‘Pennyworth’ Season 1, Episode 5 ‘Shirley Bassey’ Review: Mourning

The death of his fiancé caused Pennyworth to live in a sort of limbo. It was as if the world around him also mourned his loss as everything seemed to deteriorate. However, a powerful man feared by many offers him a job he cannot refuse. To bring the assassin back to life, the man decides to help his healing. After all, it did work for the man’s purposes.

On Sunday’s continued episode of Pennyworth, Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon) mourns the loss of Esmé Winikus (Emma Corrin). With the war between the Raven Society and the No-Name League coming to an end, Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge) hires Wallace ‘Dave Boy’ Macdougal (Ryan Fletcher) to kill Frances Gaunt (Anna Chancellor). As this happens, John Ripper (Danny Webb) reconditions Alfred to murder for him.

Ginger

Bet Sykes (Paloma Faith) could have saved Esmé, but she knew that she was too late. Their story ends at Esmé’s funeral. However, someone from her old life returns, giving her back her purpose. Bet and Peggy Sykes (Polly Walker) found Lord Harwood (Jason Flemyng) out o the streets, tied to a chain to be profited from by Jack Wild (Samuel Blenkin). Bet’s loyalty and care for Harwood made her take him home with them.

Once home, however, they saw how damaged Harwood was both physically and mentally. The loss of his nose and his toes were surely something they needed to fix. Also, he refused to be called his real name, thinking that Lord Harwood is a bad man. Torture did break the once proud leader of the Raven Society. Now, there he was, a shell of his former self, going by the name ‘Ginger.’

The Fight Continues

Alfred and Martha Kane’s (Emma Paetz) troubles seemed fruitless as time passed. The No-Name League made poor use of their information, it seemed. Now, the fight between the two opposing groups reached the streets. Also, Martha could not bear the thought of seeing Alfred again, drowning in her sorrow. However, none of these things mattered to the No-Name League. With that, their leaders, Undine and Julian Thwaite (Sara Alexander) (Richard Lintern) decided to arrange a meeting with Raven Society Leader Frances Gaunt.

The meeting was a ploy. The League wanted to assassinate Gaunt. Initially, Thomas wanted to hire Alfred, but he was far from being in condition. Also, Alfred did not seem willing, either, as he refused Martha’s offer, insisting that they never bother him again. Because of this, Thomas decided to hire either Dave Boy or Deon ‘Bazza’ Bashford (Hainsley Lloyd Bennett). Dave Boy accepted the offer, convinced by the sum offered to him. However, Dave Boy did not expect his target to be so feisty as this became his downfall.

A Favor

Alfred wanted to leave the life of violence behind. It cost him the love of his life. Sure, the pay was excellent, and he had both skill and talent, but the risks prove to be too high. In an instant, he lost the Esmé. Everything was going well up until the point of her death. Alfred fell into deep darkness. The poor man started being haunted by his comrade, Spanish (Ben Wiggins). Also, his sadness reached a point where he did not wish to leave the house, let alone take care of himself properly. Mr. Pennyworth (Ian Puleston-Davies) ended up shaving Alfred’s facial hair. All this changed when John Ripper himself decided to visit Alfred.

Mr. Ripper took the liberty of having Alfred run with him every morning for weeks on end. This effort proved to be therapeutic and practical as Alfred returned to having a healthy state of mind. With his spirit revived, Mr. Ripper encouraged Alfred to seek out Esmé’s killer. Also, he goes as far as having Alfred meet people who can help him in his search, but Alfred needed to do something for him first. To everyone’s surprise, Mr. Ripper had Alfred kill the No-Name League’s leader, Julian Thwaite. Alfred blew Julian’s brains up as he carried the wounded Dave Boy along with him.

Mixed Feelings

The government took Julian’s death as good news. Queen Elizabeth II (Jessica Ellerby), the Prime Minister (Richard Clothier), and Detective Inspector Aziz (Ramon Tikaram) discussed how Frances Gaunt did them an excellent service. Mr. Ripper, on the other hand, enjoyed having Undine to himself alone. Alfred, on the other hand, found pleasure in fucking Sandra Onslow (Harriet Slater) while Dave Boy recovered from his wounds at the pub. This odd resolution, by far, is the strangest ending to any of the episodes in Pennyworth. No one has a sense of what is going on; not really. Guns fired, people died, people fucked.

‘Pennyworth’ Season 1, Episode 5 ‘Shirley Bassey’ Final Verdict

This episode of Pennyworth felt like a season finale. It was full of revelations, both trivial and of considerable plot significance. Also, Alfred’s character went through an extensive change. The episode did a great job of having a timelapse sequence of him and Mr. Ripper. Plus the fact that Alfred’s PTSD manifested itself in hallucinations made this episode one of the best. With his character going dark and his purpose unknown, it is hard to tell what path Alfred wishes to take.

Pennyworth continues Sunday, August 25th on with ‘Cilla Black’ on Epix.