Penny Dreadful: Predators Far and Near

Although I see the narrative appeal of dividing the gang and then bringing them back together, at the start of this season I was also a bit leery of what it could lead to. It certainly gave John Logan the chance to explore the characters individually, but without the relationships that bound Vanessa, Malcolm, Victor and Ethan together, there was every chance the show could lose some of its heart (or what counts for "heart" when your cast of characters are all monsters of one sort or another).

And yet Logan is pulling this off brilliantly. He's compensated for the lack of a central dynamic by giving everyone a new (or newish) character to bounce off of, and all of the story arcs he's crafting are compelling in their own right. 

Okay, let's handle the big reveal first. Alexander Sweet is Dracula, surprising exactly no one. I called it last week.

But it still worked for me, mainly because I'm sure Logan knew he couldn't pull off a twist, and so shaped events so that it came across as a tragedy instead. I may have known that Alexander was Dracula, but I was really hoping he wouldn't be, such was the character's awkward charm and positive effect on Vanessa. She was happy in his company, and now we know it's all an elaborate deception. That hurts.

There were also plenty of subtle clues pointing to Alexander's identity: a lecture hall full of besotted women, his insistence on "nocturnal danger" being in the eyes of a taxidermied tiger, declining coffee with Vanessa, and even all his talk about Captain Nemo and his longing for adventure. It felt as though he was drawing on her interest in the deep ocean (that was mentioned way back in Closer Than Sisters) and knew throughout what kind of man appeals to her: gentle and passionate.

As such, the final reveal is both unsurprising and devastating.

***

Renfield is certainly very twitchy, but psychic Vanessa doesn't notice his demeanour, not even when he repeats himself: "[the bells] made my head hurt; my head hurt." Didn't the young vampire repeat himself last week when he spoke to Vanessa? ("Something to do with my blood. My blood.") Maybe it's a vampire thing.

Vanessa spills her life story to a recording cylinder, and Seward is clearly moved by it – though she hides her reaction until Vanessa leaves. 

However, judging from Renfield's words to Dracula later in the episode, and Seward's demeanour in her office, I don't think she actually believes what Vanessa has told her. We know Vanessa ends up in a straightjacket later on in the season, so perhaps her faith in Seward (based on her resemblance to Joan Clayton) is misplaced.

I suppose I'm a little disappointed that Vanessa's definition of happiness seems to be rooted in the company of men, but I suppose it's also consistent with what we know about her. That said, I hope that with the return of Dracula we can finally learn more about Mina and get some closure on her friendship with Vanessa. This show has never been particularly good at climactic scenes, and Mina's death was first among these disappointments. When did Dracula turn her into a vampire? How did he get her to turn on Malcolm and Vanessa? What about Jonathan Harker?

And strangely enough, despite not noticing anything wrong with Alexander or Renfield, Vanessa does sense the presence of the vertically haired vampire after Alexander bids her goodnight.

***

We get our grand return from Dorian Grey and Lily, who sneak into an underground club that butchers young women for the viewing pleasure of a paying audience, and kills everyone gathered there. Those ... monsters? Yeah, John Logan is walking a really fine line here when it comes to his definition of "monster". There's no way I can bring myself to disapprove of the deaths of sadistic perverts, which places Lily's crusade in a wholly sympathetic light.

I mean this fucker was smiling:

She's doing the world a favour.

For now it appears that Dorian is just along for the ride, though it's interesting to see the body language between them. Lily clearly takes the lead and dominates whatever room she's in, even favouring a knife over a derringer when it comes to the massacre. But I suspect Dorian will lose interest as soon as Lily says or does something he doesn't find amusing, and he still has a measure of power over the situation. After all, it's his wealth, house, and contacts that Lily is drawing on to organize her war, and it takes only a word from him to take it all away.

It's also an irony not lost on me that Dorian is one of the very men that Lily is trying to eradicate – in her time as Brona he paid her to have sex with him while another man photographed them. (Which reminds me, will those pictures ever re-emerge?)

So this feels like a partnership doomed to fail, though it remains to be seen which one will walk away with the upper hand.

***

Which brings us to Frankenstein and Jekyll, and some background on the latter. Sadly I think the show is passed the days of giving us long flashbacks, but we learn Jekyll has a wealthy English father and is set to inherit his estates. His Indian mother died of leprosy after said father abandoned her – which begs the question: how did he find his way to his father in the first place, and how is he first in line to inherit? (Presumably there are no legitimate children getting in the way, but Jekyll would still need to be legally recognized by his father).

There's also some telling dialogue from him that amounts to: DUALITY, WE ARE TWO THINGS, THE PULL BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL which again makes me wonder whether Mr Hyde has manifested yet. Shazad Latif's performance is a bit more on-point this episode, capturing his simmering anger, detached curiosity and genuine friendship for Victor. I'd say it's good these boys have each other, but they'll eventually bring out the worst in each other, I'm sure.

Despite sedating patients in Bedlam, Doctor Jekyll works in this beautiful laboratory (which is subterranean despite the windows and being located at the end of a grotty stone corridor). But hey, in this show a Gothic aesthetic trumps everything, including logic. Especially logic.

He demonstrates his formula on a raving mental patient, which works surprisingly well, and the decision is made to subject Lily to the same treatment. At this stage Victor seems to have some inkling of what he's put Brona/Lily through, but since he goes right ahead and admits "I want her back", it doesn't count for much. There's nothing to get back since she's already admitted to him that she knew exactly who and what she was all along. He's just seeing what he wants to see.

Finally, the way the Victor/Lily reunion played out was a surprise. She's unexpectedly kind (though he doesn't deserve it) and gently warns him away. Yet according to him: "I must save you, you're my responsibility," which is a pretty loaded line – firstly because he considers Jekyll's plan to be "saving" her, and secondly that he's equating what he's doing with responsibility even though he's demonstrated exactly none of it with any of his creations thus far.

But she's given him a crystal clear message: "don't come here again." If he ignores her (which we all know he will) he's officially in stalker ex-boyfriend territory.

***

Over in the US, we see Inspector Rusk insisting to American law enforcement that it's his responsibility to recapture Ethan Talbot – and he knows exactly where he's going. "Talbot Range" is marked clearly on a map above the sheriff's desk, and as he points out: "the wolf is returning to his den." Which begs the question: does Rusk know that Ethan is a werewolf? Surely they travelled together for longer than a month.

He also says it clearly enough for Hecate to hear it from outside the window, which is convenient.

But it's when Kaetenay (travelling over the sea with Malcolm) communicates with Ethan through spiritual means that we get to the juicy stuff. The origins of Ethan's wolf-curse has been a long-simmering mystery in this show, with my standing theory being that after he slaughtered the Native American tribe (as he recounted to the others last season when the witches were attacking) he was cursed by the survivors. That theory holds water, as Kaetenay says of him: "he came to me with blood on his face."

But the relationship between the two is obviously more complex than that, and is compared directly to Malcolm/Vanessa, with the implication being that Kaetenay cursed Ethan, only to feel a sense of responsibility and eventually love for him (which come to think of it, also sums up the Victor/Lily bond as well).

So what do we find out when Ethan and Kaetenay comes face-to-face in the vision/dream? For starters, Ethan is definitely not pleased to see him, and says: "did they look at you when you killed them?") Who's "they"? Furthermore, Kaetenay calls Ethan an Apache – is that something he adopted before or after the aforementioned massacre took place? We also learn that Ethan plans to kill his father when he gets home, which is hardly surprising.

But finally, Kaetenay says: "you are the Apache I need," suggesting Kaetenay is not just about saving Ethan for his own sake. He's got his own agenda here.

(Also, does Malcolm even know that Ethan is the Wolf Man? I honestly can't remember, but if not, might want to fill him in on that).

In the real world Ethan meets up with another of Kaetenay's tribe, an elderly woman that he warns away before wolfing out. With some help from Hecate he's free from his captors, and I'm genuinely interested in where this is going to go. Will they continue to Talbott Range? Or does Hecate have other plans?

Miscellaneous Observations:

Justine may turn out to be an interesting addition to the cast. Already it seems that Dorian looks on her as a toy, and Lily as a weapon and quasi-daughter. That Lily says: "you are mine" is probably not too auspicious, but Justine seemed on board with her new situation, and demonstrated the requisite amount of spirit, first by spitting at her torturer, then by insisting she'll stand instead of sit at Dorian's house. It'll be interesting to see who she sides with when the inevitable Dorian/Lily split comes.

This was a nice moment. Another patient, another story entirely:

Vanessa's hero was Joan of Arc: not surprising, but she was impressed by her faith. It's also a nice callback (in a sense) to Joan Clayton. That name has inescapable connotations.

Ethan: "I killed the senator's son." Huh? Did we know that already? Was that why he went to England in the first place?

Jekyll's line: "what we won't do for love" was interesting. It was spoken sardonically enough that makes me wonder – was it referring to his love for Victor (that's going completely unnoticed), or Victor's rather twisted definition of love?

"Do all your people speak so enigmatically?" "Yes." Heh - at least they do in these types of stories.

This shot of Jekyll's barber chair. How many of our characters will be strapped in it by the end?