Netflix’s The Gentlemen is the kind of glossy, mid-sized genre romp that seems increasingly rare: not trying to reinvent television, yet landing its punches with far more flair than expected. Guy Ritchie’s series turns the tale of an aristocratic duke who slides into the cannabis underworld into a brisk, blood-spattered comedy of manners — imagine Downton Abbey colliding with Breaking Bad, then pouring itself a stiff drink. The violence has bite when required, but the real pleasure is the crackle of the dialogue, a profane, fast-spinning blend shaped by Ritchie and showrunner Matthew Read. Under Ritchie’s more controlled-than-usual direction, the ensemble rides that rhythm beautifully, and the whole thing tears along like a titled gentleman’s sports car on a country road.
The new season wastes no time throwing viewers into trouble. In its cold open, Edward Horniman (Theo James), the 13th Duke of Halstead, is beaten, bloodied and barely mobile, pulling himself across an open field with one arm as he follows a cryptic note pointing him toward an “X” on the ground.
Flash back three months, and the story properly picks up with the Horniman clan at Halstead Manor in a surprisingly healthy place — at least by their standards. Freddy (Daniel Ings, also known to fantasy fans as Lyonel “The Laughing Storm” Baratheon from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) is in rehab, which is probably for the best. Charly (Jasmine Blackborrow) has returned from school, bringing along her seemingly gentle husband Nanny (Benjamin Clementine), a trusted aide to the king, plus their irresistibly cute baby boy. Sabrina (Joely Richardson), as elegant and composed as one expects from a Joely Richardson character, appears to be thriving. So does Geoffrey (Vinnie Jones), Charly’s secret biological father and the family’s quietly intimidating gamekeeper-turned-problem-solver.
At the center of it all is Duke Eddie, whose military-honed ruthlessness — though Freddy has suggested those instincts may have existed long before the Army — has helped transform him into the unlikely steward of a vast illegal marijuana business. The enterprise has rescued the Horniman finances in a way no inheritance ever could. Eddie has built it through a profitable, tense and endlessly watchable alliance with Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), the sharp, glamorous heir to a criminal dynasty. Her father Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone), a heavyweight underworld boss, continues to direct matters from remarkably luxurious prison quarters. More on that arrangement shortly.
The scheme Eddie and Susie engineered in Season 1 is now running with impressive efficiency. Hidden cannabis farms on the estates of cash-poor aristocrats are generating serious money for both families while staying conveniently shielded from unwanted attention. The business has even expanded beyond Britain, with an Italian branch overseen by Cico (Michele Morrone), a sleazy nobleman with just enough pedigree to be useful.
Cico arrives at the big party that sets the scene with his date, a beautiful blue-blood named Bella (Benedetta Porcaroli, a truly wonderful name). She and Eddie get on quite well, with a flirtatious, implication-heavy conversation about lingerie and dominance that could light your cigar. Cico is an obvious dirtbag and liability, by contrast. Joining them at the dinner are Aisha (Maya Jama), their Middle Eastern liaison, and her friendly (and princely) date Amir (Amra Malissi). Finally there’s Lord Hawthorne (Hugh Bonneville, clearly having a blast playing a comically dissolute aristocrat for once), an influential but cash-poor member of the House of Lords.
His Lordship is key to Eddie’s plans for the future. Hawthorne holds sway over elections for a vacant hereditary peerage, which would give Eddie, if elected, a seat in Parliament. This would give him a position through which he could influence the passage of a marijuana decriminalization bill, one he seems to think would be good for business but Bobby Glass wants killed. Hawthorne sells out for pennies on the dollar…but he wants a crack at Susie’s handsome, heterosexual brother Jack (Harry Goodwins) to seal the deal.
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The Italian guests provide the episode’s main course, however. Bella’s godfather (ha ha), Marco Moretti (Sergio Castelitto), is the boss of all mafia bosses in Italy, and naturally he would have liked to have been notified that Eddie was growing weed beneath her estate. As a make-good, he has requested that the Duke purchase him a Botticelli at auction, or so Cico says.
But when an unexpected bidding war that Eddie and Susie win (much to his chagrin) devolves into a motorcycle chase when the painting gets stolen, the pair discover that Cico has double-crossed them. He drove up the bidding himself via a proxy and never had any plans to hand over the painting or contact Moretti at all.
But Eddie and Susie are no dummies. Traveling to Bella’s estate in Italy to meet with Cico, they inform him they’ve invited the don, and alerted him to Cico’s transgression. Moretti feeds Cico to his own pet tiger, agreeing to go directly into business with Eddie, who will pay for his protection across the Boot.
There’s just one issue, and you’ll have to bear with me: A supernatural entity called the Bannik (Jimmy Vee), a dwarf-like spirit said to inhabit bathhouses in Slavic legend. The creature, which we rather unexpectedly get to see (though the characters don’t), answers questions about the future with either a pat on the back for yes or a scratch with his claws for no. The entity advises Glass to say yes to the Botticelli bidding war, no matter how high it goes…but Bobby somehow misses the scratch across his back when he asks if Moretti can be trusted.
So that’s certainly interesting!
The bathhouse imp excepted, this premiere is, wisely, The Gentlemen doing Gentlemen-ly things. The awkward gathering at Halstead Manor is a show tradition. The motorcycle chase is loads of fun even if you know how it will end up. The trip to Italy, featuring mafia bosses who feed people to tigers and the same Bach composition Marty opened Casino with, is equally good clean criminal fun. At the head of an enjoyable cast, James and Scodelario’s rapport remains sexy, though the show is clearly out to introduce some new romantic interests like Bella to kick the will-they-or-won’t-they can down the road a bit further. (I thought Cico might be Susie’s new guy at first, but I gave up on that long before the tiger got to him.) All told, it’s a promising start for a show whose grasp always seems to exceed its reach rather than the other way around.
Sean T. Collins (@seantcollins.com on Bluesky and theseantcollins on Patreon) has written about television for The New York Times, Vulture, Rolling Stone, and elsewhere. He is the author of Pain Don’t Hurt: Meditations on Road House. He lives with his family on Long Island.