The second season of Steven Knight's late-Victorian boxing thriller, A Thousand Blows, presents a conundrum for any reviewer. The series, now available on Disney+, is so thoroughly dominated by the mesmerising performance of its female lead, Erin Doherty, that it becomes challenging to assess the surrounding drama on its own merits.
A Darker, More Grim Victorian Landscape
Picking up from the first season's cliffhangers, the new instalment finds all its central characters in profoundly dire straits. Stephen Graham's East End boxer, Henry "Sugar" Goodson, is a drunken wreck, reduced to rolling on Wapping's cobblestones. His rival, the Jamaican fighter Hezekiah Moscow, played by Malachi Kirby, is fighting on a barge in an underground circuit for openly racist crowds.
Most crucially, Doherty's Mary Carr, the wily pickpocket and queen of the Forty Elephants gang, is under the thumb of her ruthless mother, Jane (Susan Lynch), who serves the brutal crime boss Indigo Jeremy (Robert Glenister). The buoyant, mischievous energy of the first series has been replaced by a pervasive sense of grim despair.
Doherty's Performance: The Beating Heart of the Series
Where the plot sometimes meanders, Erin Doherty's portrayal of Mary provides unwavering focus and depth. The actor, famed for her role as Princess Anne in The Crown, transforms fleeting glimpses into Mary's traumatic past and fears for a destitute future into a compelling psychodrama. Her ability to sell the character's cunning, vulnerability, and hardened resilience remains the show's most potent asset.
This season, the narrative backbone shifts to Mary's ambitious plan to steal a Caravaggio painting with a New York mesmerist named Sophie Lyons. This scheme drives the reunion of her dispersed female thieves, offering a central plot that explores female empowerment and survival in a harsh, patriarchal world.
Struggling Narratives and Hollow Victories
While there is no shortage of action—with various villains pursuing our morally ambivalent protagonists—the stakes often feel diminished. Sugar Goodson's story arc is plagued by his alcoholic mania and a confusing dynamic with his brain-injured brother, Treacle (James Nelson-Joyce).
Similarly, Hezekiah's quest for redemption, which involved training the puny Prince Albert Victor, lacks the compelling drive of his first-season struggle against colonialism and racism. Even his victories in the ring feel hollow, mirroring a broader disillusionment that seeps into the fabric of the series itself.
Ultimately, A Thousand Blows season two is a testament to Erin Doherty's extraordinary talent. She commands every scene with a magnetic presence that is impossible to ignore. However, the surrounding drama, while atmospheric and well-acted by a strong supporting cast, fails to coalesce with the same punchy, propulsive energy of its predecessor. The result is a muddled but visually striking period piece, elevated immeasurably by its star's powerhouse performance.
