The Gentlemen Recap Season 2 Episode 2 ‘There’s a Rat in the Kitchen’
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How do you elevate the chaos in an already messy situation? Why, introduce a chaos agent blood-tied to the ambitious Duke, of course. With Eddie’s eyes fixed firmly on building a multi billion pound legal business on the back of the illegal Glass weed empire, he had no idea that an old and never resolved concern had returned. John ‘The Gospel’ Dixon had gotten his hands on Freddy, who spent the last six months in a spiritual rehab facility. Now, Freddy wanted to return home, with The Gospel in his ear assuring him that they would get back what was rightfully his. Of the multiple plates Eddie had spinning, did he perhaps consider that his father’s decision to name him heir was not a closed chapter after all? It looked like no one in the Horniman family – not Sabrina, not Charly, certainly not Eddie – looked forward to having Freddy back in the manor.
Eddie had decided he had quite enough of the Bannik, and was now working from behind Bobby Glass’s back. Bobby wanted Eddie in the House of Lords specifically to kill the marijuana legalisation bill, which he worried would kill the golden goose that he spent decades building. Bobby has made billions off the illegal weed trade. Why fix what was not broken?
Having money, however, was not enough for Eddie. He could certainly keep his family in the style they were born into with the proceeds from his work with the Glass family, but that was not his goal. He wanted to bring back that which generations of Hornimans lost. He wanted to restore the Horniman estate to its former glory. That meant having an acceptable explanation to his sudden explosion of wealth. Cleaning illegal weed money would only take him so far.
His plan to go legitimate needed significant investment, and he decided to go use a particularly dangerous path – the Italian mafia. He pitched his plan to Marco Moretti in Milan and asked for an investment of 50 to 60 million euros. In exchange, Moretti would receive 50% of the annual gross. Eddie would split his own profits with Bobby Glass. He was going behind Bobby’s back, but once the plan was in motion, he intended to ask for forgiveness and continue working with Bobby.
Could Eddie have searched for funding elsewhere using his elevated social circles? Of course, but he knew this transition could get bumpy, and he wanted Moretti’s people who had the skill set that may be needed. The thing about associating with people who murder was that it was impossible to keep one’s hands clean. Did Moretti have to ask Eddie for the favour that he did, to pick up a Mr. Takashi and help him with his errand that involved an accountant in witness protection? Not at all. A man like Moretti could have made other arrangements. This was a test of Eddie’s resolve, of how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted. Eddie went very far, indeed.
It was Geoff whom Eddie tasked to go meet and drive Mr. Takashi to the office of a lawyer they thought had the accountant’s location. Eddie was with Susie when he received Geoff’s message asking for aid. The lawyer gave up the location willingly enough, but Mr. Takashi continued to torture him. Mr. Takashi at first resisted Eddie’s efforts to get him to stop, but he eventually strangled, then shot in the head, the poor lawyer.
When Moretti called for an update, Eddie tried to express his discomfort. He said Mr. Takashi’s methods were extreme. Their agreement was for one body, and they already had a body, the lawyer’s. Moretti claimed the accountant was a monster who needed to disappear, and that Mr. Takashi had a good reason for his methods. Eddie and Geoff ended up helping Mr. Takashi bury the lawyer’s corpse. Geoff gently told Eddie that his quest to bring the estate back to its former glory was coming at a cost, and Eddie agreed.
Exhausted from his day of dealing with a sadistic mob enforcer, Eddie arrived at the manor to find Countess Bella waiting for him. Moretti had tasked Bella to take over Cico’s role as intermediary. Whilst Bella made a personal comment about Eddie looking like he needed rest, Eddie’s response was to remind Bella that Bobby Glass was out 16 million because of Cico’s Botticelli scheme. Bella promised to take care of it. This is my way of saying that despite Eddie looking at Bella during the shoot and all that La Perla talk, his mind was on business when he saw her, whilst she went personal.
Susie called Eddie the next morning to ask for his help in wrangling Lord Hawthorne (we will discuss this later); Eddie had to tell her he could not help that morning, though refrained from mentioning that it was because he and Geoff needed to pick up Mr. Takashi so he could go murder an accountant. Eddie did mention that Bella would return the 16 million, and Susie’s response was sharp. She wondered why Bella went to Eddie and not her. Eddie dismissed it as a toff to toff talk, but afterwards, Susie called Gabrielle and told her to follow Eddie.
The safe house was empty when they arrived, and Mr. Takashi started laying down multiple weapons. When Eddie saw that the accountant arrived with his wife and two children, he told Mr. Takashi to pack up. Eddie had crossed many lines, but he was not yet ready to cross the one Mr. Takashi wanted, to kill the wife and children as well. For a fraction of a second, it looked like Mr. Takashi was grabbing the gun to shoot Eddie, but Geoff strangled him from behind whilst Eddie struggled to keep him quiet. Now, they had a dead mob enforcer in their hands, and a family chatting in the living room.
The accountant went to the kitchen to check on the chair that fell with Mr. Takashi, and found Eddie there with a gun. Geoff had dragged Mr. Takashi into the next room. Eddie told the accountant to tell his wife that there was a rat in the kitchen. She was to leave with the children whilst he took care of the rat. The accountant did as Eddie instructed, but when he returned to the kitchen, he secretly armed himself with a knife.
The accountant claimed he never worked for the mob, he was innocent. Eddie pulled a gun to his head, but he clearly struggled. He heard the voices of Freddy, the brother who at one point admitted to wanting him dead, and Stanley Johnston, who tried to use him to take over Bobby Glass’s empire. Though unrepresented in his visions, his better angels won, and he put down the gun.
It was then that the accountant made his fatal mistake. He lunged at Eddie with his knife, and they struggled. Eddie shot him, shocked at the spray of blood that reached the ceiling and stained the walls that this man’s wife and children would later return to. Geoff calmly told the shaken Eddie that they needed to clean up and leave.
By the time they arrived at the manor and to a waiting Susie, Eddie had collected himself. He presented the body in the back of his vehicle, Mr. Takashi, as a solution to their Lord Hawthorne problem.
The deal with Lord Hawthorne was thirty thousand pounds along with a night out in town with Jack. Jack had a meal with Lord Hawthorne, where he made clear the old aristocrat was not getting sex, and went with him to a private party where he kept trying to ply Jack with drinks. Jack left with two women and Lord Hawthorne was unsatisfied.
Lord Hawthorne’s new demand was one hundred fifty thousand pounds. Bear in mind that Susie had thought of offering him two million, so from Eddie’s point of view, there was no issue with giving him the money. Bobby Glass, however, insisted on standing on principle. They held up their end of the deal, and now Lord Hawthorne had to.
Alone, Eddie tried to convince Susie to simply pay Lord Hawthorne out of the problem fund. Susie pointed out her father would not like that; their conversation was interrupted by Geoff’s text asking for Eddie’s help. Like a good soldier to her father, Susie went to see Lord Hawthorne with thirty thousand pounds in a Channel bag. Lord Hawthorne wanted to speak to Eddie, and I have to say, if people wanting to talk to Eddie is not starting to chafe at Susie, it is starting to chafe at me. Moretti negotiated with Eddie though Susie sat next to him. Bella went to tell Eddie about her new role in the organisation, not Susie. Now Lord Hawthorne had a grievance and he wanted to talk to Eddie. Susie has been running the organisation with Bobby Glass in prison. Susie is the boss.
Eddie’s proposed solution to the Lord Hawthorne problem was for Gabrielle to go to one of his parties and drug him. When he woke up, he found himself in bed with Mr. Takashi’s corpse. He called Susie, because he finally understood the chain of command and went straight to the boss when he had this serious of a problem. Susie and Eddie went to ‘help’ and that was that. They had Lord Hawthorne in their pocket. Eddie was sworn into the House of Lords.
Eddie also finally told Susie his plan of going against Bobby and backing the legalisation of marijuana. He wanted to build a legitimate business out of their existing illegitimate products. He was going to come clean to Bobby, but only once everything was in place. He used ‘we’ and told Susie he was always going to bring her in. He just wanted to make sure he could deliver.
How do you differentiate between someone wanting to surprise you with something good, and a pattern of deceit from your very close business partner? Susie looked mollified and in on the plan, and here I am worried for her. It is an inspired decision to cast Theo James, because his good looks added a level of danger to the Duke’s descent into dangerous waters. Oxford education, posh manners, the ability to use a machine gun – when he speaks softly and calls the two of you ‘we’, how does one protect one’s heart?
Rating: B+
Strays
🏚️Eddie had this dream of Stanley Johnston that included Eddie getting crowned king, and I need to watch the rest of the season to find out what the writers are going for here. As always with these recaps, I am watching and recapping one episode at a time.
🏚️Susie and Joe were playing pool, and Joe outright asked her what her relationship was with the Duke. Susie described it as professional. Joe claimed to be aiming for both sex and to convince her to switch from weed to coke. Susie refused the career change because that world was too violent, but she took Joe back to her flat for sex.
🏚️Sabrina admitted to Geoff that she dreaded Freddy coming home. At the rehab centre, when Freddy said he was ready to come home with them, Sabrina made up an excuse and she and Charly and baby Tarquin got out of there.
🏚️Bella went to the boxing gym to talk to Susie and, she claimed, to kiss the ring. There was a lot of aristocratic double speak here coming from Bella. At least based on this conversation, it seemed that Bella did not particularly like Susie, and maintained a mental separation – Bella and Eddie on one side as born aristocrats new to the game, and Susie, a criminal boss’s daughter.
Episode Title: There’s a Rat in the Kitchen
Episode Writers: Guy Ritchie and Matthew Read
Episode Director: Guy Ritchie
Original Release Date: September 3, 2026