Penny Dreadful 2.01
May. 4th, 2015 08:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIt's back!
First of all, a basic premise problem, not an execution one: witches. I suppose it was inevitable, given the show is a collection of horror tropes. But you see, belief in vampires and werewolves hasn't resulted in the persecution and execution of thousands. (Over a thousand within three years (1627-1630) in my hometown Bamberg alone.) And I happen to know a bit about the details of witch trials because I did some research way back when. I even read through the entire Malleus Malleficarum, which is one of the vilest books ever written, and one of the few where it's not invoking Godwin's law to compare it to Hitler's Mein Kampf given the contributions its authors made to actual deaths. So basically, fiction presenting witches the way the two authors of the Malleus Maleficarum imagined them is disturbing to me on a really deep level. And then there are my ongoing objections of using the devil at all.
This aside, Evelyn's Elizabeth Barthory scene in the tub full of blood which the trailer gave away was still incredibly well done, I'm for now assuming she actually is the countess Barthory and immortal, and it's good to have a main antagonist in the season who can actually talk and has a personality. The ending of the episode makes me conclude we'll be heading towards a big Evelyn versus Vanessa showdown in the finale and that having Evelyn as a nemesis will challenge Vanessa through the season to develop her psychic powers and use them consciously. The other witches, otoh, seem to be of the redshirt/disposable minions type.
Ethan's horror when he realises his wolf self hasn't only killed the two Pinkerton agents but everyone in the tavern again begs the question why he hasn't worked out a method to lock himself away during full moon nights, but okay. He's trying to head towards other shores again (Ethan: joining the army again? Wouldn't have been a solution, either, au contraire!) when the witch minions attack him and Vanessa, which also interrupts what I think was his attempt to confide the truth to her. It did sound to me as if he'd told her; she's the one he trusts most, he knows she can empathize with being afraid of being possessed by a monster, and she wanted to know. But alas, plot intervened. Incidentally, it's obvious they'll go with Ethan/Vanessa this season, and so far I'm on board, but I do hope they won't drag him telling her the truth out much longer with similar contrivances, because I dislike these types of artificial misunderstandings.
Sembene has two talking scenes, both of them with Vanessa. Keep at it, show, and give us that Sembene flashback episode already, his mostly silent role is really one of your few drawbacks.
Victor, fondling the body of a woman you killed and are about to resurrect is creepy even for this show. Stick to having UST with the boys. Speaking of whom, Caliban's reply when Victor asks him whether Caliban and not yet named former Brona would be heading off and leave him alone is the opposite of what the Creature says to the same question in the novel and yet feels entirely Shelleyan, not to mention right for this show. Of course they're stuck with each other and define each other.
I'm amused John Logan uses Caliban (and Caliban earning himself a living) to highlight the different aspects of late Victorian popular entertainment. Last season it was the Grand Guignol, this season it appears to be the waxworks - which are of course still around in London - and we get another Mary Shelley tidbit thrown in, this time the blind person befriending the Creature. Am also amused the poetry reading Caliban picked "John Clare" as a new pseudonym, because of course he would.
Apropos Victorian entertainment: one late Victorian archetype not yet around in the first season was of course.... wait for it... the detective. So I got a kick out of one showing up at the scene of Ethan's massacre, taking over the investigation. Am also satisfied it's not a Holmes avatar - there's something of an overabundance of Holmes variations right now - but rather an Inspector who presumably will be in the mold of the ones from Wilkie Collins' sensation novels. Mind you, given that Ethan was a regular at that Inn, even lived there for a while, and isn't among the dead bodies, it won't take a genius to finger him as a suspect soon.
The short, sharp and well played scene between Malcolm and his wife - who now has a first name, Gladys (if she was named in s1, I didn't catch it then) - caught me by surprise and might even become my favourite of the season opener the more I think about it. Not least because Gladys was such a nonentity in Vanessa's flashback episode, and there'd been no indication she was still alive before. And it makes sense that Gladys would barely register for Vanessa - that she'd think of her solely as Mina's mother, Malcolm's boring wife - whereas to Malcolm, from whose pov we see her here, she's someone else altogether, a woman who sees him - and judges him - clearly. "We have no more children for you to try to save - or to kill." Not only is that the ultimate whammy of a line in this context, it implies he actually told Gladys the truth of how Mina died, as opposed to a convenient fiction. Did he mean it when asking to live together in the country again, or was that something created by the moment of standing together in front of their children's graves? Self punishment, atonment or an attempt to recapture the past? No idea, but she rejects it anyway, complete with his interpretation of said past.
I'm also intrigued as to possible Doylist reasons for this scene beyond reestablishing Malcolm's guilt re: the fates of his children for possible new viewers. If the show didn't intend to do anything further, they could have done it in another way, via a scene between Malcolm and Victor or Malcolm and Ethan. It's not like clearing up whether or not his wife was still alive was a big priority based on s1 alone. However, putting this scene in the same episode where Evelyn announces her intention to seduce Malcolm makes me conclude Evelyn will try to get him to marry her in order to get her hands on Vanessa, and given Gladys has just declared she wants to stay married in the eyes of the law because of status, this would mean either death for Gladys or a shocking divorce case. If it's death, then I further speculate Evelyn will try to frame Ethan for it - given he's just been established as an obstacle on the path to Vanessa in her eyes, and she does know he's a werewolf.
Oh, and lastly: John Logan clearly likes reading Neil Gaiman, what with the witches referring to Ethan in Latin as a Hound of God. (Hello, Miss Lupescu from The Graveyard Book.)
First of all, a basic premise problem, not an execution one: witches. I suppose it was inevitable, given the show is a collection of horror tropes. But you see, belief in vampires and werewolves hasn't resulted in the persecution and execution of thousands. (Over a thousand within three years (1627-1630) in my hometown Bamberg alone.) And I happen to know a bit about the details of witch trials because I did some research way back when. I even read through the entire Malleus Malleficarum, which is one of the vilest books ever written, and one of the few where it's not invoking Godwin's law to compare it to Hitler's Mein Kampf given the contributions its authors made to actual deaths. So basically, fiction presenting witches the way the two authors of the Malleus Maleficarum imagined them is disturbing to me on a really deep level. And then there are my ongoing objections of using the devil at all.
This aside, Evelyn's Elizabeth Barthory scene in the tub full of blood which the trailer gave away was still incredibly well done, I'm for now assuming she actually is the countess Barthory and immortal, and it's good to have a main antagonist in the season who can actually talk and has a personality. The ending of the episode makes me conclude we'll be heading towards a big Evelyn versus Vanessa showdown in the finale and that having Evelyn as a nemesis will challenge Vanessa through the season to develop her psychic powers and use them consciously. The other witches, otoh, seem to be of the redshirt/disposable minions type.
Ethan's horror when he realises his wolf self hasn't only killed the two Pinkerton agents but everyone in the tavern again begs the question why he hasn't worked out a method to lock himself away during full moon nights, but okay. He's trying to head towards other shores again (Ethan: joining the army again? Wouldn't have been a solution, either, au contraire!) when the witch minions attack him and Vanessa, which also interrupts what I think was his attempt to confide the truth to her. It did sound to me as if he'd told her; she's the one he trusts most, he knows she can empathize with being afraid of being possessed by a monster, and she wanted to know. But alas, plot intervened. Incidentally, it's obvious they'll go with Ethan/Vanessa this season, and so far I'm on board, but I do hope they won't drag him telling her the truth out much longer with similar contrivances, because I dislike these types of artificial misunderstandings.
Sembene has two talking scenes, both of them with Vanessa. Keep at it, show, and give us that Sembene flashback episode already, his mostly silent role is really one of your few drawbacks.
Victor, fondling the body of a woman you killed and are about to resurrect is creepy even for this show. Stick to having UST with the boys. Speaking of whom, Caliban's reply when Victor asks him whether Caliban and not yet named former Brona would be heading off and leave him alone is the opposite of what the Creature says to the same question in the novel and yet feels entirely Shelleyan, not to mention right for this show. Of course they're stuck with each other and define each other.
I'm amused John Logan uses Caliban (and Caliban earning himself a living) to highlight the different aspects of late Victorian popular entertainment. Last season it was the Grand Guignol, this season it appears to be the waxworks - which are of course still around in London - and we get another Mary Shelley tidbit thrown in, this time the blind person befriending the Creature. Am also amused the poetry reading Caliban picked "John Clare" as a new pseudonym, because of course he would.
Apropos Victorian entertainment: one late Victorian archetype not yet around in the first season was of course.... wait for it... the detective. So I got a kick out of one showing up at the scene of Ethan's massacre, taking over the investigation. Am also satisfied it's not a Holmes avatar - there's something of an overabundance of Holmes variations right now - but rather an Inspector who presumably will be in the mold of the ones from Wilkie Collins' sensation novels. Mind you, given that Ethan was a regular at that Inn, even lived there for a while, and isn't among the dead bodies, it won't take a genius to finger him as a suspect soon.
The short, sharp and well played scene between Malcolm and his wife - who now has a first name, Gladys (if she was named in s1, I didn't catch it then) - caught me by surprise and might even become my favourite of the season opener the more I think about it. Not least because Gladys was such a nonentity in Vanessa's flashback episode, and there'd been no indication she was still alive before. And it makes sense that Gladys would barely register for Vanessa - that she'd think of her solely as Mina's mother, Malcolm's boring wife - whereas to Malcolm, from whose pov we see her here, she's someone else altogether, a woman who sees him - and judges him - clearly. "We have no more children for you to try to save - or to kill." Not only is that the ultimate whammy of a line in this context, it implies he actually told Gladys the truth of how Mina died, as opposed to a convenient fiction. Did he mean it when asking to live together in the country again, or was that something created by the moment of standing together in front of their children's graves? Self punishment, atonment or an attempt to recapture the past? No idea, but she rejects it anyway, complete with his interpretation of said past.
I'm also intrigued as to possible Doylist reasons for this scene beyond reestablishing Malcolm's guilt re: the fates of his children for possible new viewers. If the show didn't intend to do anything further, they could have done it in another way, via a scene between Malcolm and Victor or Malcolm and Ethan. It's not like clearing up whether or not his wife was still alive was a big priority based on s1 alone. However, putting this scene in the same episode where Evelyn announces her intention to seduce Malcolm makes me conclude Evelyn will try to get him to marry her in order to get her hands on Vanessa, and given Gladys has just declared she wants to stay married in the eyes of the law because of status, this would mean either death for Gladys or a shocking divorce case. If it's death, then I further speculate Evelyn will try to frame Ethan for it - given he's just been established as an obstacle on the path to Vanessa in her eyes, and she does know he's a werewolf.
Oh, and lastly: John Logan clearly likes reading Neil Gaiman, what with the witches referring to Ethan in Latin as a Hound of God. (Hello, Miss Lupescu from The Graveyard Book.)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-04 08:02 am (UTC)The witches were pretty uncomfortable, as were other aspects of the premiere (i.e. Victor. Are they planning to introduce Sigmund Freud? Because our good doctor could use a line or two about inappropiate (quasi-)incestuous behaviour. Maybe Dr. Jekyll as a psychiatrist?). A lot of that could be mediated if they decided to introduce a more positive counter example, which would make a lot more sense than in the case of the vampires, because these are humans, not monsters.
I agree with you on the Witchy Minions, except for the unfortunately named Hecate, Evelyn's daughter - yay, more incestuous vibes - who'll likely play a bigger role. Also, given Vanessa's general reaction, and Evelyn's hints that they might have unfinished business aside from Vanessa being the Devil's Bride or whatever, do you think Vanessa may have dabbled in a bit of witchery back in the day?
What I liked about Sembene's scenes, other than the increased dialogue, was no one even pretending that he was anything like a manservant, or not part of their group. Baby steps, show.
I can't believe that Caliban honestly managed to stumble into the den of working class Dickens villains, but it's just his thing, isn't it? Now I'm afraid that the Putneys will force him to become a living wax statue. Roomie observed that the Jack of Putney's Ripper tableau sported the same coat as Caliban did, which might mean something, or just be a sight gag. The cut between Putney showing his newest masterpiece to Cal and the inn was certainly marvellous.
I enjoyed the detective which likely means that he is evil, or at least secretly an opium fiend. Also, I'd imagine there might be some story connected to his stiff arm.
Ethan's problem in this storyline is not just the detective or that he was a regular at the inn, however, it's the fact that someone survived, and at worst will be able to describe what happened.
I think Ethan being surprised at the corpses still points to him not really understanding what happens when he turns. Now I suspect that is mostly due to him repressing the knowledge out of guilt, connected to whatever it was he did back in America. As for the solution of going to war in Spain or Russia, that seemed a long-winded way of saying "suicide by other people," which seems understandable, if periliously close to "I'm a tragic hero, woe is me." I'm about as enthusiastic as you about Ethan not taking a practical solution to his problem, but from a character point of view it makes sense to me. He feels very guilty, I think he wants to punish himself. It would be nicer if he considered doing it in a way that doesn't endanger other people! I simply wonder if that is thinking a bit too gamer-like, because we know the trappings of the genre, but Ethan clearly doesn't.
Isn't lupus dei "wolf of god"? I'm currently playing this computer game, and they are making a lot out of "domini canis" being a pun on the Dominicans, meaning "hounds of the lord," that's why I'm asking.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-04 12:24 pm (UTC)do you think Vanessa may have dabbled in a bit of witchery back in the day?
Entirely possible. There is that gap between Vanessa's mother dropping dead at the sight of her having sex with the devil and Vanessa getting her vision of Mina and show up at Malcolm's - long enough time for Vanessa's hair to entirely regrow.
Sembene: true.
Of course Caliban would stumble into the den of working class Dickens villains. Speaking of Dickens, we haven't yet a ghost, either, and since it's still winter and Christmas time or shortly thereafter on the show, what do you want to bet one of our gang is going to experience a Scrooge like ghostly night? (Malcolm is the obvious candidate, but he already has had his big epiphany moment with Mina & Vanessa, so...)
Eh, I vote opium fiend. Or rather, cocaine. It's a Victorian detective thing!
Lups dei is "Wolf of God", literally, but in Gaiman's Graveyard Book, the werewolf, Miss Lupescu (definitely a good guy), also calls herself a hound of God. The Domini Canes pun was already made in the middle ages.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-04 03:06 pm (UTC)That means more Vanessa flashbacks of course! *glees*
Ghost: hmm. You've seen the trailer right? Remember eyepatch guy? Of course, he didn't look like a literal ghost, but I just had this very horrible thought of Victor pinching not just from corpses but also from living patients. Or maybe this is someone from Caliban's pre-Victor past, which is doubtlessly also dark and dreary. So, Dorian or Sembene, then. Both could need a bit of story, but I vote Sembene, because I've already read the Picture Of.
Hmm, his arm could pain him, so of course he would have to take a dose now and then. And maybe in his drug-addled state, he'll have visions of crime scenes... his name is Inspector Rusk by the way. Which means Zwieback, apparently. I don't think that's a hint.
Oh, the game didn't claim they invented the pun, they even had a priest - naturally a Dominican - explain its history.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-04 09:35 pm (UTC)Evelyn's Elizabeth Bathory scene in the tub full of blood which the trailer gave away was still incredibly well done, I'm for now assuming she actually is the countess Barthory and immortal, and it's good to have a main antagonist in the season who can actually talk and has a personality.
I don't know if we'll get the full Bathory with her - she's certainly more than a bit mad, though a VERY intelligent sort of mad. John Logan keeps stressing the witchy side of her, and calling her a "very human antagonist". So either she IS the Countess and Logan's lying through his teeth, or Evelyn just enjoys bloodbaths.
The other witches, otoh, seem to be of the redshirt/disposable minions type.
Well, except for Hecate, whose name is SO on-the-nose it hurts.
Did he mean it when asking to live together in the country again, or was that something created by the moment of standing together in front of their children's graves? Self punishment, atonment or an attempt to recapture the past?
Ah, Malcolm. I adored that scene - mostly for Gladys telling him where he could stick his "lets live together and reconcile" speech - and I think his proposition came from his desire for atonement. Let's be real, Malcolm doesn't love Gladys, he loves the idea of his faithful wife who (as far as we know) never suspected his infidelity. His idea of reconciliation was basically him saying "you are the last link I have to blood family and traditional values, I should repair this", and her telling him it was never going to happen. So, a bit of all three of the above, really.
However, putting this scene in the same episode where Evelyn announces her intention to seduce Malcolm makes me conclude Evelyn will try to get him to marry her in order to get her hands on Vanessa, and given Gladys has just declared she wants to stay married in the eyes of the law because of status, this would mean either death for Gladys or a shocking divorce case.
You may be interested in this preview clip from 2.02, wherein Evelyn proves a HELL of a better shot than Malcolm and interrogates him about his aforementioned arrangements with his wife. It seems Malcolm quite plainly doesn't love Gladys, but is bent on staying married to preserve her reputation, at least, that's what he informs Evelyn of this episode. Not to say this precludes Evelyn *attempting* to marry Malcolm, just that Malcolm's pretty resistant.
MORE SEMBENE YES PLEASE.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 06:47 am (UTC)Great preview clip. Re: what Malcolm says, fits with what Gladys says in 2.01. (i.e. she wants to stay married for status and reputation reasons, but he's supposed to stay the hell away from her), which incidentally actually is historically valid - even if the divorce happened in a way that makes him a self confessed guilty party, there'd be stigma and material loss in it for her. This said, it's telling Malcolm details his state of marriage to Evelyn, making it clear both that he's emotionally available and that marriage won't be in the cards; he's clearly interested in her and so far trying to be honest about what she can expect if she's interested as well. Also, bonus points for his idea of a date picking up on her interest in shooting weapons as expressed in the shop where they met. :) If she wasn't into human sacrifice, devil worship and Vanessa tormenting, they'd have a future together! And it's great that she's so much of a better shot.
Anyway, with Gladys now established as a confident woman who knows her own mind and is not hesitant to tell Malcolm off, I have to wonder again how trustworthy Vanessa's image of Mina in the flashbacks as the sweet natured conventional one was as well. I mean, not that Mina secretly was having a double life, but she was evidentally energetic and self determined enough to leave home in the wake of her aborted wedding and work (which she didn't have to, financially speaking) elsewhere. And while this series hasn't made it clear yet how much of the original personality survives vampirization, it's worth noting that it was Mina, not Unnamed Dracula, who orchestrated the elaborate mindgames on Vanessa and Malcolm through the first season with an endgame of taking Vanessa in front of Malcolm in mind.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 10:58 am (UTC)Hecate: I know she's pretty much Chaotic Evil, but I kind of feel sorry for her? I mean, imagine being named Hecate, and then raised in what appears to be quite a "traditional" Evil Satanist household. No wonder she's a bit like a hardcore version of Wednesday Addams. Although I'd really like to know if the hissing was because she just digs it, or because she's secretly Sekhmet or Wadjet, or some more obscure Egyptian goddess (or at least likes to think she is either that, or The Hecate). I wonder if she and Caliban would hit it off...
I was quite happy that Gladys saw through Malcolm's hogwash, and took him to task for it. Although that preview didn't look positive for her continued survival - clearly Evelyn is more than capable of hitting her targets.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 11:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 11:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 10:43 pm (UTC)Seriously! I mean, I'm still shipping them like FedEx, just, with the caveat that it's going to end horribly.
I have to wonder again how trustworthy Vanessa's image of Mina in the flashbacks as the sweet natured conventional one was as well.
Oh, that IS a good point - not that Van's memories are *entirely* self-serving, but as you say, we've now seen a different aspect to Gladys that throws the flashbacks into question. I don't doubt that Mina was much more clever and determined than Vanessa gave her credit for.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 10:51 pm (UTC)Oh, very much so. The girl who provided the blood is even still sprawled out dead on the steps, unnoticed by pretty much everyone including the camera.
I was quite happy that Gladys saw through Malcolm's hogwash, and took him to task for it. Although that preview didn't look positive for her continued survival - clearly Evelyn is more than capable of hitting her targets.
I'm hoping it's a big giant red herring, because if Evelyn shoots *anyone*, Malcolm's going to put two and two together. I also don't want Gladys to be fridged, because UGH.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-06 03:40 am (UTC)Hang on, though: shooting. That's also Ethan's speciality when he's not a wolf! Maybe there will be a gunfight
on the OK Corralat some point that includes an Evelyn vs Ethan duel of the sharpshooters?no subject
Date: 2015-05-06 04:28 am (UTC)Because Van remembering her childhood as Eden (with the proverbial apple of knowledge being the sight of Malcolm having sex with her mother) and leading into her reminiscences with "were two families ever closer than ours?" is a bit like Malcolm telling Gladys "we were happy" to which she says "no, Malcolm, you were happy". It was certainly paradise, and then paradise with a secret, for Vanessa until Mina's betrothal, and it was presumably great for Malcolm, who had both the adventures abroad and the adoring family at home complete with illicit afair with the exciting neighbour. But even if she never realised about Malcolm and Claire, how did Gladys feel about the fact that even during those rare times when he was around, her husband brought the Ives clan into their lives as much as their own children? How did she feel about Vanessa, the girl her own daughter loved so much and whom Malcolm treated as a second daughter while neglecting their son, even before Vanessa broke up Mina's engagement? She certainly makes no attempt to see her afterwards, or to keep up contact with any of the Ives, which considering that as opposed to Malcolm she remained living next door all the time, and as we now have seen is entirely capable of making her own judgments, is saying something.
And of course we still have no idea whether or not Vanessa's father is still alive and what the hell he is thinking about all of this, either.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-06 12:48 pm (UTC)A duel between these two would certainly be fun!
no subject
Date: 2015-05-08 06:03 pm (UTC)