The Gentlemen Season 1 Episode 8 Recap
The Gospel According To Bobby Glass – The finale begins with Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito) sharing his affinity for sartorial expression with Stevens (Alexis Rodney) while he’s being fitted for a new suit. Stanley is not only willing to openly admit being a sheep in wolf’s clothing, but he appears to enjoy it.
While Gospel John Dixon (Pearce Quigley) pays respects to Jack (Harry Goodwins) and Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) at the hospital, his troops gather outside Halstead Estate. It doesn’t take Geoff Seacombe (Vinnie Jones) to notice and report the arrival to Eddie Horniman (Theo James) who makes a quick call to encourage Freddy Horniman (Daniel Ings) to keep his appearance scarce. It’s not long before John joins his men and moves them to the front lawn of Halstead Estate where he then places a phone call to Freddy, demanding him to come out or he’s coming in after him.
Still at the hospital, Susie receives a call from her father, Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone), requesting a meeting with her and Eddie. Despite how it might have looked in the previous episode, her subsequent apology to Eddie suggests that he and Bobby had a hidden agenda. She also tells him that reinforcements are on the way. Her next call goes to Jimmy (Michael Vu) and Gabrielle (Ruby Sear), with instructions on how to make sure the reinforcements get to Eddie.
Eddie soon joins Freddy, Lady Sabrina (Joely Richardson), and Tammy Horniman (Chanel Cresswell) in the front foyer where they begin boarding up the estate in anticipation of John’s assault. Freddy soon has a crisis of conscience and wants to turn himself over to John but Eddie won’t have it. When an amply armed Geoff arrives, they pass out weapons and assign battle positions. Although John appears to be delaying his assault for as long as possible, Eddie fires the first round.
After Eddie’s shot reverberates, the story seemingly picks up in the future at the prison where Bobby uses an old French war story to convey his love for pigeons to Eddie and Susie. His story ultimately preludes to him announcing his epiphany and desire to sell the business. Although it’s not revealed at the time, he assures Eddie that he will honor their deal. Eddie points out that he’s playing into Stanley’s hand. Bobby’s response is that Stanley doesn’t have a clue about the nuances of the situation. After a bit more back-and-forth, the conversation ends with Bobby asking Eddie to help Susie sell the business.
Eddie and Susie’s next meeting is with Stanley who is quick to point out that he never hid his intention to take over Bobby’s business, despite the disruptions it has suffered as of late. Susie is just as quick to let him know that she’s aware he perpetrated those disruptions. As the conversation lingers on, Stanley attempts to justify what happened to Jack before making his continued interest in the business seem like pity. When Stanley learns of Eddie’s deception with the list of the Lords, he can’t help but ask why Eddie had a change of heart. Eddie enigmatically explains it as pivoting to a pivotal moment. Susie uses the opportunity to insult him by claiming that Bobby is still willing to sell Stanley the business if he’s willing to pay more. When he asks if that’s what the pigeon is for, she explains how her father wants to receive all the bids in writing and delivered by carrier pigeon.
The following morning during tea, Sabrina subverts Charly’s questions about Geoff’s recent strange behavior. At one point, Sabrina uses Eddie’s arrival as a deterrent, which ends up playing in his favor because otherwise, he might not have ever found out that Freddy was attempting to put in a bid on Bobby’s business via carrier pigeon. A series of scenes shows Eddie and Susie meeting with several other potential proprietors, including Mercy Moreno (Martha Millan) and Peter Spencer Forbes (Joshua McGuire).
Eddie discovers Freddie in the grown room where he immediately realizes he’s caught in the act. He makes an honorable attempt to explain why he should take over the business but ultimately realizes that it was Eddie who was born for the business. Freddy helps Eddie realize this as well with the story of their first deer stalking trip with their father. After much consideration, Eddie meets with the family solicitor to have him draft a legal contract for the $200 million he intends to raise to buy Bobby’s business.
Eddie leans on all his contacts, but when all is said and done, he is still nearly $15 million short. Rather than approach Susie at his mother’s suggestion, he approaches Henry Collins (Max Beesley). During their conversation, Eddie tells him there is no coming back from what he did to Jack but claims he might have a way to change his fortune. While Eddie lays out the terms, Lady Sabrina meets with Susie and Blanket (Logan Dean) at the hospital under the guise of checking up on Jack. It soon becomes apparent that she has ulterior motives when she tells Susie that she is much more likely to regret the things she didn’t do rather than the things she did.
Susie takes Sabrina’s advice and meets with Eddie. He uses his family’s motto, non sine periculo: not without danger, in an attempt to explain why he did what he did. He offers her an equal partnership but says it will require putting her issues with Henry aside, at least for the meantime.
While the prospective buyers set about to place their bids, Geoff subtly admits to being Charly’s father. It is her intuition and prodding that leads to the admonition. He claims he never revealed the truth because he didn’t want her to be ashamed. She says she could never be ashamed.
The next several scenes are flashbacks of Eddie explaining to Bobby how he rigged the bidding. As it turns out Stanley was the highest bidder but Eddie used his recent connection with Henry and Thick Rick (Gary Beadle) to bring his illegal tax proclivities to light and have him arrested. With Stanley out of the way, Eddie continues to sabotage the bidding by leading Mercy to believe that Pete was awarded the business. This leads to her eliminating Stinky Pete, who is then in turn eliminated by Henry. Henry is then double-crossed and later killed by Eddie while Susie witnesses. Eddie and Susie are blindsided when Bobby reveals his deceit. He never intended to get out of the business or sell it. He wanted to use the proposal to find prospective “investors” for “expansion.” Despite their surprise, both Eddie and Susie agree to buy in using their $235-million bid.
The last scene picks up 3 months in the future with Bobby and Stanley sharing a meal at the prison cooked by none other than Mr. Kawasaki (Po Wong). Bobby provides Stanley with the reassurance that prison life won’t be so bad. Stanley agrees that one could do much worse.
The Gentlemen Review
I will give it to Guy Ritchie; he has a knack for the subtle twist. Just when you think it’s over and are invested, the rug is pulled right out from under you. Once again, I only know what I like and do not like, and certainly don’t claim to be an expert, but I felt the acting was par for the course. There is no denying that the posh dialogue bushed me at times, but the shortened run time of this last episode, really made the writers focus on getting right to the point. It worked for me. It could have been the series growing on me, but I really ended up enjoying this, which is surprising considering where we started. I’d certainly enjoy a season 2.
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