
What happens in Gangs of London – Season 3, Episode 3?
Warning: Major spoilers ahead
Sean Wallace is dead, and it will only take a matter of time for everyone to find out. But whoever claims the bounty may be in more trouble than they could imagine.
Here’s what happens next.
A Hefty Payday
On a run-down London estate, two drug addicts overhear the murder of Sean Wallace while squatting in the vacant property next to the murder scene. One, Ali, glimpses the killer through a hole in the wall and recognises him. He recommends they get out of there, but once his friend sees the body the plan changes. Recognising Sean and knowing of the Albanian bounty, they had the body over to Luan, claiming to be his killers. As promised, they are given the £2 million in cash.
While driving with Billy looking for Sean, Cornelius gets word that he’s dead, with his body delivered to Luan. Meanwhile Zeek, the hooded assassin, quietly breaks into Marian’s home. She senses someone there but believes it’s Sean. Zeek leaves before she finds him.
Eliot wakes up in the hospital to find the Mayor of London, Simone, standing over him. She reveals a total of 632 people have died as a result of the drug spiking. She tells him to hand himself in but he declines, and she leaves as Shannon arrives. Shannon breaks the news to Elliot that Sean is dead, but with plain clothes officers tailing him, he needs to find a way to speak to Luan. Shannon gives him her car.
A Celebratory Drink
Suddenly millionaires, the two junkies take their winnings to a run-down pool hall to celebrate. They unwisely start flashing their cash, with Ali telling anyone who’ll listen that he killed Sean Wallace. This is news to the local dealer, who immediately calls Billy.
Cornelius and Billy arrive at the hall as Ali is holding court and regaling everyone with his story. Unaware of who they are, he continues to brag, and a full-on brawl ensues with Cornelius easily dispatching the hall’s shady patrons.
Elliot heads to Luan’s and sees Sean’s dead body in the back of his car. Elliot tells him killing Sean was a mistake, revealing the connection between the mystery man and the driver, and admitting Sean may have been innocent of the spiking. Luan dismisses this, adamant he’s got vengeance for his daughter’s death.
Meanwhile Zeek gets a text confirming that the bounty on Sean’s body has been collected, asking him “Do we have a problem?” Calling them back, Zeek tells his employer he’s “done everything they asked” but will tie up the loose ends.
Luan delivers Sean’s body to Marian, telling her he “doesn’t want a war” with her and won’t harm her, but will be coming for both Cornelius and Billy for helping Sean, saying he hopes she understands.
Billy corners the other addict in the stalls. Despite his claims of innocence and offering the ransom money in return for letting them go, Billy brutally drowns him in the toilet. Just as he and Cornelius look to finish Ali, Elliot arrives and stops them, knowing they’ve got the wrong man. Ali says he knows where the man lives but starts panicking for his life as they drive.
Heading down to the river, the man pleads for his life, telling them it’s his daughter’s fourth birthday tomorrow. They give him money to calm down, and he reveals the man lives near the tent where he sleeps. But before he can take them there, the police arrive, arresting Elliot for firearm possession. Saba and Faz are left alone and realise that in the commotion Ali has made a break for freedom. This does not go unnoticed, as Zeek looks on from a bridge.
What happens now?
Lale is informed Sean Wallace is dead by her second-in-command, who is disturbed by her lack of care. He questions her six-month long disappearance how exactly she escaped Asif, but she refuses to tell him, saying she doesn’t need to explain herself. Once she’s alone in her car, she cries for a moment while smoking a cigarette, before gathering herself, promising not to shed tears for Sean.
Luan meets with Ed Dumani, who tells him to be satisfied with his pound of flesh and walk away from Billy and Cornelius, saying he doesn't want a war. Ed tries to call Marian, but she’s at home, at a loss as she stares at her dead son’s body on her couch. Mourning him privately, she breaks down, before washing the blood from his face in an act of motherly affection.
She later meets with Billy and Cornelius, offering them protection in exchange for destroying those who murdered Sean. Instead, Billy holds a gun to her, saying she abandoned Sean in his hour of need, but Cornelius calms him down by arguing they need to find those responsible for framing them first. Luan’s men observe this meeting, telling him it looks like the Wallaces are planning something.
Ali, now believing he’s free from the previous night’s drama, excitedly uses the money Elliot gave him to buy his daughter a birthday present, returning to his tent to wrap it. But Zeek finds him and silences him for good. Saba and Faz arrive to find the body with his throat cut.
When Elliot calls and they tell him the news, he folds, telling Simone that he’s ready to talk. When she arrives, he tells her everything he knows about the fentanyl-laced cocaine. He appeals to her, aware that she’s lost loved ones from drug addiction, and offers to strike a deal with her – he can help her find the original, unlaced cocaine shipment. If they can find that, they’ll find who’s responsible for replacing it with the poisoned batch. Simone later returns with a confession she demands he sign, dated a week from now. If he can’t hold up his end of the bargain, Elliot will be going away for a long time. This is her insurance policy. He informs her the real cocaine will be found in a stash of Belgian beer kegs, as this is what the laced shipment arrived in.
As random spot checks continue around London, Lale is stopped in her van by a cop, who searches inside and clears her. As she drives off, it’s revealed that she is transporting more than a dozen barrels of Belgian beer.
How does Sean’s death affect Marian in this season?
MICHELLE FAIRLEY (Marian): The death of her son, Sean, even though as a parent you should never say it, he was probably the most close child she had. They were so similar I think in many ways that they rubbed each other up in many different ways. It literally guts her and it’s like somebody reached inside her and pulled her heart out.
I think with Marian, she continually held onto the belief that one day Sean and her would reconcile. They would get back together, they would work again, and the realisation of his death, and the fact that she actually has him there in her arms means it will never happen. So she sees herself again, being completely isolated.
Marian is incredibly guilty about Sean’s death as there is a point where she could have prevented it. She could have given information which could have helped find Sean so that he wouldn’t have been killed. So she carries that with her as well.
Talk us through the fight in the pool hall.
RICHARD DORMER (Cornelius): It’s mayhem. We really see Cornelius at his best, or his worst, you could say. But he’s in his element, using his blackthorn stick, and he just systematically takes out about four or five people one-by-one. He’s fearless. Just a guy enjoying his work. It’s ferocious, but it was fun. I think it was one of my favourite days filming.
The stunt guy, Adam Horton, was amazing because he was just like, go for it. There’s a bit where I break his ankle, and I get the stick on the back of his neck and push him down onto the table. So he literally opened his mouth and went down onto the table about 10% slower than you would in real life. Which is terrifying to think that, even though there was a soft side to the pool table. He was amazing. He just went right down and I went pretty quick with him. It just looks horrible. But in a brilliant way.
I think that was my favourite moment, because when the stunt guy showed me it I remember just laughing out loud, going, guys, that is so sick. That, I think, is the essence of Cornelius. That was my favourite day shooting. I didn’t enjoy watching the guy getting drowned in the toilet, though. That was really disturbing.
BRIAN VERNEL (Billy): Billy goes through different stages of emotion, and at this point in time it is total and utter rage, and it is bubbling under the surface. Something I don’t think that maybe we’ve seen from him in previous seasons. They turn up to this pool hall and quite brutally take care of these two men. That was another very ambitious sequence. It does take a lot from you, physically, but I think it will be very rewarding to see that. I’m just glad that we get to see this different side of the character and the other strengths that he possesses, what he’s actually capable of.
Let’s talk about the toilet drowning and how that was done.
RICHARD DORMER (Cornelius): Yeah, that was half a day, drowning somebody in a toilet. But it was Brian was doing all the work. I was just goading him on. Actually, that was one of the most disturbing things about the character as well. He’s trying to bring out the worst in his nephew. ‘Go on, Billy boy.’ He’s kind of getting off on seeing Billy lose his soul. Very disturbing.
What is Simone’s stance on the gangs, and why does she choose Elliot as her informant?
T’NIA MILLER (Simone): We see Simone make a very public speech that she is ready to take down the gangs of London and destroy the drug culture that is polluting the city. She calls them a cancer, and ends up teaming up with Elliot: an unlikely match, but I think deep down she knows that in order to really curtail what's going on, she has to cut through the bureaucracy. So she uses the resources she has available, and it's such a passion project for her because of her own past. Her brother died and was involved in drugs and gangs in the past. So this is a real, heartbreaking, personal mission for her.