Alfred and Dave Boy find themselves forced to do another job with Gully Troy if they’re to have the money to leave for America, but can this be a good idea? Katie learns more about Bet’s past. Mrs Gaunt takes a gamble.

It’s been a while since we last saw Alfie and friends but this episode wastes little time in getting us back up to speed. It also does a fairly good job of making its main character the least likeable one on the screen.

Alfie and Dave Boy still fully intend to make their way to America, and now they’ve got some cash Alfie goes to see an old friend to sort this out. Trouble is, the amount of money they need is double what he’d expected, and wanting to leave in a hurry, he decides to take the easiest option and go see Troy about another job.

That job turns out to be a robbery, predicated on some very precise timing, and it doesn’t take a genius to predict that this will be the potential undoing of everything. Over the course of the events that follow, Troy is established as even more ruthless than we already knew he was, whereas Alfie seems to have somewhat missed a step. It’s bold making your titular character gradually more and more unlikeable, but perhaps that’s just me.

Meanwhile, a face from Bet’s past causes all sorts of issues, not least of which is Katie finding out a lot more about Bet’s past. The Sykes sisters have always had an odd dynamic and here we get a bit more of an insight into some of it. Bet herself has always been one of the most interesting characters of the show – prickly, unpredictable but always with a hint there that she believe she’s doing the right thing, and is clearly capable of objective goodness (as in the way that she rescued Katie). Clearly, Katie sees this too, and it’s really one of the highlights of the series so far to see their relationship develop in fits and starts.

Mrs Gaunt takes Salt’s suggestion of meeting with Prime Minister Aziz to see if she can come to some sort of accord between Her Majesty’s Government and Lord Harwood’s Raven Society. The only issue is, Salt is a devious bastard and Harwood himself, increasingly paranoid and without Bet by his side isn’t likely to take news of his number two meeting with the enemy at all well.

And there’s Thomas and Martha, who continue to be the oddest couple, clearly enjoying the physical side of their relationship even as they annoy one another in almost every other way. It seems clear that they will end up together in the long term, but I don’t think it’ll ever be a quiet relationship.

It’s all very enjoyable, other than the fact that with each passing episode Alfred really does become more and more difficult to like. The man we started out with, who had rules and a code and a sense of honour, seems to be disappearing at a rapid pace and I’m honestly not sure how (or even if) the writers will ever manage to redeem him at this rate.

Verdict: Strong and bold, but the subplots of every other character are better than that of the lead. 8/10

Greg D. Smith