Entertainment
Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’ Transforms Into a Completely Different Show in Season 2
It’s been two years since Guy Ritchie‘s Netflix series, The Gentlemen, first hit our streaming screens, and its sophomore return is making an even bigger splash than Season 1. Based on his 2019 film of the same title, The Gentlemen follows the story of Edward Horniman (Theo James), 13th Duke of Halstead, former Army captain and newly minted gangster, as he navigates the world of drugs and crime upon returning to his family estate. While Season 1 focused on bringing Eddie into this new world as an aristocrat-turned-criminal, Season 2 pushes the character into deeper and darker waters. The new season brings in the Italian mafia, Peruvian cartels, the British House of Lords, and a sprinkling of mysticism and myth we’ve never seen before. It’s a tonal shift away from the comedy that was so evident in Season 1, but the move is for the better as The Gentlemen transforms and evolves into something completely new.
‘The Gentlemen’ Expands Its World of Crime in Season 2
If Season 1 of The Gentlemen was about easing us into the world of crime alongside Eddie, then Season 2 is about his quiet rise into becoming a kingpin in his own right. The season starts with the reveal that Eddie is trying to secure a seat in the House of Lords in an attempt to derail a bill set to decriminalize marijuana. At the same time, he’s expanded Bobby Glass’ (Ray Winstone) empire into Italy, bringing in more money and creating more weed farms. Of course, any criminal expansion into Italy will inevitably bring its own baggage, and both Eddie and Susie (Kaya Scodelario) have to face off against the mafia’s El Capo dei Capi (the boss of bosses), Marco Moretti (Sergio Castellitto).
While Season 1 of The Gentlemen stuck to the blueprint of Ritchie’s film, Season 2 expands in all directions in the vein of his more sober crime drama, MobLand. Expanding into the international world of criminals means that whatever equilibrium was found after Season 1 has been undone. It’s clear that while Susie and Eddie might be able to keep their cool in London, leaving the safe confines of England means they are navigating more dangerous territory. While some shows struggle when the cast expands and the story with it, Ritchie has rooted The Gentlemen in a way that makes its evolution feel organic. This is still a story about class differences, about crime and morality, about power and ownership. We’re just seeing it on a grander scale. New players are added to the game and the season itself has bigger action scenes, more explosions, and devastating betrayals that will keep viewers on their toes.
‘The Gentlemen’s Season 2 Cast Shines, but Eddie and Susie’s Relationship Is Peak
At the core of The Gentlemen Season 2 is the partnership between Eddie and Susie. Although both characters get their own love interests in the season — Eddie falls for Bella (Benedetta Porcaroli), an Italian countess, and Susie reconnects with an old flame named Joe (Tyler Conti) — the chemistry between James and Scodelario still sizzles. Amidst tragedy and backstabbings, their palpable connection is the beating heart of the show and one of the few authentic relationships in a world full of dodgy characters. They still quip back and forth as old married couples do, but they also share rare moments of vulnerability that add extra spice to their charged conversations. It helps that everyone else seems to think that Susie and Eddie are destined for each other, even if they continue to insist it’s all professional.
Season 2 also gives returning characters a chance to shine, specifically Winstone’s Bobby, whose character takes a curiously superstitious turn that adds an element of whimsy and mystery to the story. Vinnie Jones‘ Geoff is once again one of the best parts of the show, and Jones gets a fantastic action sequence in the latter part of the season that shows the man can be deadly as well as considerate. His quiet romance with Joely Richardson‘s Lady Sabrina is something that I can never get enough of, and we can only hope that at the end of all of this they’ll just get to spend some quiet time in an English garden together.
Among Season 2’s new additions, Porcaroli’s Bella is a veritable angel. She is sweet and beautiful, and her passionate and empathetic performance plays well off of James’ more stoic and restrained Eddie. Hugh Bonneville, as the complicated Lord Hawthorne, is a perfect fit to balance the series’ comedy elements alongside its more serious dramatic moments. Castellitto nearly falls into the realm of stereotype as a literal Italian godfather to Bella and a mobster, but his scenes with James give him the type of depth that saves him from being a caricature. Similarly, Benjamin Clementine‘s Nanny, husband to Charlotte (Jasmine Blackborow) and new father to their son Tarquin, nearly slots into the mold of clueless in-law who has no idea about the Horniman family’s illicit dealings. Yet Season 2 delivers just enough twists to show that there’s more beneath the surface than just an honorable soldier who happens to be the king’s equerry.
Season 2 of ‘The Gentlemen’ Delivers a More Evolved Guy Ritchie Story
One of the most surprising things about The Gentlemen‘s sophomore season is the fact that the show is fully leaning into a side of Ritchie that we rarely get to see in his gangster stories. There’s a new introduction of mythology and mysticism that adds just the right notes of weirdness. Both Bobby and Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito) lean into this, with Bobby seeing a mythical Bannick (a spirit who lives in a sauna) and Mr. Johnston being linked to the mysticism of the origin of England and its ties to Eddie. On the surface, it’s a little bizarre and out of left field, especially considering how grounded Season 1 is, but as the show digs deeper into the themes of power, class, and Eddie’s obsession with taking back his family’s land, these elements help to crystallize Ritchie’s overall vision.
This quirky new element comes in place of the comedy that was far more apparent in Season 1. There are no travelers camping out at the duke’s estate, no men in chicken suits dancing for their lives. Although Ritchie directs three of the eight episodes, his typical slick and fast-paced style is far more subdued and slots in comfortably alongside Eran Creevy‘s four episodes and Nick Rowland‘s solo contribution. Comedic relief characters like Freddy (Daniel Ings) and Jimmy (Michael Vu) take more of a backseat this go around, which is unfortunate because they were both highlights in Season 1. Ultimately, it seems like Ritchie, who co-wrote every episode of Season 2 alongside Matthew Read, is dialing into something darker and even sinister for Eddie. As The Gentlemen sheds some of its flash, it’s replaced with a far more thoughtful and philosophical story, one that will carry it through to what is sure to be another outstanding season.
The Gentlemen Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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2024 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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David Caffrey, Guy Ritchie, Eran Creevy, Nima Nourizadeh
- Writers
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Stuart Carolan, Guy Ritchie, Matthew Read, Billy Mason Wood, Haleema Mirza
- The Gentlemen delves deeper into the core themes of the series in a philosophical way.
- Theo James and Kaya Scodelario have palpable chemistry that drives the season.
- The grander scale of Season 2 allows for a natural expansion of the story that feels organic.
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