Theo James reveals the disturbing truth about The Gentlemen’s ‘dark’ Eddie and what’s next

Eddie is in a very different place by the end of The Gentlemen season two. But rather than simply asking whether he has become a villain, the show’s creators seem much more interested in what all that violence has actually done to him.

So, has Eddie gone mad? Is he becoming evil? Or is he simply turning into the ruthless leader he has been heading towards all along?

Theo James, who plays Eddie, and Matthew Read, the show’s lead writer and executive producer, have both explained what happens to Eddie after The Gentlemen season two.

So, has Eddie actually gone mad?

James has been clear that he wanted to show a much messier side of Eddie this time around. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I didn’t just want to see Eddie as cool as a cucumber all the time. I wanted him to be f***ed up.”

James also described Eddie as someone who has gone from “a good person just trying to help his family out” to a man capable of “deep and savage violence.”

Now, Matthew Read seems to think there is a difference between Eddie being mad and Eddie becoming ruthless. Speaking to Tudum about where the character is heading, Read asked, “Has he gone mad or is he moving towards a place where he could be this ruthless leader who is capable of extraordinary things?”

Read appears to lean towards the second option. Basically, Eddie may not be losing control at all. He could actually be getting better at taking control. That makes his future even more interesting, because the darkness is not necessarily coming from Eddie becoming irrational. It is coming from him becoming increasingly comfortable with what he is willing to do.

Read also said that this was one of the main questions behind Eddie’s season two story. “Does he want too much? Will he lose his soul in his quest to ascend and become stronger?”

That question gets at something bigger than Eddie simply becoming more violent. The concern is what he has to sacrifice to keep climbing.

Theo James has made a similar point when discussing Eddie’s transformation, asking, “How much of himself does Eddie lose whilst getting revenge on everyone that’s hurt him?”

So, it is not really about whether Eddie knows right from wrong anymore. It is about how much of the old Eddie is still there when he chooses to cross the line anyway.

Eddie’s idea of justice has become ‘warped’

Read has also spoken about the way Eddie deals with the people who have wronged him, particularly his decision to force Freddy to take responsibility for his own actions.

He described it as a “ruthless form of therapy and justice”, but added that Eddie’s idea of justice is “warped and strange because he has not processed his grief yet.”

That is important because Read does not describe Eddie as someone who has simply become a monster. There is still a reason behind what he does, even if that reason has become seriously twisted. Read even described Freddy’s forced responsibility as a “step towards redemption.”

Theo James explained whether Eddie has changed. He said, “He’s a good person, and now he’s far from it.”

He also compared Eddie’s journey to Michael Corleone, which makes the idea of losing himself even more important. Eddie may be getting everything he wants, but the cost could be the person he was before all of this started.

James also said, “Ultimately, he’s on a path to surpass Bobby.”

If Eddie really is moving towards becoming a ruthless leader, then Bobby may eventually stop being the person Eddie needs to fear and become the person Eddie needs to replace.

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