In Review: Pennyworth (S2 Ep5) The Bleeding Heart

Synopsis: In ‘The Bleeding Heart’.  Alfred and Daveboy run one last job for Gully in order to buy tickets to America. Elsewhere, tensions ratchet up at Raven Union HQ between Harwood and his lieutenants.

The Story

Having been robbed in a previous episode. Alfred and Dave Boy have no means by which to escape to America. As a result, the boys are backed into a bit of a corner. But before attempting to do anything Shady. Alfred pays a visit to Thomas Wayne in the hopes that they can buy passage with the little money that they still have. However, it looks like the cost of 3 air tickets would be near double what Alfred has. Thomas offers to cover his cost, but Alfred refuses and goes to do one final job with Gully instead.

Meanwhile, at a remote location in London. Frances Gaunt arranges a meeting with the new Primeminister of The English League. Gaunt who is with the Raven Union seeks to get Victor Aziz to arrange terms of surrender. But her plan backfires and she winds up revealing more than she should about the new bioweapon that the Ravens intend to unleash. Furthermore, the Raven Union leader Lord Harewood is not in the know about this meeting.

Back at Raven Union HQ. Lucious Fox who is spying for the English League sneaks his way into the communications room to asks for his extraction.

In the Eastend, Bet has a run-in with her past.

The Acting

Jack Bannon does a solid job of helping to carry this episode. And his scenes during the job with Gully are somewhat pivotal to what may wind up happening in future episodes. Relations with Gully are somewhat strained. And it is clear that there is a bit of resentment between Alfred and Gully. James Purefoy does a brilliant job of showing us Gully’s instability. And the scenes between Gully, Dave Boy, and Alfred are full of drama and tension.

Jason Flemyng is fantastic as Harewood and it’s evident that he is slowly going through another breakdown of some kind. There’s a good scene where he tries to contact Bet but isn’t able to reach her. She was a strong ally to him during the show’s first season and it was Bet and her sister that helped in his rehabilitation. So it will be interesting to see if they find each other. Might we see Harewood get betrayed by his lieutenants?

Overall

‘The Bleeding Heart’ does a great job of continuing the political intrigue between The English League and The Raven Union. I loved how the episode ends with Alfred being in a rather dark place and I sense that he will end up doing a job for Thomas Wayne in order to try and redeem himself and Dave Boy. Additionally, I think that the doing of this job will wind up with Alfred and Gully butting heads again.

Overall. A great episode with some interesting plot threads that will get developed in episodes to come.

You can check out our other reviews of Pennyworth here.