S01.E03: Falling

[Scarlett45]

Quote

After fishermen claim they were attacked by the serpent, Cora becomes more determined to understand what's in the water.

Air Date: May 20, 2022

[AngieBee1]

Spoiler

All the focus on Luke and his heart surgery quest made me think it was a Chekhov's Gun situation. That he would certainly be performing heart surgery on one of the characters. Maybe it's Stella with her not so subtle cough o' doom? Or maybe she's just meant to perish so that Cora and Will can be together.

 

[pezgirl7]

What a weird, abrupt ending. I thought something was wrong with my tv at first. I hope they didn’t kiss, especially with Will’s wife watching. Not much really happened in this episode except for the boat being “attacked”. Could it be a shark? I guess I’m ruling out anything supernatural just because the show seems too grounded in reality. 

[blackwing]

On 5/21/2022 at 12:29 AM, pezgirl7 said:

What a weird, abrupt ending. I thought something was wrong with my tv at first. I hope they didn’t kiss, especially with Will’s wife watching. Not much really happened in this episode except for the boat being “attacked”. Could it be a shark? I guess I’m ruling out anything supernatural just because the show seems too grounded in reality. 

I agree that not a whole lot seemed to happen.  This is such a strange show, I feel like I'm supposed to know a lot more than I actually do.  So many things are completely unexplained.

My chief complaint is that I don't know what I am supposed to make of Will and Cora.  She met him by the river or something in episode 1 where he was completely rude and dismissive.  Then she goes to Essex and finds out that he is the village vicar.  And somehow we are supposed to see that they have this "connection"?  I thoroughly don't get it, they have known each other for like two days and the show is acting like they are some tragic couple that can't get together because of their diametrically opposite views and the fact that he is married and she is possibly not even interested in men.

I don't understand the Luke Garrett character and what his purpose is in advancing the plot.  He seems besotted by Cora, I'm not sure why, she seems to be about 15 years older than him.  Is he after her money?  I don't get what is going on here, it's like there's some kind of weird semi-platonic triangle between Cora, Luke and Will.  What makes it even weirder is that Will seemed jealous that Luke was at Cora's house.  Even though Will is married and seems devoted to his family.  Luke was introduced as an "old friend from London"... was he really?  I don't recall the backstory behind how Luke and Cora knew each other or how long.

It might even be a quadrangle with the revelation that Martha occasionally shares Cora's bed.

I do feel like the ending was them about to kiss, but then the episode just abruptly ended.

I don't fully understand what Will was doing when he took a swim in the lake... other than the producers wanted to see Tom Hiddleston naked, you could see from the underwater shot that apparently they didn't wear swimsuits in Victorian England?  It was just an oddly placed scene.

And I agree about the vibe of the show... it seems like it is based in reality but then they also introduce this possibly supernatural element with all the one child going into a shaking fit and the others being affected.  If it really was caused by tainted rye flour, then how is the serpent explained?  As Cora said, maybe it's some kind of pleiosaur that has somehow survived the years (like the Loch Ness Monster legend).

Edited May 26, 2022 by blackwing

[pezgirl7]

6 hours ago, blackwing said:

I don't fully understand what Will was doing when he took a swim in the lake... other than the producers wanted to see Tom Hiddleston naked, you could see from the underwater shot that apparently they didn't wear swimsuits in Victorian England?  It was just an oddly placed scene.

I think he was testing his faith, as well as his belief that there isn’t a mysterious creature that could attack him. 

I agree that the relationships between all the main characters is really odd. I thought at first that maybe Luke was gay and he just wanted to get with Cora for her money. I don’t think that any longer, but I’m not really sure what the attraction is other than she’s different than other women. The look he gave the maid, and the look she gave him, when Cora entered her bedroom was also strange and I’m not sure what to make of it. 

[Scarlett45]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:51 PM, blackwing said:

I don't understand the Luke Garrett character and what his purpose is in advancing the plot.  He seems besotted by Cora, I'm not sure why, she seems to be about 15 years older than him.  Is he after her money?  I don't get what is going on here, it's like there's some kind of weird semi-platonic triangle between Cora, Luke and Will. 

I think Luke is attracted to the idea of being married to a wealthy widow such as Cora (he’s a broke doctor who wants to do experimental surgeries- he needs money), but I also think he finds her to be intelligent and interesting. If you’re looking to marry for money- marrying someone who you can talk to is a plus. 
 

I am getting the vibe that Cora isn’t really into Martha, but Martha was the only adult in her life offering her any affection or companionship during her marriage to that sadistic abusive husband, so of course she appreciates her, but if she actually fell in love with someone she wouldn’t be sleeping in Martha’s bed any more. 

On 5/26/2022 at 11:04 PM, pezgirl7 said:

I don’t think that any longer, but I’m not really sure what the attraction is other than she’s different than other women. The look he gave the maid, and the look she gave him, when Cora entered her bedroom was also strange and I’m not sure what to make of it. 

I think Luke likes Cora and finds her interesting. She also is willing to listen to him talk about his work. Regarding the scene with the exchange of looks -I think Luke realized that there’s a “thing” between Martha and Cora but he’s not letting that him from his pursuit of Cora. 

[Rickster]

On 5/26/2022 at 5:51 PM, blackwing said:

I don't understand the Luke Garrett character and what his purpose is in advancing the plot.  He seems besotted by Cora, I'm not sure why, she seems to be about 15 years older than him.  Is he after her money?  I don't get what is going on here, it's like there's some kind of weird semi-platonic triangle between Cora, Luke and Will.  What makes it even weirder is that Will seemed jealous that Luke was at Cora's house.  Even though Will is married and seems devoted to his family.  Luke was introduced as an "old friend from London"... was he really?  I don't recall the backstory behind how Luke and Cora knew each other or how long.

The perceived difference in age may be due to casting. I’ve just started reading the book. Luke is mentioned as being 32. Cora’s age is less clear, but she meets her future husband at 17 and her son is 11. Given a likely path through courtship, marriage and pregnancy, she’s probably only a couple of years older, at most.

I believe they meet when he starts treating her husband.