Pennyworth “The Rose and Thorn” Review

Season 2 Episode 6 “While Alfred is enlisted to help extract Lucius Fox from Raven headquarters, Prime Minister Aziz sets in motion a plan that pits Aleister Crowley against John Ripper.”

What I Liked?

1. Alfie goes to see Thomas Wayne, he hands him three stacks of money for his plane tickets, Thomas is shocked but still offers him a job to which Alfie politely declines by stating that “he’ll never work for him, or anyone like him”. This is an obvious foreshadow for the future Alfie in who becomes Master Wayne’s Butler.

2. Thomas Wayne goes and meets with Prime Minister Aziz, he asks if he will do this favor of kidnapping Lucius Fox and bringing him to Thomas. Thomas then agrees on a deal with Aziz and recommends Alfie as the best option to do this mission. After the meeting, we see that Martha Kane has been being sick a few times.

3. Alfie is in the club alone, doing his books when the doors get barged open by police in masks followed by Aziz and The Queen. They ask Alfie to do the mission but he declines, saying he will not be paid in their money, Aziz then says we’ll not pay you, we’ll pay you in silence, Aziz somehow knows about Alfie with Gully’s wife.

4. John Ripper picks up Crowley, something happens with Ripper and he passes out, Crowley then stabs his driver in the eye and kidnaps Ripper. Ripper then wakes up in a manic state as he got hit with Scarecrows toxin, or something very similar.

5. Alfie gets punched in the nose by someone in the bar, Alfie sits down and starts wiping the blood, someone sits next to him and it’s no other than his mother, they reconcile. I really liked this scene. It was needed after how things last ended with the two.

6. Martha Kane is indeed pregnant, It’s obviously Thomas’s baby, could it be with Bruce? This is an interesting development, especially this early into the series lifespan, if they decide to do baby Bruce in this series which is focused on Pennyworth, it might take away the interest and suspense of Alfred Pennyworth’s early life, especially if Alfie does make it to America in this season and starts working for Thomas.

7. Lord Harwood has an intense scene this episode (finally), he begins losing his mind towards the end of the episode, it gets that bad to the point where he smashes a soldiers head in with his walking cane. It was a brutal scene which is probably the most he’s done this season.

What I Disliked?

1. I feel like Lord Harwood is a boring character, I get it’s a war and he’s got to be tactful in how he moves and plans attacks, but like, he’s just there, having stuff explained to him throughout each scene we see him in. I feel like he’s going to be killed off at the end of this season.

2. The John Ripper/Crowley story which seemingly came out of nowhere this episode is just not needed and is very uninteresting to me. I don’t think it’s truly needed, especially with everything else going on in the series. It’s one too many stories in my personal opinion.

Favorite Moment

Alfie, Daveboy, and Martha try to take Lucius quietly, but the soldier in charge of protecting him, Walsh isn’t having it, we get a slow-motion gun pulling out scene where everyone starts blasting, Daveboy gets hit in the arm with a bullet while Alfie takes out the rest, Alfie and Daveboy then shoot the guards outside.

Standout Character

Alfie has to take it this week, we see him truly try to stop killing everyone, he didn’t want to kill the soldiers but they gave him no choice.

The Verdict

A slightly decent episode this week. We saw a different side of Alfie this week where he tries not to use his weapon on people. We also got confirmation that Martha Kane is pregnant, assuming it’s with Bruce. Lord Harwood’s story is finally taking off with him losing his mind.

Rating: 8/10

Photo: Pennyworth Season 2 Episode 6