Review: ‘Pennyworth’ S03 Ep.5 – ‘Rhyme ‘N’ Reason’

There’s nothing like when you can tell a show is trying to rush through a character’s backstory. Maybe that’s a presumptuous statement to make, but as cool as new character, Zahra Khin (Jing Lusi), was in this week’s episode, the details about her political beliefs and why she’s considered a rebel in her country were awfully vague and nondescript, like taking the outline of the feud between the Ravens and the English League and transposing in new faces.

Either that’s a sign Zahra isn’t sticking around long, or Pennyworth has too much story to get through (oh for the CW-length seasons of other DC shows). For now, though, Aziz (Ramon Tikaram) has assigned Alfie (Jack Bannon) to act as Zahra’s bodyguard but – because it’s Alfie – they’re already romantically involved and it’s also possible Alfie had a hand in Zahra’s father’s kidnapping.

Talk about a coincidence – two people with experience finding out their fathers have come back to life – but while it would’ve been cool if the kidnapping job was something we had seen in an earlier season, only for there to be ramifications now, I don’t believe that’s the case.

Also, while Zahra could be a real love interest to Alfie, their relationship already feels undercut by the fact that Alfie was recently back together with Sandra (Harriet Slater). Not that they made any promises to each other, but they were in a serious relationship once, so it feels like Alfie’s cheating when he’s not. Granted, if the father thing’s true, Zahra and Alfie are pretty much doomed anyway, but why set them up to fail from the start?

As for the Waynes, Martha (Emma Paetz) might not show any visible signs of the physical trauma she’s been through, but why it should surprise Thomas (Ben Aldridge) that they’re still having trouble trusting each other after only a month is pretty baffling. Throwing Patricia (Salóme Gunnarsdóttir) into the mix should’ve been great, especially since she knows them both well, but instead of being the unwelcome guest she was born to be, she lets them off easy and leaves.

Some other thoughts on this week’s episode:

• Shut my mouth. It may have taken Mrs. P. (Dorothy Atkinson) giving Roger (Oliver Ryan) a call for him to make a reappearance, but he did, and it looks like they’re going to start dating now. Did not see that coming.
• Another failed prediction from last week’s review: Salt (Edward Hogg) wasn’t the one behind the Guy Fawkes mask. Faulks (Paul Kaye) was. So not V for Vendetta so much as Warhol wannabe meets David Bowie wannabe (going by his outfit this week). While the reveal does tie Daveboy (Ryan Fletcher) and his new lady love (Claudia Jolly) to the Lullaby drug that’s been making people murderous, Faulks doesn’t exactly seem like a criminal mastermind so much as a mad artist who has no idea what he’s messing with (or doesn’t care).
• That Daveboy would be one of the first guests to drink the Kool Aid was pretty much telegraphed the moment Alfie said he was the only person he could trust (poor Mrs. P, not making the cut and having to deal with her son asking 20 questions every time she tries to leave the house – asking once is talking without thinking; asking multiple times is selfishness). Naturally that means Daveboy has to go the Thomas Wayne route and become capable of betraying Alfie.
• At the same time, while Daveboy is a character with a history of making rash decisions, would it really have never occurred to him to suspect any unidentified drugs being offered right now? There’s being blinded by love, but he also met that love at the funeral for one of Lullaby’s victims (Amanda Dahl). In a way it feels like the show needing to have a character make a stupid decision to serve the plot, instead of letting the characters lead the plot. A big theme this season is characters being stuck in their ways (hence the emphasis on Alfie being a man-child, seemingly in order to put enough pressure on him so that he moves to America), but Daveboy should’ve known better.
• Always good to see Frances Gaunt (Anna Chancellor) again, even if she was unable to convince Bet (Paloma Faith) to give up her quest for revenge.

New episodes of Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler stream Thursdays on HBO Max.