The Gentlemen Recap Season 1 Episode 4 ‘An Unsympathetic Gentleman’

When compared to Freddy, Eddie was indeed the more responsible, more stable, smarter brother. But Eddie was also a guy who went to crime boss Bobby Glass and proposed that he would make his business more money in exchange for moving the cannabis farm off the estate, without actually any plan whatsoever on how to get that done. The Glass crime family would only move out of the Halstead Manor grounds if they had an alternative location. It was just a matter of luck that Eddie even found one – the Bassington Hall grounds, now home to the 9th Lord Bassington, Max, after the 8th Lord passed away. 

Eddie asked Rosie to introduce him to Max (Freddie Fox, one of the best casting additions to House of the Dragon), who was immediately receptive to the idea, given that he was an aspiring actor who just inherited a debt-ridden estate. But, Max had a price. He told Eddie that his father was being blackmailed for 500 thousand pounds. He wanted Eddie to deal with the situation, get him the file, and promise not to look inside. Eddie gave his word, then took the proposal to Susie.

Susie was not entirely happy, given that her organisation usually did due diligence before deciding on their next location, but she agreed to a face to face meeting. Eddie went to meet the blackmailer, who turned out to be a retired reporter named Frank. Frank took Eddie to a Chinese restaurant, where he apparently owed the guy a debt, and the 500k was supposed to be payment. When Eddie tried to intervene because he did not have the blackmail material yet, a fight ensued, and in the course of it, Frank escaped with the money. Susie via a phone call had to save Eddie’s plan and got Frank’s address. Susie and Eddie took Frank to Max’s manor, where Max promptly dropped the compromising file into the fireplace.

Frank was just leaving with the money when he gave a parting shot that made Eddie realise Max had lied to him. Frank was not blackmailing Max’s father, he was blackmailing Max himself. Both Eddie and Susie insisted on transparency, and so Max led them into a secret room where he kept his collection of Adolf Hitler’s paintings. The most cherished part of his collection was Hitler’s, um, body part, preserved in formaldehyde. 

Eddie wanted to walk away from the deal, but Max’s Hitler admiration was not a deal breaker for Susie, who still wanted to explore this business opportunity now that she believed she had leverage over Max. Secretly, Frank tried to record the bizarre room, and an unnamed woman who had been standing on guard for Max loudly warned him. Max pulled a gun and pointed it at Frank, and Susie pulled out her own weapon. 

A fight ensued which ended with the unnamed woman apparently dying. Susie’s boys arrived to impress the deal upon Max. It was messy, but Eddie got the new location he needed to remove the cannabis farm from his land.

Yet, there wasn’t even any need. Sabrina and Geoff put their heads together to find an alternative venue, and came up with a simple solution – their neighbour Mr. Rokes, a sheep farmer in dire need of cash and who was being investigated for fraud by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sabrina talked to him and he agreed to a long term lease. Somehow, the Glass crime family ended up with two new farms, and even a rare art collection (I’m assuming they confiscated Max’s paintings). 

Unknown to Susie, however, there was trouble brewing. Gabrielle was able to manipulate Jimmy not only into showing her the cannabis farm in the Horniman estate, she also got him to tell her that it was one of 12, and there were others that were bigger. Who was Gabrielle working for? Why were there no security cameras in the farm so that at the very least Susie would be warned that Jimmy broke security? 

Max’s Hitler obsession may have been played for laughs, but there is historical basis for it. There were a number of British aristocrats who were known admirers of Hitler. The Gentlemen often sails pretty close to some uncomfortable truths.  

Rating: B

Strays

🏚️Eddie once again warned Rosie about Stanley Johnston hmm.

🏚️Geoff to Freddy: ‘It’s a lucky man who’s happy with his place in life.’ 

🏚️Daniel Ings plays Freddy with sensitivity and a lot of grace. 

🏚️I wish we got even the littlest bit of information on who the woman was in Max’s study. It seemed strange to have her play a pivotal role in the episode climax and not introduce her.

Episode Title: An Unsympathetic Gentleman

Episode Writers: Matthew Read & Billy Mason Wood & Theo Mason Wood

Episode Director: Nima Nourizadeh

Original Release Date: March 7, 2024