'Gangs of London' Season 3's First Look Is Explosive

One day, AMC Networks will have to admit that the real flagship streaming service it owns is Acorn TV and not the named-for-the-company service AMC+. Case in point: Gangs of London, a series that should, by rights, be a massive hit in the U.S. The cast is all British A-list actors; the plot — a sort of modern-day Peaky Blinders — is foreign enough to feel at a remove while tackling issues relevant to viewers on both sides of the pond. Moreover, Gangs of London is violent, like super violent; think Game of Thrones at its worst moments levels of violence. Gangs of London is the sort of violent that's not really popular in the U.K. but is bog standard in U.S. TV series.

If Gangs of London were on Netflix or HBO, it would be a smash hit. Netflix would algorithm it into every feed of men between 15 and 35; HBO would use its credibility to sell the series as "High-Class Violence done by British Actors Who Sound Shakespearean." If it were on Acorn TV, it might not be the biggest show (plenty of crime, but none of it cozy), but viewers would at least be aware it existed. However, stuck on AMC+ (not even shared on Sundance Now!), the series remains lost to American viewers.

It's genuinely frustrating as Gangs of London Season 3 begins rolling out on Sky TV in the U.K. One can only hope that one day, AMC Networks will give Gangs of London the home it deserves. But until then, we'll have to rely on U.K.viewership to keep getting it renewed.