Epix
As with most of the TV programming expected to air this year, Pennyworth also faced production shutdowns due to the pandemic. Which means after three weeks and this week’s double-episode broadcast, the show will be on a long winter break with the remainder of the season’s ten episodes currently scheduled to return on March 7, 2021. It’s a long wait, especially as the siege against London is beginning to escalate, and a favorite character from Batman canon is introduced. So let’s break this down by episode.
The Belt and Welt
I’m not sure what the titles of this season reference (last season’s titles were well-known British women — including one fictional character — after the third episode), or if they reference anything at all but no one is lashed with a belt in this episode. But there are a couple of very dramatic plot developments, and we might want to begin to worry about Alfie’s sanity. After losing his money in the botched kidnapping, Alfred and the boys are trying to figure out who took the money since no one knew they had it. A visit by Mr. P in a dream reminded Alfred that when things like this happen, it’s almost always someone close to the victim. And that immediately brings Alfred to the same conclusion we proposed last time — that it was Captain Gulliver Troy. Except it wasn’t, as Alfred learned when confronting his old friend. That immediately made me consider that Alfie’s mum had set up the whole plot just to get the money away from Alfred so he’d stop talking about leaving for America. But it wasn’t her either (now that would have been some twist).
At The Delaney, Dave Boy finally admits that he may have told someone about the money and their plans, and when one of the bartenders shows off a very fancy and expensive ring given to her by a bloke she fancies, they know exactly who has the money and they set off to get it back, using the bird as bait. Pulling up at a carnival, Alfred sees the perp heading into a Hall of Mirrors which leads to lots of glass smashing and Alfred nearly breaking his leg when a floorboard gives way. The guy got stabbed in the neck with a broken mirror and died but his girlfriend tried to make a getaway with the bag of money. Unfortunately, she lost control of the car and crashed, causing an explosion … that gravely injured Bazza (gruesomely slicing open his abdomen), dying in Alfie’s arms, making him promise he’ll get to America.
As for Bet Sykes, she and Katie are still trying to make their way to Lord Harwood. Katie manages to get them to an artist friend’s home, but Bet is not what one would call a good houseguest, constantly suspicious of the friend and Katie. But she does finally get through to Harwood who, against the wishes of Mrs. Gaunt, sends Salt and his men to retrieve the women. He also reminds Bet that she simply must stop killing people. When the cars arrive, Katie’s friend runs outside to beg for help and ends up getting shot to death. Bet and Katie barely make it out alive as Salt’s men are definitely not there to bring them to Harwood.
And it seems the CIA’s plan to scandalize Archbishop Potter has worked. Maybe a little too well. After Crowley asks if Potter would be willing to talk to some of his friends, people he describes as sex addicts, Potter agrees to meet with them. But he wakes up in what appears to be the middle of an orgy with a photographer helpfully on hand to document the scene and sell to the press. Disgraced, the Archbishop committed the ultimate sin and hung himself. Mot quite the result Thomas Wayne expected or wanted.
The Hunted Fox
Epix
The repercussions of Potter’s suicide are felt upon Thomas immediately when Martha smacks him across the face, hard. And Thomas still has the nerve to ask Martha to accompany him to a party. Not just any party though, it’s his sister’s birthday party and Thomas is concerned about her latest paramour, fashion designed Jacques Duval, a man known to bed any woman within eye shot (including a 13-year-old). Martha finally reveals that Patricia already invited her and that she’s going, but she has no intention of playing chaperon or telling Pat who she can or can’t date. But meeting Jacques and his insisting that Martha accept a new frock to give her some color in her wardrobe, Martha agrees with Thomas that he’s heinous. And then he proposes to Patricia. Martha does invite Jacques to her flat for a fitting and as she tried on one dress, she finds Jacques completely naked and ready to party. What he doesn’t expect is a punch to the face. When Thomas and Patricia finally arrive — they had been having drinks and a talk at The Delaney — they find the still naked Jacques bound and gagged. Pat realizes this situation at hand and ends up chasing the exposed man down the street, leaving Thomas and Martha to rekindle whatever it was they almost started because, surprise, Thomas is no longer engaged. A little fact Patricia dropped on Martha at the party. It’s good to see these two lovebirds back in action.
Meanwhile, Alfred is still trying to find a way to make some money to get to America and at Bazza’s funeral he’s approached by Gully about that job he’d mentioned previously. Alfred agrees and gets Dave Boy in on it too, even though Alfred is now being visited in his dreams by his father and Bazza, laying the blame for his death squarely on Alfred’s shoulders. We also learn that Alfred is sort of dating Sandra, but he is very insistent that she break up with him because he’s no good for her, but she sees some good in him. He just needs time to see it himself. He leaves her for the job which involves robbing the Lord Mayor. When the box in the carriage with the gold comes up empty, Alfred loses control, punching the man in the face and jamming his pistol in the man’s mouth to get him to tell them where the gold is. Everyone is a bit shaken by Alfred’s behavior but they get the gold, and Alfred has enough to leave. But Gully wants him for one more job. The problem is getting Dave Boy and Gully’s men to cooperate. There’s also the problem of Mrs. Troy. Being a bit more mouthy than her husband likes, Gully slaps her across the face and nearly does it again but Alfred intervenes and tells him to beat his wife in his own home, not in Alfred’s establishment. I don’t think he meant that literally, but she gave him a sarcastic response which she later apologized for and thanked him for helping her. Alfred took the thanks as an invitation to lock lips, and while she seemed on board with that, Alfred ended up with a palm across the face after the kiss. But she still glanced back at him as she exited the building, giving Alfie some mixed signals.
Bet and Katie finally make it to London in search of Peg, but when the address Bet has for her sister turns out to be an abandoned building, they don’t know what to do next. Katie even tells Bet that she’s in a safe place now and doesn’t really need Bet to look after her. Bet felt they were friends and now is feeling abandoned by Katie, who also says Bet can be quite mad at time (and asks her what happened to her as a child that made her this way), but Bet basically tells Katie to have a nice life and storms off. Rounding the corner, Bet comes across the badly beaten Lord Mayor, still lying on the sidewalk (so Bet and Alfred just missed seeing each other), the perfect chance for her to go through his pockets to find some money. But Katie decided she couldn’t let her friend go and she and Bet stroll off to see if they can try to get in touch with Harwood again. In a phone booth, Bet looks down and sees a slip of paper with the name Sykes on it, and it’s an advert for a sex shop. And there they find Peg, with some truly gigantic hair. Peg doesn’t look too thrilled to see her sister, and is even less thrilled with this new ‘friend’, but she welcomes them in, telling Katie she’s better come inside before Bet kills someone else.
Harwood, still hoping to be reunited with Bet and Peg, seems to be unraveling himself. Frances is concerned about his memory lapses and his often irrational behavior, especially after he snaps at her for trying to tell him that they should not proceed with Operation Stormcloud. On the other hand, if they bomb London what’s the point of this siege? They want London to be a livable place, not some bombed out ruins. It’s where Harwood plans to live and rule from. After he angrily dismisses everyone, Salt gives Harwood some pills, then he finds Frances and suggests that now that the resistance has elected a new Prime Minister, Inspector Aziz (John Ripper was in the running but his brutal means of dealing with the Ravens appealed to the masses before a more sensible suggestion from Aziz), perhaps Gaunt can forge a contact on the inside to deal with Aziz in a more civilized manner. It’s an idea that Gaunt says she’s already considered, suggesting she does have a contact within the ranks of the No Names.
The episode ends with a surprise demonstration of Stormcloud, much to Gaunt’s dismay. Salt calmly tells how the non-destructive chemical agent can wipe out all living creatures in a matter of minutes, then be carried safely away by the wind in just as short a time so that the place can be habitable again. Gaunt is horrified by the experiment as one of the victims in the courtyard slams themselves against the window. Also watching from the assembled guests is a scientist, or someone posing as a scientist with a Raven badge that has a small camera hidden in it to record the experiment. Bewildered by what he sees, we learn the man’s identity — Lucius Fox.
And that’s it until March when the final six episodes of the season begin to roll out. Will London survive Stormcloud? How will Alfred, Thomas and Martha become involved? And will they all head to America by the end of the season? Only time will tell.
What did you think of the episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Share this post
