Gangs of London season two wasted no time hitting viewers over the head with ALL the bloody violence.
Exactly three minutes and fifty seconds after the recap, an ominous new gangster makes their mark with blood splatter. This new figure is cool, calm and calculated in their approach, their savagery both physical and mental.
To say more would be broaching spoiler territory but we can confirm that episode one, at the very least, is steeped in blood.
Brutality is very on brand for the show, and judging by what we've seen so far, showrunner Corin Hardy is not easing up in season two – an interesting creative choice considering the backlash the show has received in the past.
Dubbed "mindless violence" and "a whole lot of blood with no heart", critics have slated the Gangs of London for its overzealous attitude to gore.
The death toll in season one tottered up to a whopping 113 corpses, shooting ahead of Game of Thrones' 48 to become the most violent show on British television. But it's not just about the numbers, it's also about the way in which characters have ended up on the chopping block.
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Stabbings, shootings, strangulations, eyes gouged, teeth pulled, decapitations… so detailed and graphic it's almost sensory overload.
Season two is no different. It picks up the bloody ball and goes long, leaving a trail of brain matter in its wake (you'll soon see). Even the cast have recognised the extremities to which Hardy goes.
"This is the dark side of Corin," Luan actor, Orli Shuka, told Digital Spy when discussing one particularly dark moment in episode one.
"I was amazed at how Corin treated that scene. He put some slices of horror in it. That's precisely how he wanted that scene to be."
Hardy's approach to violence has been tossed in the 'cheap thrills' column but if you allow the shock to drain from your system you will realise that this isn't true. It's especially not true of season two, where the exaggerated violence is used to underscore a point: that this is a cruel and dangerous universe and no one is safe.
It serves to keep viewers at the same constant level of uncomfortable threat that the characters themselves live in, tottering on the precipice of danger as they do. The effect is that we not only see and understand the peril, we feel it too. It is in part what makes its signature violence so essential to the show.
"I mean, for me, it is part of the DNA of doing a cinematic show based on a criminal underworld," Hardy explained in an exclusive interview with Digital Spy.
"We wanted to combine a lot of genres to tell the story. So we pull from horror, from Westerns, from martial arts, from action movies. You sort of blend this into the world that we create."
This is definitely evident during that upcoming scene with Orli's character. The blend of techniques used to create suspense will leave you feeling uncomfortable in the best kind of way and yet that wasn't even the scene that made Hardy question if he pushed the show to its gruesome limits.
That scene takes place in a launderette, and trust us when we say you'll be able to pick it out.
However, once again, that particular violent moment, along with one other that poignantly springs to mind, serves to demonstrate the emotional state of the characters. Their actions are an outside display of their inward turmoil manipulated by the rules and structure of this gang world they are stuck in.
"Gangs of London is sort of reflective of an authentic London, but it's also a heightened version of it," Corin continued.
"It's a kind of Gotham-ised version of real life. It's not actually real life, but there's a part of the sleight-of-hand illusion by, you know, reflecting the sort of multicultural London, using subtitles and authentic settings.
"You're going into these extraordinary, over-the-top set-pieces that don't really happen like that but it's what people want to watch to escape their normal lives."
In response to this, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Elliot) said: "We are surrounded by violence in different forms. Violence is a part of human life. We're just blessed that many of us have not been exposed to the violence that we see in Gangs of London on a day-to-day basis. But that doesn't mean it's not happening."
Season two promises to continue to push the bounds. Is it overwhelmingly violent? Yes. Could Hardy have balanced things out? Fifty per cent of the barbarous content replaced with puppies and rainbows? Perhaps, but then we wouldn't be fully immersed in the perilous, criminal underworld. The stakes would feel less severe and what they are fighting for (family, security, love) less under threat making their motivations weaker.
It goes without saying that this new season is about more than just cutting open veins and seeing who can bleed the most. It's well paced and suspenseful.
There are moments of shock that (outside of the visuals) are only able to surprise so deeply because of the emotional impact of the characters and the narrative that's come thus far.
Some new faces complicate relationships and create a sense of foreboding through not being able to ascertain how far they will go. This is nicely juxtaposed with moments of sophistication and elegance that oddly make you anticipate more danger.
Unfinished business from last season spills into this one, wiping its grubby footprints on the brand-new mat. We are ready for the mess.
Gangs of London returns to Sky and NOW on October 20, 2022.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
