After a heavy dose of frenetic table-setting in the series premiere, War’s second episode — sharply written by George Kay and deftly directed by Ben Taylor — slows its pacing down a bit as Morgan (Dominic West) and Carla (Sienna Miller) and their respective legal teams enter the pivotal three-day mediation period of their divorce.

Morgan and Carla are each instructed by their teams to put on amicable fronts as both sides strategize how to strike the best deal. That means a lot of strained smiles and literal hand-holding between the divorcing spouses to mask any anger and bitterness. Their facades just barely hold. Behind the scenes, their teams are reckoning how to protect their clients and gain the upper hand.

After Carla was surprised on the red carpet with divorce papers, her lawyers at Taylor & Byrne want to control the developing narrative, namely the matter of Flora Monroe (Rose Williams), the young actress Carla enlisted to honey-trap Morgan in a one night stand.

Taylor & Byrne partner Serena (Phoebe Fox) tries to convince Flora to sign an NDA as a means to protect herself and Carla, but Flora is unnerved by the request. She’s not fond of being paid off as if she were a prostitute. Flora insists she chose to sleep with Morgan because she found him attractive.

Serena’s plan ends up backfiring spectacularly because her new hire, Johnny (Archie Renaux), is secretly on his first assignment as the mole for Morgan’s lawyers at Cathcarts. Johnny is funneling information to both firms about Serena’s offer to compensate Flora and detailing the shakedown engineered by Flora’s greedy mother Mumsy (a scene-stealing Camille Coduri).

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