S03.E04: A Blade Of Grass

[millennium]

On 5/23/2016 at 3:13 PM, iMonrey said:

I agree with the recap whole heartedly. My biggest issue with this show has always been that it is over enamored of Eva Greene/Vanessa. The last thing I wanted to see was a whole hour of her being tortured by her demons within and without. We spent almost the entire first season on that - enough already.

Now, I get it - if you're into this show mostly because of Eva, then this was the episode for you. But for those of us who are much more invested in the other characters, this was a complete waste of time. And even if you don't mind an entire hour spent on further dissection of Vanessa's psyche, this episode gave us nothing new to speak of. Yes it was a tour de force for the actors but this isn't the show I'm interested in.

Two thumbs down.

Until I read the recap/review, I didn't know there was a term -- bottle episode -- for these tedious hiatuses from the main action of the series (I too HATE "The Fly" episode of Breaking Bad).  I had the dubious thrill of serendipitously streaming not one but TWO bottle episodes on two different series last night.  First, "Here's Not Here" from Season 6 of The Walking Dead, and then this, "A Blade of Grass."   The whole episode felt like a cheap Emmy bid.    

I'm not one to automatically buy into the "minimalist acting is good acting" mindset.   Just because the actors had fewer lines and imparted them in whispers on a set stripped of props but for a wooden spoon doesn't make me feel the need to applaud or cry "Bravo!"  Instead, I cringed during the stalkerish makeup session.   The show felt so keenly aware of itself, so smug.  Look, ma!  See how intense I am!

I come at this series after the fact of its cancellation, so I am doubly aggrieved that an entire episode was squandered on this dramatic masturbation.

[Captanne]

On 23/5/2016 at 9:08 AM, teddysmom said:

 

My love for Rory Kinnear knows no bounds.

 

No shit.

Aside from the coiling shadows bullshit (which has nothing to do with his performance, frankly), he was fucking AMAZING.

 

ETA:  I've thought about it again -- my love for Rory Kinnear started with early, even threatening, Caliban.  I have weirdly loved the character since the beginning and I couldn't figure out why.  I realize it's Kinnear entirely.  Not just his performance, but him.  I'm not sure any other actor -- with that shy, awkward, right-sided smile -- could have stolen my heart the way he has.  Make him a dedicated, loving father and a caretaker capable of falling in love with his weird, awkward ward and I'm smitten.  I love the interplay between the actress who plays Vanessa and he.  The whole pas-de-deus in the cell is just stunning.

Ages ago, I saw Southcliffe and really don't remember him in it.  (I do remember the simpering husband of the first victim and he ended up as an Angel in Preacher of all things.)  So, there is clearly an element of something unique to Penny Dreadful that is bringing something out in Kinnear that Southcliffe didn't. 

As for the coiling shadows comment I made above -- I come to correct myself.  It does have to do with performances.  Performances I did not watch because I thought the whole thing was ridiculous and hokey.  I actually averted my eyes in embarrassment for all concerned.  So, it's not that it had nothing to do with his performance.  It's that I didn't see it.  Also, if I may be shallow, try as he might, he will never be a conjuring, evil seducer crawling across the floor in a sexually charged battle with a scorpion lady.  That is not a scene I expect him to be cast in.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Captanne

[Bruinsfan]

I'm left wondering what the hell is the deal with Amunet? Is she a third fallen angel, even mightier than the other two, reincarnated as a human woman without knowledge of her true self? It just seems really weird that Vanessa, who can be rendered helpless by a snotty British aristocrat or uncaring medical workers, is a potent enough occult figure to have both the Devil and the Lord of Vampires cowering before her. Overcoming Lucifer's influence through personal faith and resolve is fine, turning black magic around on him and outdoing him with it is inexplicable to me.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Bruinsfan