more story after Clay escapes

Adam Clay managed to get in and out of the White House without being killed (only one of the mercenaries came close), so the fact that he escaped and will probably be hunted even more after killing Derek is more than enough to set up The Beekeeper 2. What’s more, Parker let Clay escape at the end of The Beekeeper, and it’s possible that she will either change her mind about what she did and try to find him again, or figure out some way to team up with him for another mission.

Now that the director of the FBI is dead, Parker could get promoted, and the story can go from there. At the time of this writing, a sequel to The Beekeeper has not been announced. However, the action film has enough worldbuilding and intrigue to continue in a sequel, if only to see what Jason Statham’s Clay gets up to next, and how he will manage to avoid being caught after such a high-profile kill.

What Jason Statham & David Ayer Have Said About The Beekeeper 2

With The Beekeeper's ending leaving the door open for further exploration into the beehive and its operations, as well as the fact that Adam Clay managed to escape, the film seems primed to be a franchise-starter. The Beekeeper's box office success gives a potential sequel a head start. Speaking with Inverse, David Ayer expressed interest in continuing to explore the world of The Beekeeper. Here's what the director had to say about The Beekeeper 2:

We cracked the door a little bit into the Beekeeper world, and I would love to learn more about them. I’m extremely curious: Where do they come from? Who are they? How do they operate? What happened in the system? Did it break? Did the Beekeepers break? Do we have to fix the Beekeepers? Who fixes the Beekeepers when the Beekeepers need fixing?

At the same time, Ayer and Statham are continuing to work together, though it's on another action film instead of The Beekeeper 2. While Statham hasn't said anything about a Beekeeper sequel, Hutcherson (in the same interview as Ayer) chimed in about wanting to know "who founded the Beekeeper system and how many are there," which would be intriguing as a central plot.

What The Beekeeper’s Ending Really Means

Clay not only went after Derek, but he went after the system

The Beekeeper is a revenge film on the surface, but the levels of corruption Clay uncovers showcase that no entity — no matter how good their intentions may seem — is free from duplicity. The film also reveals how those in power can exploit the vulnerable for their own gains and greed, as was exemplified by Eloise being scammed out of her money and charity earnings. Though Clay’s mission was personal, his need to protect the beehive stems from the notion of imbalance.

He was working to right a wrong, one that was made all the more alarming considering the man in charge of such heinous operations was the president’s own son. What’s more, Parker’s decision to allow Clay to escape suggests she’s beginning to question the limits of the law, as well as what is just. Both characters make different moral judgments throughout the film, and The Beekeeper asks which one is ultimately right. The film presents an interesting conundrum regarding the way in which corruption and general wrongdoing should be approached, especially as it relates to its victims.

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  The Beekeeper

  Release Date:

  2024-01-12

  Director:

  David Ayer

  Cast:

  Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, Jeremy Irons

  Rating: