Gangs of London season 1 recap | What you need to know ahead of new series

The first season of Sky Atlantic’s critically-acclaimed drama Gangs of London kicked off with the murder of crime lord Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney). Elliot, a low-ranking member of the Wallace gang, wants to prove himself and be the first to find leads in the case.

He was killed by the Investors, a wealthy, covert group of individuals who funded the Wallace Corporation’s illegal enterprises, because he was planning to steal their money and escape to a tropical island with his mistress Floriana and their new child

The drama then concluded with his son Sean (played by Joe Cole, and a character was deemed a colossal liability) shot point-blank in the face, which was also ordered by the Investors, and which should have sent him shuffling off this mortal coil – but a number of viewers aren’t so sure we’ve seen the last of him (more on that later).

It was the son of Welsh traveller Kinney (Mark Lewis Jones) who killed Finn, while Sean was seemingly assassinated by undercover cop Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu), who we left in an intensely precarious position at the end of season 1.

Gangs of London season 1 recap

What happened to Elliot Finch?

Elliot was arrested and endured a brutal interrogation, but was later released on the grounds that he’s protected under diplomatic immunity by the Republic of Panama, courtesy of the Investors, which means he’s now firmly under their control.

Refuse to do their bidding and he’ll meet a grisly end along with his dad (who he instructed to leave for Jamaica), and Shannon (Pippa Bennett-Warner) and her young son will likely suffer the same fate.

But he does have an ace up his sleeve: the microchip that Sean gave him containing incriminating evidence against the puppet masters.

Use it correctly and he could topple the the regime, but that ‘could’ is doing some intensely heavy lifting.

What happened to the Wallaces and the Dumanis

Another notable moment in the finale was the attempted murder of Finn’s wife Marian (Michelle Fairley) at the hands of his former business partner and long-time friend Ed Dumani (Lucian Msamati).

Ed shot Marian, again on the orders of the Investors, who wanted all of the Wallaces wiped out, with Ed and his whip-smart son Alex (Paapa Essiedu) heading up the business.

But Marian miraculously survived and was saved by none other than Floriana (Arta Dobroshi), who spent most of the first season locked in the basement of Danish assassin Leif (Mads Koudal), who was also working for the Investors. In the season 2 trailer, we learn that she’s now an arms dealer.

As for Marian’s remaining children, Billy (Brian Vernel) and Jacqueline (Valene Kane), they fled to begin their new lives, but the former did threaten to kill Elliot if he failed to protect his brother- and we know that Vernel is returning for season 2, which doesn’t bode well for the ex-cop.

Ed’s other child, Shannon, murdered police detective Vicky Chung (Jing Lusi), who had attempted to bring her onboard as an informant in exchange for protection.

Lale, Asif, Luan and the rest…

Lale (Narges Rashidi) and Asif’s (Asif Raza Mir) brutal feud continued to escalate throughout season 1. They both launched a slew of attacks on one another’s businesses, with Asif’s treachery previously leading to the torture and death of Lale’s husband, and Lale personally killing Asif’s son Nasir (Parth Thakerar).

After Lale and Sean had sex, she informed him that she was returning to Kurdistan to continue fighting for the freedom of her people, but we know that she also features in season 2, which means more blood will be spilled.

As for Luan (Orli Shuka), his big pay day from Finn didn’t arrive after the Wallace patriarch nabbed the money that he was promised. That led to an altercation, to put it mildly, between the Albanian and Mosi (Richard Pepple), a Nigerian crime boss. Luan survived that dog fight, with his wife urging him to get out while he had the chance, leaving his enemies to destroy themselves.

Luan is also back for season 2 but given the numerous threats to his family, how much longer can persevere?

Was Sean Wallace killed in Gangs of London?

The fate of Sean Wallace hangs over the narrative as we head into season 2.

“It was really important, and it was planned out from the start that Sean Wallace would die at the end of episode 9,” director Corin Hardy, who is showrunning the latest instalment, previously told Den of Geek. “He’s shot and he’s killed, and the policeman identifies that.”

But creator and former showrunner Gareth Evans did go on to say that they “kept that pretty open, in terms of where Elliot shot him,” adding: “If it had been dead centre then yeah, absolutely.”

The reality of Sean surviving his injuries feels highly unlikely, but this is Gangs of London and, notably, we didn’t physically see Sean’s lifeless corpse, which means we won’t be too surprised if he does rock up, albeit with half a face.