'Gangs of London' Episode 8 Review: With Sean thirsting for revenge, is it time yet for Elliot to kill him?
Spoilers for 'Gangs of London' Episode 8
Right from the start, undercover agent Elliot Finch (Sope Disiru) has had one job: bringing the London underworld behind bars. His initiation into the Wallaces' security was as a henchman taking care of odd jobs in the wake of crimelord Finn Wallace's (Colm Meaney) sudden murder that left his family rattled. The Wallace heir Sean (Joe Cole) is Elliot's prime target, and even though at this point they have sort of built up the perfect camaraderie, with the former's spiraling thirst for revenge, it's not long before Elliot finally has to perform the task he has long stalled: kill him.
Episode 8 sees Sean on the run with his mother, Marian (Michelle Fairley). Lost and fed up with his family's darkness, Sean's brother Billy (Brian Vernel) sets out to find the other family member who doesn't quite approve of the Wallace -- his sister Jaqueline (Valene Kane). While Sean has some of his most bitter epiphanies about the filth that swells within their Wallace empire, Billy bonds with Jaqui over their distaste for the same. All three siblings are now seeing things clearer than ever, but Sean doesn't quite have the privilege to leave things and run off with a separate identity. As much as he wants to prove his worth as the Wallace heir by avenging the death of the father, he is still trying so hard to please, Sean can't quite become Finn and run away from this business. He has to finish what he started, and that sinks to lower depths with him doing the unthinkable -- even for a prodigal son.
But while Sean's predictable rise before the expected fall sees him go into hiding, Elliot has to come out of his hiding persona when his supervising officer Vicky Chung (Jing Lusi) goes missing. Embracing his duties as an undercover, Elliot heads to find the other cop who had weaseled his way into the Wallaces' security just to tail him. Unfortunately for Elliot, he can't find the cop before he is tortured to death by Marian's hometown ally Colin (Ian Beattie). So Elliot kills Colin, stages the scene like an altercation gone wrong, and heads straight to find Sean, telling us it's about time that Sean has to be taken out.
All of this happens while Sean is on the phone with Alex Dumani (Paapa Essiedu), having his ever so cryptic confessional about looking at what they have built together, hinting at him targeting Wallace tower. As Sean and Alex talk from two other ends of the city unaware of the disaster that's about to fall, there's a certain smugness to Sean's rage, where he doesn't need to be surrounded by the Dumanis to feel safe and protected. Lale (Narges Rashidi) plants a bomb for him under Wallace tower, and together he and Alex watch the emblem of their climb explode into a crumbling pile of rubble and debris signifying the relationship and predicament the two sons have found themselves in.
Acting as a catalyst in the equation is Jevan Kapadia (Ray Panthaki), of course, who targets one Wallace child after the other, but even him with his investor overlords and German mercenaries don't sound as big of a threat to Sean as Elliot heading his way does. Sean's slow but steady rise is a contrast to the Nigerian gangsters, however, and that makes this sub-plot one of the weakest links in a show that's bound together tight as concrete. For all the build, the Nigerian gangsters falling prey to Luan (Orli Shuka)'s trap, after being able to corner him, seems a little unrealistic. Luan chopping off the gang with ease before falling apart in his wife's arms is a riveting sequence to watch, but it seems like a gross injustice to Mosi (Richard Pepple) and his gang, and their brutal fight skills. Does the fun, however, lie in speculating who will take Sean out first: Elliot or Jevan? Or will it be Alex granting his childhood buddy an easier death by killing the Wallace heir before the investors harm him further?
'Gangs of London' premiered on April 23 and airs every Thursday at 9 pm only on Sky Atlantic.