WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels's main hook this season has been the race war brewing between Americans and Mexicans, all due to the sinister presence of the Nazis Hitler sent to infiltrate the country in 1938. As Tiago (Daniel Zovatto) and Lewis (Nathan Lane) investigate what seems to be Mexicans being framed for the murder of some Christian contractors, Lewis puts together a conspiracy theory of his own. In the second episode, "Dead People Lie Down," he takes it to another level by bringing in his own group of Nazi hunters, however, it doesn't go according to plan.
Lewis thinks the Hazlett family that was killed and dressed up in Day of the Dead makeup is all misdirection. He tells Tiago people want the cops to think Mexicans did it, but they soon discover James Hazlett built roadways, and a rival by the name of Richard Goss (Thomas Kretschmann) is now the competition. As Tiago dives deeper into the church the Hazletts were part of, Lewis brings in some old friends to help hunt down what he thinks is a Nazi ring, and he's right.
From the premiere, viewers learned Goss was part of the Third Reich, building infrastructure and putting politicians in his pocket to create a true Nazi nation. Lewis has Dottie (Lin Shaye), Anton (Bill Smitrovich) and Sam (Richard Kind) with him in a car as they follow Goss to a hotel for a business meeting. Clearly, Lewis has a vigilante side to him, and it appears his Jewish contingent spends a lot of time sussing out Nazis infiltrating America, similar to Amazon's Hunters, except this crew's a bit older and not as action-oriented.
Still, they're good at gathering intel, and it seems they did this a lot when they were younger. However, the 'Fantastic Four' is broken up when they see a young man emerge from the hotel with Goss. They split up to tail both cars with Stan and Anton following Goss. Lewis and Dottie trail the youngster back to Caltech, where they discover he's a physics student who works with explosives.
It appears he's building bombs, which leaves Lewis worried for his friends. It's too little, too late, though, because as Stan and Anton trail Goss up a hill, his car stops. His driver and hitman, the Gestapo assassin known as Kurt (Dominic Sherwood), quickly kills both men with his silencer. He then dumps the car over the hill, leaving the sadistic Goss happy but still pensive as to who was following them.
Lewis will be heartbroken when he hears about their deaths but it'll confirm his suspicions. Clues were dropped that the Jewish network of spies is bigger than expected, so hopefully he can get some younger allies for the field. He already said he can't trust his own department because there's so many bigots and white supremacists inside, and Tiago seems to be smitten with a young woman in the church. With his partner distracted and his Jewish cell possibly compromised, Lewis will have to regroup and adjust with some new tactics.
Created, written and executive produced by John Logan, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels stars Daniel Zovatto, Natalie Dormer, Nathan Lane, Jessica Garza, Kerry Bishé, Ethan Peck, Adriana Barraza, Michael Gladis, Dominic Sherwood and Johnathan Nieves, as well as Piper Perabo, Amy Madigan, Brent Spiner, Lorenza Izzo, Lin Shaye and Adam Rodriguez in recurring roles. The series airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.