On the way home from a day off, Gambi is attacked, run off the road and apparently killed. As the news spread, Jefferson and his entire family are forced to come to terms with the complex relationship they had with the man, and each other.

There’s no body, you need to know that up front. But, if I had to call it, I think Gambi’s dead. The sequence is set up so well, a televisual rope-a-dope that not only keys to ‘Ain’t that a Kick in the Head’ by Dean Martin but cleverly borrows from the assassination attempt on Nick Fury in The Winter Soldier. We get the same countdown of armor integrity, the same pursuit driving. Only this time, the car flips, explodes and we don’t see anyone get out.

The shock waves this sends out resonate through a surprisingly low key and thoughtful episode. Khalil, pretty much small e ‘evil’ at this point rushes to console Jennifer. Jefferson is fine, he’s fine, right up until he beats up an abusive bar patron and collapses in tears in his adoptive father’s tailor’s shop. Even Anissa feels the need to kill the pain, briefly getting back with Grace before, in a standout moment this season, getting kicked out. Grace is no one’s victim but as we see here, she’s also got problems of her own…

The death leads to some surprising reconnections too. Anissa’s new job leads into a major new plotline, Henderson is back on Team Lightning and Jefferson’s compartmentalization of his life is pleasing absolutely nobody. At the end of the last season, the Pierce family stood tall. Now they’re divided inside and out, and have so much on their plates they can’t see Tobias Whale quietly rehabilitating himself and buying even more power…

Verdict: From the opening montage to the closing moments with Jefferson in the tailor’s shop, Lamont Magee’s script hits every emotional beat and Michael Shultz’s direction shoots the whole thing through with dark wit. Gambi may still come sauntering back and if he does, there’s a good chance it will damage this episode retrospectively. But we’ll see when we get there and, for now, this is a season highlight and a worthy sendoff for the world’s most dangerous tailor. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart