The Gentlemen Recap Season 2 Episode 5 ‘A Suburban A-Road On The Outskirts of Basingstoke’

Cool, competent, and heartbreakingly human, Susie Glass is fast becoming an iconic TV character. I look forward to seeing ‘It’s been emotional’ t-shirts everywhere, a banger of a sign off we have seen her use twice, on a Duke she struggled not to want, and a cocaine dealer who was her lover. 

Was Susie’s decision to wade into the cocaine trade part of an emotional reaction to her father having Eddie severely beaten up? Perhaps there was a part of her that wanted to lash out at her father, by doing the very dangerous thing he had repeatedly warned her not to do, but I would rather not ascribe a businesswoman’s motive completely to her barely suppressed feelings for a posh guy. I think Susie has been wanting to spread her wings for a while. I think Susie wanted to have her own operation, outside of her father’s control, to make her own money, to not be an employee anymore. Weed was her father’s business and she did not compete with that. She knew that cocaine was far more lucrative. She already had the skillset and the connections to make it work. She had money to invest. Why not give it a try? 

I also look back at Lord Hawthorne’s words that cut her deeply. ‘Your heart is black, Susie Glass.’ The thing is, this is not entirely true, at least if we're using a criminal scale rather than a normal person scale. Susie has tried to resolve issues without killing, if at all possible. The body on Lord Hawthorne's bed was the result of Geoff and Eddie's work. Using the body to control Lord Hawthorne was Eddie's idea. It was Eddie who had been pushing up the body count of their operation this season. Lord Hawthorne’s curse happened near the exact moment when Susie knew she would have to let Eddie go just a little bit more, as he turned his attention toward the Countess. Susie’s heart has been taking a beating for a while. Keeping herself occupied with a new business and papering her pain with cocaine money, all whilst enjoying Joe’s now canon big, um, you know, were her chosen ways to hold herself together. 

Whilst Bobby was under the impression that Susie was sunning herself in the Bahamas, she actually went to Peru with Joe, to speak to a Mr. Vargas. Their contact was Hector, who vouched for Joe. Joe apparently has been working for them in Miami for five years. What Susie and Joe offered was transportation and distribution in the UK. Mr. Vargas has heard good things about the Glass business, but he said he would take a week to think over the proposal. 

Susie introduced Joe to Chucky, who set up a restaurant, the first of many, as a way to clean what they anticipated was a boatload of cocaine money coming their way. When Hector arrived and said Mr. Vargas said yes, the operation was on its way. Apart from Chucky, Susie also brought in JP and his family of travellers. Susie declared that Eddie’s attempt to create a new revenue stream for the weed business was always going to come to her father’s attention. In contrast, her cocaine business would simply piggyback off Bobby Glass’s existing operation. As long as he did not find out, there was nothing to worry about. 

Soon enough, the sole problem was that there was too much money coming in to effectively clean via the restaurant. Whilst Eddie was screaming into the void as his plans fell apart, Susie was turning to diamonds to hide her cocaine income and shagging Joe. 

It was too good to last. Chucky called Susie one morning and insisted that she and Joe come to the restaurant. Joe, who had been on the phone with someone and was acting rather squirrelly, told Susie he could not come with her. Susie headed to the restaurant seemingly alone (spoiler alert: she was not) and came face to face with Arturo, Mr. Vargas’s man.

It turned out that Mr. Vargas actually turned down Susie and Joe’s proposal. They had been selling Vargas cocaine they did not have permission to sell. Susie arrived and found Moody the chef with his hand stuck to the table with a knife, a quick visual of the kind of violence this particular product carried with it. 

Susie insisted that Hector came in person and told them Mr. Vargas gave his permission. They had paid for 100 kilos. Susie wanted to call Mr. Vargas, but Arturo insisted on getting Joe to the restaurant. Susie had no choice but to call him. 

To Joe’s credit (I’m like Bobby, I don’t like Joe for Susie), he showed up at the restaurant, though he must have already known of the danger that awaited him there. Joe claimed this was a miscommunication with Hector. The cocaine had been sold, but they had the money from the sale, which Arturo claimed. He grabbed Susie’s hand and threatened to stick it to the table with a knife as he did to Moody, but Joe said the money was in his flat. He also offered Hector, the person who actually stole the cocaine from them. He claimed he spoke to Hector and that he was on his way to Joe’s flat. 

Arturo made Joe stay; he told Susie to go to the flat and bring Hector back. He sent his men Angel and Bruno with her, with the instruction to kill her if Hector was not in the flat. Gabrielle and Jack were waiting outside, both pretending to be delivery crew. Jack shot Angel and Bruno, and Susie quickly grabbed a gun for herself. 

Arturo overheard the commotion from outside. Joe was quick to react, and they struggled. Susie walked in and shot Arturo just as he was lunging at Joe with a knife. Jack was a good brother; all he asked was if Susie was on top of things before he left to dispose of the bodies. 

Susie said they needed to speak to Hector but Joe claimed he lied, he has not spoken to Hector in days. So who was he speaking on the phone with earlier that day? Susie wanted to speak to Mr. Vargas, but Joe said they needed to disappear. He would get the cash and Susie would get the diamonds. Susie said she could sort a plane at Eddie’s airfield. Joe told her he loved her and you know what, I can believe it. Susie is amazing. Joe can be a manipulative bastard and also in sincere love with her. 

Susie went to her office to get the diamonds. Blanket asked her if her mate got ahold of her. Based on Blanket’s description, this was Hector. Susie quickly figured out that Joe lied to her. There was no way Joe had not heard from Hector in days when Hector came looking for him (through her) just that morning. 

Susie arrived at the airfield without her bags. She told Joe he would fly to Madrid alone, where he would be met by Mr. Vargas’s men. Susie figured out that their reconnection was a scheme. Joe knew she would be at the auction. When Mr. Vargas turned them down, Joe and Hector went around him. Hector was looking for Joe that morning. Now, he has vanished. Susie figured Joe killed Hector to cover his tracks. She called Joe a liar and declared she could not respect a liar. Joe claimed he was not lying when he told her he loved her. That was probably the only thing he did not lie about. ‘It’s been emotional, Joe,’ Susie told him as he was escorted into the plane that would bring him to certain torture and death. Susie had said the same thing to Eddie back in the first season finale. 

Susie called Mr. Vargas and told him Joe was on his way. Having proven her loyalty, Mr. Vargas was now open to working with her. Things were working out for Susie business wise. Then, Eddie drove into the airfield and walked up to her. 

Susie had tried to call Eddie following his beating, but he refused to talk to her. When he saw her, he walked up to her so calmly, and leaned against her car next to her, so that they were both looking in the same direction, as they often did when they worked together. Susie said sorry about the fallout between him and her Dad. Eddie gently said it was in the past. He claimed he had a clearer idea on what he wanted these days, and when he said ‘Everything’, he turned to look at Susie. 

Eddie said he was worried about Susie, she looked sad, but there was also a lot of sadness emanating from Eddie. He came to this airfield after having made a decision, and though it satisfied his pride and his ambition, the moment he saw Susie, he became enmeshed with the kind of deep melancholy he had managed to avoid even when he was at the very depths of his long recovery. Susie had just sent a man she has known since childhood to a fate worse than death. Now she had to stand next to Eddie and feel the unbridgeable chasm that had grown between them. The tears pooled at her eyelids, but they did not fall, not whilst he was there. He softly told her to keep in touch, and as he straightened up it looked like his shoulder touched hers. At least, they were once more close enough to feel each other’s warmth, before he walked away, to his waiting plane and the business decision he made. 

What happened to Eddie in this episode was what opened the season, with him violently beaten up and alone on a field. Bobby Glass’s men had left him in a shallow grave, alive but in a world of hurt. They left a note to follow the X, so he would not get lost and die in the wilderness. It took him two days to crawl through mud and rain, and when he woke up and heard the sound of someone asking to call an ambulance, he laughed. He survived, and was stronger for it. 

As Susie heard it, Eddie had two broken legs, a broken arm, severe bruising, collapsed lung, and a half dozen broken fingers. How long he stayed in his room recuperating and barking at servants who dared bring him food, it was not clear. He was already able to walk with a cane by the time Bella came to visit. She came with a message from Morelli, that he wanted his 60 million back by the end of the month, or there would be consequences. 

Bella offered to help Eddie with her godfather, to ask for more time, but Eddie told her to tell him he would get his money. Bella sweetly told him that when she heard of what happened to him, she felt love, and she wanted him to know, even now when he clearly had other things on his mind. I believe her. Bella made space in her heart and in her life for Cico, and he was a loser. Eddie was a far, far better man. He was also her social equal. It was not at all surprising that she fell in love with him. 

Did he fall in love with her? When Eddie woke up on that shallow grave where he was left with his body broken and a black hood over his head, and he began that slow and brutal crawl to survival, there were images that came to his head. Bobby Glass. A snake. Bella, his lover. Notably, Susie was not amongst his visions at this time. It was her father who ordered her beating; hers was not a safe face to turn to in that moment. Bella was sweetness and light and beauty. He knew even then that she thought the world of him. It was understandable that he took comfort in that. 

According to Ahmed, only a little over 10 million was left in cash of Moretti’s money. The remaining 50 million was tied up to various investments. It would take between three to six months to recoup them. He suggested redirecting the funds Eddie allocated to purchase two estates – he was still trying to buy up land that belonged to his ancestors – but Eddie refused. With the running cost of his lifestyle at around five million a year and no money coming in, there was no clear path toward the 60 million, certainly not by the end of the month. 

I honestly thought Stanley was still in prison, and Eddie had simply been dreaming of him, but it looked like he was out, and it was to him that Eddie turned to solve his latest predicament. Think back to the first season. Stanley wanted to buy Eddie’s estate; he chose to work with Susie on the Glass weed business rather than take Stanley’s generous one hundred million pound offer. It was Eddie who arranged for Stanley to be arrested, whilst he carried on working with the Glass family. Now that his relationship with Bobby Glass was broken, it was to Stanley that he turned to. Why would Stanley help him?

What Eddie offered was the estate as collateral for a one hundred million loan, to be repaid in a year plus 15 percent interest. His plan was to pay his debts and recapitalize. Stanley spoke of the London Stone and that he believed Eddie was a direct descendant of King Priam, the last King of Troy. My peasant brain is all, so what? Stanley clearly enjoyed history, but why would he care about Eddie reaching his full potential? I am sticking a pin on this because I have not seen the rest of the season (as always, I am watching and recapping on an episode to episode basis), and there may be an explanation later on. 

Eddie met up with Moretti, who has now considerably calmed down. Eddie offered to take the 60 million of Moretti’s money, add another 40 million of his own money, and invest. His vision was of 50 farms across Europe in three years. Moretti, not unkindly, told Eddie that he made a big play and he lost; it was now time to retreat, rebuild, and evolve. Eddie insisted that he was now free from his previous associations that were holding him back, but Moretti remained firm in his refusal. He pointed out that Eddie was alone, he had no roots in the world he intended to operate in. Eddie did not seem to realise that he was simply moving from one master (Bobby Glass) to another (Marco Moretti).

Defeated, Eddie called Ahmed and told him to process the transaction. He was stuck in traffic, and he decided to get out of his taxi. It was then that he realised he had gotten off right in front of the London Stone. Stanley’s voice was in his head. There were visions again. Bella was saying ‘It was love’, but it was Susie’s image that flashed with the word ‘love’. When Eddie started walking again, he had ditched his cane. It seemed to me that it was here that he made the decision to take Bella up on her offer, and have her mediate between him and her godfather Moretti. Moretti said Eddie had no roots in the European criminal world, which was true enough, but Bella did, and there was a quick way to ensure that Bella's roots became his as well.

Eddie was on his way to Italy when he ran into Susie at the airfield. They had not seen each other or spoken to each other since Bobby effectively broke them up that night at Susie’s office, when he roundly scolded them for going against his express wishes. It was thoughtful of the writers to allow Eddie and Susie  to clear the air and spend a few moments of tenderness, before Eddie went off and proposed to Bella.

Eddie’s voice got a bit harsh and different due to his injuries, but he was healing. When he spoke to Susie, his voice was low but it sounded almost normal again. When he proposed to Bella, right there on the beautiful gardens of her estate, his words were lovely, but his voice sounded different again. Eddie liked Bella, he was attracted to her, he was impressed by her, he appreciated her, but he did not ask her to marry him because he loved her. This was a business decision, and at least to me, that was why his voice sounded different. She accepted, because she wanted and loved him, and when he bent down and kissed both her hands, it was sincerely very sweet. 

Let’s end with Geoff, who is a genuinely cool character, played with moving wisdom and unflinching loyalty by Vinnie Jones. Whilst Eddie was in recovery, his assessment matched mine, that Eddie would grow stronger, in time. Sabrina said she knew Eddie would recover physically; what frightened her was what he would do afterwards. She asked Geoff to speak to Eddie.

‘You’re hurt. You’re angry. But if you go after Bobby Glass, Susie will come after you. And you need to be ready to take her out as well.’ Geoff went straight to the heart of the matter. He knew Eddie was furious, and his pride demanded recompense, but any moves he made against Bobby would put him against Susie, and that was a line Geoff knew Eddie was not yet ready to cross. It was like everyone around Eddie and Susie recognised their connection. Eddie spat out that Bobby did not kill him because he did not think he was a threat. Geoff, ever calm, told the Duke he watched grow up that everybody took a beating sometimes. That seemed to clear Eddie’s mind, and he roused himself to begin his latest plans. 

Rating: A-

Episode Title: A Suburban A-Road On The Outskirts of Basingstoke

Episode Writers: Guy Ritchie and Matthew Read and John Jackson

Episode Director: Eran Creevy

Original Release Date: September 3, 2026

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