‘Pistol’ Episode 2 Recap: This Is The Story Of Johnny Rotten  

Since its May 31, 2022, premiere on Hulu, the Danny Boyle-directed Sex Pistols mini-series Pistol has been divisive. To some it’s historically inaccurate, exploitative and corny. To others, including a surprising number of those that were there then, it’s all good fun. Among the fans is Jon Savage, author of England’s Dreaming, the definitive chronicle of the late ‘70s UK punk explosion and among the best music books ever written.

The divergence of opinions includes the band members themselves. Among the show’s most vociferous detractors is their famously cantankerous former singer Johnny Rotten, née John Lydon, who refused to participate in its production and attempted to block the use of the Sex Pistols music, leading to a nasty court battle which he ultimately lost. Lydon was still talking shit as recently as…this week, dismissing Pistol as being “dead against everything we once stood for,” in an interview with The Irish Times.

One of rock’s most singular vocalists, Lydon has been pissing people off from the moment he stepped into the spotlight. Acerbic and intelligent, a contrarian and a humanist, he’s a bit of an asshole but between the Sex Pistols and his subsequent band, Public Image Ltd, he has played on two of the greatest rock albums of all time and the music world is better for his presence in it. 

Bringing him to life, however, is not without its challenges, which brings us to episode two of Pistol, appropriately titled “Rotten.” The episode begins, however, on another shocking note, with Maisie Williams, A.K.A. Arya freaking Stark, riding topless on a bicycle. 

Williams plays Jordan Mooney, who worked at Sex, the clothing boutique owned by designer Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren at the time of the Sex Pistols formation. Known for modeling Westwood’s eye-popping BDSM influenced fashions in public, she was a central figure in the early London punk scene. Jordan died this past April at the age of 66 and the episode is dedicated to her memory.  

Following their disastrous debut last episode, Pistol protagonist Steve Jones goes around to McLaren’s to beg for a second chance. Saying he’s “too damaged to be upfront,” McLaren gifts Jones a white Les Paul Custom guitar he stole from Sylvain Sylvain during his brief period managing proto-punk legends The New York Dolls and tells him he’s now the band’s guitarist, despite never having played before.

At Sex, McLaren introduces Jones and Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook to their new singer, who, like them, has never played in a band.  Enter John Lydon, later renamed Johnny Rotten thanks to his “interesting teeth.” Singing along to Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen,” Rotten leers and swears and spastically jerks about. Jones is unimpressed, Cook shocked, McLaren delighted.

“Do any of you imbeciles realize what’s happening here?,” McLaren berates the band as it almost breaks up before it can begin. “He is one of the greatest guitarists in all of England,” Malcolm says, pointing to Jones, who doesn’t know a single chord, “And you are an untutored genius that, with the right guidance, could change the world.”

To me, dialogue like this is what makes the show work. While it’s the kind of cringe-inducing pretentious claptrap script-writers often employ in biographical music dramas to explain an artist’s cultural importance, it also sounds exactly like the self-important hyperbolic bullshit McLaren regularly spewed during his tenure as the band’s manager. What puts it over, however, is that it’s played for laughs.

The same could be said of Anson Boon’s portrayal of Rotten, which is both embarrassingly exaggerated and also pretty true to life. Boon captures the singer’s intertwined hostility and insecurity, his ability to alienate everyone in the room, while also being sensitive enough to recognize Jones’ illiteracy and defend him to those outside the dysfunctional orbit of the band.

After ghosting Rotten for their first rehearsal, McLaren rallies the Pistols together, moving them into a new rehearsal space and supplying Jones with enough amphetamines to become a rudimentary guitarist within a week.  “I don’t even get bus fare and he gets amphetamines and free rent,” Rotten says accusingly, another great one-liner. 

Their rehearsal turns into a party when Jordan and her friends crash through the door. Chrissie Hynde later shows up and Jones begs her to teach him how to play guitar. She declines. Changing course, he tries to get laid, which she also declines. 

Seeking an ally within the band, Rotten tries to recruit his friend John Richie, one of “two Johns with impeccable cheekbones and a penchant for safety pins,” in McLaren’s words. He is later renamed Sid Vicious, after Rotten’s hamster. 

With the original lineup now in place, the Sex Pistols roll into Saint Martin’s College on November 6, 1975, to play their first show. Jones is so nervous he throws up but later pulls himself together. The band and audience eye each other nervously before kicking into “Seventeen.” The show ends in a fistfight between the band, their fans and the headlining group. History beckons…and by history I mean Pistol Episode 3.    

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter:@BHSmithNYC.