The Gentlemen Recap Season 2 Episode 7 ‘This Mad Circus’
I am very much enjoying how The Gentlemen has refused to allow itself to be boxed into a simple category. From its chicken suit dark comedy roots of the first season, to an actual Bannik in Bobby Glass’s sauna, to more overt The Godfather references in the wedding episode, to this tense home invasion that somehow managed to make space for pockets of profound connection between Geoff (Vinnie Jones), Halstead Manor’s longtime gamekeeper, and George (Richard McCabe), gamekeeper to the neighbouring estate whom we just met this episode and who made immediate impact – The Gentlemen takes full advantage of its storytelling freedom to explore the depths of the world it created.
At the core of The Gentlemen is the aristocratic class’s last gasp at money and power – a desperate effort to maintain (and in Eddie’s case, expand) relevancy in the modern world – and its tension with the new billionaire criminal class who run the darker pathways of power. ‘This Mad Circus’ views this story through the lens of those who chose to live their lives in the service of the historically powerful. How far would you go to protect a family that is yours, but not quite? Would you ask a friend to take a life, to save the lives of those who would probably never bother to know his name? With the backdrop of the rigid class system that still exists in England and in many, many parts of the world, the action in this episode took on a different complexion. It was not just a showcase of Geoff’s military-esque skills. It was a profound profile of a deeply impressive man who lived and loved in a world that was not quite his own, and the sacrifices to his soul that he willingly undertook. ‘I’ve always been fond of that place’, Geoff told Sabrina as they shared cold cuts, referring to the dower house that Sabrina meant to move into now that Bella was to be the new Duchess of Halstead, mere five minutes away from Geoff’s cottage. ‘Yes, I remember’, Sabrina replied, with just the lightest tinge of history in her voice. Longing, thy names are Geoff and Sabrina.
It was the day after the wedding, and the family had returned to Halstead Manor thinking that Eddie and Bella were on their way to their Switzerland honeymoon. The staff had been given the week off, so that it was only Mr. Lawrence, their trusted butler, who welcomed them. After Nanny’s pointed rudeness toward Geoff, noticed by both Sabrina and a supremely miffed Charly, Geoff returned to his cottage. Along the way, he noticed that an open gate allowed a few sheep to wander off into the road.
Geoff had left George to house sit and look after the animals whilst he was in Italy, and when he brought up the open gate, George looked offended at the thought that he did not look after the animals as he told Geoff he would, and that he left a gate open. He told Geoff it must have been the staff, but Geoff said no, the staff had the week off. George left, and there was this shot of him walking away on the road, and Geoff standing in front of his cottage, with the background music sounding like a warning of things to come. Later that night, with George perched up a tree, about to take a shot at a fox he had been waiting for, he noticed a geared up man in the woods, along with two unknown vehicles. He radioed Geoff, whose immediate thought was to go up to the manor.
Geoff arrived with his guns, because on top of the strange man and the vehicles, there was also no mobile signal across the property. Nanny at first thought he might have been overreacting, until the lights went out. Someone had cut the electricity through the house. Geoff first asked if Nanny was properly trained (he was) before he gave him a gun and told him to get Charly and Tarquin. Geoff would get Sabrina, and they would leave using the bulletproof Land Rover he had customised for Eddie.
Geoff had Sabrina turn the shower on in her bedroom. When a gunman entered, Geoff came at him from behind and killed him quietly with a knife, and took his earpiece. The names of the gunmen I was able to get were Zammo, Bronsky, Yuri, TinTin, Bunny, John Boy, and Jay. There were one or two whose names I did not get. All of them were heavily armed. This was a lot of firepower to go after a sleeping family.
Baby Tarquin must have been exhausted from all the crying in the plane, because he stayed quiet as Charly and Nanny tried to get him out of the house. Charly thought the men must have been there for Eddie, which did not make much sense. After all, Eddie just had a high society wedding in Italy. Everyone would assume that he would head to his honeymoon afterwards. Why would someone who had the capacity to deploy this many armed men not know that Eddie was not in the manor that night?
Nanny shot TinTin, the man by the Land Rover, and the sound of his unsilenced gun reverberated through the house. Nanny, Charly, and Tarquin were already safe inside the armoured vehicle when they heard the sounds of continuous gunfire inside. Geoff had told Nanny not to fight, but Charly was adamant not to leave Sabrina and Geoff. Nanny told her to remain inside the vehicle whilst he returned to the house to help out.
Geoff was pinned down with Sabrina, along with Mr. Lawrence, whom they found hiding in one of the rooms. When there was a pause in the gunfire, Mr. Lawrence stood up and repeatedly declared that Eddie was not there; he, too, assumed the target was the Duke who was heading up the estate’s criminal enterprise. One of the gunmen shot him in the leg. Soon afterwards, Nanny came up from behind, firing and saving them.
Mr. Lawrence, with his injured leg, managed to stagger out of the house first. Charly saw him, looked back at Tarquin undisturbed in the back seat, and went out of the vehicle to help him. Sabrina, too, tried to help Mr. Lawrence up, but in the scramble, they all ended up leaving him behind. Now consider that Mr. Lawrence was always around serving the family. He for certain knew about Eddie’s shady business dealings. For a civilian to stand up amidst a gunfire was brave, if desperate. Geoff and Nanny were both armed. The Land Rover could have provided cover during a rescue. How much time would it have taken to get him inside the armoured vehicle? Mr. Lawrence, it’s time to find another job.
They had not driven away that far when Charly realised that Tarquin was not in the vehicle. Someone had taken him when she left to try and help Mr. Lawrence. Baby Tarquin was the target.
Geoff told Charly to drive away with Sabrina, whilst he and Nanny went to get Tarquin. Geoff radioed George, and told him he needed the two vehicles and the driver taken out. George clarified if Geoff was asking him to kill the driver, and Geoff confirmed this. Imagine the history between Geoff and George, the decades that bonded them enough so that Geoff was able to ask George, as a favour, to end a life. We just met George this episode, yet this scene and their buddy bond felt completely organic and believable. Great actors can tell a multitude of stories, can portray the weight of history, with their mere presence, with the slightest of movements, with precise delivery. Vinnie Jones and Richard McCabe were terrific.
By the time the three remaining gunmen returned to their getaway vehicles with Tarquin, they found the driver dead and the vehicles inoperable. Geoff and Nanny could see them, but they could not fire until they had ascertained where Tarquin was. Geoff had George go around to try and pinpoint the baby’s exact position.
Meanwhile, the leader of the gunmen radioed Jay and told him to get them a vehicle. Via the earpiece that he kept with him, Geoff was horrified to realise that Charly and Sabrina did not leave, they were still on the same road he left them on, and this man Jay was coming toward them to try and take the vehicle. Staying calm so as not to alarm Nanny, Geoff told George to quickly head to the road.
Eddie may have had a disappointing brother in Freddy, but his sister Charly had nerves of steel in a crisis. As Jay prepared to fire at them, and Sabrina urged her to flee, Charly pointed out that they were in an armoured vehicle, and she drove straight towards the gunman. She ran him over, and for good measure, reversed and ran him over again. Sabrina told her daughter to run him over a third time, and it was this that George witnessed as he arrived. He radioed Geoff and assured him not to worry about the gunman, and that he was headed back.
Geoff tried to pretend to be Jay over the radio to buy time for George to get back in position, but that did not work for long. As soon as George confirmed Tarquin was safe in the back of the van – and the leader of the gunmen figured out that the man he was speaking with was not Jay – gunfire erupted. Nanny was hit on the leg. Two of the gunmen died. The leader was also shot in the leg, but he was able to grab Tarquin and walk away, toward Geoff’s cottage.
It was there that Geoff came face to face with the man who kidnapped his grandson. The gunman wanted the keys to a vehicle, and with him distracted, Geoff whistled for his dog to attack. Then, Geoff shot him.
With the soft morning light came the horrifying picture of the bodies in the woods. Elsewhere, news of Bella’s death was going around. Jack apparently got the story from a bridesmaid he hooked up with; an explosive device was detonated at altitude on her seaplane. Susie outright asked her father if he did it. She knew that he would be on Eddie’s list of suspects. After all, Bobby had Eddie beaten near to death for disobeying him. Bobby protested that he has always liked Eddie, he was not trying to kill him, he was just teaching him a lesson.
Susie said that Eddie had disappeared. She tried to call him, to no avail. He must know that the bomb was meant for him, and since whoever tried to kill him did not succeed, they would try again. The way the episode interspersed Bobby’s sober warning about how dangerous Eddie had become with the attack on Eddie in his Switzerland retreat, perhaps the same place where he and Bella meant to go on honeymoon, was very well executed. Eddie fought the first gunman, and stabbed him through the neck. The second gunman, he was able to disarm, but instead of shooting him, Eddie tossed the gun aside, and chose to kill the guy with his bare hands. This was a man who needed to release his anger, and he did, violently.
In the aftermath of the horrific beating Eddie received courtesy of Bobby Glass, Geoff warned him that if he went after Bobby, Susie would go after him; he would need to take her out as well. At that time, both Geoff and Eddie knew that was not a line Eddie was willing to cross just yet. But now, the woman Eddie chose to be his wife died a horrific death in front of him. Eddie’s conversations with Susie in Italy did not go well. Eddie’s European expansion of the business model Bobby Glass pioneered would not please Bobby Glass. No matter how strong Eddie’s connection was to Susie, Bella’s death was a violation that needed a response. Alongside Eddie’s anger was the powerful mafia that was Bella’s family.
Bobby did not want to go into the cocaine trade because he thought it was too violent. Now, violence was about to knock on his door, because of an aristocrat whose will to rise was far greater than he may have initially thought.
Rating: A
Strays
🏚️Sabrina did not yet know of the tragedy that befell Bella because when she was trying to call Eddie to check on them, the mobile signal was already out.
🏚️Sabrina’s calm assurance toward Charly about Geoff: ‘This is his land, his territory, his environment. He is the man for the job.’
🏚️Nanny had known for weeks that Charly was Geoff’s father, he was merely waiting for him to say something. Not an excuse for you being a jerk to Geoff, Nanny. Geoff said there were some things better left unsaid.
🏚️That Jack slept with one of the bridesmaids was a very Jack thing to do, and I am glad they have so far kept his characterisation consistent, though we have not heard much from Jack of late.
🏚️Surely they sent more than two men against Eddie. After all, he was a retired soldier. They sent seven to nine men after Baby Tarquin.
🏚️Bobby’s Bannik was back in his sauna. He told Susie there was something he needed to share with her, and that she might not like it.
Episode Title: This Mad Circus
Episode Writers: Guy Ritchie and Matthew Read
Episode Director: Nick Rowland
Original Release Date: September 3, 2026