At the end of The Gentlemen Season 1, Eddie Horniman (Theo James) gives his literal partner in crime, Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario), a closer look at his signet ring. It has his family motto on it. “Non sine periculo,” he reads. “Not without danger.” Those words could easily apply to Episode 8, which is filled with blood, backstabbing, and front-stabbing. 

In the first half of the episode, Susie’s father, underworld crime boss Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone), informs his daughter and Eddie that he’s selling the weed business. All they have to do is share the news with the proper interested parties — conniving American billionaire Uncle Stanley Johnston (Giancarlo Esposito), smug scammer Sticky Pete (Joshua McGuire), and volatile drug baroness Mercy (Martha Millan) — and obtain their offers. All bids must be over £150 million and arrive by the end of the week via pigeon. 

In a very written-by-Guy Ritchie twist, Eddie and Susie decide to manipulate the sale as a method of eliminating their enemies. They tell Stanley he won, but meanwhile use a few allies to obtain Stan’s tax records and have him arrested for tax evasion. Mercy and Pete are then both told that Pete won. Mercy, afraid of upsetting her less-than-cuddly Colombian business partners, hacks Pete to death in order to step into his winning position. Eddie and Susie then have gangster Henry Collins (Max Beesly) eliminate Mercy, leaving the Duke and drug heiress as the only viable candidates to take over Bobby’s business.  

“It’s the cleaning of the fish barrel. It shows that Eddie is more menacing than he lets on or pretends to think he is,” James tells Tudum. “I think he lies to himself that he doesn’t have bloodlust, but in fact, he is more dangerous than anyone around him and more deadly.” 

As the finale comes to an end, we realize everyone in The Gentlemen is more bloodthirsty than we could have imagined. Well, what does that mean? Keep reading for all your burning questions, answered by the cast. 

Who is Uncle Stanley Johnston? 

A villain — that’s what. In Episode 2, we learn the American billionaire is more crook than aristocrat. Because, despite his genteel appearance, he’s also a methamphetamine mogul. Due to his rather unsavory activities, Uncle Stan is extremely interested in acquiring Bobby Glass’ weed business. Diversity is the key to a good financial profile, after all. 

So, Uncle Stan is behind many of the problems Eddie and Susie encounter over Season 1. The stolen weed in Episode 3? The distribution problems on the Continent in Episode 5? Even the fixed boxing match that almost kills Jack (Harry Goodwins) in Episode 6? All orchestrated by Uncle Stan. 

The meth dealer coldly admits to all of his scheming in the finale, telling Susie that his actions were the only way to convince the Glasses of his earnest interest in their cannabis empire. James is still moved by fellow actor Esposito’s sharklike demeanor as Uncle Stan, telling Tudum, “I love the amount he can [say all of that] with literally not a twitch of his face. I think it’s fascinating.”

What does Bobby Glass actually want? 

Bobby isn’t sad to hear that his daughter and the Duke ran the streets of London’s underworld red to get their hands on his business. It’s what he wanted all along, he reveals. Bobby only told the duo he was selling to wake them up and have them prove they’re willing to “put some skin in the game.” Now they can get to the next step of his plan: expanding their drug empire. Eddie and Susie aren’t buying the operation. They’re investing in it alongside Bobby — who certainly isn’t retiring. 

“They’ve been manipulated by the biggest G there is, and that’s Ray Winstone,” James says. “He’s manipulated them to think that they are in control, whereas they are not in any way. He has them by the metaphorical testicles… He has control over everyone.”  

What’s happening with Eddie and Susie? 

It’s difficult to tell whether Eddie and Susie are friends, frenemies, actual enemies, colleagues, or something else entirely. In the finale alone, Susie nearly has Eddie’s entire family murdered by a Christian crime gang over a perceived betrayal. Yet, by the end of Episode 8, they’re partners in a multimillion-dollar drug cartel and staring into each other’s eyes over an execution-style murder in the woods. Even James and Scodelario admit the pair are complicated. 

“They’ve grown to love each other in their own way, but I think they’ll never fully trust each other,” James says. “They are so different, and they’re from such vastly different worlds.” 

Scodelario points out that Susie has a reason to keep an eye on the Duke. Not only did his desperation to get out of the weed business inadvertently lead to her brother Jack’s near-fatal boxing beating, but Eddie also went behind her back to her dad. 

“She’s the kind of person that, once you’ve broken her trust, she never forgets it. She can forgive it, but she’s not going to forget it,” Scodelario tells Tudum. “To assume that they would just sail off into the sunset and everything would be perfect would be unrealistic because they’ve both had a taste for it now. They’ve learned how the other one works, and they’ve felt betrayed by the other one. That’s going to fester below the surface for a long time.”  

Christopher Rafael/Netflix

Eddie’s killed someone. What does that mean for him? 

Speaking of that sylvan execution, the person staring down the barrel of Eddie’s gun is Henry, who was initially in Uncle Stan’s pocket. Henry masterminded Jack’s near-death fight in Episode 6 and threatened Susie’s life in Episode 7. After Henry helps Eddie and Susie root out their enemies and gives them £15 million for an alleged business deal in the finale, the Duke has him taken to the woods to be terminated. Henry is meant to be a peace offering. Eddie offers Susie the gun, but she says he should take the kill as a part of his “journey.” Eddie wordlessly obliges. 

“That is the beginning of his journey into the heart of darkness,” James says. The moment reminded the actor of Shakespeare’s most power-hungry and deadly duo, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. But James also took inspiration from another pop-culture touchstone: iconic mob drama The Godfather.  

“Michael Corleone’s soul is broken in the journey of that film. And similarly, in a more bombastic Guy Ritchie way, Eddie’s soul is darkened,” he explains. “He finally realizes that with power comes death, and he begins to enjoy it… Eddie and Susie just signed the deal with the devil and they’re about to embark on a diabolical journey.” 

Who is Charly’s dad? 

Geoff (Vinnie Jones), Halstead Manor’s kindly gamekeeper, is the biological father of Charly (Jasmine Blackborow), Eddie’s little sister. 

The youngest Horniman sibling realizes the truth after she returns home from university pregnant. As she considers her own upbringing, it dawns on her that she isn’t the late Duke of Halstead’s daughter. She’s Geoff’s kid, and her mother, Lady Sabrina (Joely Richardson), had an affair. Although they never say the word “father” or “daughter,” Geoff and Charly have a very politely British heart-to-heart in the finale about the reality of their relationship. 

“If you look in history in castles and that, there must’ve been a lot of secrets where everyone knew about the secrets,” Jones tells Tudum. “If you’re in a castle, who’s dating who, who’s doing this, who’s doing that? And I think that's quite similar to [Charley’s parentage].” 

Is Freddy OK? 

Eddie’s older brother, Freddy (Daniel Ings), goes through a lot in Season 1. He loses the Duke title to his little brother, which would smart all on its own. Then Freddy gets into serious debt with even more serious people, fatally shoots a man while wearing a chicken suit, and, ultimately, is almost murdered by a gang of hyper-religious cocaine dealers. The finale opens with the Hornimans preparing for battle against crime boss Gospel John (Pearce Quigley), who demands retribution in the form of Freddy’s death. After all, it was Freddy who killed John’s brother Tommy (Peter Serafinowicz).

Ings relished portraying “the extremes” of someone like Freddy. “He’s a proud idiot who is convinced that he’s worthy of so much more than life gives him,” Ings tells Tudum. “There’s something quite universal about that fatal flaw. It’s inherently ridiculous to have a person who has all of this privilege, this wealth. He has everything materially that you could want, and none of it is enough.”

While we don’t see the conclusion of the Halstead Manor attack, we know Freddy — along with the rest of the Horniman family — survives. By the midpoint of the finale, Freddy seems to get in touch with the reality of who he is and admits his little brother has always been the killer he’ll never be.   

Kevin Baker/Netflix

Are Bobby and Stan a dangerous combo? 

For a moment in the finale, The Gentlemen fans can rest easy. Scheming American entrepreneur Uncle Stan has seemingly been vanquished. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs arrests the businessman for tax evasion and freezes all of his assets. But this is a Guy Ritchie TV show. Nothing is ever simple. So, in the last scene of Season 1, we find out Uncle Stan isn’t gone. He’s simply in the same prison as Bobby, enjoying fine Japanese cuisine. Now, Bobby has a brand-new ally on the inside. 

“I think that’s a very clever move from Bobby. Stan is quite a chap. He’s very sophisticated,” Winstone says. “Bobby can learn one or two things from this man, and Stan will be very handy for the future.”

Winstone’s on-screen daughter, Scodelario, has her own theories.

“They’re either going to partner up and run everything, or Stan is going to be Bobby’s little bitch,” she jokes. 

Spoken like a true Gentlemen. 

Additional reporting by Jean Bentley. 

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