Has a cracking opening in which the family are saved from the noose in the nick of time. Then a year passes without contact from Tommy. Then (just in time for Christmas) the Sicilian mafia deliver Black Hands to them all and it's war, with Tommy savagely killing a chef (in an already blood drenched kitchen) and John bumped off immediately in shocking episode one ending. And Arthur finally sheds his beads and kaftan when two men try and kill him in a paint shop, another red-soaked scene. Actually it might have been more fun / tense to use a couple of slips in the paint here - but overall the writing's so good you're absolutely hooked throughout. And we still have the war hanging over everything - 'We died when we were out there / No one came back the same...In the bleak mid winter..'
Arthur (Paul Anderson) is probably our favourite character, flaws and all.
Returning from America, Ada (Sophie Rundle) is proving to be useful in uniting the family, and the secondary characters Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee) and Curly (Ian Peck) continue to be good value. Why is Charlotte Riley there, briefly? Because she's going to continue to feature in later series. Is Tom Hardy dead? Why does Tommy walk alone into an ambush? (In this scene as Tommy's running upstairs I noticed a cobweb on the banister - lovely attention to detail.) Is Michael banished for good?
Adrien Brody (who seems to be channelling Brando in The Godfather) and Aidan Gillen are the new bastards in town, and Charlie Murphy is the Union lady.
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| 'Welcome to the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Shelby sisters!' Note Kate Phillips (Linda) is on the coke now too, as well as swearing a lot. |
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