If “Bridgerton” gave British stately homes a new lease of life with a sprinkle of Regency charm, “The Gentlemen” has injected them with a criminal dose of cool. The Guy Ritchie show, which stars Theo James as a Duke gone bad opposite Kaya Scodelario’s gangland heiress Susie Glass, returns to Netflix for its second season today with more guns and more glamor. But it’s the series’ unabashed Britishness – delivered via the afore-mentioned country estates interspersed with panoramic shots of the London skyline – coupled with a slick script and stand-out action sequences that have made the show so popular. (It has already been renewed for Season 3).
You know, there really are rules.” Many such rules – for example, only the lord of the manor is allowed to wear a red velvet jacket at home — are strictly adhered to but unspoken, precisely to trip up outsiders, as newcomer Cico Maldini (played by Michele Morrone) finds out to his cost. Having introduced audiences to the barmy world of the British aristocracy in Season 1, the show goes international in Season 2, as Eddie and Susie (Scodelario) expand their operations onto the Mafia’s home turf. Cue plenty of salivating shots of Italian palazzos basking in the sun.
Season 2 certainly notches up the glamor, both at home and abroad. Bontempts notes that both Eddie and Susie’s wardrobes have gotten an upgrade now they’re making serious money, with the duke’s suits better cut and Susie sporting a Birkin, while props include classic cars, fine wines and even a tiger. Glickman declined to share details of the budget but credits the producers and crew with “maintain[ing] the scale and scope by smartly deploying resources.” So the suits are pinned in-house, the props are on loan and the tiger is entirely CGI – although its cage was real.
The tiger storyline (too delicious to give away as a spoiler here) is typical of the show’s campy yet cool tone, blending glamor with surrealist violence. Although considering Season 2 also introduces a mythical Slavic figure known as a Bannik, “sometimes I think it’s more like 8%,” Read acknowledges. Glickman promises even more action for Season 2 (he says Episode 7 in particular is “wall to wall action”) but not at the expense of character development, as Eddie looks set to double cross Susie while their relationship increasingly oscillates between business and pleasure.
For Read, striking a balance between action and emotion, violence and humor is something he and Ritchie discuss constantly during the writing process.
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