The Long Wait is Over-ish, and My Nerves Are Shot
Look, I’m not gonna lie, when I heard The Artful Dodger was actually getting a second season, a part of me did a little victory dance. The other part of me, the part that remembers what a gut-punch that finale was, immediately started panicking. Because that ending? It wasn’t just a cliffhanger, it was a full-on cliff-face plunge with half the cast possibly tied to an anvil. We’re talking about a show that took the gritty, grimy, wonderful world of Dickens-era London, cranked it up to eleven, and then threw in a healthy dose of surgical drama and heist action. And then, poof, gone. For three years.
And here’s the thing- the original show, right? It was this wild, unexpected sequel to Oliver Twist. You know, that story we all read in high school, probably hated, but secretly loved the character of the Artful Dodger. Well, this show takes Jack Dawkins, our boy Dodger (played by the always-charming Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who, let’s be real, still looks about 19 even though he’s definitely not), and puts him in 1850s Australia. He’s trying to be a fancy surgeon, trying to go legit. But you know how it is with bad habits and old friends- they just keep pulling you back in. Especially when that old friend is none other than Fagin. And that’s where the fun really begins. Or ends, depending on who you’re rooting for.
Seriously, What Was That Ending?
Okay, without spoiling too much for anyone who’s somehow managed to avoid it for three years (bless your self-control, I don’t have it), let’s just say things went sideways. Fast. Like, a cannonball through a teacup kind of sideways. People were in serious peril. Loved ones. Arch-nemeses. Even some characters you kinda forgot about until they popped up again just to be put in danger. It was a proper Dickensian disaster, just with more blood and less fog. And a lot more screaming, probably.
So, Who’s Actually Back to Mess Things Up?
This is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Because after a gap this long, and an ending that dramatic, you gotta wonder who survived the writing room, let alone the actual show’s events. The good news, if you can call it that, is that some key players are definitely confirmed.
“When an old acquaintance, Fagin, resurfaces, it forces Jack, once a London-based pickpocket known as the Artful Dodger, back into a life of crime.” – The official synopsis, basically telling us everything we loved is coming back to haunt him. Again.
First up, obviously, Thomas Brodie-Sangster is back as Jack Dawkins. I mean, you can’t have The Artful Dodger without the Artful Dodger, right? That’d be like having Oliver Twist without Oliver… oh, wait. Anyway, he’s the heart of it, the conflicted surgeon-turned-thief, and honestly, the guy just has this knack for playing charming rogues. He’s got that innocent-but-also-cunning look down pat.
And thank goodness, David Thewlis is returning as Fagin. This was big. Really big. Because his Fagin isn’t just a villain, he’s this twisted mentor, this awful-but-magnetic figure who keeps pulling Jack back into the darkness. Their dynamic is just chef’s kiss. You love to hate him, you hate to love him, it’s a whole thing. Their scenes together are always gold, even when they’re trying to kill each other. (Which, let’s be honest, is a lot of the time.)
But what about Lady Belle Fox? Oh, Lady Belle. Played by Maia Mitchell, she was the governor’s daughter who, get this, wanted to be a surgeon. In the 1850s. Talk about an uphill battle. Her ambition, her intelligence, and her complicated relationship with Jack were a huge part of the first season. From what I can tell, she’s also back. And thank god for that, because her character was easily one of the most interesting, constantly challenging the norms of the time. You know, when she wasn’t getting mixed up in Jack’s messy criminal life.
What This Actually Means
The return of these three- Jack, Fagin, and Belle- basically tells us that the core of the show is intact. The love triangle (or square, depending on who you’re counting), the moral dilemmas, the constant pull between Jack’s two lives- it’s all still there. And after three years, I’m honestly just happy to see their faces again, even if it means more chaos and probably more near-death experiences for everyone involved.
It also suggests that whatever absolutely insane cliffhanger they left us with wasn’t quite as final as it seemed. Which, okay, fine. I guess I can forgive them for that. Mostly. I mean, they had to leave some wiggle room, right? You can’t just kill off half your main cast and then expect people to tune in three years later for a show about, I don’t know, the ghost of the Artful Dodger. Though, honestly, given how wild this show can be, I wouldn’t put it past them.
So, get ready. It’s gonna be messy. It’s gonna be dramatic. And after waiting this long, I’m just hoping it’s as good as I remember it being. And that no one else important gets, you know, permanently written out this time. But who knows? It’s The Artful Dodger. Anything can happen. And probably will.
