'Pennyworth' Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Tragedy hits Alfred in a gritty chapter that leaves him homeless
Spoilers for ‘Pennyworth’ Season 2 Episode 5
With London engulfed in a civil war, Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon) is doing everything to leave the country. However, money is still a problem. In the fourth episode of Season 2, we saw Bazza (Hainsley Lloyd Bennett) dying. Apart from that, the bag of money they had was also lost. With that, Pennyworth’s hopes for leaving the country came to a halt. However, Alfred won’t let go so easily and will try anything and everything to get the job done. So, he is giving one more try to flee the country in the “next chapter” of Season 2.
Episode 5 of Season 2 starts with Pennyworth going to Wayne, asking for help. Wayne tells him that he might be able to help him leave the country at the cost of $5K. But Alfred doesn't have that kind of money. He meets his friend 'Dave Boy' (Ryan Fletcher) and tells him to do one last job for Captain Gulliver Troy (James Purefoy). They make a plan to rob a Wrestling Centre.
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Troy gets a team of five thieves to rob the place and has only 21 minutes. But shit gets real when the fight stops before the scheduled time due to some reason. They still rob the place and one of the guys kills a couple of people who are trying to flee the venue. While running away, Alfred meets a female wrestler who tries to stop him from getting away with the money. He doesn't shoot him, but one of thief comes from behind and shoots her. Alfred is in shock and is despair that the lady was killed.
As soon as Alfred reaches home with his share of the money, he gets to know that the news of the robbery has spread like a wildfire and is published in the newspaper. His mother asks if he was a part of the robbery, to which he says nothing and his mother understood his silence. She tells him to leave the house and never come back again. Alfred obliges to that request and leaves.
The particular scene will surely make the viewers emotional because Alfred has always been close to his mother and did almost everything for her.
Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge) and Martha (Emma Paetz) are somewhat living as a couple but Martha doesn't count it as a relationship. She labels all their night adventures as “sexual encounters". However, Thomas wants to have a relationship and take it to the next level. They fight and Martha leaves for work.
Meanwhile, one of Thomas's allies, Lucius Fox (Simon Manyonda), is still stuck inside the headquarters of the Raven Union and messages Wayne that he needs to get out of here as soon as possible.
In the next scene, we see Frances Gaunt (Anna Chancellor) meeting with the new PM of the UK, Victor Aziz (Ramon Tikaran), without telling James Harwood (Jason Flemyng), her boss. Harwood gets to know about the meeting from someone within the team and he is shocked. He meets Gaunt and says why did she do this? She says, she met him on his behalf and asks him if he wants to hear what he said. Harwood says no and captures her. It will be interesting to know why did she meet Aziz alone and what kind of intentions she has.
Towards the end, Troy's wife Melanie (Jessica De Gouw) comes to meet Alfred at a restaurant. They feel emotionally connected while talking and end up having sex with each other.
The episode ends with Troy killing one of the thieves, Banjo (Ed Sayer), in the woods because his sketch gets published in the papers that he killed some people during the robbery at the wrestling center.
The entire episode makes us believe that it won’t be easy for Alfred to leave London. He would have to go through a lot of difficult obstacles to achieve what he wants. But, it is Alfred “freaking” Pennyworth we are talking about, he always finds a way to get what he wants.
More than Alfred, the storyline for Thomas and Martha is turning out to be intriguing as well. Martha is going through a lot emotionally as she is busy with work, and now, she is also having a lot of contradictions with Thomas. On the other hand, Thomas is busy doing dirty work for the CIA and is planning something big. We can surely expect a lot of crackling moments from Thomas in the upcoming episodes.
Final thoughts on 'The Bleeding Heart', it's a compelling opener to the “next chapter” that sets the tone for another thrilling season that promises a lot of emotional moments. The fifth episode will premiere exclusively on EPIX on March 7, 2021, at 9 pm ET.