This City is Ours episode 2 recap: murder and lies tear through the gang (Spoilers)

This City is Ours is an explosive crime drama from the BBC following the organised crime gang led by Ronnie Phelan (Sean Bean).

As Ronnie speaks of retirement, he contemplates who he'll hand his empire over to — his son, Jamie, or his right-hand man, Michael. But there's problems that run far deeper throughout the gang as they navigate selling drugs, rats, and rival gangs. All with Liverpool as the backdrop. The eight-part series unfolds the intricate web of lies and deceit, while Michael vies for a better life and dreams of raising a child with his girlfriend, Diana. Spoilers to follow for This City is Ours.

Here's a recap of everything that happened in This City is Ours episode 2.

Episode two begins in Spain. Michael and Ronnie are driving through the countryside on their way to meet the Amigos. Michael says they need to get another shipment that they can sell and give the Amigos the profit. In the boot, there's banging. Ronnie shouts to Davy saying that they're nearly there. As they pull up onto the hillside, they drag Davy out of the boot while Ronnie holds a gun. They push him into an abandoned building and take the tape off his mouth.

Davy begs and says that he’s sorry. He says he knows it looks bad, but he can explain it. When Michael gets angry at him, Davy tells him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Davy asks to speak to Ronnie alone. Davy yells he’s done nothing wrong. He says you found the house and got the gear, but if Davy had known all about that, why did I get on a plane to Spain? He begs Ronnie to listen. Davy starts to talk about Jamie. At this point, Ronnie dismisses Michael and tells him to give them a minute alone. Michael hears them yelling at each other inside, but he can’t hear exactly what they’re saying. Suddenly, shots are fired. Michael runs in and finds that Ronnie has shot Davy dead.

Michael asks what Davy said, but Ronnie dismisses him saying it doesn’t matter and shouts at him to get the tarp. They wrap up Davy's body and drive it elsewhere. Michael drags it to the edge of a cliff and he and Ronnie throw it off. Michael starts to ask again what Davy was saying about Jamie, but Ronnie won’t answer. He says if he could bring Davy back to life, he would. As they get in the car, Michael asks again. But again, Ronnie won’t answer.

When they get back to the villa, Ronnie says they’ll tell everyone else that Davy walked away, to go to meet a friend in Estepona. Michael says that he wants to know what Jamie has to say for himself. Music is blaring in the villa and Ronnie yells for Jamie to turn it off and get inside. Michael walks in and Jamie asks where Davy is. When Michael tries to talk to him, Ronnie sends him outside. Ronnie tells Jamie that he’s just put three bullets into his friend and he wants Jamie to tell him why.

Outside, Banksey comes over to speak to Michael and he tells him they’re a man down. But he’ll tell him more later. Davy’s phone rings on the sunlounger and they ignore it. Rachel gets up to answer and Michael tells her to leave it. She says it’s his wife, Cheryl. It rings again. Michael tells Rachel to put it on silent, but it still continues to buzz. They all turn their phones on silent. Michael watches as Ronnie and Jamie take a walk outside. Diana comes over and shows Michael a photo of their successful embryos growing ready for transfer.

Michael then asks Banksey if Jamie and Davy were close. He reveals that Ronnie put him in the ground and while Banksey says that was always the plan anyway, Michael says they were supposed to find out what Davy was up to and for who first. Now Michael is suspicious of Jamie. In their room, Diana wants to know where Michael disappeared to for half the day. She says, “Three went out and two came back.” He says that Davy’s gone to Estepona for a meeting, but Diana doesn’t believe him. He asks her to keep an eye on Jamie and Ronnie that evening and to tell him what she sees. She agrees and Michael tells her that things are shifting.

In Ronnie’s room, Elaine asks what Jamie has done. He reveals that Jamie went behind his back and he doesn’t know if he did the wrong thing for the right reasons or if he’s just in it for himself. She tries to defend him and he says Jamie is too smart for his own good. She asks Ronnie what Jamie will do when Ronnie has had enough. She says she’s handed her businesses off to people, maybe she could hand his business off to Jamie. He asks, “What about Michael?” She says he’ll still work for you, technically.

When Michael goes downstairs, Ronnie is there and he explains that for the meeting with the Amigos he’s going to leave Banksey behind and bring Jamie. Michael is suspicious and wants to know what’s going on. He's also worried about the meeting and tells Ronnie that they have nothing to pay the Amigos back and that they owe them a lot of money. Ronnie suggests using different suppliers, but Michael says that’s wrong and asks if Jamie is the reason he’s thinking that would be a good idea. He warns Ronnie that he can’t go for what Jamie thinks because he’s only thinking about himself. Ronnie tells him to stop.

Michael steps outside and goes through Davy’s belongings, still by the poolside. Inside, Elaine is watching him. Jamie comes in to talk to her. He says he tried something, but it didn’t work out, but pleads that he wasn’t trying to screw Ronnie over. He just wanted to show Ronnie because he doesn’t listen to him. She asks him why he didn’t stop it before Davy got killed and he said he’d tried, but he didn’t get a chance. He said he just needed Ronnie to come and talk to him, but he didn’t until after the fact. He says that Ronnie and him have agreed not to say anything more about it until they get home. Elaine thinks maybe Jamie was right to try something and now Ronnie is listening to him. She says she’d like to spend more time in Spain and travel with his father.

Jamie goes back to his room with Melissa and their baby. She’s upset and tells him to keep on the right side of Ronnie and to be careful. Then, Ronnie, Michael, Jamie and Bobby head to their meeting with the Amigos. Jamie asks his dad what their friends from South America know about what’s happened and Ronnie explains that he's told them they're looking for a change in the payment structure, but don’t know why. Michael asks Jamie what he promised Davy, but he won’t answer. Jamie tells him they’ll deal with it when they’re home and Michael says at home, they've got big problems since they're dealers with nothing to deal.

As they arrive, Ronnie pulls Michael to the side and tells him they’ll talk later, but he needs Michael to do what he always does right now. They head inside to talk. Ricardo, one of the Amigos, says that what they’re asking for is a three month delay in payments. And Ronnie says yes, maximum. He turns to Michael. He asks him what will happen if nothing changes for them at the end of the three months and they still can't pay? Ronnie insists things will change. They know what’s happened and they’ll get their sales back on track.

Ricardo asks Michael who has been the problem. And he says they’re dealing with it. Ricardo wants to talk about charging a fee for this extension of time. Ronnie hopes that they can pay in goodwill for their five years of partnership with no problems before now. Michael tells him to do whatever he thinks is fair and Ricardo agrees to goodwill. They cheers, but Ricardo asks to show Michael something outside.

Aside from the rest of the gang, Ricardo tells Michael he’s noticed he’s quiet. He asks whether there’s any problems and Michael asks him about his four kids and says I’ve got four kids too, and explains they’re doing IVF, which is the reason he's quiet. Ricardo then reveals that he was happy to watch the shipment pass through customs without any problems. He says he watched through GPS as they always track their cargo. Michael is shocked to hear this news, but doesn't let on. Ricardo says he has one more question, what will Michael want for his children? He says he wants something more ordinary, safer, legal. Ricardo then explains that his children will go to college in the US and work within the law, but Jamie works for his father. He says, “What will his father want for him?” He says you don’t have to explain, but you didn’t have a voice at that table. Michael tells him it won’t happen again.

That night, everyone heads out to dinner. Jamie stands up to cheers his dad and mum’s anniversary. Michael watches on as the family celebrates and steps away from the table. As Michael tries to catch his breath in the bathroom, Banksey comes in and asks him if he’s okay. He asks him what he missed at the meeting and Michael reveals that he found out the shipment went through the border completely untouched, despite Davy saying it didn't. He says if it wasn’t torn apart then someone took all of the drugs and he wonders if it was Davy. He asks Banksey to get his son, Freddie to drive past the yard and see if the shipment is still there. He says if it’s not, Davy was lying for someone.

Diana and Michael go for a walk away from the celebrations. They discuss how close Jamie and Ronnie have been and Michael expresses that one of the Amigos said the same to him. She asks him why they don’t just walk away. He says it’s his business, but that it’s unwritten that it belongs to him as much as Ronnie. She asks him if he trusts Ronnie, but he doesn’t answer.

Back in the UK, Freddie goes to check the shipment while everyone’s back at the villa partying. Apart from Michael, who watches from upstairs. Banksey steps away and Michael goes down to meet him. Banksey says Ronnie must have another supply line linked up, but Michael doesn’t know anything about it. He thinks Jamie knows. Michael steps away and Banksey calls Freddie. Freddie tells him he’s inside the container and won’t be very happy by what he’s about to show him. All the drugs are missing and he sends the video to Michael to see.

As the party finishes, Elaine shouts down for Ronnie to come to bed. He says he’s having some me-time and throws Davy’s buzzing phone into the pool. Michael watches him from upstairs as he falls asleep on a sun lounger. Michael then creeps downstairs and grabs a knife from the kitchen, but Diana walks in on him. She says she won’t let him do this and he says he won’t let her stop him. He says that Ronnie has already made his mind up and if he doesn’t do this, he’s dead. He tells her to go to bed and steps outside.

Michael heads to the pool and sneaks up on Ronnie quietly. He holds the knife to his chest and tells Ronnie to open his eyes. As he does, he covers his mouth and plows the knife into his heart and muffles his screams. Ronnie lays dead on the sun lounger and Michael wipes the knife on Ronnie’s robe. It cuts to Diana watching from the bedroom.

All episodes of This City is Ours are available to stream on BBC iPlayer now, or released weekly on BBC One.