The Gentlemen is about as posh as a television show gets. For season two of the Guy Ritchie-created series, the style only gets more lavish. Just about everyone in the ensemble looks spectacular, most characters are terribly clever, and everything is just so. It’s Ritchie’s classic list of ingredients. There’s plenty of flavor in the second round of the series and more than enough substance to back the style.
A key reason for its success is its point of view. Theo James as Eddie is a more charming than usual Ritchie protagonist; there are fewer sharp edges. There’s a moral compass there – a desire to do bad things the right way. The character was tested in season one in that battle arena, but season two proves this series has legs by deepening the push and pull within the gentleman gangster.
There is less posture, less refinement to Eddie this season. The writers – including Matthew Read – give him some serious lows to hit, with a most satisfying grave to dig out of around mid-season. The anti-hero falls more than wins. It’s immensely satisfying to watch, especially in answering the question: How will Eddie get himself out of this predicament?
Which we won’t spoil, but it makes for a very entertaining and very dramatic shift in dynamics in season two. The series doesn’t always go where expected. There is no repeating a formula, but actual surprises, a rise in stakes, and a heightening of the drama.
It’s what an audience expects and hopes from a second season without knowing that’s what they wanted. The criminal underworld continues to expand. Or, as Ritchie would put it – and probably in a speech – the animal kingdom.
Ritchie loves the animal kingdom, or the idea of it. It’s all over his work. In the film The Gentlemen, there’s all that talk of the lion and king of the jungle, the lion, etc. With more time in the series, though, Ritchie gets to show more, tell less when it comes to hunters and prey. The breathing room suits the filmmaker. His signature style has found a welcoming home in television, with The Gentlemen and MobLand. When Ritchie isn’t in the director’s chair, Eran Creevy brings plenty of punch to the series. There are some ‘80s flourishes, a real Tony Scott vibe that flourishes in his episodes.
[Side note: if you enjoy the director’s work here, check out his crime-thriller, Welcome to the Punch.]
Picture Credit: Netflix
Ritchie’s signature dialogue gets more room to shine in this medium as well. There’s still joy in it, whether it’s a succinct one-liner, a story or speech (which there are a lot of in this show), or even a good ol’ pile of funky word salad. There is showmanship in the words, not just the visuals.
The style remains impeccable. Costume designer Loulou Bontemps gets to level up with the characters, especially Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario). As her stock rises in crime, so do her costumes – her posh battle armor. Good taste is important to these characters, and it’s always reflected in their wardrobe. Watching the likes of Kaya, Giancarlo Esposito, and Joely Richardson dressed to the nines, delivering catchy or meaty dialogue in lavish locations – it’s rather delicious eye and sound candy.
If there’s one bump in the road this season, though, it’s the love stories. Eddie and Susan’s separate relationships don’t carry as much weight as the rest of the show. While The Gentlemen generally takes its time with its ensemble, the romantic storylines could’ve used more breathing room in the first half of chapter two. Weirdly, or maybe on brand for Ritchie, the platonic friendships are more intimate than the romantic ones.
Season two is at the top of its game the more it challenges its characters and their code. Even when the show is nice and light on its feet, the stakes are deadly and real. The worse things get for Eddie and his enterprise, the better things get for the audience.
