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From the opening moments of Ace Of Spades the tone settles into something both mournful and menacing. Conrad Harrigan digs a quiet grave for the dogs Frankie Cooper slaughtered during the raid on the Cotswolds estate. Nearby Maeve sits among the bodies of her prized horses, the animals riddled with bullets, and the weight of the loss hangs in the air. Later the pair share a story from the seventies about a man who once kicked one of Conrad’s dogs and ended up locked in a Somers Town cellar through an entire winter. It’s very clear that you don’t touch what belongs to the Harrigans.
That personal fury fuels the rest of the episode. The family turns the Cotswolds property into a fortress complete with fences, armed men, and spike strips at the gates. Conrad calls everyone together and demands they put aside their private grudges. The empire needs unity now more than ever. Harry divides the men into two teams. He pairs with Kevin while Conrad takes Paul. Bags of cash go out as they roll back into London to test loyalties among the businesses that keep the machine running. The montage mixes dark humour with sudden violence in the way only this show manages. At a chippy a man’s hand is forced into a vay of oil and then Harry casually mentions to make sure the feet follow. Cash changes hands with the loyal. Threats land on those on the fence. Through it all Harry stays watchful, the fixer scanning every face for the first sign of weakness.
While the men shake the tree Maeve works her own quieter angles inside the family. She sits with Gina and plants a dangerous idea. Harry’s daughter is his greatest vulnerability. If Gina stages a crisis, something that looks like a suicide attempt, Harry might pull her completely out of the life and leave the Harrigans to sort their own messes. Maeve even offers to leave pills in the girl’s room. The suggestion lands with unsettling calm, this is Maeve at her coldest and Harry has already made it clear what will happen if she messes with Gina again. Elsewhere Maeve corners Eddie, questions whether he truly finished the job with Medusa, and makes it clear that walking away from the family ends only one way. She leaves a cut on his face as punctuation. Seraphina, meanwhile, continues her long game. She speaks with Charlton about ten million euros and a future that may not include Conrad’s blessing. Bella, newly focused and dry, listens and seems ready to entertain the idea of a Harrigan operation that does not revolve around the old man. The internal fractures remain even as external threats close in.
Harry discovers another complication when he follows a name from Jojo’s notebook to Donnie’s flat. The body lies there along with the gun Harry once gave Jan. She has vanished after taking matters into her own hands in the previous episode. He calls Zosia to handle the cleanup and pockets the evidence, but the absence of his wife adds another layer of private pressure while the larger war demands his full attention.
Frankie Cooper does not sit idle. Kat McAllister gives him a hard deadline of one week to deliver real damage or step aside. Frankie answers by recruiting Sicily, a stripper who is Paule’s ex. The trap springs when Sicily reaches out. Paul, still hopeful for some connection, walks straight into the ambush. Frankie takes him and forces a series of calls designed to lure Harry to the Riviera Palm Casino at midnight. The cover story involves a flatmate who supposedly wants to sell Frankie. Paul delivers the lines under pressure, but he slips in the one word Harry and he long ago agreed would never be used lightly. He calls Harry “bro.” The code lands. Harry knows at once that Paul is bait and that leaving him in Frankie’s hands risks every secret the family holds.
Harry does what Harry always does. He walks into the meeting alone. At the casino the confrontation full of the tension the season has been building toward. Frankie kills Sicily in front of them without hesitation, the fifty thousand pounds she earned for the setup no longer relevant. He tries to recruit Harry, talking about bands and better partnerships, but Harry stays stone faced. Then Harry plays his own card. He mentions Newgate Prison. Frankie has a son there, Michael, serving time for possession with intent. The name changes the temperature in the room. Frankie bluffs at first, calling the boy a lazy burden he would be happy to be rid of. Harry, a father himself, simply holds the quiet knowledge that blood still matters.
Things quickly escalate when Frankie starts a theatrical game of Russian roulette right beside an actual roulette wheel. He loads three bullets, spins it, and puts the barrel to Harry’s head twice. Nothing fires. The third time Harry moves. He takes the gun, pins Frankie, and turns the weapon on him. The moment of real personal danger strips away some of Frankie’s performative swagger. He orders his men to stand down. Paul and Harry walk out alive. As they leave Harry tells Paul the night is not finished. The final scene is a phone call. Harry reaches Michael in prison and delivers a calm warning. At three in the morning the young man will be killed.
The episode balances its many threads with surprising confidence. The street level work of testing loyalties gives it dark comedy. Maeve’s psychological pressure on Gina and Eddie keeps the family poison simmering. Seraphina’s private negotiations hint at future fractures that may prove as dangerous as any external rival. Yet the centrepiece of the episode is the long delayed face off between Harry and Frankie. Tom Hardy plays Harry with the same contained intensity that has defined the character from the start. He never wastes a gesture. Johnny Flynn makes Frankie both theatrical and genuinely unsettling, a man who can discuss obscure historical hats one moment and execute a woman the next.
Ace Of Spades makes the war feel personal on both sides. Frankie crossed a line when he killed the animals and invaded the home. Harry answers by locating the one soft place Frankie still has. The Russian roulette is pure tension, up there with The Deer Hunter. The closing phone call leaves you questioning how far Harry will go for the Harrigans. Will he actually follow through on the threat ? Will Frankie unravel?
When Harry realises the trap through a single forbidden word, the moment reveals the amount of control Harry has over his world. When Maeve calmly suggests a staged suicide to a sad teenager, the chill is real. When Conrad tells the story of the man in the cellar, you believe every word of the cruelty and Maeve’s addiction to it.
The Harrigans remain fractured, dangerous to one another as much as to their enemies. Harry remains the man who walks into rooms no one else would enter and somehow walks out again. Frankie has been shown to not be untouchable. The war that began with dead dogs and dead horses now has a clear next move scheduled for three in the morning. Whatever comes after that phone call, Ace Of Spades leaves you eager to see it.
Where to watch MobLand – Season 2, Episode 7: Ace Of Spades:
