Alfred may be starting to have doubts about his plans for a new life in America, and then events occur to make his life even more complicated. Thomas Wayne is set on mission for the CIA which involves reconnecting with an unwelcome face from the past.

It seems that maybe the hard-faced, double-dealing Alfie that we saw in the opening episode of this second season may have been more front than was necessarily apparent. This time out, despite the fact he keeps insisting to everyone, his dear mum included, that he’s definitely out of the UK and on his way to the USA the first chance he gets, he is undoubtedly feeling a little conflicted about things now that the idea is becoming more real. Can he bring himself to say goodbye to Sandra? Does he even really want to go?

Of course, the flip side to the sort of life that Alfie leads is that people will find ways to get back at you, and in this episode one of the oldest is rolled out, and really gets his attention. Though the idea itself is a little bit obvious, the execution is pure Pennyworth, as the people who have chosen to set themselves against him are forcibly reminded that Alfred Pennyworth is not a man with whom to tangle lightly. But ultimate, things work out less than ideally and leaving his life a whole lot more complicated.

Elsewhere, Thomas gets a visit from one of his CIA bosses en route elsewhere, who tells him that he needs to undertake a mission that will further their interests involving someone he really doesn’t want to have to see again. It’s a delight to see this particular character again – for the audience if not Thomas himself – and it promises an interesting thread that will run through the season.

And of course there’s Bet, dragging her unwilling companion along with her and continuing to be as wildly random as ever. Paloma Faith clearly has an enormous amount of fun with this character, careening from serene calm and kindness to vicious, unprovoked malice the next. The bursts of violence are still there too, punctuated by a dry understatedness that jars horribly with what she’s doing. I don’t really know where the writers are planning on taking this one, but I look forward to finding out.

Verdict: Seeding an awful lot of possible plotlines to be going on with, and every one of them seems interesting. 8/10

Greg D. Smith