It’s the day after the big fire, but there’s more work to be done than simply sweeping up the ashes (though ashes will play a key role in what happens next). Looking out over the soot-covered ground of the Guinness plant, Rafferty wants answers. He’s looking for the “men of poor judgment” who allowed “men of poor character” into the cooperage, and he knows that, given the chance, workers loyal to Guinness will snitch on those responsible for setting the stage for such a heinous act of vandalism. It’s an effective bit of persuasion, one that finds Rafferty appealing to the esprit de corps the Guinness company has created and noting that, though a Catholic himself, he still finds the actions of the Irish Republican Brotherhood far beyond the pale. Also, if anyone who knows what’s going on would be kind enough to write the names of those who opened the gates on the white walls of the bathroom (that Benjamin Guinness was kind enough to build for his workers), he’d greatly appreciate it.

Across town, it’s time to read (the elder) Benjamin Guinness’s will, an event that begins as expected, then takes a few surprising turns. Some of them are pleasant. Sir Benjamin left behind over a million pounds, which, on-screen text helpfully informs us, would translate as £162 million today. What’s more, he had a lot more land than at least Benjamin suspected. As expected, Arthur inherits the brewery… but so does Edward. In fact, they both have to stay in the brewery business if they want to hold onto their inheritance. As for Anne, since she’s married, there’s not that much to talk about. And the younger Benjamin? His father has decided it’s best not to “burden” him “with the temptations that come from fortune.” But he’ll be getting a modest allowance.

Who’s happy about this? No one, really. In fact, everyone’s pretty steamed. Anne slinks off with her husband. Edward looks dazed. Arthur yells an obscenity in the streets. And Benjamin heads to a friendly pub to get drunk. There, he has an unplanned, but highly consequential meeting with the last person he wants to see: Bonnie Champion. That Bonnie shows up toting a rifle doesn’t put Benjamin’s mind at ease, but Bonnie hasn’t come to kill Benjamin; but to propose a deal. He’d like some help procuring some secrets concerning Arthur.

And Arthur, we soon see, has plenty of secrets to conceal. Stealing away to a conservatory, he meets with Michael (Cassian Bilton), a lawyer with whom he’s having an affair. Arthur and Michael had made plans to escape Dublin for London, but Arthur’s father’s will has scotched those plans. Not only can’t Arthur leave now, but he can’t risk being seen with his lover in public. Arthur proposes that the two settle in one of the private homes he’s been left, but Michael doesn’t want this, claiming it’s bad for his health. But that doesn’t seem to be his only reason.

While this transpires, Anne meets with Edward and offers a neat summary of what’s happened: “Our father has managed to bequeath millions in money and land and yet make all of us unhappy.” Edward’s sympathy only stretches so far. He’s not particularly receptive to Anne’s lament that her skills are being overlooked because she’s a woman. That could be because he’s old-fashioned, or it could be because he’s still peeved about some past reckless behavior. (Neither of them says Rafferty’s name, but it’s pretty clear who they’re talking about.) She’s, by her own admission, kind of screwed up right now. She doesn’t feel well physically, but, just as worryingly, she has fantasies about acting out by tearing the heads off pheasants and taking off her clothes. None of this sounds good at all!

That doesn’t mean that Edward doesn’t have tasks for Anne to perform. As the new heads of the family, both he and Arthur will need wives. Surely she knows some eligible women, right? Edward even knows exactly the sort of wives they need, and so does Anne. He’d like, in her words, “a level-headed cousin who would help run the business,” while Arthur requires “an impoverished but titled countess who will abhor trade and keep him away from business.” When Anne alludes to there being a “complication” concerning Arthur, both know what she’s talking about. But, hey, they can work with that. They just need a wife who’s willing to make “certain sacrifices” around that complication. That plan seems sensible enough until a drunken Benjamin arrives with a complication: Bonnie needs to be paid off if they want to keep Guinness secrets within the family.

In the bowels of the Guinness compound, Rafferty has chained the three men named by others as having left the gates open for the Brotherhood. They claim innocence, but torture opens the tongue of one prisoner who claims he doesn’t know who opened the gates, but he knows the name of the culprit. It doesn’t take long for Rafferty to act on this intel by tracking down Patrick at a favorite pub and giving him a letter to hand to Ellen, whom he (rightly) believes to be the brains of the operation. Then he suggests that maybe he’d better hurry and get it to her since he’s sent men to burn her house down. This cheeses Patrick off, but also scares him enough to send him running across town in an attempt to save Ellen. Once at her place, he finds the threat has been a bluff, but a note in Irish reading “Next Time” does little to put his mind at ease. Upstairs, he hands Ellen the letter, which she reads to Patrick, but only after chiding him for escalating the situation. It’s both clear and threatening, warning Ellen to stop her inquiries into the Guinness family secrets. She takes note of it but appears to be undeterred from writing a letter of her own, one that includes the phrase “carnal knowledge.”

After a testy exchange with Potter concerning some spilled ink and a ruined rug, Edward starts to lay out a plan to Arthur, casually talking about the families both men will soon be starting before explaining it will be Anne’s job to check out the various properties owned by the Guinness family while he and Arthur set about trying to figure out how to conquer America. And, oh, yeah, he has a multi-phase plan for that too.

Aunt Agnes might not have been included in the will, but that doesn’t mean she’s done inserting herself into family business. And it’s not like she hasn’t been encouraged in this, either. While meeting Anne for lunch, Agnes hands her a list of potential Guinness Boy wives, one heavy on second cousins who “already know how mad we all are.” What’s more, Aunt Agnes would like to help. When Anne informs her that she has other plans, her aunt scoffs and talks about how she used to have plans but learned to forget them with alcohol. “We can drink lots of gin and say rude things about our country cousins,” she says. That doesn’t sound so bad, right? (Oh, and she knows about Arthur’s “complication” and has plans to deal with that, too.)

Then it’s time for Edward to bring Arthur to Rafferty, who, as usual, is lurking in the fiery bowels of the Guinness plant. Rafferty wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter, handing Arthur Ellen’s letter claiming to have proof about his affairs with men. He’s not done. Rafferty also reveals that Bonnie Champion, the proprietor of houses of ill repute staffed with both women and men, shares this knowledge. This, Rafferty tells him, is no small thing. Beyond bringing shame to the Guinness family, it could land Arthur in prison. His proposed solution is twofold: Pay Bonnie £5,000 and appease the Fenians by taking a more “balanced point of view” concerning Ireland’s future when he takes his father’s seat in Parliament.

As reasonable as this sounds under the circumstances, Arthur isn’t having it. After he leaves, Edward agrees to meet Bonnie’s demands and promises to work on his brother’s political flexibility. Oh, and maybe he could meet Ellen himself? That might help. Oh, and one more thing: Rafferty needs to leave Anne alone. As scary as Rafferty can be, Edward’s a little scarier in this moment, though the little chuckle Rafferty offers after he walks away suggests he doesn’t take the threat that seriously.

Here’s a question: Is the elder Benjamin Guinness’s body even cold yet? Barely any time has passed since the funeral, but a lot happens in this episode. Scheming! Torture! Blackmail! Fizzy gin cocktails! After the previous episode’s table-setting, this second episode gets the various subplots spinning. Where the first episode of House of Guinness offered only the faintest hint about Arthur’s sexuality, this second installment makes clear that it will be a central issue. Anne’s discontent at her station in life was pretty obvious in the premiere, but this episode reveals that it may be destroying her mental and physical health. (Aunt Agnes’ suggestion that she forget her troubles with gin doesn’t seem likely to help.)

The episode also sets up some hints about what’s to come next. Ellen and Edward might be natural enemies, but they’re also young, attractive, and share a similarly fiery temperament. It’s compelling stuff. Even if House of Guinness still seems to reluctant to delve too far beneath the political and social issues it raises, it’s hard not to want to click on the next episode to see, as Potter puts it, “How quickly they fuck it all up” (though, given the actual history, he might have added “or if they fuck it all up,” but that’s much less pithy).

Sláinte!

• At this point, Rafferty’s the show’s most mysterious, or least-developed (depending on how you look at it) character. He’s key to the various machinations that keep the plot turning, and he’s intimately familiar with members of the Guinness family (one more intimately than the others). But what does he want? Is he merely an opportunist? Does he care about the family? Does he see this as just a job?

• Yes, Guinness really does have a £45 per year lease on its property at St. James’s Gate that’s good for 9000 years. When Arthur Guinness (the original Arthur Guinness) signed it in 1759, leases that stretched for thousands of years weren’t that uncommon, essentially establishing that the lessees would be sticking around until they decided to let go of the lease. That’s turned out to be a pretty good deal for Guinness in the long run.

• On the soundtrack: The episode opens with the Irish band Lankum’s rendition of “Katie Cruel,” a mournful version of an American folk song whose roots probably go back to Ireland. Next up is “In ár gCroíthe go deo,” another Fontaines D.C. track. The title translates to English as “In our hearts.” The Mary Wallopers from the town of Dundalk with “Rich Man and the Poor Man.” Like Kneecap, heard in the previous episode, the group has stirred up controversy with its political views, specifically its use of the Palestinian flag on stage during live performances.

 The Guinness siblings are dealing with a lot. Scheming! Torture! Blackmail! Fizzy gin cocktails!