'The Gold' Recap: Season 1 Episode 6

The Gold is available to stream on the PBS app and wttw.com. Recap the previous episode.
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John Palmer has finally returned to England and been arrested. Boyce tries to get a confession that John knowingly smelted and sold the stolen Brink’s-Mat gold, but John feigns ignorance, using his illiteracy as an extra shield – a paper trail won’t work with him. He pleads not guilty when brought to court. Ken sends his wife to watch the proceedings, as a subtle warning to John not to talk.

Boyce is worried that similar warnings – or worse – will reach Edwyn Cooper. So he is housing Edwyn at the police station, because Boyce needs him alive and fears what would happen to him in a general prison. The detectives get Edwyn to explain how he laundered £13 million from the sale of the stolen gold through a Swiss bank account into 30 front companies. Those companies then bought properties that Edwyn and Gordon flipped, sending the proceeds of the sales through other front companies to a bank account in Liechtenstein, which now holds £28 million – more than the gold was worth, thanks to canny dealmaking.

There’s a lot of shifty dealing going on as Boyce prepares to bring everyone to trial. Ken’s lawyer files a specious complaint against Boyce, triggering an internal investigation that could hurt Boyce’s testimony before a jury if it is not cleared up by the time he appears in court. 

A man presenting himself as Edwyn’s lawyer requests a meeting with Boyce in a “less formal” setting – i.e. a public place off the record. Boyce, knowing that the man is approaching him on behalf of Ken and his allies, not Edwyn, in an effort to cut a deal, agrees. He brings along Nicki, presenting her as his lover.

Boyce asks the man for a name at Scotland Yard to whom he can corruptly pass information regarding the investigation and gets that of Neville Carter, who already approached Boyce about making a deal on behalf of Edwyn and Gordon. Evidence of Neville’s corruption in hand, Boyce and Nicki drop the artifice. 

Boyce then rushes to the station where Edwyn is being held, fearing that Ken and his allies will now try to stop him from talking, corrupt dealmaking having failed. Boyce finds the station nearly empty: a bunch of locals called in about a “mass disturbance,” drawing officers out. Boyce brings one of the remaining constables with him to stand in front of the station in a show of force as a car slowly drives by – and leaves. Edwyn is safe – for now.

Neville then tries to bribe Tony at a bar, offering him £50 thousand to go easy on Gordon and Edwyn – to no avail. 

Gordon flees England, wading into the ocean to board a boat to France. There, he pays a visit to Edwyn’s girlfriend Sienna, issuing her and Edwyn a subtle warning. This leads Edwyn to reconsider cooperating with the police, even though Sienna tells him she won’t wait for him while he’s in prison. 

When Edwyn tells the police he will plead not guilty and claim he shared information under duress, Boyce threatens to place him in an open prison wing where other criminals can do what they will to him. Nicki and Tony urge Boyce to keep Edwyn at the station one more night – with access to a phone. 

When Gordon calls him and Edwyn informs him that he’s no longer cooperating, the police trace Gordon’s phone call to Spain. Nicki and Tony find Gordon there and arrest him – but he’s unconcerned. The Liechtenstein account has been cleared of money, more money has been hidden in Panama, and Gordon thinks he won’t serve much time in prison. When he’s released, he’ll be a rich man. 

Ken’s underworld associates are also trying to pressure Nicki through her dying ex-con father. Her father asks Nicki to visit him during the day while a party is happening next door to ensure her safety, and tells her that someone tried to make him give her a message. He refused, and told the messengers not to go anywhere near Nicki. He tells her not to visit him anymore, overriding her objection. He’s proud of her, and doesn’t want to live with the fear that something will happen to her. She gets in her car, cries for a minute, boldly puts her siren on, and leaves. 

John’s wife Marnie visits him in prison despite his objection. He’s enjoying the press attention on him, but she hates all the cameras outside their house. He has gotten a new, flashier wedding ring after giving up his original as a bribe – but she prefers the old one. Despite everything, she still believes his claims that he’s innocent.

And so does the jury, which finds him not guilty. 

Boyce is also cleared of any wrongdoing in the investigation triggered by Ken’s lawyer’s complaint. He urges his superior to turn her investigation on the corrupt cop Neville Carter. 

In Ken’s trial, his lawyer argues that Boyce is pursuing a vendetta against Ken out of vengeance for the colleague Ken killed. Ken doesn’t deny skirting the law by avoiding paying taxes on gold he sells, but he denies being involved with Brink’s-Mat or stolen gold. By insulting Ken’s competence in his testimony, Boyce goads Ken into bragging about his wealth on the stand. 

Ken is found guilty on all charges. His response to the jury is “I hope you all die of cancer.”

Other than four of the original robbers, John is the only one in the whole scheme to get off not guilty. (Gordon gets more time than he expected.) John is continuing his investment in timeshares named El Dorado in Tenerife, which requires him to travel there again – to Marnie’s disappointment. She feels like John is abandoning the family. 

Boyce commends his team for their work: they uncovered the whole criminal scheme, from robbers all the way to money launderers. He has recommended Nicki and Tony for a promotion, and they want to keep following the money that Gordon secreted away in Panama. But Boyce is planning to retire.

Until he visits Ken after Ken is found guilty. He finally realizes that Ken never had the half of the gold that Boyce’s team has still not found. It was immediately split into two hoards, straight from the Brink’s-Mat facility. 

Nicki and Tony have come to the same realization. Edwyn told them he finished laundering the money, all £13 million of it. But there was £26 million of gold stolen. The police only got charges to stick on two of the six robbers; four of them are still at large with £13 million of gold. Boyce won’t be retiring after all.