Rant & Rave: The Gentlemen – Season 1
It’s five stars from me, but I do have a few issues…
The Gentlemen – Season 1 – Netflix
I hope you’re all up to speed and have devoured this new Netflix Series, as instructed in my pre-review, otherwise you may want to come back to this post as it does contain spoilers.
On the whole, I love, love, loved it! Phew!
There hasn’t been a series that I have been able to recommend quite so heartily since The White Lotus, and before that Big Little Lies.
To this day I am seriously jealous of people who haven’t yet seen Season 1 of either, enjoy!
But firstly, let’s clear up the ‘glaringly obvious improbable plot twists that made me apoplectic with rage’ that I alluded to in the previous post, or GOIPTTMMAWR for short.
Ok. I agree that doesn’t really work as an acronym, so let’s rebrand these little devils as ‘Carelessly Unrealistic Narrative Twists #Seething’1. Much better.
Episode 1: Sticky doorway situation
Location: central London stucco fronted townhouse… very sloppy to bring a battered and bloody Sticky Pete out to the doorstep to execute his apology, for any passer-by to see in broad daylight.
I do believe this issue is covered in Chapter 2 of the ‘Henchman’s Handbook’, perhaps a refresher course is in order for Blanket2.
Episode 2: Leave it a minute, why don’t you!
When you have managed to convince the scarily named ‘The Gospel’ that perhaps you didn’t kill their brother, you might want to wait a few minutes while they get in the car and at least halfway down the bloody drive before uttering ‘They bought it, it kinda feels like they bought it!’ to your partner in crime.
Mystifyingly unnecessary!
Maybe the film crew were wanting to speed things up? Perhaps word had got out that the catering truck was down to its last three Vegan Tacos?
Episode 3: One man and his van
Question: Knowing what we know about Chief Weed Grower Jimmy’s general state of mind, would we trust him, for example, to get our lunch with any degree of accuracy?
Or do we agree, that there would be a strong possibility that spaced out Jimmy might just get a little distracted on the detail and we’d end up with Salt & Vinegar crisps instead of Cheese & Onion. Am I right?
So, why oh bloody why, was he sent ‘by himself’ to deliver a van full of the ‘goods’?!? Nonsensical!
Enough bitching, on with the romance…
In the early episodes, I very much enjoyed the awkward flirting that was going on between the groundskeeper Geoffrey (Vinnie Jones) and Lady Sabrina (Joely Richardson), I couldn’t help but be reminded of the two ‘The Fast Show’ characters Ted and Ralph as they skirted towards an uneasy romance.
Then later as their previous relationship was revealed, I realised what else it reminded me of… the (outrageous for it’s time) 1990’s TV series Lady Chatterley’s Lover, also starring Joely Richardson, this time with Sean Bean.
I wonder if this casting was a hat tip to that earlier role?
Otherwise it’s an incredibly niche thing to get typecast as: ‘Lady of the Manor who can’t resist the outdoorsy, rugged charm of the Groundskeeper’. You go girl!
Will they or won’t they?
Now, let’s indulge ourselves with the lovely, cool, calm and collected dynamic that is Eddie and Susie.
Uber glamorous, always cool in a crisis, and highly enjoyable to watch.
Each plot twist is greeted by them with a look of disdain and pursed lips, rather than any kind of raised voices and stress levels.
Off on a Tangent
I cannot abide scenes in films where everyone is stressing out over unimportant issues.
The opening scene of ‘Jobs' with Ashton Kutcher is a great example of this, whereby everyone is freaking out for fear of losing their jobs. I love Steve Jobs and Ashton Kutcher, but have never made it past that scene on that basis.
Perhaps I should give it another go, now I’ve calmed down a bit.
This behaviour reminds me very much of the Annual Report & Accounts season that I used to be heavily involved in. Project Managers would regularly be freaking out if they didn’t get their 4am proof, so they could check it all before delivering it to their client at 7am.
The futility of it all was that there were invariably at least 30 proofs of changes in total, as it went higher up the approval ladder, and yet everyone behaved as if each one were the most important thing in the world.
Utter madness. I don’t miss it.
The Thick Of It
My one exception to this, where I love everyone freaking out for no real reason, is of course UK sitcom The Thick Of It.
Here’s the outline of a typical episode plot:
Something happens.
Everyone freaks out and fears they will be fired.
Frenzied phone calls, high octane shouting, whilst walking very quickly through open plan offices in groups of 3-5 people.
Bouts of hysteria and creative swearing continue on through the night.
7:00am – the original problem isn’t just solved, it’s now deemed irrelevant by something else that’s happened.
Rendering the entire night’s worth of frenetic phone calls, screaming and blaspheming a total waste of time.
Brilliant.
I honestly assume this is how actual politics operates in so-called democracies like the UK.
For anyone who may not have seen The Thick of It, it’s like Veep, but everyone has visible imposter syndrome, except for Malcolm Tucker.
Who, quite frankly, I could listen to swear for hours on end without getting bored.
Genius writing.
Back to The Gentlemen…
And, I might just lose it here…
By the time we rock up at Episode 7, the creators of this awesome Series have spent six glorious instalments building up the character of Susie Glass, to the point where we’re almost more in love with her than the magnificent Eddie!
Susie is beautiful, fearless and always in control. She is imminently practical in her methodology, and relentlessly impractical in her wardrobe.
Always immaculately turned out, make-up and hair en pointe at ALL times.
We have never seen her without a 4-inch heel.
Susie would never be caught in flats, in Tescos or in any kind of leisurewear.
So why, oh bloody why, did the writer of this episode (John Jackson3) put her on a rowing machine at the beginning of this episode!?
The rowing machine is not a power move!!!
No one in cinematic history has ever brokered a billion dollar deal on a rowing machine! Or ordered a hit! Or saved a wedding!
If you MUST put her on an exercise machine, it has to be a running machine!
Why was Susie even working out?
Female gangsters don’t work out? Everyone knows that!
This is the most misplaced and unnecessary use of props, since Oliver Stone put his George W. Bush on the toilet, having a shit, in a hotel room, whilst talking to his wife through the open door!
I must admit I loved that move, so irrelevant to anything going on, it was just to make him look foolish, as if he needed help with that.
Back to dear old Susie…
No make-up, red in the face and hair all over the shop, but not in a sexy way, more in an actual workout way! Poor lamb!
When, who should come a knocking at the door?
Why it’s lovable rogue and all-round heartthrob Eddie!
Nooooooooooo!
He can’t see her like that?! It’s far too soon in their relationship for breathable leggings and sweat patches! WTF!? Had wardrobe taken the day off?
Why did she even answer the door???
Surely she would have glanced through the peep hole, seen the Eddster, and very much delayed entry while climbing back into her crimson lipstick and Jimmy Choos!
I don’t mean to set feminism back, but come on, Susie on a rowing machine and answering the door, whilst looking a wreck and sweating profusely just doesn’t wash with me.
It made her character lean towards human, which is not a trait she had displayed up until now, nor is it one we wanted.
I can only assume the writer had a crimson-lipsticked, stiletto-wearing nanny when he was a boy… who was a bit mean with the sweeties.
In summary
However, as you may have guessed, apart from these tiny idiosyncrasies, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and eagerly await Season 2 with bated breath.
I very much hope it will include:
A continuation on the ‘will they or won’t they’ style romance for Susie and Eddie. They could be the new Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis (remember Moonlighting?).
The appointment of a ‘Teddy’ as a side-kick for ‘Blanket’.
Drug-addled Lord Freddy and his wife Tammy get a messy divorce which results in them both trying and failing to kill each other, in increasingly complicated ways.
Lady Sabrina gets back together with Geoffrey and they live happily ever after.
I can only hope!
Toodles!
K8x
PS: BONUS: Steer clear of Lindsay Lohan’s new rom-com, ‘Irish Wish’, it is beyond awful on so many levels.
Join in the comments below:
Did you enjoy it?
What would you like to see happen in Season 2?
Are you, like me, utterly crestfallen that Theo James hasn’t been announced as the next James Bond?
If you too, accidentally watched most of ‘Irish Wish’, let’s have a quick bitch about it in the Comments below, we’ll both feel better for it.
Thank you for being here, please ❤️ (below) if you enjoyed this piece, it really helps others find it.
I would love for this acronym to take off, to the extent where people ask each other “Did you spot the three C.U.N.T.S. in that film last night?”.
And in answer to your question, no, I won’t be growing up any time soon.
Best Henchman’s name ever.
Do any of you industry peeps know why they change writers so much during one Series? This is the only episode that John Jackson wrote, all the others worked on several episodes, or is it the Director who changes the incidental details like this? Spill the beans!
I loved this series too! But yes, there were a few hard to digest moments, for sure.
We tuned in to this show solely because of your rave review! It's mind-blowing, and Susie Glass is my spirit animal (minus the whole murdering thing, of course). Your analysis of the show is spot-on. I'm totally rooting for Eddie and Susie to set up house together, too, but I'm crossing my fingers that Eddie and Tammy keep their love boat afloat. A breakup between them would likely send Eddie spiraling into the abyss, and let's face it, where else is he going to find such a gem of a woman who puts up with his crazy ass?