S02.E02: Verbis Diablo

[Meredith Quill]

Episode Synopsis:

 

Haunted by the witches, Vanessa seeks solace from Sir Malcolm. Scotland Yard Inspector Rusk searches for the sole survivor of the Mariner’s Inn Massacre. Evelyn Poole enchants Sir Malcolm. Dr. Frankenstein gives the re-born Brona a new identity. The Creature gets a new job. Dorian Gray meets an intriguing woman with a secret. Ferdinand Lyle reveals the disturbing backstory of the Verbis Diablo. Evelyn’s daughter, Hecate, hunts down a prize for her mother.

[Primetimer]

On Penny Dreadful, Victor finds the girl of his dreams -- and, of course, she's a talking corpse.

Read the story

[ichbin]

This show has improved immeasurably now that Billie Piper lost that awful accent she was using during the first season!

[placate]

I want some of this fancy steam punk hair dye that lets someone go from brunette to blonde without having to bleach.

[Maum]

Loved the interaction between Vanessa and Caliban. Isn't it the first time he's ever had a normal intelligent conversation with someone?

It was also the first time we've seen her with her guard down having a pleasant chat. She was light hearted and relaxed in a very un-Vanessa way.

And that ending was creepy as hell (pun intended). If I didn't already hate and fear puppets I would right now.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Maum

[Meredith Quill]

Ugh I really, really disliked that ending. The premise of treating - even a fictional - baby that way left a bad taste in my mouth and has made me question whether I want to continue watching a show that would go there; I like being entertained but not.like.that. Frankly it was disturbing and disgusting.

 

Did I mention I disliked it?

 

That was a step too far, Show.

[Catlyn]

Ugh I really, really disliked that ending. The premise of treating - even a fictional - baby that way left a bad taste in my mouth and has made me question whether I want to continue watching a show that would go there; I like being entertained but not.like.that. Frankly it was disturbing and disgusting.

I disliked it also, but I couldn't help but notice how unrealistic the baby was. Maybe that was deliberate to help people who thought that doing that to a baby was going too far? Now the creepy puppets... It just made me wonder what their backstory was...

[Maum]

I agree. That baby was almost cartoonish.

[Meredith Quill]

Agreed the baby was indeed blatantly a dummy, nevertheless, the imagery and what it was representing; blech.

[joelene]

I didn't mind the baby butchering at all. Call me crazy! I'm just loving all the freaky stuff. And that baby looked so fake I forgot for a moment what Madame Kali was actually doing. Those dolls were deliciously creepy.

The Frankenstein stuff is the only thing that doesn't do it for me. At least Bronagh's accent would've forced me to pay attention because it can't be ignored, but then they did away with that.

Loved Vanessa with Caliban, though. They could have chatted away for another ten minutes and I wouldn't have been bored. Also loved the stuff with Dorian and the prostitute. They had me at Queer Stuff.

Edited May 11, 2015 by joelene

[Bec]

This is a horror show, and they are bringing the horror in spades, with the super creepy room-o-puppets and the baby butchering. I love it.

 

The first thing that happened on this show was a little girl and her mother getting torn to shreds, show was never shy about this kind of stuff. I've come to expect it by now.

 

These scenes are going to be on my mind now everytime some kid starts screeching on public transportation. Classic. Hee.

 

Looks like "Lily" is starting to like Dr. Frankenstein, and she doesn't like "Mr. Clare" at all. Caliban is not going to be happy about that.

 

I liked the interactions between Victor and "Lily". Kind of reminds me of Proteus. Except she seems more bright than Proteus.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Bec

[pele2102]

Oh God, how can Frankenstein see that this is not going to end well? Every time I see "Lily" (which thank Yeezus that accent is dead) I see a neon flashing mistake sign above her head. I'm going to miss the big/little brother vibe between Victor and Ethan. I mean between Ethan and John (which I like way more than Caliban) Frankenstein is instigating his own beating at this point.

 

I'm loving the witches so far. I like seeing what the enemy camp is up to. As opposed to the vamps they seem very smart and capable and have a shit ton of charisma to boot.

Edited May 11, 2015 by pele2102

[pandora spocks]

The hooker's reveal to Dorian Gray made me think of The Crying Game. I believe that Dorian knew all along what he was getting. I'm with the posters who are glad that Bronna lost her accent.

[peridot]

I loved the scenes with the curator.  Even when being threatened by a psychotic witch, he has to point out that he's using his real hair.

I hope nothing happens to the guy.

 

Caliban is tiresome, Victor should have shot him in the head last season.  I laughed when Brona lost her accent, I didn't think that would actually happen.

 

The last scene was disgusting, I didn't know it would be that graphic.  I already have to look away during the credits, I hope they don't try to ramp up the gore even more.

[islandgal140]

I must need glasses because when that voodoo doll was first revealed I thought it was Dorian Grey. I was like Huh? Why Dorian? How random. Then it morphed into Vanessa and I felt like an idiot.

OMG!! I love Mr. Lyle's campy ridiculous ass. And his hair is real! Don't you forget it! He practically needed a bib when he clapped eyes on Chandler. I also love that Ethan was so good humored about it. More of them in scenes together please. A bit sorry that Lyle is in service to the witches.

Speaking of witches, ugh! I gotta side with Dean Winchester of Supernatural on this one and say that witches are indeed the worst! I think they are an effective foe because gracious do I hate witches. There is just something about the hexes, hex bags, incantations, dolls, potions and spells that just turns me off and creeps me out completely. Did I mention the hissing? Dear goodness, they hiss on this show. So awful. This is why I couldn't watch but the first 4-5 episodes of Salem. With the exception of Potter and Bewitched, I just find witches/warlocks off-putting.

When I saw that witch stalking that couple with the baby I knew where that was headed and my stomach just turned. However, never in a million years did I think they would actually show what they would actually do with the baby. That was just beyond the beyond. I can't wait until all these things are burned alive at the stake.

What is with the head witch kissing all her daughters deeply on the mouth like that?

Maybe I have watched Paris is Burning and RuPaul once to often but I knew she was a queen as soon as she sat down, but thank you Showtime for the full frontal male nudity.

Speaking of Dorian, I just don't even see the point of him on this show.

Edited May 11, 2015 by islandgal140

[Sakura12]

Yeah, I'm hoping she thinks she's English and learns to from Frankenstein and Caliban.

 

Ha, I said this during the season 1 finale and it actually happened. BronaLily sounds much better with an English accent. 

 

I love Ethan just flows with everyone, the curator guy was hitting on him and he gave him reason too. His not knowing he's a werewolf wasn't what I was expecting. I thought he knew and that's why he ran to England. It'll be interesting to find out his story. 

 

Eva Green had some downtime this ep. I really liked her conversation with "John Claire". He seems to be getting a lot of ladies lately. The blind girl, Lily and Vanessa. Although Victor, if you want Lily in that way you shouldn't have told her you were cousins. 

 

The baby did look really fake but all those dolls creeped me out even more. It was hard to watch that entire scene. 

[Ravenya003]

Watching this on the heels of Salem was quite an experience; it would seem both shows are determined to out-gore each other.

 

I enjoyed the suspense of Hecate stalking the parents and their baby, but what happened to it afterwards...? Yeah, perhaps a bit much for me. Poor Vanessa though - it can't be good news that she's a life-sized poppet in a witch's house with a baby's heart inside it. Judging from the expressions on those other dolls, they've seen some shit go down in that room.

 

It's hard to know who's having more fun, Helen McCrory as Madame Kali or Simon Russell Beale as Ferdinand Lyle. I'm guessing that their scene together (at least the first part) was the scene shown at Comic Con last year (and apparently meant to part of last season's finale) but its placement here felt organic enough. 

 

I love that Ethan is man enough to flirt with another man for fun without getting all "no homo" (though not sure why I'm surprised considering what he got up to with Dorian last season). Ferdinand's face when Ethan told him "I'll bring both my guns" was a delight, and you could tell he was having the time of his life creeping around the archives with a hot American. In other words, PLEASE don't kill him show!   

 

RIP Brona's Irish accent, even if she's not. Probably a wise decision to get rid of that. I found it a bit odd that she managed to pick up on language/movement so quickly after her resurrection -- compared to the screaming mess that was Caliban and the childlike tendencies of Proteus, I guess it's a blend of a) Frankenstein getting better at his craft, and b) the writers not wanting to repeat themselves; but she's acting more like an amnesia patient than a resurrected corpse, which is significantly less interesting. 

 

Dorian is ... still around I guess. I just wish they'd start exploring the mechanics of his immortality instead of his sexual proclivities. I mean, who exactly is behind it and why? You can't help but feel it's the devil, which means he has a deal with the same entity that's currently haunting Vanessa. 

 

Almost forgot to mention that Vanessa/Caliban meet each other - and it goes surprisingly well. I wonder if they felt a sense of kinship in each other, though hopefully this won't end with Caliban getting yet another hopeless crush.

 

Edit: I don't really know much about the cross-dressing subculture, but if the point is to pass as the opposite sex, then well done Angelique. It wasn't until about three seconds before she disrobed that I realized what was going on. 

Edited May 12, 2015 by Ravenya003

[Dobian]

Okay, baby killing is not cool. This show is on notice.

[rozen]

I was fully prepared to watch-through-the-fingers while Kali butchered the kid alive, so carving up a baby corpse made me relieved, if anything. I still find the entire business confusing. They clearly have the strength to haul Vanessa in through sheer force, but don't. If they want to entice her into their clutches, creep-stalking her in witch form isn't exactly a great introduction. Just what is supposed to happen? I also don't get how Vanessa can speak verbos diablo (and why that scared the witches) if whatever was/is possessing her is the same entity employing Kali. 

 

I like the callbacks to Ethan's first introduction, dude was willing to flirt with anything or anybody if it made the show run smoothly. I remember when he shagged a random girl behind the set and made some flowerly "I'll always miss you" comment, which she promptly rebutted by offering to tell him her name! Ferdinand is probably small potatoes. 

 

Wasn't being a sodomite illegal back then too? Surprised Kali made no mention that Ferdinand would lose everything, and then get thrown in jail to die of consumption.

 

I question the choice of finding peace in a cave full of innocent civilian when you're aware a band of hell-witches are willing to slaughter everyone in a 100 yard radius just to give you a jump-scare. It took 3/4 of the conversation for Caliban to get out of his own flipping head and just converse like a normal human being. He sets himself up for failure way more than Victor's hatchet plastic surgery did. It would be hilarious if Caliban ended up besties and/or stalking Vanessa and killed Kali's minions just for touching his plaything. Pretty sure he's even faster than they are. 

 

Edit. Oh yea, did it look like the one survivor of Ethan's rampage had red eyes to anyone else? I wonder if we'll have a new baby wolfman tearing through London next full moon.

Edited May 12, 2015 by rozen

[Catlyn]

why did they call her Lily?  In spite of everything, my mind still goes to Lily Munster and I hear the Munster theme song when I hear them call her Lily. 

[blixie]

 

They clearly have the strength to haul Vanessa in through sheer force,

 

But they don't though, I think that was established in the first episode, whatever she said to them protected her from their brute force assault.  I've thought since the first episode last year that Vanessa is a witch, and she just doesn't know it, that's why these various demons/monsters are attracted to her, she was born with some innate power, and it's just a question if she'll be lured to use her innate power for the purpose of evil. 

 

I thought the baby killing was deliriously depraved and certainly of a piece on show called Penny Dreadful that is about horrifying you.  Plus I always think of Darla offering Angel(pretending to be Angelus in China) a baby to eat, in the most hilarious way possible.  Do you love me and drinking blood? EAT THIS BABY! Hee. Which is to say I don't think of horror narratives as being particularly grounded in real world atrocity so much as metaphors for the real horrors of the world, such as the cholera and disease of that time period. Witches ripping out baby hearts to animate voodoo dummies is absurd and them using the most obvious fake baby ever helped it along. 

Edited May 12, 2015 by blixie

[islandgal140]

 

Dorian is ... still around I guess. I just wish they'd start exploring the mechanics of his immortality instead of his sexual proclivities. I mean, who exactly is behind it and why? You can't help but feel it's the devil, which means he has a deal with the same entity that's currently haunting Vanessa.

I wish they would show his painting already. 

 

 

Edit. Oh yea, did it look like the one survivor of Ethan's rampage had red eyes to anyone else? I wonder if we'll have a new baby wolfman tearing through London next full moon.

You know it never crossed my mind until this post that Ethan probably just did create another werewolf. 

[BuddhaBelly]

What a fun episode! I always watch in the pitch dark to get into the atmosphere.

Ethan is bae. His whole interaction with Mr. Lyle made me giggle and I watched it at least 3 times. "Now don't go swooning on me." I wonder who he was writing his letter to. His father? He's settling in nicely at the mansion though.

Vanessa and Caliban, I didn't even know I wanted them to interact until they did. I have to admit that I have a small soft spot for Caliban. I don't know why but his need to find the beauty in life to assuage his pain and loneliness gets to me.

Victor is creeping me the hell out. He presents himself innocently and even fragile but there is something living in him that's dark and twisted. (I guess they're all like that, but Victor's seems insidious)

The baby didn't bother me mostly bc it was plainly a fake baby. The dolls got to me. That was wonderfully done on the director's part. They way the camera jumps to the dolls as their mouths open in horror, almost like audience watching. I felt pulled into the scene, like I was one of the dolls.

Dorian needs to start making sense as part of the cast now.

[kieyra]

Maybe I have watched Paris is Burning and RuPaul once to often but I knew she was a queen as soon as she sat down, but thank you Showtime for the full frontal male nudity.

 

 

This. Clocked. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

The return of Lyle and his completely real hair! I was loving the team up of Lyle and Ethan (the flirting, the swooning, the gun belt with both guns!) and then they revealed he's working for Evelyn. Booo.

 

Yes, Victor, dying Brona's hair will make sure Ethan will never recognize her! He's totally setting her up to fall for him or at least shun Caliban. She already thinks he's strange. But thank you for that backflip away from her awful fake accent from last season.

 

Stealing baby hearts to make creepy dolls? Come on, show. Ew. BTW I kept waiting for one those dolls to turn and look at the camera. I just knew they were going to move or something.

 

As soon as Angelique started talking to Ethan and asked him to come home with her I knew she was a man. And it lead to some full male frontal for once. So yay.

Edited May 12, 2015 by TiffanyNichelle

[Bec]

I don't know if Victor appears all that innocent to people who don't know his darkest secrets. The rest of the characters did first meet him while he was busy experimenting on a bloody dismembered limb.

 

why did they call her Lily?

According to Victor it's the flower of resurrection and rebirth or some such thing. That's why he named her that.

 

Although Victor, if you want Lily in that way you shouldn't have told her you were cousins.

I thought kissing cousins were more accepted in Europe? Either that or he's telling her they're related because he doesn't want to piss off Caliban. I did like that Victor told her it's up to her whether she loves Caliban when she asked if she must love him. Almost makes up for the weird groping-her-dead-body thing last episode. Almost.

 

Maybe I've gotten a little too used to Walking Dead levels of gore and godawful torture horror that makes me squirm and hide behind my fingers. This wasn't all that gorey, relatively speaking. And that's good because I'm more of a fan of atmospheric creepiness that haunts your dreams, which those puppets definitely were.

[Sakura12]

Oh, I can handle gore, blood and torture, it's dolls and clowns that make me run screaming in the other direction. 

 

Yeah, I suppose people still married first cousins in that era and it's way to get her to live with him. How would dying her hair make Ethan not recognize her, she still looks like Billie Piper. 

[Cyranetta]

 

The dolls got to me. That was wonderfully done on the director's part. They way the camera jumps to the dolls as their mouths open in horror, almost like audience watching. I felt pulled into the scene, like I was one of the dolls.

What amped up the horror for me, in addition to what this post mentioned, is the sheer number of dolls, not just because they would be horrifying enough on the move, but because it implies a huge scale of baby-predation. I did not anticipate that stunning final focus on the faux-Vanessa,

[LittleIggy]

Maybe I have watched Paris is Burning and RuPaul once to often but I knew she was a queen as soon as she sat down, but thank you Showtime for the full frontal male nudity.

Yeah, I knew she was a he, too, but yay that we finally got some male full Monty after all the hooha we get shoved in our faces. However, why can't we get a m/m love scene too?

Too bad Lyle is mixed up with the witches. He and Ethan are too funny together.

[darkestboy]

Great second episode, though that last scene, I had to look away. Eww, Kali, just no. Also, I'm sensing some jealousy with Vanessa as well.

 

Away from his creator, Caliban can be tolerable as a character. I actually liked his conversation with Vanessa in this episode.

 

Speaking of Frankenstein, Victor and Brona clearly seem to be building towards something. Not liking the fact that she got renamed and had her identity changed even if Billie Piper did struggle putting on a convincing NI accent last season.

 

Lyle was a hoot to watch and I loved his scenes with Ethan as well. It's a shame that he's being forced to work for the witches but he's still a great character to watch.

 

Malcolm didn't do too much here but I did like his scenes with Vanessa and Evelyn though.

 

Dorian and Angelique, that was an interesting scene or two. I'm hoping Dorian becomes a little more involved to the central plots though, 8/10

[Glade]

I was glad to see Dorian back--though his hair is looking a bit thin and drab.  I thought Angelique was going to be one of the witches, but (thankfully!) no, just a playmate for Dorian.  I hope he gets a storyline this season, though it doesn't have to tie back to the witches.    

 

It is quite a full-circle moment, given that Proteus met 'Lily' and Ethan on a cheerful jaunt back in the pilot.  Victor's talk about his childhood friend made me wonder if there is real backstory there, and that's why he's showing the first signs of sexual interest that we've seen from him ever.  Lily already seemed to have roots showing, so I'd say it wasn't a great dye job.  Unfortunately having Victor standing next to Caliban doesn't do the latter any favors.

 

The ending scene was disgusting, and obviously she could have made off with the baby without killing the parents.  I'm not sure what the process was--the dead babies are magically transformed into voodoo dolls, or just parts of the babies are sown into the dolls?  Anyway, those questions and trying to recognize character faces in the dolls distracted me--I definitely saw poor Lyle, and perhaps Malcolm and Ethan as well.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Glade

[Cyranetta]

Oddly enough, during Angelique's "reveal" I was noticing a certain emaciated similarity to Mme. Kali's daughters in their vampiristic form before I noticed what was different.

[dr pepper]

Frankenstein continues his brave campaign to extend the definition of incest. Um, i mean, science.

[Bec]

Victor's talk about his childhood friend made me wonder if there is real backstory there

Maybe the show merged Brona... er Lily's character with Elizabeth (his fiancee) from the book. Since there appears to be no Elizabeth in this version, I suppose that makes sense. This is a non-spoilery description of the Elizabeth character from SparkNotes:

An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein’s sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor’s mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention.

The cousin thing fits! And Lily could sort of be short for Elizabeth. Hmm, maybe this version won't have her be passive. I think the other shoe is going to drop at some point and she'll realize what she is. There'll be hell to pay. I hope.

 

trying to recognize character faces in the dolls distracted me--I definitely saw poor Lyle, and perhaps Malcolm and Ethan as well.

Oh great, now I have to go back and watch that scene. And I never wanted to do that again *shudder with horror*.

[Happytobehere]

My cable provider ruined the episode for me. About 26 minutes in, the screen froze, so you got the sound with the same picture. 15 minutes later, we got nothing but a lack screen and the sound. So I'm stuck trying to catch another showing before I can read all your posts..

[paramitch]

I love this show -- I'm not a huge fan of gore and generally put up with it, but here there's this kind of very strange lushness to both the love and the violence that is really pervasive and fascinating.

Loved Vanessa with Caliban, though. They could have chatted away for another ten minutes and I wouldn't have been bored. Also loved the stuff with Dorian and the prostitute. They had me at Queer Stuff.

I adored that entire scene and would have happily watched an entire one-hour spinoff of just Vanessa and "John Clare" (damn, he's always gonna be Caliban to me), talking about theology and love and life and death. Just beautifully acted and filmed. And it was Vanessa at her best. She is always unexpectedly wonderful with people in one-on-one situations and consistently displays a real warmth and interest in other people. She did so last season, for instance, in the conversation with the little girl, and again when she met Brona (although poor Brona was too insecure to see it). Vanessa genuinely cares for others, a trait she shares with Ethan, which is why I'm guardedly interested if the two actually do consummate their romance. They are both characters whose uncontrolled inner cores and violence cause them to hate themselves, yet they are oddly in many ways deeply moral, gentle people at heart.

 

The first thing that happened on this show was a little girl and her mother getting torn to shreds, show was never shy about this kind of stuff. I've come to expect it by now.

This. I can't get too up-in-arms over a dead baby, when we saw a much more upsetting dead (and vampirically drained) baby in one of the show's first scenes in S1E1, amidst the pile of bodies that also included the poor mother and little girl of the opening scene. The show started with its dial on 10 when it comes to disturbing imagery, so for me, all bets are off.

 

Oh God, how can Frankenstein see that this is not going to end well? Every time I see "Lily" (which thank Yeezus that accent is dead) I see a neon flashing mistake sign above her head. I'm going to miss the big/little brother vibe between Victor and Ethan. I mean between Ethan and John (which I like way more than Caliban) Frankenstein is instigating his own beating at this point.

Which is exactly why no writer could probably resist putting them together. It's posing all sorts of wonderful potentially dramatic interactions and escalations!

 

The hooker's reveal to Dorian Gray made me think of The Crying Game. I believe that Dorian knew all along what he was getting.

I was so annoyed by that first scene between Angelique and Dorian. Because, while yes, the actor makes for a stunningly beautiful woman, he is a terrible, terrible female impersonator. The arch, over the top gestures and eye flutterings! Ye gods, I thought the actor was just terrible. (Whereas, Jaye Davidson in The Crying Game, I never had a clue and still think he's superb at playing a gorgeous and naturalistic woman.)

 

But let's hear it for "Penny Dreadful" and its continued willingness to show full frontal male nudity! I love this show.

 

OMG!! I love Mr. Lyle's campy ridiculous ass. And his hair is real! Don't you forget it! He practically needed a bib when he clapped eyes on Chandler. I also love that Ethan was so good humored about it. More of them in scenes together please.

 

I love that Ethan is man enough to flirt with another man for fun without getting all "no homo" (though not sure why I'm surprised considering what he got up to with Dorian last season). Ferdinand's face when Ethan told him "I'll bring both my guns" was a delight, and you could tell he was having the time of his life creeping around the archives with a hot American. In other words, PLEASE don't kill him show!  

I loved and agreed with both of these comments. I adore Mr. Lyle, but even more, I loved Ethan's funny, sweet flirtation with him -- it's just a great example of everything I love about Ethan as a character -- all while emphasizing that Ethan is also not (thank goodness) a hypocrite about sexual preferences, given what we know about his own history. So all the little teasing comments with Mr. Lyle managed to come across as warm and affectionate, and not mocking in any way. He was acknowledging Mr. Lyle's fluttery flirtations (and unspoken predilections) as a compliment while also making him feel comfortable and at ease.

 

Okay, baby killing is not cool. This show is on notice.

The show featured a gruesome killing of a mother and child in its very first scene, and within 15 minutes also showed us piles of dismembered bodies including realistic babies drained of blood. It already went there right away, as if to show us nothing is off-limits. I had no problems with it. The baby in this ep upset me within the story as it was meant to, but it didn't make me angry or come off as a sacrilege to me.

 

I've thought since the first episode last year that Vanessa is a witch, and she just doesn't know it, that's why these various demons/monsters are attracted to her, she was born with some innate power, and it's just a question if she'll be lured to use her innate power for the purpose of evil. 

This is a wonderful idea, and one I'd never thought of -- I really think it offers a ton of possibilities! Also, extra points for mentioning Darla offering Angelus the baby as a tasty hors d'oeuvres.

 

Vanessa and Caliban, I didn't even know I wanted them to interact until they did. I have to admit that I have a small soft spot for Caliban. I don't know why but his need to find the beauty in life to assuage his pain and loneliness gets to me.

Victor is creeping me the hell out. He presents himself innocently and even fragile but there is something living in him that's dark and twisted. (I guess they're all like that, but Victor's seems insidious)

I sneakily love Caliban/John Clare for the same reasons. When Vanessa turned back to him and said, "You have beautiful eyes," I melted, because it was so sweet of her. Like Ethan, she seems to have the ability to see the secret longings of people's hearts and not to judge them, but to give them what they want. She saw that this man needed comfort and reassurance, and gave it to him. Also, I have to admit that I have always loved Caliban's gorgeous weird red eyes as well -- honestly, scars or no, I'd totally date him. He's not nearly as ugly as he thinks he is. Which is a lesson in itself.

 

I agree that there is something dark in Victor, but what gets me with this show is that his darkness -- as with every single character in PD -- is tied to what is best in him too. I don't think he's twisted so much as aloof and scared of intimacy. His familial acceptance last season by Malcolm and Ethan made me so happy, as he got something he needed there. If Brona/Lily chooses him, I hope it brings him at least a moment of happiness, and there's a Galatea-like symmetry to the idea that he has unwittingly created his own perfect woman.

 

Maybe the show merged Brona... er Lily's character with Elizabeth (his fiancee) from the book. Since there appears to be no Elizabeth in this version, I suppose that makes sense.

This is a brilliant observation -- that Victor is fashioning Lily a past out of an imagined history that just so happens to tie in with the real backstory from Frankenstein? I love this idea.

Edited May 16, 2015 by paramitch

[Dobian]

The show featured a gruesome killing of a mother and child in its very first scene, and within 15 minutes also showed us piles of dismembered bodies including realistic babies drained of blood. It already went there right away, as if to show us nothing is off-limits. I had no problems with it. The baby in this ep upset me within the story as it was meant to, but it didn't make me angry or come off as a sacrilege to me.

 

I think the difference is that showing dead children and dead babies is more of a horrors of war kind of thing.  This scene on the other hand was a ritualistic glorification where the woman is laying the baby down, cutting it open, pulling its guts out.  It's much more perverse in that regard.  Some people aren't bothered by that, sure.  Some are.

[ganesh]

I love that Ethan is man enough to flirt with another man for fun without getting all "no homo" (though not sure why I'm surprised considering what he got up to with Dorian last season).

 

For a show that's super creepy and macabre, they bring the funny. I especially liked the "I hope you know what you bought." "Oh yes, yes I did." I hope Dorian meets the witches because you know he'll try to mack on them. 

 

I didn't think I was going to like this witchy plot, but they are *bad* and remorseless. I love it. 

[Slovenly Muse]

Egads, that final scene was the creepiest thing I've ever seen on television, and I'm a Hannibal fan!

 

The baby was pretty awful, but I did appreciate that they didn't actually show the baby being killed. By the time we saw it, it wasn't a baby anymore; it was just a corpse. The fact that the prop baby was so obviously fake and the surreal creepiness of the dolls surrounding them made it easy to disconnect the scene from the idea of butchering a baby for real.

 

I agree that Brona is being set up to become Elizabeth (from the book). I can easily see the story reaching the same resolution as it does in the book, but at the same time, enough wildcards have been thrown into the creation of Lily that pretty much anything could happen!

 

Glad to see Dorian again, even if he is somewhat disconnected from everyone else's stories. I feel like the show has a plan for him that is not just decorative (they've done pretty well so far with everyone else), so I'm willing to wait it out and see where it all goes. I would like to see some more elements from the book come into his story though. So far, it's just the painting, and we haven't even seen that. But since Victor is getting his Elizabeth (and therefore drawing upon more context from his book), I wonder if Dorian will be getting his Basil, or Lord Henry. Something from the Wilde book that enriches the story and makes it about Dorian Gray specifically, and not just any spoiled beauty sleeping his way around London (Unless Angelique is going to be his Sibyl Vane... actually, now that I think about it, that could be interesting). Ethan, for example, is getting some great Wolfman context. Now that we have been shown what he is, the show is starting to delve into what it means to him and how it has affected him. But with Dorian, we haven't seen any of that. A viewer who'd never heard of werewolves could watch Ethan's story and interpret that he transforms into a monster and kills people without being aware or in control of it, and that he has some kind of connection to wolves and dogs. That's a great start. A viewer who'd never heard of Dorian Gray would, by this point, STILL have no idea what his situation is, other than he's a bored, jaded, rich beauty who looks at what is presumably a painting of something in a secret basement from time to time. Until they actually explain WHO he is and what kind of laws govern his existence, I'm afraid his story is going to continue to lack real substance. But I'm sure it's coming. This show actually does a pretty good job of juggling its characters and plotlines. 

 

The highlight, though, was Ethan and Lyle exchanging friendly flirtation while stealing priceless ancient artifacts from a poorly-guarded museum. I absolutely LOVED how warm and kind and charming Ethan was in response to Lyle's attraction, right from the start. How funny to see characters in a story set in Victorian London acting in a way that unfortunately strikes even our modern sensibilities as "progressive," and yet somehow doesn't seem anachronistic at all, just human. It's wonderful.

[Ravenya003]

 

I didn't think I was going to like this witchy plot, but they are *bad* and remorseless. I love it. 

 

 

After my disappointment in the Maleficent movie in which Disney's most diabolical villain is given a metaphorical rape backstory, it's wonderful to have a group of female villains who are just that: evil, evil, evil. 

 

I mean, there's certainly a place and a time for sympathetic female villains and their redemption stories, but lately it feels as though that's ALL we're getting. (For me anyway).

 

A viewer who'd never heard of Dorian Gray would, by this point, STILL have no idea what his situation is, other than he's a bored, jaded, rich beauty who looks at what is presumably a painting of something in a secret basement from time to time.

 

 

 

There was also a very brief glimpse in season one of a cut (made by Vanessa) healing instantly on Dorian's skin, indicating that there IS something supernatural about him, but yes - he is the one character who seems to be most dependant on his book counterpart. 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Ravenya003

[luckyroll3]

No more creepy ass dolls!  She had to have like 50 of them. What the hell did she do to all those people (and all those babies!)? 

 

Echoing all the love for the interactions between Mr. Lyle and Ethan.  Still chuckling at "I'll bring both my guns!" 

 

I knew from the time Angelique, the Madonna of the Victorian era, sauntered up to Dorian that she was a he.  Glad they didn't hold off on that reveal.  And of course Dorian was all about it!  I really do need some more Dorian/Ethan time, though.

 

Victor is really creepy with "Lily".  However, how does Caliban expect to court his new woman when he doesn't have a home.  He thinks Lily's going to want to live under the streets of London with him and the cholera infected of the city.  He needs to up his game.

[raven]

 

The highlight, though, was Ethan and Lyle exchanging friendly flirtation while stealing priceless ancient artifacts from a poorly-guarded museum.

ITA.  I had a lot of sympathy for Mr. Lyle being blackmailed by Madam Kali later on (just watch his face), though his disclaimer that "This is my real hair" was funny.  Save Mr. Lyle!

 

I also have a soft spot for Caliban - he didn't ask to be in the world the way he is, yet he's here and been rejected by his creator.  He can be tiresome with Victor, but his interactions with everyone else are usually worth it IMO, except for killing Proteus of course.  He is shy and lonely and intelligent. IIRC he killed Proteus more in a fit of anger then cold bloodedly planning it; doesn't make it right but I don't think he's evil.  I hope he gets more conversations with Vanessa about whatever they want to talk about and less complaining to Victor about what Victor owes him. 

 

 

it's wonderful to have a group of female villains who are just that: evil, evil, evil.

What a relief, I know.  Hopefully there aren't any tiresome backstories for them.  Just be evil, dammit!  It happens.

 

And wow those dolls were creepy.  Well dolls are creepy anyway, especially Victorian era ones. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by raven

[Bec]

I really liked that poem Caliban was quoting to Vanessa:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

 

I heard it before on another TV show. Hee.

[Jordan27]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2015 at 8:10 AM, Catlyn said:

why did they call her Lily?  In spite of everything, my mind still goes to Lily Munster and I hear the Munster theme song when I hear them call her Lily. 

I thought it might have been a shout out to her most famous role of Rose on Doctor Who.

[Captanne]

That's William Blake, "Songs of Innocence."  He was quite the poet.