Summary
Alfie continues his journey to antihero in “The Rose and Thorn”, burning every bridge he can on his way to Gotham.
This recap of Pennyworth season 2, episode 6, “The Rose and Thorn”, contains spoilers.
If there’s an overarching theme in this season of Pennyworth, it’s probably Alfie’s flimsy relationship with morality. As the stakes get higher and he continues to lose friends and loved ones, sometimes at his own hands, he’s becoming increasingly self-destructive, desperately turning to risky operations such as the botched robbery in last week’s episode, and dangerous relationships, such as the one he struck up with SAS Captain Gulliver Troy’s wife, Melanie (while fobbing off the Queen of England, let’s not forget.) His plan is to get himself, Dave Boy, and his mother to Gotham, which at the start of “The Rose and Thorn” he’s able to afford thanks to his efforts at the wrestling event. But his mother can’t stand what he has been up to, Dave Boy is becomingly similarly disillusioned with him, and Thomas Wayne, who is brokering the flights, had plans of his own to allow Alfie to raise the money. Since he has the dough already, he has no incentive to extract Lucius Fox from his undercover position within the Raven Union headquarters.
Naturally, Alfie needs an incentive, which comes in the form of a backroom deal between Wayne and Inspector Aziz. John Ripper is still angling for a position as Prime Minister within the English League, so if Wayne agrees to start a feud between Ripper and creepy Satanist Aleister Crowley, the League will convince Alfie to take the job by threatening to expose his affair with Melanie. Jessica Ellerby’s strikingly gorgeous Queen even visits him in person, for added effect, and Alfie has no choice but to take the gig. Ripper ends up dosed and embarrassed and off the council. It’s a win-win.
It’s not a win for Alfie, though, since the extraction operation once again results in bloodshed he was trying to avoid. A rift between him and Dave Boy, a break-up of his present relationship with the lovely Sandra, who deserves better, and a tentative patching up with his mum leave Alfie in a very uncertain position, and that’s without taking into consideration that Gully Troy will doubtlessly be gunning for him.
At least Fox is now on the right side of the divide. His rescue doesn’t exactly clear up the details of Project Stormcloud, but it at least makes the stakes obvious – the weapon is terrible, and it’s in the best interests of the League and everyone else to not allow it to be used. The specifics, I suppose, don’t really matter, especially since the Raven Union itself is struggling to keep things together with the rapid unraveling of Lord Harwood. Sensing an opportunity in Pennyworth season 2, episode 6, Colonel Salt engineers a promotion and a coup, forcing a young Gaunt loyalist to question Harwood such that he loses his temper and furiously beats the man to death in front of his inner council. His leadership abilities now in question, Salt steps to the front of the queue, and the last thing the League needs is a more driven and switched-on figure in charge of the Ravens.
That’s plenty to be going on with. Bet doesn’t make an appearance this week but isn’t entirely missed, though there’s something else of note that leaves a bigger impression in “The Rose and Thorn” than perhaps anything else. Martha Kane is pregnant! Are we going to be seeing Baby Batman before long?
