Pennyworth review, Episode 203: “The Belt and Welt”

Pennyworth serves up an intense, game-changing third episode with “The Belt and Welt.” The stakes have been officially raised.

Things are really starting to heat up on Pennyworth. The third episode of season 2, “The Belt and Welt,” sees several betrayals that will undoubtedly impact things moving forward, plus some unexpected departures that make this a wild ride from start to finish.

The episode kicks off with a bang, literally. Alfie’s mom is walking along when an explosion sends her flying. Shrapnel flies through Alfie’s window and he waking him to see his old man in front of him, mangled. While he works that out, chaos runs rampant on the streets of London as mortars rain down from above complements of the Raven’s Union.

Alfie runs into Martha Wayne, who is very disappointed with his alleged involvement in John Salt’s escape. He tells Martha about Thomas Wayne’s encounter with Crowley from last week, which piques her curiosity.

At the club, Alfie’s boys Dave Boy and Bazza are interrogating people they think might be able to help them figure out who took their money. Pennyworth thinks that the Captain, their SAS brother, was involved. While they don’t believe him, they agree it’s worth checking out to prove him wrong, at least.

Elsewhere, Crowley continues to get close to the prime minister of the English League in an attempt to create a scandal so big it will cause the membership to resign from public office. Crowley convinces the old man to come and talk with some sex addicts, and the next thing the prime minister knows, he’s waking up in a pile of naked men and women. Crowley makes sure that a picture of the incident makes its way into the papers, the prime minister resigns and then hangs himself.

Alfie goes looking for the Captain and ends up meeting his secret wife Melanie instead. She advices him to search at a place called the Garage. When Alfie finds the Captain, he denies any involvement in the theft, but offers Alfie and his mates a job to make up what they lost. Alfie is hesitant to get back into this game after he swore it off.

Meanwhile, Bet Sykes is still on the run with Katie Browning, who takes them to her teacher Dorian’s place to lay low. She gets a hold of Lord Harwood, who tells her he will send help. He sends Salt to gather her. When the men arrive, they fire on the house, killing Dorian. Bet and Katie manage to escape, but now Bet believes that Harwood betrayed her when it was most certainly Salt behind it.

Dave Boy admits to bragging about their money one drunken night but can’t remember to who. Then a pricey ring on Sheri’s finger unveils a possible suspect: her admirer Dobson, seen in the season 2 premiere getting shot in the foot.

After the news of the prime minister’s death, Martha visits Thomas at the US Embassy. She smacks her future husband across the face after he admits to his involvement.

Alfie and the boys confront the men who robbed them, leading a bloody battle. Alfie stabs Dobson in the neck, fatally wounding him. Sheri tries to take the cash and make a run for it, but she crashes the car. It explodes, killing her and destroying the money. Bazza is also badly wounded. He dies after giving a heartfelt goodbye to his mates.

This was a wild, twist-filled ride ending with a heartwrenching ending. Fans have seen what happens when Alfie loses someone he cares about, and I assume things are about to get very rough.

Poor Alfie can’t help but notice that everyone who gets close to him seems to end up dead, which is very much reminiscent of a common problem the Caped Crusader often has to deal with. We can see Alfie preparing for his future life here, although the show isn’t overbearing about it.

Episode Grade: A-

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