Refined Aggression – As the opening episode of The Gentlemen begins, Eddie Horniman (Theo James) works at the Syrian border of Turkey. He eventually approaches a car containing Ahmed Iqbal (Ranjit Krishnamma) who tells him that his father had a nasty fall. Eddie is told he’ll be going home and it’s already been cleared with his superiors. Before long, Eddie returns home where Mr. Lawrence (Stephane Fichet) greets him. Eddie goes inside where Freddy (Daniel Ings) is waiting for him. They talk about their father and mother. Charly tells Eddie that his dad is in and out. Lady Sabrina (Joely Richardson) tells Eddie his dad would be glad he came. Lord Horniman tells Eddie how the first Duke of Halstead built this place.

He asks Eddie why he turned his back on them. The Duke is adamant that the estate is not to be carved up. He passes away. Everyone attends his funeral. After that, Charly tells Eddie the estate has been in the family for more than 600 years. She tells Eddie he should do something about it. Eddie suggests it is irrelevant because the entire estate gets handed down to the firstborn son. They gather to listen to Archibald’s will and testament. Geoff Seacombe (Vinnie Jones is given a lifetime tenancy to the gatekeeper’s cottage. Sabrina receives an annual allowance that the new duke shall bestow at his discretion. Charlotte receives the Endurance, but she must sail around the world in the next six months.

She’ll also get a trust fund of a thousand pounds a week until she marries a man. The rest of the estate and title are given to Edward. Freddy suggests there has been some sort of mistake. Although he argues about it for a while, Ahmed reminds him that the will is clear. Eventually, Freddy gets upset and storms out of the room. He comes back and continues complaining. Later, Eddie confronts Freddy and insists he is just as surprised. Freddy asks how it’ll make him look and how it’ll help him pay his debts. He admits he has big debts. Freddy mentions Pete Forbes Spencer who was in his house at Eton. Freddy started giving him money because he was making a fortune in property.

Then, the tits went up. Eddie asks where he got four million pounds. Freddy admits the money came from Tommy Dixon who he met in rehab. Eddie realizes he owes a Scouse cocaine dealer four million. Freddy says he owes a crime family eight million pounds. They’re going to chop off his penis if he doesn’t come up with the money by the end of the week. Eddie insists he can’t give him that kind of money. He says the title has no practical value and the business is broken. Eddie finds a bunch of money in a safe and questions what his father has been up to. He calls Ahmed to tell him he needs a large amount of money by the end of the week. Ahmed tells him he’s asset rich but cash poor.

Ahmed suggests selling one of their paintings. A lawyer’s client has expressed an interest in purchasing Halstead Manor. He’d be willing to pay well above market value. Eddie asks him to set up a meeting. Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) meets Eddie and reveals she used to do business with his father. Susie wants to discuss certain interests with him. She begins talking to him about the revenue generated by the farm. His dad was making five million in cash a year plus profit share. Once they go downstairs, Susie says the cannabis market in the UK is worth more than six billion a year. His dad let them grow marijuana there. Jimmy (Michael Vu) tells them about the drugs they’re growing. Eddie thinks this place is turning over about 50 million each year.

Susie says he only needs to know that he’ll receive a significant amount of money every year. Eddie tells her that he may have to put the house on the market. They continue talking about it until Susie tells him to see how he feels once it’s percolated. Eddie stops Geoff to ask for a chat when he has the time. Geoff tells him that his father gave him an opportunity when he was in a bit of bother. They talk about the weed operation. Geoff insists he makes it his business not to be his business. Eddie admits he may not be entirely comfortable with the status quo. Geoff thinks he should stay with them. He knows they’ll help him, but it’ll come at a price. Eddie calls Ahmed to tell him he’s decided to take the house off the market. In the morning, Charly (Jasmine Blackborow) tells Eddie that her mom has convinced her to go back to uni to finish the year.

He tells her not to worry about Freddy because he is going to look after him. Susie tells Jack (Harry Goodwins) that the Duke is on the phone. Eddie tells them he needs to raise eight million pounds because his brother is in debt to Tommy Dixon. Susie thinks they can take care of four if he can take care of the rest. After the call, Jack says he knows Tommy Dixon and his brother the Gospel. He thinks they have God on their side. He believes they can squeeze him once they know who their dad is. Stevens (Alexis Rodney) visits Eddie because he knows someone interested in buying the manor. His client was disappointed that he pulled out of negotiations. He asks Eddie about meeting his client face-to-face.

Stevens offers 250,000 pounds. Susie tracks down Tommy and tells him she is the daughter of Bobby Glass. She wants to have a conversation about Freddy. Tommy hasn’t heard good things about her operation. Susie explains why she wants to help Freddy. She asks about getting him the original four in cash by the end of the week. Tommy suggests treating it as an investment in her operation. Susie isn’t looking for investors although she is still trying to find a way through this. She tells him he can pick up the four million on Friday. Tommy agrees although he says Freddy must apologize and admit that he’s a cock. He wants it recorded for posterity. He wants Freddy to emulate a certain video. Eddie meets Stanley Johnston.

Stanley says he wants to buy the estate because it is a sample of the architectural philosophy of William Kent. They begin discussing his philosophy. Stanley intends to offer him an obscene amount of money for his country estate. Even after he sees the number, Eddie says the land is not for sale. Stanley (Giancarlo Esposito) tells Stanley how he likes to present his wine. He admits he is willing to offer a higher sum. Stanley asks to buy the wine if he won’t let him buy the house. Eddie talks to Ahmed about it. The wine collection is sold to Stanley. Eddie believes he has enough money to cover his brother’s debt. Susie tells him what Tommy wants. Eddie is impressed that she convinced Tommy to accept four instead of eight. Freddy calls Eddie to tell him he placed a big bet on a boxing match with Pete.

Eddie urges him to talk to Pete and get his money back. Eddie and Susie visit Jack to see what he can do. They find a table before Susie begins telling Eddie about the two boxers involved in the match. She suspects there will be 50 to 100 million British pounds in there tonight. Eddie speaks to Pete about getting his money back. Pete tells him it’s his problem. Eddie is told Susie wants to see him. Susie tells him to sit down and watch the fight because they’ll figure something out. Then, he learns it’s a scam because he never places the bet. Susie says Eddie’s lot is too intimidated to complain. As the match continues, Eddie confronts Pete and accuses him of not placing the bet. Freddy’s boxer loses. Eddie tells Susie they need to leave now.

In the car, he speaks to Susie about Stanley. Susie shows him the lyrics Freddy is supposed to find when he hands the money over. A badly beaten Pete apologizes to Eddie and gives his money back. Eddie says they’re cool. As they walk back to the car, Susie tells Eddie how they did him a favor by training the dog. Geoff gives Freddy advice while he is shooting. Eddie comes over to tell Freddy that Pete never placed the bet. He tells Freddy what Tommy wants him to do. Freddy doesn’t like the idea that his performance will be filmed. Eddie doesn’t give him a choice. Tommy arrives and puts Jethro (Josh Finan) in charge of counting the money. Freddy tries to talk Tommy out of recording him in a chicken suit. Tommy refuses to cooperate. Once Freddy gets dressed, Tommy tells him he’ll dance and he’ll decide whether his performance is film worthy.

Tommy scolds him and makes him do it over and over again. Susie tells Eddie to stay out of it. Freddy goes to the bathroom, returns with a rifle, and shoots Tommy. He goes outside to scream as the episode ends.

 

The Gentlemen Review

The opening episode of The Gentlemen leaves a lot to be desired even though it has a reliable cast. Despite running over an hour, very little actually happened in the episode and some scenes were tediously long. The Freddy character in particular was involved in too many mind-numbing scenes that tried too hard to be humorous. Early in the episode, he just screamed and whined for a good five minutes when he found out he had lost the title and estate.

At the end of the episode, he tried the chicken routine for what felt like an eternity. Neither of these scenes was particularly funny or authentic for that matter. There is some glamor here, but there isn’t enough substance to make the story compelling. The camera work could be much better as well. Within the first two minutes, the camera was shaking like a leaf on a tree and spinning 360 degrees while doing so.

The title scenes looked very low-budget as if they were created for a high school project. Some of these problems could be overlooked if the writing was better, but that’s where it falters the most. I can’t help but think this is just a really dumb McMafia without any sophistication. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Gentlemen can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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