The Gentlemen ending explained: Star weighs in on cliffhanger finale

Alexis Rodney spoke with RadioTimes.com exclusively about the ending of The Gentlemen, and we break down how the finale played out.

By James Hibbs

Published: Friday, 08 March 2024 at 19:30 PM

*WARNING – CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS FOR ALL EIGHT EPISODES OF THE GENTLEMEN*

Guy Ritchie fans have been bingeing their way through his new series The Gentlemen since it debuted on Netflix on Thursday 7th March, and one of the show’s star has now revealed what he made of the show’s barnstorming cliffhanger ending.

The final episode started with Eddie and the rest of the Horniman family preparing, as their home was surrounded by Gospel John and his gang.

They has been told by Suzie that Freddy had been lying to them, and he had actually killed Tommy Dixon. Suzie had been looking for revenge as she believed Eddie had betrayed them.

However, Bobby already knew Eddie’s plans, and ordered Suzie to fix what she had done, and to keep Eddie safe and happy. Bobby ended up sorting it himself.

Eddie and Suzie went to speak with Bobby and discuss the situation with Stanley Johnston. He had been the one putting sand in the gears of their organisation all season, so he could buy the land and the business from Eddie and Bobby.

Ray Winstone as Bobby Glass in The Gentlemen. He is sat outside at a table with a basket on it, and is looking at Kaya Scodelario's Suzie Glass, who is off screen
Ray Winstone as Bobby Glass in The Gentlemen.
Christopher Rafael/Netflix

Bobby revealed he planned to sell anyway, and that Johnston and others would have to put in sealed bids, transported by carrier pigeon to him. He would accept offers over $150 million.

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Eddie and Suzie sat down with Johnston, and he believed he was entering the negotiations from a position of strength, as one of Suzie’s staff had leaked the location of their other weed farms.

However, this was actually a ruse Eddie devised, tricking Johnston’s lawyer Stevens. He had made a critical error of not verifying the information.

Following this, Eddie and Suzie met with other potential buyers – Mercy Moreno and Peter Spencer-Forbes.

However, Eddie secretly also started working on putting his own bid together, raising money from other aristocrats and those from the travelling community who he had made a deal with previously.

He then approached Henry Collins, who had been cut loose by Johnston and who was now a target of the Glass family, for additional funds, and brought Suzie on as a partner.

In the end, Johnston was the highest bidder. However, Collins’s accountant knew how to prove Johnston’s illegal dealings through his tax records, and sent them to HMRC. Johnston was arrested, with Stevens looking on shocked.

Giancarlo Esposito as Uncle Stan in The Gentlemen sat in a suit with another suited gentleman in the background
Giancarlo Esposito as Uncle Stan in The Gentlemen.
Netflix

Stevens is played by Alexis Rodney, who spoke with RadioTimes.com about this reveal, and the other reveals regarding Johnston and Stevens towards the end of the season.

He said: “As an actor, that’s what you want. You want those absolute cliffhanger episodes. I’ve talked about Stevens being a highly intelligent guy, valedictorian, all that good stuff, scholarly guy.

“It’s a really bad mistake, actually, and I suppose we don’t really touch on it enough because the next time we cut to Stevens and Stanley Johnson, Stanley’s being arrested.

“I would have loved to have delved into what the aftermath was, because Stevens is basically the downfall of Stanley Johnson. So, I would have loved to have dealt with that if we had more time and a route they wanted to go down, what the aftermath was.”

Spencer-Forbes’s bid came in second, but Eddie told Moreno, who was under pressure herself to ensure her bid won. She killed Spencer-Forbes, and was immediately taken out herself by Collins, working for Eddie.

So, Eddie and Suzie had won. However, there was one last sting in the tail. It turned out Bobby never intended to sell in the first place, and he instead wanted to “wake them up” to the opportunities. The three of them would there on out be equal partners.

Eddie then delivered Collins to Suzie, bound and on his knees, and handed her a gun. She asked him if he wanted to do it as part of his “journey” and he obliged, killing him instantly.

A final scene saw Bobby meeting with Johnston in ‘prison’, talking about their prospects.

So, going into a potential season 2, it looks like Johnston and Bobby could be in business after all. But one thing’s for certain, and that’s that Eddie is now truly all in on the criminal life.