Epix
Epix’s Pennyworth has taken a dramatic turn in its fifth episode, the halfway point for the first (and hopefully not last) season. The episode, titled ‘Shirley Bassey’ (and I’m very curious to know how the titles inform the episodes), picks up after Esme’s brutal death and funeral. While Alfred, his family and their friends gather at the gravesite, others are watching from various vantage points including Bet and her sister on one side, and Thomas and Martha on another. And Esme’s death has not just impacted the Pennyworths. Bet is distraught because she was there that night and saw two people, a man and a woman, enter the building. She could have stopped the killing if she’d gone in. Her sister isn’t sure that Bet didn’t actually commit the crime, but Bet is adamant that she did not because she loved Esme (which causes her sister to roll her eyes so hard you can practically hear them). On the other side, Martha blames herself for the death because Alfred didn’t want to leave Esme alone and she kind of pressured him into joining her on the mission to get the name of the Raven Society’s new leader. Thomas tried to say it’s not her fault, but she’s carrying too much guilt … probably because she and Alfred also made out that same night.
Jumping to several months later, Alfred is still shuffling around his parents’ house in a stupor, his father having to shave him just so he looks presentable, almost forcing him to eat a biscuit. Martha isn’t in much better shape, her apartment a mess when Thomas comes to visit for apparently the first time since the funeral with a new mission, and he needs Alfred. Martha is pretty sure Alfred will refuse but Thomas insists, and she pays him a visit … and is met with a stern refusal to ‘do any more violence’ and a request to never be contacted again. She relays the news to Thomas who has to come up with a new plan: Bazza and Dave Boy, perhaps.
Alfred also gets a visit from John Ripper — and now we know he’s the local undertaker as he presided over Esme’s funeral — who, calling himself a friend, brings Alfie a pair of running shoes, telling him he’s Ripper’s new running partner. They spend many, many days running around London until one day Ripper brings Alfred to Esme’s grave, saying the earth has settled enough and it’s time to put up a headstone. But this isn’t really about the headstone; Ripper tells Alfred that it’s time he avenged Esme’s death asking him to consider who hates him enough to have committed such a heinous crime. The police are certain it was a robbery gone wrong as her engagement ring was missing, but Ripper seems to have more information than he’s letting on about.
Epix
Meanwhile, Bet and her sister came across a man chained to a fence like a dog and Bet was somehow able to recognize the disfigured face of Lord Harwood. After getting some guff from his keeper ‘Jack Wild’ (a guy dressed like actor Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger in the movie Oliver!), she stabs him in the eye with a pin and liberates Harwood. Last time I thought Harwood was missing an entire foot along with his nose (and it’s really, really hard to look at his face, lemme tell ya), but he still has both feet, it’s just they they’ve been amputated about midway so he has no toes or ball of the foot, making it extremely difficult to walk. From picking him up after the funeral to the several months later part of the episode, Bet is trying to bring his memory back, but when she tries to tell him his name, he’s horrified and refuses to believe that because Harwood is such an evil man. She has a lot of work ahead of her, but this also makes Bet one of the more complicated characters on the show. She’s capable of such brutality as we saw in the first episode, but her love of Esme, however misguided, and now her care and attempted rehabilitation of Harwood actually makes us care for Bet, and that’s a tribute to the performance of Paloma Faith. But Bet seems to have a hair trigger so it may not be long before she flips again (her sister certainly knows how to push that button).
The whole episode almost feels like a twisted version of It’s a Wonderful Life in which we get to see how the world has changed without Esme in it. Except, Esme’s not coming back and this is how the world is now. Riots are taking over the streets of London as the Raven Society and No Name League gangs are being more out in the open. The Velvet Rope has gone from a classy cabaret to a dive bar with shady clientele. When Thomas Wayne comes to Bazza and Dave Boy with the offer, Bazza says no, but Dave Boy is open to hearing the fee: 500 pounds each, or 1000 pounds if only one of them chooses to accept. Bazza is a know, but Dave Boy is a mercenary. Bazza is also, shockingly, indulging in some cocaine use with the bar’s dancers, much to Alfred’s disappointment when he finally pays a visit to ask if he knows anyone who may hate Alfred enough to kill Esme. No one can really come up with an answer to that question.
While Alfie’s now being haunted by the ghost of his military pal Spanish, acting as a sort of negative energy Jiminy Cricket (oh and Mrs. Darkness also pays him a visit and offers to bring Esme along, to which Alfred tells them both to fuck off), he’s also concerned when he learns Dave Boy is working for the No Names, and he seems to have pieced together who killed Esme. His mission is to kill Mrs. Gaunt, who is being set up by the No Names to attend a meeting with the Onslows who plan to propose a truce between the warring factions. Gaunt is naturally suspicious but agrees to hear them out.
Epix
Dave Boy nearly blows the whole mission but finally makes it to the table in the restaurant where Gaunt and the Onslows are sitting. By Gaunt takes advantage of Dave Boy’s hesitation and shoots him in the stomach … and then goes about attending to his wound so he doesn’t die. Perhaps trying to prove she’s and the Ravens are the monsters they are portrayed to be. After all, she does tell Mr. Onslow that they will win because they have God on their side. She directs Mrs. Onslow to apply pressure to Dave Boy’s wound and demands Mr. Onslow stay seated. In the midst of all this, Alfred makes his way in and … blows Onslow’s head off. Literally! Leaving just the lower jaw attached to his body. It was quite a horrific moment that made me gasp loudly, it was so unexpected. And this moment certainly is a turning point for Alfred, resorting to that kind of violence to exact revenge for Esme’s death (and we can assume that the Onslows were the man and woman Bet saw entering Esme’s building … right?).
Alfred then collects Dave Boy while Misses Onslow and Gaunt are left stunned by all that’s happened. He gets Dave Boy back to the pub and hopefully calls for a doctor before he goes off behind the bar for a shag with Sandra! This is definitely a new Alfred Pennyworth, and we’re left to wonder now how long it will take for him to regain some sort of moral ground and code of conduct he’s always lived by.
The episode did leave us with one last delicious tidbit: Mrs. Onslow back at her home, in bed, saying she feels nothing. A voice says she’s just experienced the death of her husband, so what should she be feeling? That voice belongs to John Ripper who, it now seems, completely set Alfred up to kill Onslow so his wife (and he) could take over the No Names and rule the world. So … were the Onslows responsible for Esme’s death? Did Ripper actually have something to do with that? And how long before Alfred learns the truth? Well, we’ve only got five episodes left this season, so it’s going to be interesting to say the least.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
Share this post
