“the original agreement was between my father and your father.” 🤝🏼
You read/watch enough historical(ly inspired) fiction and, out of context, that sounds an awful lot like two fathers agreed to betroth their children. In context, that's not what the agreement was, but it did lead the respective children--Edward Horniman and Susan Glass--into a relationship development arc in season one of The Gentlemen that's courtship/wedding-coded. Subtextually, the whole storyline plays out with the basic narrative structure of a romance arc and marriage plot.
Which makes sense because The Gentlemen (2024) is ultimately "a tale of two families", and how those families are united by season's end. Historically, what's the go-to way that families, especially prominent and powerful families, have joined in order to become stronger and more powerful and/or to share and combine assets and resources? Bobby Glass even tells Susie and Eddie in the season finale, "together, we can expand our interests. […] Shared responsibilities have their merits." This was often done via marital union between a member of each family--typically between the young adult children/the youngest generation. Since The Gentlemen isn't Historical, or A Romance, and Eddie and Susie in s1 are in the beginning and early stages of their relationship--much less it becoming (very) explicitly romantic--their arc moves them towards a professional "marriage".
"It was fun to play with the idea of 'Is there anything there romantically?' and put it into their working relationship." (Kaya Scodelario, L.A. Times)
MEET CUTE - “your father never concerned himself with the workings of the wider operation.”
Or in Eddie and Susie's case, "meet portentous". Neither their pre-meeting nor their actual first meeting are cute or quirky or funny. But their pre-meeting, that intense held gaze at the funeral, laying eyes on each other for the very first time ever, is full of meaning and loudly foreshadows that these characters and the relationship they're about to forge are the fulcrum of the show. Between that and the visuals, it's a highly Romantic moment.
FIRST DATE - “His Grace, the Duke of Halstead, accompanied by his friend, Ms. Susie Glass.”
In 1x02, Eddie receives an invitation to Stanley Johnston's (with a T) party, and Susie pretty much invites herself as his plus-one. Because "We wanna know why Uncle Stan’s willing to pay twice what your country pile’s worth." Eddie takes exception to the "we", as he's still trying to extricate his family and their estate from the Glasses' operation. Susie responds by doubling down and calling it "our business" that Stanley's interested in. Later, Stan lets Susie know he wants in on the Glasses' business and tells her "You're going to need a partner." She turns him down, but it'll become clear later that it's not the idea of a partnership she's against--it depends who the partner is. Also at the party, Susie meets Princess Roseanne, aka Rosie, Eddie's lifelong family friend, fellow young aristocrat, and pseudo potential rival love interest. Later that night, the end of the "date", Susie even (kind of randomly) mentions the idea of them sleeping together--to shut it down, but why bring it up at all?
MEET THE PARENTS - “A little bit eccentric, but who isn't?”
Almost right off the bat in 1x01, the narrative establishes that Susie dealt with, knew, and liked the previous Duke of Halstead--"I liked your father. He was a proper gentleman. A tad eccentric, but your lot are." So, in 1x02, she meets Eddie's mother, Lady Sabrina, for the first time, within Halstead Manor. And it's not the best first impression. Upon inquiring about the aforementioned invitation, Sabrina mildly snaps at her that "Then that's unfortunate that this invite isn't addressed to you." She then proceeds to lightly interrogate Susie over family tea. Which, valid, considering some sketchy stuff had pretty obviously just gone down, and her sons and Susie were pretty obviously obfuscating what that stuff was.
Later in the same episode, Eddie meets Susie's father, Bobby, for the first time, over dinner at the prison. And it goes pretty well. Because Bobby didn't have to be convinced of Eddie. Apparently, he always intended to fully bring him into the operation ("I think…they're grooming you" being one of the most astute things Freddy Horniman says all season), even before he told Susie (she was unsure what exactly his end goal was, besides remaining on the Halstead property; in the next episode she tells Eddie that "The request [to steal the Lamborghini] comes from my father. His motivation remains…enigmatic"). If any character can be seen as the matchmaker here, it's Bobby. Anyway, Susie leaves this meeting upset, after Eddie brought up his extrication plan without running it by her first--establishing that Eddie doing or planning things regarding the business without her or her knowledge is a serious point of contention for her.
SIBLING APPROVAL - “Speaking metaphorically, Jack.”
Early on, Susie helped Eddie get Freddy out of his mess, twice, so he--and by extension, Eddie's sister-in-law--was sold. Jack Glass, on the other hand, had a short arc of accepting Eddie into the fold. He didn't have much of a reaction when they first met, but the second time he turns protective little brother--
E: "I’m looking for your sister." J: "Business or pleasure?" E: "Strictly business." J: "Better be."
Jack played this off like he was just fucking with him--helped by the fact he already knew Eddie was involved with Susie through business--but in the later scene when he's wondering to Susie what their father sees in Eddie and she tells him about his reaction to killing someone--"The duke slept like a baby"--he responds, "And how do you know that?" Which sounds genuinely (and amusingly) a little bothered. But by the end of the next episode--after Eddie scored the Glasses another estate--he's casually calling them "lovebirds" and telling his sister "I take it all back. Suze, he's a proper G."
PINNACLE - “What's the story between you two?”
That same episode is also when Susie fully comes around to Eddie being part of the operation (and, apparently, Eddie in general). As she tells her dad in the next episode, "as reluctant as I was to indulge in your whimsical adventure with the duke, I must admit he has turned out to be something of an asset." So 1x05 is peak for their relationship, both professionally and personally. Their dealings with the Travelers are successful, even navigating the trip-up. Sabrina and Susie had been coming around on each other--"Would you like me to have a word with Susie Glass?" / "I’ve got a lot of time for your mum. Takes good care of herself. Good sense of humor" (1x04). And, in contrast to how she ended their "first date", Susie spends the night at Halstead Manor, after the Traveler party, and whatever the heck they wanna call this--
THIRD ACT COMPLICATION - “I thought you two were getting along okay.”
You know how it goes--just when things are going really well for the (potential) couple, that's when something goes really bad. At the end of 1x05, after the reveal that Keith was the spanner in the works helping to undermine the Glasses, he lashes out at Eddie by telling him about Susie having Jethro killed back in 1x02, and that "You can't trust her. You can't trust any of 'em." Causing Eddie to feel betrayed, under threat (he now realizes the Glasses never had any intention of letting him buy out), to double down on trying to extricate himself and his family, and triggering his and Susie's falling out that will continue into the season finale--with dire and nearly fatal consequences (ya know, since this is a crime dramedy and not a romcom).
Eddie, behind Susie's back, hires Henry Collins to launder the money quicker than Susie and Bobby are willing to, and turns to Stanley Johnston (with a T) "for assistance in order to rectify the situation." But with one caveat: "If the transition could be achieved with as little friction as possible, that would be greatly appreciated. As much as I've become frustrated with the Glass family, I’d like them to come out of this unscathed." Not only is he not vindictive towards them, he cares about them. He just wants out. Unfortunately, his condition is somewhat in vain, as he's unaware of both Stanley's involvement with Henry, and Henry's lack of care for the Glasses or Jack or anyone. So now it's Susie's turn to feel betrayed. Exacerbated into anger due to Jack being hurt.
Emotionally, this is as far apart as Eddie and Susie will be during the season. And while they're physically in different locations, the sequence makes a point of connecting them visually. Another friendly reminder that this story revolves around their relationship.
TENTATIVE REUNION - “You're with me, right?”
At the top of the next episode, Eddie really wants to make up for what happened--even though he was only tangentially involved. He tries to call Susie and gets no answer, then goes to her place and offers to help with the Henry situation but, of course, she's not having it. He's firmly in the doghouse. But then circumstances conspire for her to go to him, when she wants to know how Henry got her address. Which leads them both to learn the whole shebang about what Stanley's been doing. Susie tells Eddie she needs to get to Collins before he gets to her, and he basically promises he's with her on this. He's genuine, but there's also the dramatically ironic subtext of his recent dealings with Stanley, still unbeknownst to Susie.
TWO STEPS BACK - “It's a free swing, John.”
Which comes to bite him by the end of the episode, after Susie confronts Henry (in a parallel to the 1x05 scene between Eddie and Keith), and his outdated information.
During which, between "You’ve been fucking played, Susie," and her closing her eyes and taking that deep breath, this is what she/the editing flashes back to--
… Anywho, as far as Susie is aware, this is now the second time Eddie's betrayed her. Tricked her, even. And her response is swift, and severe (the show had already established that she can be impulsive and ruthless when she's angry, especially if she feels betrayed or directly wronged). Then Eddie is pissed that she used Gospel John's insane ass to basically put a hit on him and his brother, endangering their entire household. Even their pregnant little sister was in there, and the staff, who have nothing to do with any of this. Crazy business, Susan.
RECONCILIATION - “a right double act”
Yet, this doesn't last long. Papa Glass quickly plays mediator and tells the kids what's what, because he needs his "Cher Amis". And only Edward Horniman will do for his little girl, apparently. Eddie even asks, "Why me, exactly?," and Bobby's basically like, Because you're perfect together, duh.
Upon leaving their meeting, Susie lets Eddie know she's still upset with him--"You went behind my back, Eddie. Not once, but twice"--and he reminds her that "we both made some miscalculations, to put it mildly". There's no more attempted killing or deceitful undermining. They cordially carry out her father's task together. But this is merely a reconciliation of circumstance. A truce. As Eddie tells his mother, "It's rather complicated" with them. But he also tells his mother--who believes that "Obviously, [he] can’t run the business without" Susie--that the still complicated status of their relationship means he has "to consider a much more unsavory option"--Henry Collins. However, the unsavoriness he's referring to isn't making Henry an investment partner, he was never going to do that.
For Sabrina's part, she takes it upon herself to convince Susie to see Eddie about the bids. Somewhat paralleling Bobby's encouragement of their relationship and, for all intents and purposes, giving Susie her blessing to officially join with her son. So Susie goes to the Manor to see Eddie, even pouring drinks for him and herself. It's like "old" times. They're reconciling for real.
PROPOSAL - “we’ll be equal partners.”
For one thing, there's a ring involved. A family ring. Eddie takes off his ring to offer to Susie, showing her the engraving of the Horniman motto. And tells her it reminded him that "Nothing in life worth having comes without a little…danger" (double meaning, much?). He emphasizes all they've "achieved in a matter of months, together." Susie's "You wanna be partners?", implicitly accepting his offer, is the culmination of a pattern concerning her and potential business partnerships (coincidentally, with three other men)--She replied to Tommy Dixon's suggestion they "treat [satisfying Freddy's debt] as an investment into your operation" with "that's not gonna work. I’m not looking for investors"; Stanley told her she needed a partner and was soundly rejected; she told Henry "We're not looking for investors, or partners" when she assumed that's what he was indicating. And speaking of Henry, Eddie brings up that there's still the matter of him to deal with. "You must be pretty fucking confident if you plan to rattle that cage." / "Supremely." The implication being that he's (finally) telling her his plan this time.
WEDDING - “Aaw. You shouldn't have.”
A private ceremony in the woods. How rustic and quaint. 😌 At the altar of Henry Collins' execution. They're even standing in the traditional bride and groom positions. "Traditionally, in ceremonies that have a bride and groom, the bride stands on the left side [of the groom] and the groom on the right [of the bride]" (x). The scene practically frames Henry's demise as a (wedding) gift Eddie's offering to Susie, even handing her the gun, because it's her vengeance (for Jack) Henry's here for. Also, it's Eddie's apology for the part he played in the situation, as well as him fully delivering on his earlier promise that "Of course" he's with her on getting to Henry before he gets to her. Finally, it's to seal the covenant of their (professional) union. Especially considering that it's Eddie who shoots him. While making deep eye contact with Susie. As if symbolically vowing to never betray her again (I'm not at all kidding when I say this was probably the most romantic scene I saw in 2024).
On top of this, Eddie agreeing to shoot Henry is a marked development from how he handled the Keith situation. Back then, when he asked Susie if she had "preferences on how you want to get it done" and she skeptically asked if he was "offering [his] services," he told her "Not directly. It's not my world". This time, she seriously asks if he wants to do it, because "I just thought you might want to. [A]s part of your…journey," and he readily does. It's his world now, too. ~
[ps: now that they're "equal partners", he's no longer "the help" 😉]
