The successful British historical drama series on Hulu, and globally on Disney+, A Thousand Blows, has returned to screens with its 2nd season, where we are taken back to London of the 1880s, particularly the neighborhood of Wapping in East End London. The plot is centered around Marie Carr, an intelligent and charismatic leader of the all-women criminal gang, Forty Elephants, and also Hezekiah Moscow, a Jamaican immigrant trying to be a professional boxer. A Thousand Blows Season 2 continues to be as entertaining and convincing as the first iteration, and is recommendable to any fan of period dramas and also of Stephen Graham’s work.
Spoiler Alert
What is Season 2 About?
A Thousand Blows Season 2 begins with Hezekiah Moscow in the middle of an intense bare-knuckle fight in a small ring, with an action-hungry crowd gathered around the place. It is soon revealed to be an illegal fighting racket being run on a boat, where Hezekiah now regularly earns his bread. He continues to be threatened by the white folks who always bet against him and then shower him with racist insults and threats after he easily defeats his opponent every time. Therefore, he regularly has to exit the boat through a secret hatch on the roof in order to get home safely to the neighborhood of Wapping, where he still lives in the motel once owned by Lao Lam. Almost an entire year has passed since the incidents of season 1, but Hezekiah is still aggrieved and traumatized by the death of his best friend, Alec Munroe.
On his way home on this particular night, Hezekiah runs into a drunkard on the streets who is inebriated out of his senses, and after ignoring the man at first, he goes back to help him back to his feet. It is now that Hezekiah realizes that the man is actually Sugar Goodson, the once-popular boxer who had lost all control over his life after falling out with his family and seeking comfort in alcohol. Concerned about his safety, Hezekiah takes Sugar to the Goodson family bar, which is now run by the man’s younger brother, Treacle. The brother is not in the best situation in life either, as his wife has indefinitely left him to care for her mother in Ireland, and Treacle fears that his family is falling apart as well.
It is clearly only Mary Carr, the leader of the Forty Elephants gang, who is still her confident and charming self, as before, as she walks into a bank to withdraw her funds from the locker. But Mary obviously uses a different identity to introduce herself, and she has one of her young women already inside the locker room, who had recently taken up a job at the bank only in preparation for this very moment. Thus, Mary and her accomplice, Alice Diamond, quickly hold the bank employee at gunpoint and make him open up the lockers that they want, and they manage to escape the scene with a bagful of riches. As they regroup, the Forty Elephants prepare for the arrival of a new accomplice from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and for a daring plan to heist an invaluable Caravaggio painting that has apparently not been spotted in 300 years.
Why does Hezekiah spare the life of Edward Eyre?
At the beginning of this season, Hezekiah Moscow sets out on a personal journey to avenge the murder of Alec and also the treacherous attack on his village in Morant Bay carried out by the imperialist British Empire. The first attack comes in a rather unexpected and surprising manner, as Indigo Jeremy, the man responsible for the murder of Alec, is still the most notorious and protected criminal in this part of London. On the night of Halloween, Hezekiah disguises himself as a mummer, wearing colorful clothes and a mask to hide his face, and visits the Elephant and Castle, the neighborhood that is home to the legendary Elephants gang. In Celtic custom, a mummer’s visit on Halloween night is considered to be a lucky occurrence, as they usually bless the people at the party, and so one of Indigo’s men calls out to him.
Luckily for Mary, this actually interrupts Indigo’s vile attempt to sexually assault her, as the man is almost forced to get out of his office by his mates to see the mummer and get their blessings. Just as Indigo steps out into the open, Hezekiah, disguised as the mummer, raises his gun and shoots him in the head after mentioning that this is in revenge for Alec’s death. Indigo Jeremy dies instantly, and as his followers are stunned and clueless about what just happened, Hezekiah manages to escape the place unscathed. It is Mary who benefits most from this development, as she quickly removes the key to the safe from Indigo’s body and takes the money that she and her gang had stolen from the bank, which had been cruelly taken by the corrupt criminal.
The likes of Mary obviously know who is responsible for the murder of Indigo, and so do the man’s loyal followers, who later launch an attack at the Goodsons’ bar in retaliation. But shortly after taking his first revenge, Hezekiah learns that the British Empire is awarding one of its generals, Edward Eyre, for his outstanding service to the nation and the government in colonies all over the world. This piece of news immediately reminds Hezekiah how it was this very Edward Eyre who had led the attack on the innocent villagers in his home at Morant Bay. Thus, he now sets out to kill the man and exact revenge on all the people killed in the attack, including both his parents.
Once Hezekiah finds Eyre and confronts him, though, he is not very prepared for the man’s meek nature, having expected him to be more villainous. Eyre does not fiercely defend his actions and make racist remarks against the protagonist, which would perhaps have been more expected of him, and instead nervously states how he had only done things to help his country and that he had been ordered to carry out the executions and raids by higher officials. This interaction makes Hezekiah realize that leaving Eyre alive with the guilt and trauma of his actions, and also the fear of a more divine retribution, would be much more effective, since the old man is now extremely religious as well. Besides, Hezekiah also realizes that he cannot just go around killing people in the name of revenge, as that would only make him grow remorseful and guilty, turning his life into an extremely bitter one. Thus, he ultimately spares the life of Edward Eyre and throws away the bullet he had brought to kill the man, symbolizing how he had forced himself to get over the anger and resentment caused by the attacks he had witnessed as a young boy.
Why does Hezekiah agree to train Prince Albert?
Once he moves on from his past losses and grievances, Hezekiah Moscow is approached by Victoria Davies, the socialite who had earlier helped him escape the angry mob at the boxing ring in the first season. Victoria eventually reveals that she wants to recruit Hezekiah for a very special mission, in which he is to train Prince Albert, the young man second-in-line to the throne, in boxing. As the protagonist reluctantly meets Prince Albert, he learns that the aristocrat is interested in becoming a boxer and defeating the strongest of opponents, having been inspired by various boxers, including Hezekiah himself. Training the prince is a challenging task, since he initially has no form or skill in boxing, and Hezekiah is required to visit the Davies estate daily for the work.
Hezekiah is initially not at all interested in the job, for he feels absolutely done with the boxing ring, and does not want to be associated with the sport anymore in any capacity. But then Prince Albert brings in a significant wager, which is enough to turn the deal around. Through family inheritance, Prince Albert is the owner of a humongous coffee plantation consisting of some 2960 acres of land on the Jamaican island of Morant Bay, meaning that the entire colonial establishment on Hezekiah’s home island is actually owned by the prince. Now, he agrees to transfer this entire property to Hezekiah’s name if the latter successfully trains him to become a boxer and helps him start his professional career with a win.
Understandably, Hezekiah is infuriated by this proposal at first, for he sternly believes that the land being offered back to him should have never belonged to the British in the first place. Although he is right in thinking so, Victoria calms him down and teaches him the important lesson of accepting the situation he finds himself in and trying to make the most of any favorable opportunity. While there is no point in questioning the British Empire’s colonial tendencies at this time, Hezekiah can still manage to get the land back by aiding the prince. Therefore, he ultimately accepts and trains Prince Albert, guiding him to his first victory in the boxing ring. As a result, he gets back ownership of the estate at Morant Bay, which he soon gives to the family of Alec, who still live on the island.
Who is Sophie Lyons?
Sophie Lyons is one of the new characters introduced in A Thousand Blows Season 2, based on a very real figure from history by the same name. In reality, Sophie Lyons was a notorious scamster, pickpocket, and shoplifter in the United States of America, even becoming one of the best known female criminals in the country at one time. Between the 1860s and early 1900s, she was wanted for several major crimes in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, and even Montreal, in Canada. Having initially worked for the female criminal Marm Mandelbaum in her early years, Sophie later made a name for herself for various crimes mostly committed with her husbands, Ned Lyons, Jim Brady, and Billy Burke. Interestingly, Sophie Lyons had a significant change of heart in her later years, as she worked in the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents and also provided financial assistance and housing for reformed criminals.
In the Hulu series, Sophie Lyons comes to London in the 1880s on a special mission that she is assigned by one of her clients in New York City, a wealthy art collector named Mr. Ellis. Sophie is given the task of getting hold of an invaluable painting by Caravaggio that has apparently not been seen by anyone in 300 years, but is now believed to be in the possession of an art collector in London. Even before her arrival, Sophie gets in touch with Mary Carr, a notorious criminal from London she has heard of, and forms an alliance with her and, by extension, the Forty Elephants. The women get together and manage to execute the heist at the estate of Lord Graften, the collector who owns the painting at present, stealing the invaluable piece of art. However, Sophie ultimately turns out to be an antagonist, for she attempts to dupe Mary and her gang by refusing to give them any money for their contribution in the heist.
Do the Forty Elephants continue to exist in the end?
The existence of the Forty Elephants was already slightly under threat at the end of the previous season, when the bigger male gang that they were a part of, the Elephants, had been irked by the decision of Mary Carr to act directly against the Empire. However, they do not only continue to exist at the beginning of this season but also have a change in fortune when Hezekiah kills Indigo Jeremy and the male Elephants are significantly weakened. It is now time for the Forty Elephants to shine, or at least so Mary believes, as she wants the gang to take over London. But she is stopped by her mother, Jane, who believes that they must take things slower and not make any sudden changes in the criminal hierarchy, as that will only attract unnecessary attention.
Thus, the Forty Elephants continue with their plan of working with Sophie Lyons for the time being, and the gang, especially Mary, suffers a significant setback when Jane suddenly falls ill and then passes away just a few days later. Although Mary never had the most perfect relationship with her mother, and there were many matters over which the two had strong disagreements, she is now genuinely saddened by Jane’s death. What shocks her the most is the realization that despite her best attempts to build a criminal empire for herself and be one of the richest and most notorious criminals in the city, Jane could never really enjoy any of her exploits, and she could not even understand that she was dying until it was too late.
It is seemingly all the more because of Jane’s death that Mary feels there is not much reason left for her to live in London anymore. Thus, she takes up Hezekiah’s offer to accompany him to New York City, where he is moving to be a part of a new boxing competition being organized by sportsmen from the Black community. But Mary makes it seem like only a temporary farewell from her beloved Forty Elephants, as she mentions that she will continue to work with the gang from the US, essentially taking the gang overseas and hiring more women to work for them. The very adept and deserving Alice Diamond is left in charge of the Forty Elephants in London, and the gang continues to operate at the end of the series.
Who gets the real Caravaggio painting?
While we are shown how Alice tricks Sophie into taking the wrong painting back to the United States with her, what exactly happens to the real Caravaggio painting is not revealed. However, based on earlier conversations and dialogues, it seems most likely that Mary had won the confidence of Sir Frederic Leighton, the artist for whom she had recently been modelling. Mary’s introduction to Sir Leighton had been through the mission appointed to her by Sophie, as she had faked an identity and presented herself as a model to the painter just so she could get information about and later get acquainted with Lord Graften himself. But through her experiences, she developed an earnest bond of friendship with the man, because of which it seems she told him exactly what was going to happen at Lord Graften’s estate.
Because of Lord Graften’s boastful nature, even Sir Leighton seems to agree that the Caravaggio deserves to be in a more respectable and appreciative house. In the end, we see Alice return to the safehouse with a huge amount of cash, earned from the sale of the painting. It is likely that the painting has been handed over to Sir Frederic Leighton, who now hangs it in his personal collection and is a far better owner, considering his true appreciation for art. It is to be noted here that Sir Frederic Leighton is also a real historical figure that the series has incorporated into its fictional plot. The other possibility is that Sir Leighton arranges for the sale of the Caravaggio painting to some other patron of art, who pays the handsome amount in exchange, which is then handed over to the Forty Elephants. One final possibility is that Sir Leighton might have actually given the painting back to his friend, Lord Graften, for which the aristocrat was ready to pay the money that the Forty Elephants ultimately get.
