The Gentlemen Season 1 begins with Eddie Horniman wanting nothing to do with the criminal business hidden beneath his family estate. Eight episodes later, getting out is no longer the plan.
Before Season 2, there is quite a lot worth remembering. Eddie’s partnership with Susie Glass changes repeatedly throughout the season, Freddy creates enough problems for several families, and what initially looks like a simple arrangement between the Hornimans and the Glass family becomes a fight over an entire drug empire.
Here is our full The Gentlemen Season 1 recap, including how Eddie gets involved with Susie, what Stanley Johnston is really after, and where everyone stands after the finale.
The Gentlemen Season 1 Characters: Who’s Who
Eddie Inherits Halstead Manor and a Very Unexpected Family Business
Eddie Horniman returns home when his father, the Duke of Halstead, is dying. As the second son, Eddie isn’t expecting to inherit the estate. That should go to his older brother Freddy. Their father had other ideas.
After his death, Eddie inherits the title, Halstead Manor, and the family’s land, while the rest of the family is left with allowances controlled by him. Freddy takes the news badly, but losing his inheritance quickly becomes the least of his problems.
He owes £8 million to a Scottish crime family and needs Eddie to find the money before the debt gets him killed.
Eddie may have inherited an enormous estate, but that doesn’t mean he has millions sitting in a bank account. He considers selling Halstead Manor until Susie Glass arrives and explains one rather important detail his father never mentioned: the estate is already making money.
A large cannabis operation is running beneath the family’s land, and Eddie’s father had been receiving £5 million a year for allowing it to remain there. Susie runs the operation for her father, Bobby Glass. Eddie has just inherited the arrangement along with everything else.
His immediate concern is still saving Freddy, so he tries to find another way to raise the money. Stanley Johnston, a very wealthy businessman interested in Halstead, offers to buy the estate. Eddie refuses but agrees to sell him part of the family’s wine collection for around £3 million.
Naturally, giving Freddy access to millions doesn’t solve anything. Freddy takes the money and tries to double it through an illegal fight. He loses it instead, leaving the brothers in an even worse position.
Susie manages to negotiate Freddy’s debt down, but the situation ends disastrously when Freddy is humiliated by Tommy Dixon and shoots him.
Eddie now has a dead criminal inside his family home.
Tommy Dixon’s Death Pulls Eddie Into Susie’s World
Eddie’s problems with the Glass family are no longer limited to the cannabis farm. Tommy’s associate Jethro escapes after the shooting, although Eddie, Freddy, and Geoff eventually catch him. Killing Jethro would remove a witness, but Eddie refuses.
There is also the considerably bigger problem of Tommy’s brother, Gospel John, a dangerous cocaine dealer who comes looking for him.
Susie brings in Felix to dispose of Tommy’s body while Eddie tries to find a way to get Jethro safely out of the country. That plan leads Eddie to Jethro’s home, where he is involved in a violent confrontation with one of Gospel’s men. Eddie kills him but is stabbed in the process.
By now, Eddie is already doing far more than collecting rent from the Glass family. He eventually frames Jethro for Tommy’s murder and the missing money, then gives him cash and allows him to leave the country, or at least, Eddie believes he does.
There is another discovery waiting for him. Stanley Johnston’s interest in Halstead has nothing to do with the manor itself. Stanley knows about the cannabis operation and wants access to the Glass family’s business.
Eddie responds by approaching Bobby Glass with a proposition. He will help make the operation more profitable, but in return, the Glass family must move its business off his land by the end of the year. For the moment, Bobby agrees.
Eddie and Susie Start Working Together
Eddie’s plan sounds simple enough: help Susie increase the Glass family’s profits, find new locations for the cannabis operation, and get Halstead out of the drug business.
Actually doing it is another matter.
One problem begins with Jimmy, who handles deliveries for Susie. He meets Gabrielle while stopping for food and is immediately taken with her. The encounter isn’t accidental. Gabrielle and her sister steal his keys and take the van containing Susie’s cannabis.
The missing shipment puts Susie in trouble with a client known as Tony Blair. He gives her another way to settle the problem: steal a Lamborghini.
Eddie takes the job and brings Freddy along to help him clone the car’s key. They eventually steal it, only to discover that the car itself was never the real prize: there are 150 kilos of cocaine hidden inside.
Mercy, the woman connected to the car, retaliates by taking Freddy. Eddie and Susie return the car and drugs, and Susie offers Mercy the person who sent them after it in the first place. Mercy kills Tony and lets the Hornimans and Susie leave.
The missing cannabis, however, is gone. Gabrielle and her sister burn the van. Jimmy has no idea that the woman he likes is responsible and continues seeing her.
Eddie Finds New Land for the Glass Operation
If Eddie wants the Glass family out of Halstead, he needs somewhere else for their cannabis farms to go.
An opportunity appears after the death of a family friend who owned another large estate. Eddie approaches Max, a possible heir, hoping they can reach an arrangement. Max will consider it, but first he needs help with a blackmailer.
Eddie and Susie track down Francis, a former journalist who possesses documents that could destroy Max’s reputation.
The secret turns out to belong to Max himself. He has an underground collection devoted to Adolf Hitler, including a preserved testicle that ends up being swallowed by a German shepherd during the confrontation.
Susie ultimately gets what she needs from Max.
Back at Halstead, Sabrina has also been helping find alternatives to the cannabis farm beneath the family estate. She secures another possible location through a neighbor willing to lease 2,000 acres.
Eddie is delivering exactly what he promised Bobby. From his perspective, that should bring him closer to getting the Glass family out of Halstead.
Bobby sees things differently.
Bobby Glass Has No Intention of Letting Eddie Walk Away
Susie visits Bobby in prison and explains that Eddie has helped secure two additional locations. Eddie believes he has fulfilled his side of their agreement, but Bobby doesn’t want to lose him.
Eddie has proven useful to the business, and Bobby suspects he may also be enjoying his new role more than he admits. When Susie asks Eddie directly, he insists he still wants out. His next job takes him deeper into the operation anyway.
The Glass family is also having trouble moving cannabis through Europe. Their contact at the port, Florian de Groot, demands more money to keep the shipments moving, so Eddie looks for another route.
That brings JP Ward and his family into the business. After some of the Wards try to steal a generator from the cannabis operation, Eddie and Susie discover that JP already knows what is happening on the estate. Rather than cause more trouble, he wants in.
The Wards prove very good at smuggling and successfully move millions of pounds worth of cannabis hidden inside a statue of the Virgin Mary. But when £4 million disappears from the Glass operation, they initially come under suspicion.
Eddie eventually discovers that Florian is behind the missing money. He and Susie poison him and withhold the antidote until he identifies Keith as the real thief. JP kills Keith, but not before Keith tells Eddie something far more important: Jethro never escaped. According to Keith, Susie had him killed.
Eddie Realizes Getting Out May Not Be an Option
Eddie goes to Geoff after learning the truth about Jethro. If Susie was willing to have Jethro killed after Eddie deliberately spared him, there is no guarantee the Glass family will simply let Eddie leave once he is no longer useful.
Geoff advises him to wait and be ready for whatever happens.
Soon afterward, Susie tells Eddie that moving the operation will take longer than expected. The Glass family needs another three months because £15 million still has to be laundered.
The delay creates another problem when the Glass family’s usual money launderer refuses to work with them after a fight involving Susie’s brother, Jack. Jack also becomes a target and is moved to Halstead for protection ahead of an important boxing match.
Eddie finds another way to launder the money through Henry Collins, but by now the bigger problem is clear. The Glass family never really planned to leave Halstead.
When Eddie confronts Susie, she makes it clear that he is already too involved to simply separate himself from their world. Eddie isn’t prepared to accept that. If necessary, he is willing to fight the Glass family to get his estate back. For the first time, Eddie and Susie are moving against each other.
Stanley Johnston Has Been Working Against the Glass Family
Eddie turns to Stanley Johnston for help getting the Glass family off his estate, although he wants the situation handled without destroying them.
At the same time, Henry Collins approaches Susie and reveals that he knows about the cannabis operation and intends to take control of it. He uses Jack as leverage, and Jack’s next fight ends with him seriously injured.
Susie immediately goes after Henry’s people. Eddie insists he had nothing to do with the attack and offers to help her find Henry, but he is keeping something from her: he has been working with Stanley.
Stanley wants Eddie to identify the other aristocratic estates that Bobby Glass is using for cannabis production. Eddie and Freddy eventually find the names, believing this will help Stanley put enough pressure on the Glass family to get them out of Halstead.
Meanwhile, Susie discovers that someone has been passing information about her operation to her enemies. The trail leads back to Jimmy and Gabrielle. Jimmy admits he may have told Gabrielle too much, and when Eddie arranges a meeting with her, the real connection finally becomes clear.
Gabrielle works for Stanley. He was behind the theft of Jimmy’s cannabis van and the disruption of Susie’s European operation. Henry has also been working for him, although the attack on Jack went further than Stanley intended.
What looked like several separate problems throughout the season has actually been one campaign. Stanley has been weakening the Glass operation from different directions so he can eventually take control of it.
Eddie gives Stanley’s associate the list of estates, but Susie captures Henry. Henry then tells her that Eddie has been secretly working with Stanley. Whatever trust remained between Eddie and Susie takes another hit.
Gospel John Returns for Freddy
Before Eddie and Susie can settle their own problems, one of the Hornimans’ earliest mistakes comes back.
Gospel John learns the truth about his brother Tommy. He arrives at Halstead Manor with his men and demands that Freddy surrender. If he doesn’t, Gospel is prepared to attack the estate.
Freddy agrees to give himself up to protect his family, but Eddie refuses to sacrifice him.
Bobby Glass ultimately intervenes. He calls Gospel and offers him enough to make leaving Halstead worthwhile. Gospel accepts and goes without killing Freddy. The immediate threat is gone, but Bobby has something much bigger to discuss with Eddie and Susie: he says he is retiring.
Bobby Glass Announces He’s Selling His Empire
Bobby brings Eddie and Susie together and pushes them to put their differences aside. Both have made decisions based on protecting people close to them, and Bobby now wants them working together again. He then tells them that he intends to sell his business to the highest bidder.
Eddie immediately sees the danger. A sale could hand Stanley Johnston exactly what he has been trying to acquire all season.
Bobby won’t change his mind, so Eddie and Susie begin approaching possible buyers, including Stanley, and tell them to submit their offers. That creates an unexpected opportunity for Eddie. He has spent the entire season trying to remove the cannabis business from his property. Now, instead of getting out, he decides he wants to buy it.
Eddie Decides He Wants the Glass Business for Himself
Eddie needs an enormous amount of money to compete for Bobby’s empire. He turns to the network he has built throughout the season.
Eddie turns to the people he has met and worked with throughout the season. Other aristocratic landowners contribute, JP joins the plan, and Sabrina raises £10 million by selling assets and valuable paintings. Eddie even approaches Henry Collins. He offers Henry a way out of his problems in exchange for £15 million and a stake in the business.
Most importantly, Eddie gets Susie on board; she agrees to invest £35 million and become his partner. Eddie has gone from trying to evict Susie’s operation to asking her to build the next version of it with him.
Money alone won’t be enough, though. Stanley is far wealthier and can outbid them, so Eddie deals with Stanley another way. With Henry’s help, he has Stanley arrested for tax evasion, removing his biggest competitor from the bidding. Then Bobby reveals the truth; there was never really a sale.
The Gentlemen Season 1 Ending Explained: Does Eddie Take Over Bobby’s Business?
Bobby’s announcement that he was retiring was a test. He wanted to see what Eddie would do when given the chance to take control of the business himself. Eddie responds by raising hundreds of millions, bringing different people together, neutralizing his biggest competitor and proving that he no longer needs Bobby or Susie to pull him through every crisis.
Bobby accepts Eddie’s £235 million offer and makes him a partner, and that is what changes everything at the end of The Gentlemen Season 1.
Eddie spends much of the season insisting that the cannabis operation has to leave Halstead. His original agreement with Bobby is built around that goal, but when he is finally given the opportunity to control the business instead of simply working around it, he chooses control. He isn’t getting out anymore.
Where Do Eddie and Susie Stand Before The Gentlemen Season 2?
Eddie and Susie’s relationship takes several hits during Season 1. They begin as reluctant business associates. Eddie needs Susie’s help to save Freddy, while Susie needs access to Halstead and later relies on Eddie to solve problems for the Glass operation. They become increasingly effective together, but neither fully trusts the other.
For Eddie, the discovery that Susie had Jethro killed is a turning point. For Susie, learning that Eddie had been secretly working with Stanley creates the same problem from the other direction. By the finale, however, they’re back on the same side.
Susie invests £35 million in Eddie’s bid, and Bobby ultimately makes Eddie his partner.
What Happened to Stanley Johnston?
Stanley spends much of Season 1 trying to get access to the Glass family’s cannabis empire. His interest in Halstead is part of that plan. Gabrielle works for him, and he is also responsible for disrupting the Glass family’s European operation. Henry Collins is another part of his attempt to weaken Bobby and Susie.
Stanley looks like the obvious buyer once Bobby announces the sale because Eddie cannot compete with his wealth directly. Eddie removes that advantage by arranging for Stanley to be arrested for tax evasion, that takes Stanley out of the bidding and clears the way for Eddie’s offer.
What Happened to Freddy?
Freddy survives Season 1, which isn’t always a particularly safe assumption given how much trouble he causes.
His £8 million debt is what initially drags Eddie into direct dealings with Susie. He then loses millions gambling, kills Tommy Dixon and later becomes a target when Gospel John learns what really happened to his brother.
Freddy eventually offers himself to Gospel to prevent an attack on his family, but Bobby intervenes before Gospel can take him. So Freddy is still alive at the end of Season 1 and remains at Halstead.
What Happened to Jack, Henry and Gabrielle?
Jack survives the attack surrounding his fight. His injuries are initially described as life-threatening, although Susie later tells Bobby that his prognosis is improving.
Henry Collins is exposed as part of Stanley’s operation after his attempt to take control of the Glass business. Eddie eventually brings him into his own plan, offering to solve his problems in return for money and an ownership stake.
Gabrielle is revealed to have been working for Stanley rather than Henry. She was responsible for getting close to Jimmy and helping set the earlier sabotage of the Glass operation in motion. Her involvement also explains why Jimmy’s apparently innocent romance caused so many problems for Susie.
