S01.E04: Everything is Blue

[Scarlett45]

Quote

Luke throws a birthday party for Cora. During an eventful night, Cora and Will get closer—and Luke notices Stella is hiding something

Air Date: May 27, 2022

[Straycat80]

I feel more lost after watching each episode. I did not read the book. There definitely is something in the water, but what? Is this about a monster or a love triangle story? And what about the girl that walked into the water? 

[AngieBee1]

I don't believe there's a serpent. The boat was more likely rocked by a seal or otter. I think the girl visualized the serpent because she is so loathing of what she considers her sin nature (lust, desire) which was the same reason her sister stepped into the sea. It's religious hysteria. Even Will is slowly falling prey to it in a fashion. Trying to act like some force is pulling him to Cora when it's just his desire for her. It's attraction. He wants to blame an outside force because he wants to believe he would never betray Stella on his own, but we can't help who we fall for and when. We can certainly control how we respond to it though. For example, refraining from shagging someone who isn't your wife out in the marsh (with Cora clad in red painting her as a temptress Jezebel).

I hope Stella takes Luke up on his offer but I think she's resigned herself to dying and she's on board with Will's connection to Cora as she wants he and their children to have Cora as their new wife/mother.
 
I was pleasantly surprised how Luke dealt with the knowledge of Cora being attracted to Will. I thought he'd get offended and denigrate her. It's great that his offense isn't so much of, "How can she not like me?", but "How could she like HIM?!". I really do love the tangled relationship of Cora, Martha, Luke and George.

I don't think Martha is too entirely wrong about how Cora collects people. I think Cora does like to treat people like fossils that you are keenly fascinated by but ultimately just tuck away. It's how she is with her son. I know she loves him but she is not interested in him at all. Stella is more keenly attuned to him. It was funny when she asked her son why he didn't tell her about the goat herder being dead and he said she wasn't there.

Cora likes having a son, Cora likes having Martha around, but I don't think she's too interested in them to fully relate to them as the people they are. That's the pull of Will. Beyond attraction, she's fascinated by how he thinks and likes the challenge of trying to pull him out of a rigid way of thinking.

So did no one tell Will that Jo and Naomi did a spell that they believe brought the serpent to the village? I can't believe that just by admitting it Jo breaks free from her catatonia and is happy-go-lucky again. I would think she would need more assurances from the adults that she and Naomi did nothing wrong and that it was everything that has befallen the community.

Edited May 27, 2022 by AngieBee1

[pezgirl7]

Will and Cora are so horrible at hiding their feelings towards each other. Their dance was super awkward. And I can't believe they just had sex like that out in the open where anyone could see them. That kiss was awkward as well. I really don't understand how Will can be in love with Cora after such a short time. I just don't think they've shown us enough evidence of the intense connection they apparently feel.

I also hope Will's wife does go to London to seek treatment, but she seems to have resigned herself to dying and is trying to push her husband towards Cora even more than he already is, since she views her as a good replacement. I just can't see Cora being happy as the husband of a vicar in a small town. She seemed more happy when the London gang showed up for her party. Are we to assume from Luke's dancing that he has Romani heritage or something similar, and that's why he hasn't been accepted?

I hope Naomi is OK and hasn't committed suicide, or been killed by someone, like the fanatical teacher.

Edited May 27, 2022 by pezgirl7

[blackwing]

On 5/27/2022 at 12:25 PM, pezgirl7 said:

Will and Cora are so horrible at hiding their feelings towards each other. Their dance was super awkward. And I can't believe they just had sex like that out in the open where anyone could see them. That kiss was awkward as well. I really don't understand how Will can be in love with Cora after such a short time. I just don't think they've shown us enough evidence of the intense connection they apparently feel.

I also hope Will's wife does go to London to seek treatment, but she seems to have resigned herself to dying and is trying to push her husband towards Cora even more than he already is, since she views her as a good replacement. I just can't see Cora being happy as the husband of a vicar in a small town. She seemed more happy when the London gang showed up for her party. Are we to assume from Luke's dancing that he has Romani heritage or something similar, and that's why he hasn't been accepted?

I hope Naomi is OK and hasn't committed suicide, or been killed by someone, like the fanatical teacher.

All of this.  
 

As with previous episodes, I feel like many times we are dropped into the middle of this story and there are scenes that are missing.  This show is doing a poor job of explaining why the characters are feeling the way they are.

1.  Still not understanding the insta-attraction between Will and Cora.  They have barely known each other, when they talk they have opposing views, she believes there is a serpent, he thinks there is a rational explanation, and now all of a sudden they are cavorting outdoors in full view of anyone walking by?

2.  What’s up with Luke Garrett?  What makes him think he had any sort of claim on Cora that justified his feelings of uber jealousy and cattiness?  I can’t stand this character.  
 

3.  It seems obvious that Stella is dying of consumption or some kind of respiratory disease.  Why exactly has she latched onto Cora as Will’s future wife?  I get that she wants Will to have a wife and the kids to have a mother… but why is she giving up on life already?  Especially after Luke said the doctors in London could help her.  Also, why Cora?  She’s known Cora for all of two minutes.  Are there no other women of eligible age in the village?   Doesn’t she think Will can find his own wife if it comes to that?

4.  Martha seemed to confirm that she is interested in Cora when she told Luke that she pictured him as Cora.  Has she ever said anything to Cora?  Has anything happened in the past?  
 

5.  Cora went to Will’s house after the party to return the daughter’s coat, and ended up staying up all night wandering around.  Really?  For like 6 hours?  Neither Martha nor Luke are worried about her?  Or did they just assume she stayed at Will’s house?

I think there are only 6 episodes in this season.  So only two left?  This show is moving so slowly, are we going to get any answers at all or has Apple TV already decided this is going to be a very slow show and nothing will be resolved?  If so, I think I’m probably not going to watch a season 2.  
 

None of the characters are likeable.  Nothing really happens, or if it does, it happens so slowly.  Half of the show seems to take place in the complete dark and I can’t see a damn thing.

I wanted to like this show so much because of Tom Hiddleston and my goodwill for the Claire Danes / Hugh Dancy family… but I’m just not liking it anywhere remotely as much as I thought I would.  On paper, it seems like this is the kind of show I should like.  But it just seems like a poor, badly lit sort-of imitation of The Crucible.  

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, blackwing said:

Martha seemed to confirm that she is interested in Cora when she told Luke that she pictured him as Cora.  Has she ever said anything to Cora?  Has anything happened in the past?  

It’s been implied that Cora and Martha have had a sexual relationship- the shoulder kisses, the joining in bed…..

I don’t think Cora is a lesbian or bisexual, but I think Martha has been her only source of affection or companionship for a long time- living with that sadistic husband of hers she probably appreciated any kindness she could get. I see Martha as a survivor who wants to be free to pursue her interests, that takes connections and a steady job. If she uses sex to make that happen, so be it. I think she does like George on a personal level.

 

On 5/27/2022 at 12:25 PM, pezgirl7 said:

I hope Naomi is OK and hasn't committed suicide, or been killed by someone, like the fanatical teacher.

I too am worried for Naomi. The priest was awful to her, forbidding her from going to school, her sister is dead, her father is drinking himself into oblivion. 

[Scarlett45]

13 hours ago, blackwing said:

None of the characters are likeable.  Nothing really happens, or if it does, it happens so slowly.  Half of the show seems to take place in the complete dark and I can’t see a damn thing.

I wanted to like this show so much because of Tom Hiddleston and my goodwill for the Claire Danes / Hugh Dancy family… but I’m just not liking it anywhere remotely as much as I thought I would.  On paper, it seems like this is the kind of show I should like.  But it just seems like a poor, badly lit sort-of imitation of The Crucible.

I think this is suffering from an adaption problem. Maybe the book works because we can be inside their heads? I dunno. Cora and Will having sex on the MARSH? I would’ve appreciated a slow burn and an emotional affair- because I just don’t buy this upstanding guy cheating on his wife clear out of the blue with a woman he’s known a week. 
 

I could’ve seen him cheating in a moment of weakness after a long emotional affair, and the stress of caring for his sick wife- but the characterization just doesn’t make sense. 
 

I think the Essex Serpent is supposed to be an allegory for the darkness within everyone and how we deal with that, the one thing the show has gotten right is how the towns folk can’t stand this “new” person. 

[blackwing]

On 5/29/2022 at 9:30 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I think this is suffering from an adaption problem. Maybe the book works because we can be inside their heads? I dunno. Cora and Will having sex on the MARSH? I would’ve appreciated a slow burn and an emotional affair- because I just don’t buy this upstanding guy cheating on his wife clear out of the blue with a woman he’s known a week. 
 

I could’ve seen him cheating in a moment of weakness after a long emotional affair, and the stress of caring for his sick wife- but the characterization just doesn’t make sense. 
 

I think the Essex Serpent is supposed to be an allegory for the darkness within everyone and how we deal with that, the one thing the show has gotten right is how the towns folk can’t stand this “new” person. 

I agree.  I've not read the book, but if the show is trying to stay faithful to the book plot, then that could explain why I feel like there's so much that we are missing in this show.  It makes sense that the book does a way better job of explaining each of the character's motivations.  Instead, I feel like we have no rational explanation for why the characters are doing what they were doing.  The Will/Cora sex outdoors in the marsh was just ridiculous without any kind of insight as to why then and there.

[Rickster]

I’m reading the book. I’m still behind where the show is plot wise. I don’t think it spoils anything to say the book is very clear on timeframes, as chapters are laid out by months, and much more time goes by since Cora and Will first meet than it is made to seem in the show.

Edited to add:

I think that the reason for the apparent compressed timeframe on the show is that they probably filmed exteriors in Essex over a relatively short period, so it always looks like winter, even though 6 months may pass in the book.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Rickster
Additional thoughts

[zapper]

the tuxedo

it is not impossible as the tux was invented a few years before the setting of this series, but in New York and doubtful to have reached the wardrobe of a country vicar in the town of "Resume Speed" in the UK.

I can't help but think that the intent was nothing more than "It's Tom Hiddleston, I don't care how, just get him into a tux at some point"

on the other hand, i suddenly realize he might make a pretty good Bond. Cleans up nicely.

[paramitch]

I've had this on kind of in the background while I worked this weekend, and while I'm enjoying some of it -- hey, it's Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston! Count me in! -- I'm really not a fan of the whole hysterical/cultish/Crucible aspect.

I think my main issue is with the presentation of time, both short and long. Cora should have been here for weeks or months and this should have been presented that way. 

And as for the short term, I cannot figure out the time frames on this show. I get that the night sky is "light" but this is the third episode in a row where they show a line of red at the horizon and I just don't get it -- is it dawn? Is it sunrise? Like, seriously, it could be either, I have no idea. The times of people's activities on this show make no sense to me at all, and especially here. People stay up all night? Or don't? Or kind of do? It's not clear.

And Cora was just... wandering around? For 6-8 hours? And then lies about where her son was? Why didn't she tell the truth, that her son saw the guy fall out of his house and die (nowhere near the beach)? It would have exonerated all the "serpent" nonsense.

And yeah, the sex in the marshes thing? Um, okay. I mean, look, it's Tom Hiddleston, I'm not gonna lie, I'd probably be a pushover. But also, all that mud! Ew. I would've been the person going, "Wait, let's spread some blankets and coats down, no wait, everyone can see us, no wait, there's a nice stable just over there!" etc.

On the lighter side, I think everyone looks lovely, and Claire Danes's clothes are just to die for. I especially love her sweaters and jackets and those gorgeous long coats with her long skirts. It reminds me of a gorgeous episode of "Penny Dreadful" in season 2 with Vanessa and Ethan on the moors, and all I wanted to do was watch them wander around the entire episode in their adorable Victorian-era sweaters and garb.

I think Danes and Hiddleston are great, and Dillane is a lot of fun (I like him much more than I expected to like his character in the beginning), Poesy is tragically lovable, and Heyley Squires is great as Martha, but this is all definitely a disappointment.

Edited March 25, 2023 by paramitch