Top Boy – Season 2 Episode 1 “Good Morals” Recap & Review

Good Morals

Episode 1 of Top Boy Season 2 starts in Spain with a man named Emilio tying down Javi in a net and a silver chain. He shoots the man in the head, sending his body tumbling into the water – and to the depths of the sea below.

Meanwhile, Jamie is found not-guilty in court. He breathes a deep sigh of relief, as he’s eventually free to go. Naturally, he returns home where all the gang are there to greet him, including Kit, Tyrone and Farah.

However, they’re not alone for long as Dushane extends out a peace offering through Romy, Jaq and the boys – and an invitation to meet at 10am. To keep things civil, Jamie accepts the gift from Jaq and heads back inside to see Stef.

That night, Jaq and the others are stopped by police who intend to search their car. When they give the officers some lip, they’re forced out the car but everything is legit. There’s nothing untoward going on here, with the vehicle registered under Ruben Miller’s name. He’s the one in charge of Prestige Hire Cars.

Eventually Jaq and the gang get back in their vehicle, the police leave, as the night’s events are left to stew in the air.

Shelley shows up to see Dushane at his new apartment. Dushane is determined to try and make a go of it and become a proper family. He has a plan, wanting to step back on the road and go completely legit. That way he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder anymore or get mixed up in criminal affairs.

Things are getting hairy over in Spain though, and Emilio rings Lizzie while she’s out having dinner with Jeffrey. He’s out, not wanting to do business anymore, bringing Lizzie out to Spain to see him personally.

Emilio admits that his wife, Sofia, is ill. With six months at best left to live he’s decided to skip out to be there for her. The thing is, the Moroccan shipment is bigger than all of them and Lizzie pleads with Emilio to help. Without him serving as ringleader, everything could go sour very quickly.

Emilio reassures Lizzie though that as long as they keep paying Juan El Bueno then things should be okay.

Tensions between Stef and Jamie are still high, with Jamie trying to catch up for lost time and play the father figure. The thing is, he’s been gone for a while and Stef is a lot older than he was before. After dropping Stef off at school, Jamie heads out to meet Dushane, who gets the lowdown from Jaq on the night’s events.

Dushane immediately tells Jamie he’s got a link in Spain and Morocco and the promise of more money than they could dream of. Dushane wants Jamie working just like before. It would still be under Dushane’s direction and name, but the allure of money is enough for Jamie to agree and decide to jump aboard.

As anyone who makes a lot of money will tell you, massive profits can result in massive amounts of tax, National Insurance and business costs. Alas, Dushane finds this out the hard way when he goes over his finances with Jeffrey.

However, he has another idea. The Summerhouse redevelopment is coming up and if Dushane was to get involved in this 1.4 billion project, it could help Dushane funnel 6 or 7 million of his turnover – which is considerably more than the projected 3 million.

Despite Summerhouse being a complete mess, it’s still home to a lot of his people. This is where Dushane started of course and knocking it down, even if it’s for a redevelopment program, feels like the end of an era.

The residents are obviously unhappy when they find out, especially as they’re receiving eviction notices. Each of the residents have been displaced across England, from Croydon across to Luton. They’re fired up and unwilling to move.

While all this is going on, Atticus has gone missing. Amma (his mum) dips in and out of the episode, popping up at different areas around Summerhouse trying to find her son.

Over in Spain, Lizzie visits Juan but there’s a problem. The meeting goes completely awry as their contact, Antonio, is gunned down. Lizzie hurriedly rings Dushane to let him know, as everything starts to fall apart.

As the episode closes out, Stef rings Atticus’ phone but as it rings, he’s found in the skip, lying in a pool of his own blood and dead.

The Episode Review

Top Boy is back and the first episode wastes absolutely no time getting right to the heart of the drama here. You’ve got Dushane still organizing traffic and making sure his business stays afloat, making as much money as possible.

He’s still working with Jaq and the others but relations in Spain have gone sour – in a big way. Juan has clearly seen an opportunity to cut Emilio out of his business and in doing so, it has completely turned the business upside down.

What does this mean for our characters now? It’s certainly not looking good for Dushane but with Jamie working by his side and Sully on the sidelines for now, this looks to be an intriguing season going forward.