Let me start with a confession. I watched the whole of The Gentlemen season 2 in a single day. Now I am busy, and yet I have gone back to the beginning and started watching seasons one and two all over again...several times. It is simply what comes on, when I turn the TV on, since September the 3rd.
As much as I am dying to talk about the actual plot and how insane that finale was, I am going to hold back. A very detailed article is coming soon. Frankly, I cannot think of a single reason why you still haven't watched it. But let me give you a few more reasons, which is my polite way of giving you a bit more time before I start spoiling it for you.
Season 2 picks up, according to Netflix's official logline, one year after Eddie (Theo James) and Susie (Kaya Scodelario) joined forces to work together in Bobby's (Ray Winstone) criminal empire overseas, with Bobby's decisions becoming increasingly unsound.
Among the familiar faces returning with them:
- Joely Richardson as Sabrina Horniman, Eddie's mother;
- Daniel Ings as Eddie's chaotic brother, Freddy;
- Vinnie Jones as Geoffrey Seacombe;
- Giancarlo Esposito as Stanley Johnston;
- Harry Goodwins as Jack Glass;
The new arrivals are Hugh Bonneville, Benjamin Clementine, Benedetta Porcaroli, Michele Morrone, Sergio Castellitto, Amra Mallassi, Tyler Conti, boxer Chris Eubank Jr and TV host Maya Jama.
And no, the cast is not on this list. Read the names again. Really? Do I need to remind you that Vinnie is back on our screens? I refuse to count it as a reason. That is not a reason, that is a given.
Reason 1: Guy Ritchie
His Majesty. I take a bow.
The man has a vision, and he delivers every single time. Like it or not, he loves what he is and he has a signature, and we are so f%#king enjoying it. The hats, the suits, the accents, the vocabulary, the locations, the photography, the on screen "written" explainers. And THE HUMOUR.
I will be honest with you, and this is not a spoiler: the second season is much darker than the first. Even so, the English humour is superb, hysterical, delightful, elevated and cultured.
And to quote his words "if you like my sort of world, you would like this world". We are f%#king loving it Ritchie!
Reason 2: The Gentlemen, the movie
This is a great opportunity to revisit the film. Matthew McConaughey starred as Mickey Pearson, alongside Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, Henry Golding and Colin Farell.
But do not watch it to recall the plot. The movie and the series are two totally different things.
Fun fact: The Gentlemen started off as a TV series pitch before it became a feature. Years later, Ritchie came back to the original plan, and King bless him for that. As he once put it, "The attractive thing about The Gentleman is it's a TV series."
Reason 3: Theo James
Yes. Oh yes. Oh f%#king yes.
But not only for his looks. Come on, mate, I am not that shallow. Or that desperate. The man has no social media, and yet he uses his platform where it counts: he has backed UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2016, and became a Global Goodwill Ambassador in June 2024.
He has spoken about his Greek "pappou" too making it personal and not just a theoretical discussion. During the Second World War, his grandfather, Dr Nicholas Taptiklis, fled Greece by boat and then overland through Turkey to Damascus.
His message is that anyone can become a refugee: "No one chooses to become a refugee. But we can all choose how to respond to people in need of sanctuary."
Reason 4: The clothes
Eddie's mother, Sabrina, is quiet luxury at its finest. Eddie's wardrobe is superb. Susie is quite simply the most fabulous cockney ever to grace a screen. As for Bobby Glass, the costume budget clearly went on his glasses, because he spends a good deal of the season barely dressed. No complaints here.
Reason 5: The watches
Oh my God. Vacheron Constantin, Rolex, Hermès, Bulgari. Extraordinary.
Reason 6: The press tour
The press tour gave us all those videos of pure joy between the cast. Watch them after the episodes, and thank me later.
Reason 7: My England, not good
The realisation that I do not speak English. I speak American.
Nothing more to say, mate.
Reason 8: Godfather we love you
Surely every single one of us has watched The Godfather at least once. Which is exactly why spotting the parallels is so insane.
SPOILER ALERT: skip the post below unless you have finished the season."
Reason 9: The liberation
Last but not least, it reminded us that saying c%$t and f%#k that often is f%#king liberating.
So go. Watch it. Then come back, because the spoilers are coming.
