Gangs of London Review: There’s Got to Be an Easier Way to Quit (Season 1 Episode 9)

If you’ve been paying attention for the last eight episodes, you knew Gangs of London Season 1 Episode 9 was absolutely ending things with a bloodbath.

The episode plays with time, cutting between Elliot’s predicament and the main story. We’ll try to keep things as linear as possible.

Elliot wakes up in a hospital somewhere. He tries telling the doctors he’s a cop, but no one seems to care.

The next thing we know, Elliot is naked, strapped to a chair, and being interrogated by a mysterious government agent.

Apparently, Sean blowing up one of his family’s buildings is seen as an act of terrorism.

The previous day begins with new mayor Nasir consoling everyone over the bombing, letting the city and audience know no one was hurt in Sean’s reckless act.

It’s a real shame that Nasir and Asif’s story is lost in the crowd of so many characters. Their tense father/son generational divide is something that deserves to be explored. Parth Thakerar and Asif Raza Mir have beautiful chemistry.

Sadly, we won’t get more from this pair, as Lale finally gets her revenge against Asif, by brutally murdering Nasir.

With nothing left for her in London, she heads home to help her people. We’re thrilled Lale made it to the end. We can only hope this means the captivating Narges Rashidi will be back next season.

Meanwhile, Jevan is desperately trying to hold things together as his plans fall apart. Unfortunately, his time with The Investors has run out. The next time we see him, he has been tossed out of his office and is impaled on the fence.

Ed thinks this has all gone too far and sets up a meeting with Marian at a cemetery. After discussing their long history, Ed shoots Marian, while someone else kills one of her men.

As Gangs of London deaths go, it was quiet and intimate, making it even more dramatic than some of the show’s more explosive death scenes.

While the city recovers from Sean’s actions, Elliot’s captain holds Vic and Elliot directly responsible for Anthony’s death. He’s not wrong.

The captain wants to put Elliot on trial with Sean, so he sends Vic to get information from Shannon.

Vic uses the mysterious disappearance of Danny’s father to force Shannon into turning on her family. Shannon proves that she’s just as much of a gangster as her father and brother. She gets Vic to tell her who else knows she’s there, when Vic says no one, Shannon shoots her with a shotgun.

Other than her romance with Elliot, Shannon hasn’t been given much to do this season. We haven’t seen her involved in any of her family’s illegal activities.

We’re now left wondering if we’ll see a darker Shannon in season two, or if this was just a mother defending her son?

As Sean spirals further out of control, Elliot scrambles to find him. At the same time, Sean gets Anthony’s phone, which reveals that Elliot is actually a cop.

Thanks to Billy, Elliot finally tracks down Sean to a weird hotel for people who want to disappear. When he is confronted with the truth, Sean wonders if it’s personal for Elliot, to which he replies he’s tired of people like the Wallaces getting away with everything.

Sean pleads with Elliot to join him in going after The Investors, even giving him a SIM card with information on them.

Joe Cole and Sope Dirisu are outstanding in this scene. Up until this point, all their interactions have had a power imbalance, as Elliot has been Sean’s employee.

Here, we finally get to see them on equal footing and it’s amazing. We understand the story didn’t allow for more moments like this, but Cole and Dirisu are the highlight of the episode.

Unfortunately, shortly after this Alex shows up to kill Sean, who is able to talk Alex down. The tension is defused for a second before Elliot shoots Sean in the face. We are brought back to a few minutes before Elliot got to Sean, where The Investors have found him.

Using Shannon and Danny as leverage, they tell Elliot to kill Sean and protect Alex.

Then all hell breaks loose. The police raid the hotel while a rave is going on. Elliot gets Alex out safely before surrendering, bringing us back to his interrogation.

During a break, a nurse shows up and whispers something to Elliot. Fearing that he may not make it, Elliot calls his dad to say goodbye and tell him to run.

After promising to tell them everything, Elliot claims diplomatic immunity from the Republic of Panama. This gets him freed, but it’s clear that he now works for The Investors.

Elliot has basically jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Once he’s released from his secret room, which turned out to be beneath the Underground, he pulls the secret SIM card from his mouth.

We guess this means he will now be trying to bring down The Investors, which seems like too much for him to handle.

Throughout the season, we’ve seen Floriana held prisoner as Leif and his mother try to get Finn’s money from her. On Gangs of London Season 1 Episode 8, we saw Floriana and her baby finally escape, but there’s still a lot of questions to be answered about her and Finn.

We might get some of those in season two, as Marian may not be quite as dead as she wanted Ed to think. In the last scene of the season, we return to the cemetery where Marian sits slumped over on a bench. Floriana walks up to her and says, “I’m going to help you.”

Wow, there’s so much to unpack from season one’s final 58 minutes.

What will Elliot do when he finds out what Shannon did to Vic? You know it’s coming out eventually.

What we’re most excited about seeing is Alex’s evolution into a leader. All this time, he’s been holding back, so he doesn’t step on Sean’s toes. What happens when he finally allows himself to become the boss?

And don’t forget about the brutal vengeance Marian and Billy are definitely planning.

Season two is reportedly scheduled to air in 2022, so we’ll be waiting a while for answers.

What did you think of this episode of Gangs of London? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Gangs of London is now streaming on AMC+.

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