Penny Dreadful 2.03
May. 18th, 2015 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which Vanessa goes to Dagobah to learn the ways of the Force.
Mmmmm, Vanessa flashback episodes. They're the best. But to get one complaint out first, unless we get some more flashbacks, this doesn't quite explain why the appearances of the witches in the season opener freaked her out that much, because what she sees of evil witches in this episode is brief, from a distance. (And at night which is why I don't have a continuity problem with her not having recognized Evelyn as Joan's sister when she met her at the seance.) Whereas her main exposure to a witch in this episode was a benevolent one.
Anyway. The episode does a lot to lessen my unease re: the essential premise of the season with witches as antagonists because of history by establishingthat Evelyn is a Sith and Joan is a Jedi the whole Daywalker/Nightwalker difference, Joan as someone who uses her powers for good, that psychic powers themselves are neutral and you choose how you use them. (That the good witch is the one living as a peasant and performing abortions, one but by no means the only thing that got a lot of women killed as witches in actual history, whereas the bad witch is the one living as an aristocrat and literally draining the populace of blood to maintain her youth is less than subtle, but works.) Of course John Logan has the problem that the later 19th century is way too late for witch burnings but gets around that via a mixture of Sir What's his name point blank blackmailing his peasants economically, superstition encouraged by Evelyn in order to get back at her sister, and demagogery, which within the 'verse works, though I really have to say that afterwards Sir What's His Name would have had to pay a lot of bribes to keep this event quiet because he certainly would have ended up accused of murder himself otherwise.
Speaking of names: we get some literary nods in this episode, via the name of the estate (Ballantrae - good old Robert Louis Stevenson, though I haven't read that particular novel), and Joan's surname, Clayton (can't tell me John Logan wasn't thinking of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan here, especially considering we're in Scotland). And of course Mr. Logan can't resist quoting from the Scottish Play, both visually (the three witches in the night) and verbally (Joan actually gets to say "something wicked this way comes"). (New theory: Joan and Evelyn are actually two of the original Macbeth witches?)
I suppose my "is Evelyn Elizabeth Barthory?" question was answered in the negative by this one (unless there's a belated revelation that Joan and Evelyn emigrated from Romania to England just in time to be in Scotland for the Civil War), but otoh, it's further affirmed the point of the blood baths is to maintain her looks. Not necessarily her life, since Joan doesn't do it and still made it to the late 19th century. ( BTW, you realise this means Vanessa has a lengthy life span ahead of her if she wants one?) The idea of a grateful Oliver Cromwell granting Joan her estate for ever and ever, and now Vanessa has inherited it, amuses and pleases me in a good way. (Note: John Logan gets a dig in for the Roundheads and against the Royalists, which is fine, but of course you don't have to be a Royalist to find Cromwell not a hero figure, either, you just have to be Irish.)
In terms of previous show mythology, this fills in some gaps; we find out where Vanessa learned how to read tarot cards (and indeed got hers from), and the "Devil's speech" (and also that she's been point blank lying when claiming she had no idea what she was saying in 2.01), and when this happened in her personal time line (after Mina contacted her, before she showed up at Malcolm's). Vanessa trying to figure out who and what she is with the help offemale Yoda another woman who teaches her the ways of the Force not just herb lore and tarot reading but also spells and how to use her powers to look into people (at least into other psychics) makes much sense, except for the problem mentioned above, i.e. that it doesn't explain her freakout at 2.01., so I really hope we get at least one more flashback for that. After all, as far as Vanessa knows Joan's death was entirely a human affair (she doesn't know about Evelyn's involvement), due to spiteful and whipped-in-to-a-frenzy people, and she hasn't, in this episode, seen a "Night Walker" do anything negative other than the attempt to hypnotize Joan early on, she just heard about it reportingly. Mind you, if Joan got around to tell her quite HOW the sister who betrayed her is living the unlife, complete with blood baths and baby entrails, then Vanessa's could have been freaking out based on report alone, but in the scenes we saw Joan didn't and remained more general than that.
The Vanessa and Mina, Joan and Evelyn parallels were a good tie in to last season; "did you kiss her? Would she ever hurt you?" and Vanessa's "yes" and "no, never" (obvious irony is obvious) respectively juxtaposed with Joan talking about kissing her sister and her sister's betrayal. (This show definitely is into incest, pseudo and actiual.) As was Joan demonstrating her powers with that little summary of the late Claire, Vanessa's mother, and how Vanessa related to her. Eva Green and Patti LuPone played off each other beautifully throughout, and was good to see Vanessa in a relationship with another woman once more. Whether or not the Ethan versus Evelyn sharpshooting happens, I now feel more secure re: the inevitable Vanessa versus Evelyn psychic showdown, knowing Vanessa has been trained by a Master Jedi. :)
Speaking of Ethan: considering he told Vanessa most of his werewolf problem (i.e. he said blackouts, and that there's blood when he wakes up; the one thing he hasn't mentioned yet is the wolf factor, and even if he hasn't figured it out completely himself he must know SOMETHING, given his calming down of the London zoo wolves in s1 and his reaction to the wolf herald last episode), and generally their increasing closeness, her confessing this story to him makes sense but I hope he does ask next episode whether she had any more witch encounters after this and before their own, because, see above.
One more time line question: is Sir What's His Name Evelyn's late husband, then? Because while I think there's another time gap between when Evelyn first shows up at Malcolm's and the time they hire Ethan in the pilot, it can't be that large, and Evelyn must have established her Madame Kali/Mrs. Poole identity in fashionable London circles by the time of 2.01.
Mmmmm, Vanessa flashback episodes. They're the best. But to get one complaint out first, unless we get some more flashbacks, this doesn't quite explain why the appearances of the witches in the season opener freaked her out that much, because what she sees of evil witches in this episode is brief, from a distance. (And at night which is why I don't have a continuity problem with her not having recognized Evelyn as Joan's sister when she met her at the seance.) Whereas her main exposure to a witch in this episode was a benevolent one.
Anyway. The episode does a lot to lessen my unease re: the essential premise of the season with witches as antagonists because of history by establishing
Speaking of names: we get some literary nods in this episode, via the name of the estate (Ballantrae - good old Robert Louis Stevenson, though I haven't read that particular novel), and Joan's surname, Clayton (can't tell me John Logan wasn't thinking of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan here, especially considering we're in Scotland). And of course Mr. Logan can't resist quoting from the Scottish Play, both visually (the three witches in the night) and verbally (Joan actually gets to say "something wicked this way comes"). (New theory: Joan and Evelyn are actually two of the original Macbeth witches?)
I suppose my "is Evelyn Elizabeth Barthory?" question was answered in the negative by this one (unless there's a belated revelation that Joan and Evelyn emigrated from Romania to England just in time to be in Scotland for the Civil War), but otoh, it's further affirmed the point of the blood baths is to maintain her looks. Not necessarily her life, since Joan doesn't do it and still made it to the late 19th century. ( BTW, you realise this means Vanessa has a lengthy life span ahead of her if she wants one?) The idea of a grateful Oliver Cromwell granting Joan her estate for ever and ever, and now Vanessa has inherited it, amuses and pleases me in a good way. (Note: John Logan gets a dig in for the Roundheads and against the Royalists, which is fine, but of course you don't have to be a Royalist to find Cromwell not a hero figure, either, you just have to be Irish.)
In terms of previous show mythology, this fills in some gaps; we find out where Vanessa learned how to read tarot cards (and indeed got hers from), and the "Devil's speech" (and also that she's been point blank lying when claiming she had no idea what she was saying in 2.01), and when this happened in her personal time line (after Mina contacted her, before she showed up at Malcolm's). Vanessa trying to figure out who and what she is with the help of
The Vanessa and Mina, Joan and Evelyn parallels were a good tie in to last season; "did you kiss her? Would she ever hurt you?" and Vanessa's "yes" and "no, never" (obvious irony is obvious) respectively juxtaposed with Joan talking about kissing her sister and her sister's betrayal. (This show definitely is into incest, pseudo and actiual.) As was Joan demonstrating her powers with that little summary of the late Claire, Vanessa's mother, and how Vanessa related to her. Eva Green and Patti LuPone played off each other beautifully throughout, and was good to see Vanessa in a relationship with another woman once more. Whether or not the Ethan versus Evelyn sharpshooting happens, I now feel more secure re: the inevitable Vanessa versus Evelyn psychic showdown, knowing Vanessa has been trained by a Master Jedi. :)
Speaking of Ethan: considering he told Vanessa most of his werewolf problem (i.e. he said blackouts, and that there's blood when he wakes up; the one thing he hasn't mentioned yet is the wolf factor, and even if he hasn't figured it out completely himself he must know SOMETHING, given his calming down of the London zoo wolves in s1 and his reaction to the wolf herald last episode), and generally their increasing closeness, her confessing this story to him makes sense but I hope he does ask next episode whether she had any more witch encounters after this and before their own, because, see above.
One more time line question: is Sir What's His Name Evelyn's late husband, then? Because while I think there's another time gap between when Evelyn first shows up at Malcolm's and the time they hire Ethan in the pilot, it can't be that large, and Evelyn must have established her Madame Kali/Mrs. Poole identity in fashionable London circles by the time of 2.01.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-18 12:07 pm (UTC)I could live with this being at the wrong time period for a witch burning because everyone seemed very transparently willing to kill Joan because she was visible proof of their sins, and just needed an excuse to do it (which, again, was not so subtly illustrated by the girl who before had needed the abortion being the first to shout "burn the witch!"). I guess this shared guilt will also keep word from getting out, or Sir Jeffrey aka WhatsHisFace from having to pay too many bribes. I went back and forth between him being just Evelyn's lover or the so far missing Mr. Poole. I think the latter would fit because it just seems like Evelyn to have a manor right next to the place where her sister owns a dump of a house.
Vanessa telling Ethan about this probably has another point besides getting the story out and showing their growing trust: she owns a lonely house smack in the middle of a dark, forsaken moor. Can't you just see a local version of The Hound of the Baskervilles about to be taking shape? Besides, they still have to pick up the Key of Solomon, or the Necronomicon, or whichever spell book Joan left to Vanessa, because she didn't take it with her, and I recognize a Chekov's Gun when I see one.
Something I'm also curious about are Joan's eyes, which were just as Caliban's (and provided a nice tie back to Vanessa's "You have beautiful eyes" last week). Is this just a thing you get when you're near immortal?
Lastly, I'm so petitioning for Vanessa to get the nickname Scorpion of God...
no subject
Date: 2015-05-18 01:06 pm (UTC)Agreed re: the villagers hating Joan because she was proof of their sins. Re: Sir Jeffrey (thanks for remembering the name!), yes, since as his mistress she wouldn't own the manor I'm pretty sure Evelyn would have made him marry her. I'm equally sure she got rid of him at the first opportunity once he was of no more use to torment Joan.
Ooooh, you make a great point re: Hound of the Baskervilles possibilites. As to what the book is, I'd love it to be the Magdalene Grimoire, you know, the one that starts all the trouble in Neil Gaiman's Sandman saga. :)
Is this just a thing you get when you're near immortal?
Since Evelyn, Hecate & Co. don't have it, and nor did Proteus, or does Lily, I don't think so. However, we still have no idea where Victor got the basic materials (read: corpse) for Caliban from, so maybe the original owner of his body was Evelyn's long lost descendant/son? (If Evelyn isn't just talking figuratively when she calls Hecate her daughter, that is. But if she is talking literally, then it stands to reason Joan might have been able to have children as well.) After all, one Victorian cliché the show hasn't used yet is the revelation of unexpected relations!
(For all the s1 complaints about loneliness, I rather suspect Caliban would be appalled if you tell him he's got an aunt and cousins specializing in baby entrail dolls and blood baths...)
"Scorpio Deis" seems like a great call sign for Vanessa, yes. :)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-19 08:34 am (UTC)Update on Sir Jeffrey: apparently his last name is Hawkes, so he's definitely not Mr. Poole. Then again, Evelyn may have already been a widow at that point. Or she returned to her "maiden name" after Hawkes died a sudden, tragic death.
Oh, the Magdalene Grimoire is a great idea!
Cal's former life: Roomie has the half-serious theory that Victor managed to nick the corpse of Jack The Ripper, but a relative of Joan/Evelyn would be great! He could have mope offs with Hecate about being the gothiest teenager around.