‘Gangs of London’ Recap: ‘Episode 8’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Eight of ‘Gangs of London’.
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For the most part, serialized television shows that have a mystery or big moment to send our way, run the risk of trying the patience of their fanbase. For if they wait too long to answer said mystery, they could tick off loyal viewers eager for resolution. Or they can also fail the audience by saving the big reveal/answer-fest until the end of the season, shoehorning in a quick and unsatisfying resolution to something that everyone was looking forward to. But while fans are often nervous as to how the story is going to be resolved, every once in a while a show comes along that actually manages to shock the audience with its outright reveal of the truth. By either dropping it at the most unexpected moment imaginable… or in the case of Gangs of London, by having us outright forget about the answer or answers we seek in the first place, so that we are stunned when they finally arrive.

Because for weeks now, we’ve been immersed in some powerhouse storytelling, the kind that has shown us the brutality of the gangster world and has focused heavily on the destructive nature of revenge. Which has in turn, allowed for us to forget about a bubbling mystery on this series, specifically… who took the time to kill Finn Wallace? Because his untimely end brought about all this chaos in the first place and well, after weeks of focusing upon other, equally as important and incredibly engrossing matters, the series finally decided that the time had come to reveal all to the audience and provide us with the answers we’ve forget we were desperate to enjoy and it accomplished this particular feat, by having everything outright fall to pieces.

For the money that Alexander noticed had gone missing during last week’s tale, brought forth all kinds of fury from Mosi. Who firmly believed that he was being cheated out of his cash and that brought him to London to slice the hands off of the bankers he believed robbed him, sending shockwaves through the underworld and leaving Luan in utter fear for his life and his family’s safety. And to make matters worse, Asif believed this was the right time to enact war against Lale, and he laid waste to her operation and her people, leaving the city’s syndicate in disarray and terror and well… that motivated Sean to take charge of the situation and demand some answers from his closest advisers, the Dumanis… when it became apparent to him, they knew more than they were leading on.

Which in turn, led to all kinds of horrible revelations. Such as the fact that his father was done with the crime lifestyle and decided he was going to take all the money he could, by way of the missing investments, in order to retire with Floriana and leave his family and everything behind. And that worried the investors, to the point where they paid top dollar to order a hit upon Finn, and the investors had other plans in mind as well. In that, they wanted the Wallace family completely away from the business in general and if that meant the end of Sean… then so be it. But one way or another, the Dumanis were going to be put in charge by the investor group and be encouraged to use their vast funds to launder their money and make them richer with real estate investments. Revelations that of course… brought about more trouble since Sean decided to part ways with the Dumani family in the most violent way possible for their betrayal, which is a devastating manner in which to end this tale.

Because just like that, the once proud Wallace family, which managed to control every facet of the city’s crime syndicate… has been reduced to nothing and is now isolated and without support. Leaving one to wonder what will become of them in the coming weeks now that the investors have made it clear how they expect the future to take shape. But while we wait to see how Sean will respond to having his family cut off in every way imaginable… we can bask in one powerfully bleak tale. One that really did a wonderful job of straight up surprising the audience with the answers we have sought for ages while also managing to raise the stakes like never before and inject a real sense of danger for the Wallace family. Because they truly have nothing to show for their years of control, and their lives are indeed on the line. Making this story a sorrowful parallel to the age old saying, that ‘crime doesn’t pay’. Until next time.

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