A Thousand Blows, season 2, puts us back in London in 1880 with a set of rough characters who will do everything in their power to survive and get ahead. Most of the season 1 cast return with a few new additions.

A Thousand Blows has a big cast. I introduced most of them in my review of season 1. The basic fight for survival among the residents of Wapping is still the focus of the plot, with the police and wealthy people being either enemies or targets.

Mary (Erin Doherty) and her gang of women have a new plan this year, and it is a big money idea. Mary brings Sophie Lyons (Catherine McCormack) over from New York City to help with the plan. Sophie is a mesmer and her skills will help Mary with her new plot to get rich.

Hezekiah (Malachi Kirby) is grieving the friend he lost in season 1 and not entirely sure what to do with himself. He gets an opportunity to train Prince Albert (Stanley Morgan) to box well enough to defeat a bully from his childhood in the ring. This leads to some other opportunities for Hezekiah, too.

The Goodmans and their pub are again a frequent location for action. When season 2 begins, Sugar (Stephen Graham) has been drunk for a year living “on the cobbles.” His nephew Thomas (Will Bagnall) has been managing the pub because Sugar’s brother Treacle (James Nelson-Joyce) has some brain damage from the beating he took in season 1. Sugar comes out of his depression and boozing. He is a big influence on how things turn out for these folks in the East End, especially where the police are concerned.

With help from the American Sophie, Mary and her gang get invited to a ball. That will be where the heist takes place. Alice (Darci Shaw) pretends to be a rich American heiress. Sophie and Alice are the distractions for the big heist.

One interesting thing about this series is that most of the cast, in their normal environment are pretty grimy looking and dressed in grubby outfits. But when they are pulling a con they clean up and dress up. They manage to pass as upper class just by being clean and well dressed.

There is a touch of romance among some of the characters this season. Between the heist, the battles with the police, and the romances it looks like season 2 will be the final season for this series. A couple of the characters plan to move to America at the end, which I take as a sign that this particular story is over.

This is the kind of series where you’re rooting for the downtrodden, the overlooked, the outcasts. Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty, a good team here, also worked together in Adolescence, which was released between the dates when season 1 and season 2 of A Thousand Blows came out.

Season 2 was directed by only women: Dionne Edwards and Katrin Gebbe. Hulu is currently streaming both seasons 1 & 2 in full.