They Had A Dream – As the second episode of The Gallows Pole begins, David Hartley (Michael Socha) is approached by a stagman who tells him to awaken. Once he gets up, he is asked why he hasn’t looked inside the sack. David says he didn’t want to because it is full of bad memories. The stagman says his salvation lies in it. David is told to gather his family, repair all wounds, and repent all sins. He needs his family’s help to get the community behind his philanthropic venture. David tells himself that he isn’t a bad person and tries to prepare to speak to everyone. Then, Isaac Hartley (Samuel Edward Cook), Mand (Stevie Binns), and the others gather so they can listen to what David has to say.

Once David enters, he tells Grace (Sophie McShera) that he didn’t expect to see her. He thanks them for coming before telling them about the visions and stagmen he has been seeing. After babbling for a few minutes, he says they’ve led him home and told him to turn his life around. David believes he can do good now. He thinks he can use the contents of the bag for good. David explains it is a die that is used to make guineas. He can make fakes out of real coins. David needs gold and needs coins. He tells James Broadbent (Adam Fogerty) and the others that they need business owners in town to lend them coins. If they give them 21 guineas, they’ll get 21 back. They keep one and the business owners get one extra.

David agrees to show them how it is done. Once he finishes, Grace and the others admit that it looks really good. They could be rich, but he needs them to go out there and rustle up some coins. Everyone agrees that they’ll help him. Mand, Darya (Soraya Jane Nabipour), and Grace try to get people to give them coins. James Broadbent visits Susie because he has a business opportunity for them. While he tries to woo Susie, Grace, and the others work on other possible investors. They don’t have much luck because no one has anything to give. One woman is tired of working at the brothel and she saved up some coins. Grace promises to give her more back if she gives them her guineas. The woman hands over the guineas.

Grace and the others realize it is people’s lives as well as their money. David shows William (Thomas Turgoose), Tom (Dave Perkins), and Isaac how to create counterfeit guineas. James continues pitching the idea to Susie. Mand and the girls speak to Martha who says she can’t offer them any coins. However, she is the widow of a blacksmith from the village so she may be able to offer other things. She has all of his tools. Most of the other locals say the same. Although they don’t have much to give, they’d like to contribute somehow. Grace knows about Joe because he is good at stealing stuff while his buddy is a blacksmith. James offers to let Susie speak to his friends before deciding whether she wants to help.

David continues showing Tom, Isaac, and William how the process works. Tom breaks the imprint and David doesn’t have another. He reveals that he murdered the guy who made it. Grace and her team manage to get three coins and a button. James brings Susie to them so they can talk. Grace tells Susie what they’re looking for since James hasn’t been forthcoming about it. Susie eventually reveals that they have the clothier coming in among others. When they go back to David, Susie tells him what they got and how she came up with a plan for Susie. They’ve got a way to get a hold of 100 guineas. They have the clothier and they have access to his safe.

They might be able to get Joe to pickpocket him and get his keys. Grace has promised Susie that no one will know she was involved in this. David breaks the news that Isaac has cracked the die. They need an engraver so Grace recommends speaking to Abe. David refuses to speak to Abe because he is a man of god with a family. Grace tries to convince David to speak to Abe. Once she leaves, David tells everyone that he really likes her because she is great. Later, he practices talking to Grace and being nicer. He goes on a picnic with her. Grace gives him advice for speaking to Abe.

Abe (Anthony Welsh) and his wife Bethsheba arrive later. He already knows that David needs help with the die. Abe has been approached about this kind of work before, but he has never done it because he has seen a lot of people get hurt. David begins telling Abe about his vision and the things he has seen. He thinks he can help people instead of being greedy. David explains that he has a way to give people guineas. Grace tries to tell them that David is being truthful. Abe admits he believes him. He inspects the coin and agrees that it is very good. David says there might be crime involved, but it relies on people investing coins. He tells David how the clothier has been stealing from his family and how he’ll get his coins back.

David promises that he’ll swing for this if anyone has to. Abe says this could be an opportunity to give back. He agrees to help them with the die. As they head back, David makes sure to carry everything to be nice to Grace. He thanks her for today.

 

 

 

The Gallows Pole Review

The Gallows Pole could be a lot better since the story is very interesting and the cast is reliable enough, but there are just too many issues here. The show feels like an unfinished, unrefined project mainly because of the dialogue. In this episode, the characters rambled incoherently for several minutes at a time while the pace ground to a halt.

This creates some mind-numbingly boring scenes that could’ve been cut from the series without missing anything important. The story was really shortchanged due to the lack of refinement for the dialogue.

There isn’t a lot of substance in The Gallows Pole due to the bad dialogue. The show could’ve been so much more, but it is pretty much a shell. At this point, it’d be very difficult to recommend The Gallows Pole due to the terrible dialogue, painful pace, and lack of substance. This episode scores a 4 out of 10.

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