‘The Gentlemen’ Season 2 Rotten Tomatoes Score Drops, the Critics Call It a Total Reinvention

Guy Ritchie has built a career on stylish crime capers packed with sharp dialogue and even sharper double-crosses, a formula that carried over seamlessly when he brought his 2019 film ‘The Gentlemen‘ to Netflix as a full series back in March 2024. That freshman season earned a solid, if not spectacular, response from critics, leaving plenty of room for the show to grow into something bigger.

Season 2 has clearly taken that opportunity and run with it. The sophomore season, which began streaming September 3, follows Theo James’ Eddie Horniman as he continues navigating his unexpected inheritance of both a dukedom and a sprawling criminal weed empire, this time pulling him into far more dangerous territory than before.

That evolution has translated directly into a stunning critical reception. As of Thursday afternoon, ‘The Gentlemen’ Season 2 has landed a perfect 100% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, according to Yahoo News, a dramatic leap from Season 1’s already respectable 75% critics’ score.

Much of the praise centers on how significantly the series has darkened and matured in its second outing. Variety’s review described the new season as engaging, devastating, and thoroughly entertaining, arguing that with Season 2, “The Gentlemen” has “upped the ante and fully hit its stride,” according to Variety.

Collider echoed that sentiment even more emphatically, calling the season a near-total transformation from its predecessor. The outlet noted that Season 2 introduces the Italian mafia, Peruvian cartels, the British House of Lords, and even elements of mysticism and myth, representing a tonal shift away from the comedy that defined the first season, according to Collider.

The AV Club similarly praised the show’s expanded scope, describing it as an entertaining action romp packed with vivid production design and striking sets, along with brutal, bloody shootouts that never feel monotonous, according to AV Club.

Central to that critical reappraisal is Theo James’ evolving performance as Eddie, with Variety specifically highlighting his shift into what the outlet called his “Michael Corleone era,” pointing to a darker, more sinister version of the character driving the season forward. That comparison speaks to just how far the show has pushed its protagonist beyond the reluctant aristocrat audiences met in Season 1.

The returning cast includes Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Ray Winstone, Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones, and Giancarlo Esposito, who plays billionaire Stanley Johnston, a character described as occasionally dropping in to discuss Jesus and power throughout the season’s eight episodes. That blend of dark comedy and genuine menace appears to be a major factor in why critics are responding so much more favorably this time around.

Season 1 wasn’t a disappointment by any means, having pulled in a strong 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and racking up 12.2 million views worldwide within its first three days on Netflix. But the leap from a 75% critics’ score to a perfect 100% represents a significant jump in critical consensus, suggesting Ritchie and his creative team found exactly the right adjustments heading into the show’s second chapter.

With reviews continuing to roll in and the season already streaming in full, ‘The Gentlemen’ looks positioned to be one of Netflix’s bigger success stories this fall.

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