Guy Ritchie's 16-Part Netflix Crime Drama Is So Good, It's Already Renewed For Another Season
El is a Junior TV Features Editor for ScreenRant, with previous experience as The Mary Sue's UK and Weekend Editor. She holds a Bachelor's in International Media and Entertainment Management, as well as an MA and Ph.D. in Creative Writing. There is little she loves more than discussing her favorite TV shows with fellow fans. One day, she hopes to publish an original fantasy novel.
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Guy Ritchie's 16-part Netflix crime epic is so good that it was renewed for season 3 before the second season's premiere. Ritchie is best known as a film director, creating crime and action classics like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, as well as more recent hits like The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock Holmes movies, and The Covenant. And yet, in recent years, the filmmaker has turned his attention to the streaming TV landscape, partnering with platforms like Netflix, Paramount, and Prime Video.
This change in medium has been an immense success for Ritchie, whether he's in the director's chair or working as a producer. Prime Video's Young Sherlock and Paramount's MobLand have become massively popular, though neither has quite reached the same heights as Netflix's recently returned crime caper. The Gentlemen is the best of both worlds for Ritchie; despite its eight-episode format, it has its roots in Ritchie's movie catalog as a pseudo-spinoff and reimagining of 2019's The Gentlemen, starring Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant, and Michelle Dockery.
After a roughly two-and-a-half-year wait, The Gentlemen season 2 is now finally available to stream on Netflix, with Theo James and Kaya Scodelario returning as the unlikely dynamic duo of aristocrat Eddie Horniman and crime heiress Susie Glass. After getting his first taste of criminality, power, and wealth in The Gentlemen season 1, the second season sees Eddie's ambition for more threaten to tear his whole world apart. The series was renewed for season 3 well over a week before season 2's premiere, and Netflix's faith in the show is understandable. The Gentlemen is a gruesomely fun, violent, and wild Ritchie-style ride.
The Gentlemen's Season 3 Renewal Isn't Surprising
The Gentlemen's season 3 renewal isn't all that surprising considering the success of the first season and Ritchie's track record on streaming. Season 1, which premiered on March 7, 2024, amassed 12.2 million views worldwide during its first three days on the platform — increased to an additional 20.1 million views in its second week — claiming the No. 1 spot on Netflix's Global Top 10 TV Shows list for nearly three weeks until it was knocked down to third place by 3 Body Problem and Testament: The Story of Moses.
Though Netflix didn't officially confirm The Gentlemen's season 2 renewal until August 2024, season 3's early pickup suggests Netflix expects the new season to surpass season 1's viewership. Few shows on Netflix are ever lucky enough to score a renewal for a third season, let alone an early one. It's in good company with the likes of Netflix's live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus, One Piece; Wednesday, one of Netflix's most-watched shows of all time; Ginny & Georgia, which was renewed for seasons 3 and 4 simultaneously; and Bridgerton, which scored a dual-season renewal before season 4 premiered earlier this year.
British Underworld · Aristocracy · Cannabis How Well Do You Know The Gentlemen? “If you wish to be the king of the jungle, it’s not enough to act like a king. You must be the king.”
🏰The
EstateOld money, new crimes
💰UnderworldThe jungle has rules
🌿CannabisThe green gold
🎬Guy
RitchieStyle and swagger
♕AristocracyStiff upper lip
01
In the Netflix series, a young aristocrat inherits his family’s country estate — only to discover it sits atop a massive underground cannabis operation. Which actor plays Eddie Halstead, the reluctant new lord of the manor?
✓ Correct! Theo James plays Eddie Halstead, a former army officer who inherits his father’s title and estate. His posh exterior hides a tactical mind that proves surprisingly useful when dealing with the criminal underworld operating beneath his property.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Theo James. Known for the Divergent series and The White Lotus Season 2, James brings effortless charm and dry wit to the role of a blue-blooded aristocrat dragged into the drug trade against his will.
02
The Gentlemen series is created, written, and directed by the filmmaker who also made the 2019 film of the same name. Who is this British filmmaker famous for his signature blend of crime, comedy, and style?
✓ Correct! Guy Ritchie created the series as an expansion of his 2019 film The Gentlemen. While the show features entirely new characters and a different story, it shares the film’s DNA — the same irreverent tone, British crime world setting, and Ritchie’s trademark kinetic style.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Guy Ritchie. The Lock, Stock and Snatch director has been defining British crime comedy for decades. Matthew Vaughn is his former producing partner (Kingsman), Edgar Wright directed Baby Driver, and Martin McDonagh made In Bruges. But The Gentlemen is pure Ritchie.
03
Eddie discovers that the criminal operation hidden on his estate involves the large-scale cultivation of what, which is being grown in vast underground facilities beneath the English countryside?
✓ Correct! The estate sits atop a massive cannabis cultivation operation, with sophisticated underground growing facilities hidden beneath the property. The juxtaposition of genteel English aristocracy above ground and a drug empire below is central to the show’s comedy and its exploration of British class hypocrisy.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is cannabis. The show’s central conceit is that the English landed gentry have been unwittingly (or sometimes knowingly) hosting cannabis farms beneath their sprawling estates. It’s a distinctly Ritchie twist on the clash between old-money respectability and new-money criminality.
04
Kaya Scodelario plays Susie Glass, the sharp and fearless daughter of a notorious crime lord who runs the cannabis operation. What is her father’s name — the unseen but ever-present kingpin known as “The Dragon”?
✓ Correct! Bobby Glass — known as “The Dragon” — is the feared crime boss and Susie’s father. Though largely operating from prison, his shadow looms over every deal and power play. Susie serves as his proxy, proving to be just as formidable and cunning as her old man.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Bobby Glass. The feared crime lord known as “The Dragon” is Susie’s father, and his influence permeates every corner of the criminal underworld in the series even though he’s largely off-screen. Susie runs his empire with an iron fist in his absence.
05
The 2019 film The Gentlemen starred Matthew McConaughey as an American expat marijuana kingpin in London. Which actor played his loyal right-hand man, Raymond Smith?
✓ Correct! Charlie Hunnam played Raymond Smith, the methodical and impeccably dressed fixer who keeps McConaughey’s Mickey Pearson’s empire running smoothly. The film’s star-studded cast also included Hugh Grant, Colin Farrell, and Henry Golding.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Charlie Hunnam. The Sons of Anarchy star brought quiet menace to the role of Raymond Smith. The film’s ensemble was stacked — Hugh Grant played a sleazy private investigator, Colin Farrell was a hilariously unhinged boxing coach, and Henry Golding was a rival gangster.
06
Much of Eddie’s trouble in the series stems from his reckless younger brother, whose gambling debts and bad decisions constantly threaten to expose and destroy everything. What is the brother’s name?
✓ Correct! Freddy Halstead is Eddie’s chaotic younger brother, whose reckless lifestyle and mounting debts create a chain reaction of problems that pull Eddie deeper into the criminal world. Their sibling dynamic — the responsible soldier and the dissolute wastrel — is one of the show’s most compelling relationships.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Freddy Halstead. Eddie’s wayward younger brother is the catalyst for much of the series’ chaos. His gambling debts, poor judgment, and inability to stay out of trouble force Eddie to get his hands dirty in ways he never intended.
07
The Gentlemen series premiered in March 2024 and quickly became one of the most-watched shows on its platform. Which streaming service is the exclusive home of the series?
✓ Correct! The Gentlemen is a Netflix original series. It debuted in March 2024 and immediately shot to the top of the platform’s most-watched charts worldwide. Its success led to a quick Season 2 renewal, confirming that Ritchie’s brand of British crime comedy translates perfectly to the streaming era.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Netflix. The Gentlemen became a massive global hit on the platform, reaching the top 10 in dozens of countries within its first week. Guy Ritchie’s kinetic style and the show’s binge-worthy eight-episode format proved to be a perfect match for Netflix’s audience.
08
Guy Ritchie launched his career with two iconic British crime comedies in the late 1990s and early 2000s that defined the genre. “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” was the first. What was the second?
✓ Correct! Snatch (2000) cemented Ritchie’s signature style — fast-paced editing, overlapping storylines, colourful criminal characters, and razor-sharp dialogue. Starring Brad Pitt as an incomprehensible bare-knuckle boxing traveller, it became a cult classic and the blueprint for everything Ritchie has done since, including The Gentlemen.
✗ Wrong manor! The answer is Snatch. While Layer Cake (2004) is a great British crime film, it was directed by Matthew Vaughn, not Ritchie. RocknRolla came in 2008 and Revolver in 2005. Snatch (2000) — with Brad Pitt, Jason Statham, and Benicio del Toro — was Ritchie’s definitive follow-up to Lock, Stock.
The Deal Is Done · Ledger Closed Your Estate Report
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Lord of the manor — or just the hired help?
Given The Gentlemen's decidedly adults-only storytelling, the show's success is even more impressive. The second season is bloodier than ever, as the Duke of Halstead all too easily leans into his new gentlemanly, kingpin persona, his cannabis operation with the Glass family reaching the mountain lakes and, more importantly, the expensive palazzos of Italy. Of the third season, Guy Ritchie told Netflix's Tudum that "the ambition of The Gentlemen has accelerated, the world has expanded, and the consequences carry weight. A third season felt inevitable, and I’m looking forward to pushing the boundaries of it further."
Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen Could Last Forever On Netflix
After The Gentlemen season 2, it's clear the show could last forever on Netflix, either as a continuing series or an expanded anthology franchise. While The Gentlemen season 1 was very much about the partnership between Eddie and Susie, season 2 is more focused on Eddie's ruthless ambition and greed, as his past choices come back to haunt him again and again. As long as Eddie survives, The Gentlemen can continue developing the Duke's empire. Since season 2 moves the operation into Italy, there's no reason future seasons can't venture further into continental Europe and beyond. What about the châteaus in France?
Since Netflix's The Gentlemen is a newly imagined story based on the same concept as Ritchie's feature film, it also has the perfect basis to become an anthology. As The Gentlemen season 1 explained (and this is true in real life, too; there's a reality show called Country House Rescue which chronicles the struggles of historic estate owners in the UK to stay afloat in the 21st century), there are dozens of manor houses and land-owning estates failing to make ends meet. A new series could easily focus on a different English Lord (or Lady) and their involvement in an unrefined criminal enterprise.
If The Gentlemen season 2 does as well as Netflix clearly believes it will, the possibilities are genuinely endless.
All episodes of The Gentlemen season 2 are streaming now, only on Netflix.
- Release Date
- 2024 - 2026-00-00
- Network
- Netflix
- Directors
- David Caffrey, Guy Ritchie, Eran Creevy, Nima Nourizadeh
-
Kaya Scodelario
Susie Glass
-
Theo James
Eddie Horniman
- Writers
- Stuart Carolan, Guy Ritchie, Matthew Read, Billy Mason Wood, Haleema Mirza
- Creator(s)
- Guy Ritchie, Matthew Read
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.