Epix
Pennyworth‘s second episode of the second season gave us two main storyline, a bit more of Thomas Wayne’s mission, and a little more insight into Project Stormcloud, which was a very short, but important moment on the episode. Here we get to see Mrs. Gaunt for the first time this season, planning the League’s next move on London with Lord Harwood. Enter Colonel Salt with the results of the latest Project Stormcloud tests … something Gaunt was unaware of. She became particularly alarmed when she learned that Stormcloud was a chemical agent Harwood was planning to use to take London. Gassing people was definitely not on her agenda, and noting her displeasure, Harwood promised he’d call off the program. Something tells me Harwood is not a man to be trusted. On the other side of the fence, Martha is told by Inspector Aziz that she needs to make nice with Thomas Wayne because, while they all know the CIA is planning to remain neutral in this skirmish, they still need them as friends. Meanwhile, there is infighting among the rebel factions (of which one of the members is John Ripper) as to whether to continue to allocate resources to other areas like Manchester, or let them fend for themselves to protect London.
In one of the two main stories, Bet and her former prisoner, Katie, are now on the lam. It’s one of those moments when we get to see Bet does have a heart beating under that ice cold exterior. Katie just wants to go home, but Bet has to remind her that her superiors will believe Katie bashed in the interrogator’s head with a tea kettle and execute her. She’s better off with Bet, and besides, once Bet rings up her pal Harwood and explains everything, Katie will be off the hook and right as rain. But with London under siege, it’s hard to get a call through.
So they bide their time in a neighborhood that’s been vacated, but Bet still isn’t sure Katie won’t make a run for it so she handcuffs her to a stairway railing inside the cottage they’ve settled in (complete with a vibrant splash of blood on the wall). Bet ventures out to get supplies, and Katie fears she’ll be abandoned and starts crying out for help, but Bet comes back and says she’s being a silly cow for not trusting her. But Bet doesn’t trust Katie, who insists she’s an artist not a terrorist. Okay then, draw something, Bet tells her. Katie refuses, several times, rousing Bet’s suspicions about her even more. She finally agrees to calm Bet down, but her apparently futile attempt (we never see what she’s trying to draw) is a red flag and before Bet can act, Katie throws the pencils and paper at Bet and tries to escape. But … she runs into two hooligans patrolling the neighborhood. Knowing this won’t end well for them, Bet manages to knock one in the head with a brick and then takes both of them on while Katie watches, frozen with fear. One of the blokes gets the upper hand on Bet and Katie finally springs into action, hitting him in the head to save Bet. Bet then breaks a bottle and slashes both of the men’s necks to Katie’s horror, but tells her that if she didn’t they’d go back and report their location.
What Katie doesn’t know is that Bet did finally get to a working phone box to call Harwood. On the first attempt, she was hung up on but she called back and got through to a secretary of Harwood’s, telling her that she was a friend and wanted to speak with him. Again, all she could manage was a condescending ‘your call has been noted’ response before being disconnected. If Bet can’t get through to Harwood by phone, is she going to be foolhardy enough to try to get to him in person?
Epix
For Alfred, it’s a good day because he’s got enough money to get himself, his mum, Bazza and Dave Boy out of England. But is he running away, or moving on for a new opportunity? The boys see it as running away because Alfred isn’t planning to tell anyone, not even Sandra, at least not yet. (Side note: I mentioned a new ‘girl singer’ at The Delaney in the last post not realizing it was Sandra from the pub.) But Alfie keeps running into roadblocks. His mum is adamant that she’s not going to America because she’s still furious that Alfred killed his father (overlooking the bigger picture that he would have ultimately killed himself as a suicide bomber). She throws her disgust in his face but quickly apologizes, but it hurt Alfie nonetheless.
Then Alfred tries to tell Sandra his plans but gets distracted, first by the news that she’s under consideration to perform at the Hippodrome, and then by the appearance of Thomas Wayne in the club. Later when Sandra tells him she got the gig, she asks if he’ll be there and he hesitates, but says yes … maybe. You never can tell when there’s a war on. But what is Wayne doing there? Turns out his mission is to somehow silence the voice of a proponent of the hydrogen bomb, Archibishop Potter who is also the Prime Minister. And there’s only one person Wayne can think of who could cause a scandal to completely discredit the man — Aleister Crowley, who chose The Delaney as their meeting place. Alfie leaves them to their business and Crowley barely hesitates to accept Wayne’s offer. With one caveat — a kiss from Thomas. He nearly pulls out of the deal but since Crowley didn’t specify where he wanted the kiss, Wayne got away with just a quick peck on the cheek. A deal’s a deal.
While Crowley is attempting to seduce the Archbishop with the very depths of his depravity, Alfred’s second roadblock comes along when his mum is kidnapped. A $20,000 ransom is demanded, but she tells Alfred not to give them the money. She doesn’t care if she dies. But that’s not going to happen, and he tells the boys what he’s going to do and they are not to follow. But they do. And the kidnappers expect Alfred to just hand them the money without seeing his mum first. That doesn’t work so they agree to take him to her, but on the ride he manages to get the upper hand, and swaps the kidnappers out with Bazza and Dave Boy. They arrive at the location and Alfie can hear his mom but just before the exhange is made, what seems like the entirety of the London police force shows up out of nowhere, sirens and guns a-blazing. Alfred manages to protect his mum, but the kidnappers get away with his money. Aziz tells Alfred that he was being followed because Aziz thought he was meeting with whoever helped Salt escape custody. Now Alfred is out $20,000 but he still doesn’t know who took the money. My guess is it was Captain Gulliver Troy, whom Alfred did pay to get Salt out of custody and whom we first saw removing a similar knitted ski mask from his head in the previous episode. Seems like the only logical answer, right? How long will it take Alfred to realize he’s been double-crossed?
What did you think of the episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Pennyworth airs Sundays at 9:00 PM on Epix. Subscribe to Epix through Apple TV Channels. Click the icon below.
Share this post
