Kaya Scodelario and Theo James in season two of The Gentlemen After two and a half years away from our screens, Guy Ritchie’s TV spin-off of his 2019 film The Gentlemen is back with more shoot-outs, swearing and eccentric characters. In its second outing, the eight-part Netflix series once again centres around Theo James’ Eddie, after he inherits his family’s country estate and discovers it’s home to an enormous weed empire. Season two brings back Kaya Scodelario, Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito and Ray Winstone, as well as introducing more larger-than-life characters hellbent on making Eddie’s life harder and more violent, played by the likes of Hugh Bonneville and Maya Jama. So far, critics have mostly welcomed The Gentlemen’s return for all its brash and bloody escapism, with many suggesting the new episodes have a darker tone more reminiscent of MobLand. However, some reviews have pointed out that the second season’s pacing issues do mean that it verges on the “slow” side at times. This is what the critics are saying about season two of The Gentlemen… The Sun (5/5) “It comes with lashings of laughs, romance and a constant undercurrent of danger, courtesy of the duke’s gangster cohorts. If it all sounds rather similar to the debut series, then viewers will be pleasantly surprised.” Variety “Exquisitely shot, The Gentlemen season two is full of absurd characters, gunfights, hijinks (including million-dollar birds and shocking beheadings) and a couple of steamy romances.” Theo James returns as Eddie in the long-awaited second season of The Gentlemen Digital Spy (4/5) “The stakes are higher, the violence is bloodier and the tension is ramped up in the darkly humorous second season of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, which adds memorable new characters while sidelining one of the leads from season one in a surprise move that actually improves the series.” Metro (4/5) “Flecks of Ritchie’s signature bold, brash, British style are still there – but where are the gags? The hijinks? There’s nothing even close to those heady chicken heights. This new eight-parter has lost the Ritchie quintessence the first so impeccably captured. “All that being said, I had a cracking time watching the good and the bad of it all. At least with that ‘more is more’ approach, you’re seldom bored.” The Guardian (3/5) “There’s a certain comfort in Ritchie’s commitment to the bit, a sense of reassurance in the knowledge that in these restless times, his fetishisation of the gentry and preoccupation with uninhibited wide-boys remains immutable. “But it ain’t half slow, ma’am. For all its international hijinks, its oi-oi-saveloy geezerisms, you may still find yourself wishing the whole thing would, in the words of Bobby, ‘gerra faaackin’ move on’.” Tech Radar (4/5) “Through shrewd editing, handwritten effects, sound and narrative structure, new episodes feel playful and unserious despite its often sombre and hard-hitting undertones, with Ritchie’s tonal balance across it all being nothing short of impressive. “Clearly, the best way to deal with the bad things in life is to sprinkle in as much absurdity and humour as possible, and Ritchie never lets us forget that.” Kaya Scodelario pictured on the set of The Gentlemen season 2 The AV Club “This is an entertaining action romp with vivid production design and striking sets. It’s jam-packed with brutal shootouts and fiery combat that’s a lot of bloody fun and, somehow, hardly monotonous. The impeccably styled characters of its world live in lavish mansions, speak in zippy dialogue, and cherish crude British slang.” Collider “While season one of The Gentlemen stuck to the blueprint of Ritchie’s film, Season two expands in all directions in the vein of his more sober crime drama, MobLand. Expanding into the international world of criminals means that whatever equilibrium was found after Season one has been undone.” The Financial Times (3/5) “This is fast-food television: it might not leave you fully sated, but sometimes it’s exactly the kind of well-made nonsense that will satisfy a craving.” The Times (3/5) “This is a show far too in love with carnage, wisecracks, lavish cinematography and fast editing to hold on to any depth or seriousness for too long. You come to this for chases, showdowns and more baroque deaths than you can shake a shooting stick at (you just know that when a tiger is introduced in episode one it will be lunching on human flesh before the credits roll).” Radio Times (3/5) “You shouldn’t ever have to be patient with a show like The Gentlemen – you should be entertained by every scene. Be patient, however, and the second half of season two reveals that all this aimless noodling has a point to it, and as the strands tie together the story takes on a darker, harder edge, with proper stakes, real consequences.” Screen Rant (6/10) “Season two feels like an entertaining but somewhat shallow eight-episode interlude before The Gentlemen’s already-commissioned third season, rather than a well-rounded instalment on its own.” Polygon “Over the course of The Gentlemen season two, both the billionaire Stanley Johnston and cannabis kingpin Bobby Glass explain that Duke Eddie Horniman must suffer to achieve his full potential. “Unfortunately, viewers have to suffer with him as Guy Ritchie tosses aside most of the humour and quirky characters that made his Netflix series so much fun in favour of doing a beat-for-beat retelling of The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2.” The Independent (2/5) “The Gentlemen prioritises the easy gratification of vaguely witty dialogue over actual jokes, big twists over character development, and cheap thrills over earned tension. The result is a brash show that, not unlike the English aristocracy, isn’t working nearly hard enough.” Both seasons of The Gentlemen are now streaming on Netflix. READ MORE: Hold On, What's The Actual Story About Meghan Markle And Netflix's The Gentlemen, Then? Netflix Exec Breaks Silence On Rumours Meghan Markle The Gentlemen Season 3 Rumours Theo James Has 5 Words For Those Meghan Markle The Gentlemen Season 3 Rumours