Eddie
Edward Horniman
The new Duke of Halstead, who has just discovered he’s inherited a few surprises along with his late father’s estate.- A Father to His Men: As seen in his Establishing Character Moment.
- Always Save the Girl: Gender-neutral, but if a civilian is in danger, Eddie will always do his best to save them or work out a way to resolve the situation peacefully, even if it’s a detriment to himself or his goals. So far the only one who’s managed to stay saved is his brother, Freddie. The hostage Eddie rescues from the car dealership is mowed down by a passing lorry, and Jethro is murdered by Susie’s fixer.
- The Captain: His rank in the military and also what Susie occasionally refers to him as.
- The Dutiful Son: Despite clearly having no desire to be heir, not expecting it in the slightest and being thrown into the deep end regarding his father’s affiliation with an illegal drug organisation, upon being given the title by his late father he does everything in his power to look after his family and the estate.
- Establishing Character Moment: At the start of the first episode, he is shown as a peacekeeping military officer in charge of a border inspection where he settles a dispute between two farmers King Solomon-style and allows a man with expired papers through with a warning to renew them instead of detaining him.
- Nerves of Steel: Susie Glass notes that he’s one of the few aristocrats that can kill a man, or watch a man be killed, and lose no sleep over either. Which is why he is so attractive as a potential associate to the Glass family.
- Non-Idle Rich: Whilst he is a Duke, and come from aristocratic Old Money, he is far from an Upper-Class Twit and at the beginning of the series is shown being a dutiful United Nations peacekeeping officer. Upon being made duke and inheriting his father’s estate he throws himself fully into managing it and sorting his family’s business with the Glass family.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to his drug-addicted, childish and trouble prone older brother Freddie, airheaded marijuana grower Jimmy, and amoral boss, Susie.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: As mentioned in his Establishing Character Moment, he is a fair and non-vindictive leader, A Father to His Men and a mature and grounded duke who serves as a Foil to his Upper-Class Twit brother.
- Ship Tease: With both Rosie and Susie.
Freddy
Freddy Horniman
The eldest son of the Halstead dukedom, and none too pleased at being passed over- Butt-Monkey / Chew Toy: Freddy is a textbook example of a character designed to be put through every demeaning and embarrassing circumstance possible. Over the course of the first season he is: tortured by the Dixon family for not being able to pay his debt, passed over for his inheritance, gambles away the last bit of money his family has, forced to dress up and act like a chicken in order to pay off his aforementioned debt, gets himself into danger numerous times and almost gives himself up to be killed by the Dixons because he sees it as a way of repentance for his misdeeds and all the trouble he causes. Thankfully Eddie is there to provide him with a few Pet the Dog moments.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish sibling to Edward’s responsible.
- Foil: Has a few in the show;
- The obvious one is his younger brother, Eddie. Their names may sound similar yet they could not be anymore different, with Eddie being stalwart, non-work shy, elevated inheritor of their father’s title whereas Freddie is an immature Inadequate Inheritor who is constantly getting himself into trouble and having to be bailed out by Eddie throughout the series.
- Surprisingly, he could also be seen to be one of his tormentor Tommy Dixon, as they are both less mature seconds whereas their brothers: The Gospel for Tommy and Eddie for Freddy are the heads of their family. Furthermore they both have Psychopathic Manchild tendencies and embody negative stereotypes, with Tommy being that of the Lower-Class Lout and Freddie being that of the Upper-Class Twit.
- Freddie also shares parallels with Jack Glass. Both are irresponsible party animals, who exist in the periphery of a large scale drug organization. However, while Freddie has a chip on his shoulder at being passed over and sees getting involved with the Glass Family as a means of proving his worth to his family, Jack is a devoted brother to Susie, and is quite content to let her run the family business while he focuses on his boxing career and having fun.
- Hookers and Blow: Addicted to cocaine and is very much a fan of debauchery.
- Manchild / Psychopathic Manchild: Freddie is an Idle Rich boorish Ditz, who throws tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, lacks a serious understanding of most things and has a short-temper which he feeds with drugs and alcohol leading him to make Lethally Stupid errors.
- He borders on being Ax-Crazy when after having finally had enough of being humiliated and degraded by Tommy Dixon he shoots him with a shotgun and would have done the same to Jethro had Eddie not intervened. He was also willing to sell out his own brother and have him killed in order to supplant him as Duke of Halstead, which even Susie was disgusted by.
- The Starscream: Zig-zagged. First he flies into a jealous rage when Edward inherits the title and estate; then he pledges undying loyalty when Edward saves him from the Dixon brothers. Later, in a jealous funk, he clumsily hints to Susie that she should have Edward killed because Freddie is more willing to host the Glass family's business on the estate. Eventually he repents.
- Those Two Guys: Ends up being this with Jimmy, as they collaborate on a new weed strain.
- Upper-Class Twit: Drug addicted, not especially bright, irresponsible and very childish to the point he has to constantly be bailed out of trouble by Edward.
Susie
Susie Glass
- Affably Evil: Whilst she is a ruthless gangster and dangerous enough that numerous figures in the series are suitably afraid of crossing her, she is not an outright villainous person, more A Lighter Shade of Grey, especially in comparison to the far more malicious and Ax-Crazy other criminals that are shown throughout the series. It’s this quality which plays a factor in maintaining her liaison with Eddie and adds to her Anti-Villain status.
- Anti-Villain: Despite her profession Susie is actually quite pleasant and polite, holds strong family values and is implied to be running her father’s operation for much the same reason Eddie is running his father’s estate; family loyalty. Furthermore, she is adverse to killing and violence unless absolutely necessary and chides Freddy for being willing to betray his own brother even though he proposed a more beneficial arrangement compared to Eddie.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Her father left her in charge of his criminal empire upon being incarcerated and the two are shown to have a loving relationship.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Is devoted to her brother, Jack. To the point where, when Jack is beaten into a coma, Susie immediately goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the perpetrators.
- Family Business: Is de facto head of her father’s criminal empire and very much Daddy's Little Villain.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Jack’s foolish, though this is downplayed in comparison to Eddie and Freddy’s dynamic.
- London Gangster: Her profession.
- The Queen Pin: Is acting head of her father’s organisation.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: A Pragmatic Villain, who is adverse to killing and is very patient despite all the shenanigans which occur during the series.
Jimmy
Jimmy
- Asian Airhead:
- The Ditz: Isn’t the brightest.
- Idiot Ball: By the end of episode 4, it's pretty much chained to his wrist. Even Freddie is making better decisions.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Falls head over heels for Gabrielle despite the clear fact she is using him in order to gain access to the weed farm.
- Those Two Guys: Ends up being this with Freddie
Geoff
Geoff Seacombe
- Old Flame: Implied to be this to Lady Halstead. The conversation they have while watching traveller Kellie-Ann ride one of the horses suggests that youngest daughter Charlie may be Geoff’s biological child, raised as a Halstead to prevent the old duke from finding out about his wife’s affair.
- Old Retainer: Has been the gamekeeper and groundsman the Halstead Estate since Edward and Freddie were “in shorts”.
- The Spock: Offers the most practical and logical advice to Eddie with regards to his predicament.
Lady Halstead
- Only Sane Man: Wants the Glass family off the estate, and wants it *yesterday*. She warns Eddie against consorting too much with the gangsters, mentioning how the association with Bobby Glass changed his father for the worse in his later years.
Jack
Jack Glass
- Manchild: Only really cares about boxing, getting drinks with his mates, and pretty girls. Unlike his sister and father, he’s as uninvolved with the family business as it’s possible to be.
- Sacrificial Lion: His manager Henry has him beaten into a coma in a fixed fight to send a message to the Glass family.
Stanley Johnston
Stanley Johnston
An American businessman with a vested interest in the Halstead estate and a few dark secrets of his own.- Actor Allusion: A ruthless drug kingpin maintaining the mirage of a legitimate businessman moving in on the operation of a small but effective organization to absorb it and corner the market? Is that you, Gus?
Bobby Glass
Susie's father and the head of the Glass family, who maintains control of the organisation while behind bars.
- Animal Motif: Pigeons, which he breeds on the prison rooftop, and had delivered to the candidates for his auction of his criminal empire to send their bids. He's also the head of one of the largest drug empires in the country, fitting with the stereotype of pigeons being spreaders of disease, but is also highly intelligent and a Reasonable Authority Figure, representing their more positive aspects.
- The Don: The head of the Glass Family, and in turn their drug empire.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Granted, we never see what his cell actually looks like, but prison life is certainly kind to him. Thanks to his connections, he's able to leave prison grounds to enjoy barbecues expertly prepared by a fellow inmate, complete with wine to go with it, and he's given free reign to breed pigeons on the rooftop.
- Odd Friendship: Ends up striking up one with Stanley Johnston, a rival drug lord who made a move on his territory, after he's arrested at the end of the season. He not only treats him kindly, but even invites him join in his barbecues.
- Secret Test of Character: His auction of his empire at the end of the series was actually one for Eddie and Susie, wanting to see if they had the willingness and wits to run it in his place.
