‘Gangs of London’ Recap: ‘Season 2, Episode 3’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘Gangs of London’. To revisit the season two premiere, click here.
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One thing that we can all agree upon, is that the season two premiere of Gangs of London on AMC+, not only shocked us through and through… but left us with more questions than answers. For seeing Sean Wallace’s face again after all this time seemed to be an outright impossibility, since he took a bullet right to the face in the season one finale, at the hands of Elliot no less. But somehow, he clearly survived and that was what we wanted to know. How he survived what should have been a life ending injury and what on earth he was doing back in London after coming back from such an ugly end to his story in season one and thankfully, the next episode in this magnificent series, wasted little time in answering those all-important questions.
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All by taking us back in time to a year ago. Wherein we came to learn that while Sean appeared dead, the bullet clearly didn’t exit his brain stem or damage it. It just left him badly wounded and bleeding and well… it turned out that Lale had been watching all this time and when the opportunity to step into that hotel and save him arose, she took it and rescued him… only for her and Sean to be captured by seeming nefarious forces. But instead, it turned out to be… the same agency that tried to recruit Elliot to bring down the Investors and they of course wanted what they didn’t get from Elliot, an ally. Someone to bring down this vicious organization, legally, and at first, Sean had little interest in helping them. Because that would make him no less than a tool of the system, which his family stood against and thrived in doing so. But eventually… Sean came round.

Which made it seem as though, he had learned his lesson about how crime doesn’t pay and would now play the hero and bring down Koba and give the government the door-to-door war it would take to push the Investors out of London without ever having to risk the manpower that the taxpayers fund. And boy did Sean deliver, as we now know. But the fact that Billy was spotted going after Elliot and expected to check in with mom, changed everything and revealed his true intentions in returning to London. Since he had to reach out his mother and make arrangements to save her from Koba’s wrath since he finally pinpointed her point of origin and well, once the dust settled on that, and everyone had a minute to breath back in London, whilst hiding in plain sight… the truth came forth.

In that, Sean wasn’t interested in playing nice with the authorities, he was simply playing them. For he came to realize in his time away and while he was healing… that he was Sean Wallace. Heir to the Wallace throne and the true King of the London Underworld. And no law enforcement individual or member of government was going to take away his birthright. And to hammer home the point as to how he expected everyone to fall in line behind him and support the return of the Wallace Empire… he killed his father’s mistress when she tried to make a power play of her own using the family funds. Giving rise to a ruthlessness that Sean never quite exhibited in season one, but that did make it clear that Sean has changed, and he is ready to conquer and rule and woe to Koba and anyone that gets in his way, and woe to Elliot.

Since they did share a moment together, one that made it clear how much hate was harbored between them. Something that might bubble over badly if the Investors are indeed driven out of London. Which will be no easy task, since Koba is as ruthless as they come, and they have eyes everywhere. If anything, this was just… a stellar episode through and through and it deserves all the credit it is due for filling us in immediately on Sean’s fate, rather than draw that out or delay it. Because that means this series knows to give the fans exactly what they want, and it also means… that going this route now… means we have bigger moments ahead. The kind that will undoubtedly involve all-out war, as Sean Wallace and his rag tag group of freedom fighters and Elliot for that matter as well, give their all to drive Koba and the Investors away from London, with their tails between their legs.

To learn more about season two and what the cast are looking forward to everyone experiencing, check out ourinterview with series Director Corin Hardy and Cast Members: Sopé Dìrísú, Narges Rashidi and Waleed Zuaiter.

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