Martha and Thomas go to confront Aleister Crowley over the whereabouts and safety of Thomas’ sister, but find more than they bargained for. Alfred continues his hunt for Esme’s killer. Lord Harwood reveals himself to Doctor Gaunt, as he begins to plot his return to society.

You have to hand it to Pennyworth – the writers certainly aren’t interested in giving us simple characters, though on the other hand I’m often struck by the question of just what must happen to all these people in the intervening years to produce the events we know will come to pass. How does Thomas Wayne, CIA agent and spy allow himself to be gunned down in a banal street robbery? How does the kindly, twinkly old gentleman Alfred the butler arise from this tortured, streetwise professional killer?

At any rate, this week we find that Martha Kane has been absent from the world a lot longer than she realised, and Thomas is understandably concerned about the whereabouts of his sister. Not, it turns out, because of any lingering big-brotherly feelings of protectiveness or affection, but simply because he wants to protect his family name (and stock prices) from further embarrassment. I take it back, perhaps it’s easy to see how Bruce Wayne grows to be such a dysfunctional man if this is his father.

Still, their return to Crowley’s mansion gives us another dose of Jonjo O’Neill’s whimsical take on this dark historical character. O’Neill clearly revels in the role, all measured calm, languid manners and knowing twinkle, and it’s this which makes him all the more disturbing. As Martha screams at him about the violations done to her and the evil he serves, his calm rebuttals, delivered with a gentle chuckle, are calculated to produce a visceral response in the audience, even as his easy charm and charisma threaten to make us like him. When Patricia is produced, things get a little more complicated, this obviously not being the normal sort of trouble in which she tends to have found herself.

Meanwhile, Alfred and friends are trying to track down the officer responsible for Esme’s death. Having absconded already from the place they’d tracked him to last time, he’s in the wind, leaving Alfred to employ a direct, of risky method to try to find him again. More important to the episode is a scene between Alfred and his father, in which the latter shows some uncharacteristic kindness and gentleness as he offers his own expertise. The show, for all its revelling in gore and spectacle, does quiet moments like these incredibly well, and this is no exception.

As to Lord Harwood, he goes off to visit Doctor Gaunt with Peg, leaving a much disgruntled Bet to stew at home. Jason Flemyng is always good value, and here he’s a delight to watch as he straddles the cusp between the subservient man he’d become and the old man of authority he was. It’s clear that his experiences have changed Harwood, though whether for the better or worse is still difficult to say given who he is and the company he keeps. When he and Peg return though, they have somewhat of an olive branch to offer Bet, and one on which she seizes eagerly.

As the episode rounds out, it’s with violence done from an unexpected quarter, depravity being revealed that isn’t perhaps all that necessary, and some surprises – one less for the audience than for the characters but the other a genuinely shaking moment, especially given events earlier in the episode. This is going to get very interesting before the end.

After a couple of weeks that left me a little undecided, this is a solid, well-written and superbly acted instalment. Its trick is to give us not so much good guys vs bad guys as much as various shades of bastards set against one another. Here’s hoping it continues that momentum going forward.

Verdict: About as far from Gotham and Wayne Manor as it could get, but compelling viewing nonetheless. 8/10

Greg D. Smith