S01.E02: Séance

[Meredith Quill]

Synopsis:

Vanessa and Sir Malcolm attend a party at the home of Egyptologist Sir Ferdinand Lyle and meet Dorian Gray. The party takes an ominous turn when medium Madame Kali hosts a séance. Meanwhile, Ethan befriends Brona Croft, a young Irish immigrant.

 

N.B This episode was released early via Showtime On Demand. Therefore, if you haven't yet seen it, this thread will contain spoilers.

[Joystickenvy]

That seance was cray. The ending really bummed me out. I liked Protheus.

[millahnna]

 The ending really bummed me out. I liked Protheus.

 

Me too; I went through this weird back and forth where I was pleasantly surprised because a tv shocked had shocked the bejeebus out of me and being really, really upset about his death.  Which, well played writers. 

Edited May 15, 2014 by millahnna

[dr pepper]

Golem. Check.

Vampire. Check.

Mummy. The golem fills this slot too.

Great White Hunter. Check.

Gentleman archaeologist. Check.

Jack the Ripper. Maybe.

Opium Den. Check.

Sherlock Holmes. Apparently not, though i wouldn't be surprised if the Hound shows up.

Underground Anatomy School. Check.

Frankenstein (the Third, presumably). Check.

His Creature. Yes, and it is distinct from the golem.

Jekyll and Hyde. Nope, but there's plenty of time.

Consumption. Check.

Oscar Wilde. Probably not, since Dorian Gray is a real person in this.

Spiritulism. Check.

Unnecessarily Complex Machinery. You get that free with Frankenstein.

Debtor's Prison. So far no.

Pea Soup Fog. Not so much.
Agressive Street Prostitutes. So far no.

Anarchists with Bombs. Not yet, but i expect to see someone use them as cover for something else.

Music Hall. Nope, but the wild west show might have been a substitute.

 

That's all i can think of at the moment, but i'm sure i'll come up with more. I'm sure others in this thread can as well. Just don't add Gay Mammalphilic Dinosaur Detective, that's excluisive to Doctor Who.

 

Two things that were surprising: the revelation that Frankenstein made two creatures (sorry to see you go, Proteus) and the incident at the seance. That was actually a great idea, that a medium's communicating spirit might prefer to work through someone else in the party. And we have seen that Vanessa is prone to supernatural activity.

[Meredith Quill]

For a moment at the end there, I thought there was someone else coming out of Proteus's body, I was like 'wtf?!', then I realised lol. The seance was freaky and I'm really hoping that the whole MM incest with his daughter thing is either a lie or misinterpretation  - squick :O

 

ETA I thought that the fog, where the guy was lighting the street lamps, was fairly pea-soupish?

[JayKay]

That seance made me so uncomfortable. I felt like a scandalized Victorian dilettante myself. And wtf was Vanessa/Spirit/Demon saying about Sir Malcolm and Mina? Gross, man. The exploration of that relationship is bound to get messed up as the season goes on, true or not. I guess Murray's comment about he and Vanessa both having guilt might have gotten a hint of context this episode.

 

But what is with Billie Piper's accent? How is that even acceptable? It sounds like an American's version of a bad Irish accent. I'm so confused. It's like she's just harmonizing while mumbling out the side of her mouth half the time. I don't even know if my terrible fake Irish accent is as bad as that, and that shocks me. Besides that, I do find Brona sympathetic even though they're laying her hard luck story on a bit thick.

 

Dorian seems like kind of a loser, which I guess works. I think Vanessa may have been baiting him just as she seemed to do with Victor and Ethan. Murray telling her to unbutton her dress with Victor's arrival and him later grilling her on if Ethan was "tempted" last episode makes him come off as a creepy master manipulator. I wonder if Vanessa will ever overtly disobey or strike out against Murray.

 

Man, sucks for Proteus. It was pretty nasty how he fell apart like a ragdoll thrown in a washing machine. Deadbeat Dad Frankenstein might be more interesting to watch than learning about Monster 2.0's whaling (nice shoutout) past life, though. Goodnight sweet, wide-eyed, sea chanty humming monster. I'm sure the angry eldest son will fit in just fine on this show.

[millahnna]

 

But what is with Billie Piper's accent?

 

It's freaking me out.  But her acting is lovely.  Which just makes it worse.

[Blue Girl]

While the end of the second episode was surprising I also found it kind of confusing.  Essentially I thought Victor "assembled" Proteus himself so how was there someone else inside of him? 

 

Liked the seance scene but then it kept going and going and...it was the Energizer bunny of all seance scenes.  I thought it was done the first time Vanessa acted out Mina dying, but apparently she was only mostly dead.  Honestly, I don't understand what happened there.  It sounded like Mina got sick and died but then...?  And isn't she a vampire now so how is she even talking to anyone through a seance?

 

And wtf was Vanessa/Spirit/Demon saying about Sir Malcolm and Mina? Gross, man.

 

Dude, I tuned that out.  Lalalala I can't hear  you, it didn't happen.

[AzureOwl]

Liked the seance scene but then it kept going and going and...it was the Energizer bunny of all seance scenes.  I thought it was done the first time Vanessa acted out Mina dying, but apparently she was only mostly dead.  Honestly, I don't understand what happened there.  It sounded like Mina got sick and died but then...?  And isn't she a vampire now so how is she even talking to anyone through a seance?

 

It wasn't Mina that she was channeling. Apparently he also had a son, who died of dysentery while accompanying his father in an expedition. At least that's how I interpreted the scene. I'll have to rewatch to be sure. 

 

Remember the photograph the Murray was looking at... a boy and a girl. Mina and her dead brother.

Edited May 16, 2014 by AzureOwl

[David T. Cole]

RIP Proteus: The Human Puppy Dog.

[bilgistic]

While the end of the second episode was surprising I also found it kind of confusing.  Essentially I thought Victor "assembled" Proteus himself so how was there someone else inside of him?

This show is shot so damned darkly, I can scarcely see what's happening, but I decided that Frankenstein's Monster 1.0 was hiding in the fireplace or whatever alcove in front of which Proteus (FM2.0) was standing...? How did 1.0 rip 2.0 through with his bare hands? 1.0's face wasn't completely covered in blood, just spattered, so I do think he was hiding--externally.

I just looked this up (thanks, Wikipedia):

"In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea"."

I figured the name wasn't picked willy-nilly, even though it "seemed" like it.

[Blue Girl]

Ahh, thank you AzureOwl and bilgistic!  I knew if I came here someone would have the answers!

[David T. Cole]

This show is shot so damned darkly, I can scarcely see what's happening...

 

The press screeners (on DVD) have the gamma turned waaaaaaay up to the point of looking like a photo shot at ISO 6400. I wonder if the marketing dept thought the same thing and sent the press these weird super-light copies.

[dr pepper]

Specifically, Proteus is a shapeshifter. Hence our words "protean" and "protein". It seemed a good name for an as yet unformed personality. Sad that we'll never know what he might have become.

[LittleIggy]

From that seance rant, I can't figure out with whom Sir Malcolm had sex. His daughter? I hope not!

[Tara Ariano]

I wrote about why I loved Proteus so much, sniffle.

[msbeesknees]

Hmmm... pops was banging either Mina (ack!) or Vanessa ... I just watched the first trailer from the promos and its seems the girls were once bffs. Clearly Vanessa's secret (since this show is all about ones "secret self") has to do with her lusty, sinful ways with gentleman past and present (which she tries to pray away before a spider covered crucifix) as well as her uncanny ability to channel Egyptian gods of death at seances. My kind of lady indeed! And good day sirs!

[LittleIggy]

I hope Victor manages to save Proteus' head somehow, so we can get him back. He was so sweet introducing himself to Ethan and Brona.

[Tara Ariano]

Dave has a few worse names from Shakespeare that Proteus could have picked!

[Blue Girl]

Specifically, Proteus is a shapeshifter. Hence our words "protean" and "protein".

 

This reminds me of a riff in Adam Warren's Empowered where one of the capes changes his name to "Protean" only to have it misheard by everyone as "Protein."  Good times.  Back to the topic, I will miss Proteus as well.

 

During the séance I was amused how Dorian's expression regarding Vanessa changed from curious to oh shit.

[AngelKitty]

Mr. AngelKitty said goodnight during the séance, he's had enough of this show but I will carry on even though it's such a mish mash of everything.

 

I had to put the captions on to understand Rose, I mean Brona.

[ganesh]

First of all, no one is ever going to accuse Eva Green of half assing anything. That seance was balls to the wall. Did she piss on the table at the end? When she was arching her back so much it looked like in the reflection she was pissing. Which I wouldn't put it past EG to actually do it.

 

Second of all, Eva Green should come over to my house and say 'fuck' and 'c***' like all the time. I loved how she was spitting them out.

 

It didn't even occur to me that Vanessa was saying that Malcolm and Mina were fucking. I thought Vanessa-as-Mina was saying she (Mina) used to watch Malcolm and Vanessa fucking. 

 

Me: "Look at this guy with all the portraits like he's Dorian Gray." 
"I'm Dorian Gray." HA!

 

It's too bad to see Mr. Proteus go, but I mean in the book, it's Frankenstein's monster, so we got this one now. Didn't he run away in the book too? 

 

All this Book of the Dead stuff is cool. I like how the dandy Egypt guy was flipping out when he was studying the pictures. 

[BindsTheTuna]

The dude who plays Dorian Gray tweeted that Eva Green did, like, 30 takes of that seance scene and I was all *fist bump* respect. That could not have been fun.

[ganesh]

I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one requesting all the takes. 

[Neurochick]

It didn't even occur to me that Vanessa was saying that Malcolm and Mina were fucking. I thought Vanessa-as-Mina was saying she (Mina) used to watch Malcolm and Vanessa fucking.

 

 

I was confused during that seance scene.  Did Mina catch Malcolm having sex with Vanessa, or did Vanessa catch Malcolm having sex with Mina?

[Megras]

If Victor has already brought Proteus back from the dead once, who is to say that is the last we will see of him.

 

/evertheoptimist

[BollywoodLover]

That seance scene is why people need to stop messing around with ghosts. Too bad we never learn from our mistakes. 

 

I really hope Dorians camera man is being paid good, cause that was some kinky shit. I am curious if Dorian is going to join the Scooby Gang in hunting down Mina. 

[dargosmydaddy]

Have just started watching Penny Dreadful, and Proteus's death really got to me. Even more so after I discovered adorable, dead Proteus was played by the same actor who played adorable, dead Gilbert in the UK version of Being Human. Alex Price needs to be on a show where he gets to live for more than a couple episodes...

[Ravenya003]

Watching this season twice over clarifies SO many things. Seeing the seance the first time around left me thinking: "what the heck does happened? Who the heck is she talking about?" Now a few things are clearer (at least I think they are).

 

Vanessa's demon impersonated Malcolm's son to mess with his head, re-enacting his death in Africa.

 

Then it references the time when Vanessa was a child and she saw Malcolm/her mother screwing in the hedge garden.

 

And then (which is most interesting), it address Madame Kali's repetition of "Amonet" and says: "no girl, much older than that." 

 

What remains a bit confusing to me is how this Egyptian Amonet/Amon-Ra business fits in with later appearances from the entity that Vanessa identifies as Lucifer. I mean - are they all the same thing, or not?

[paramitch]

First off, I love Proteus so much, and that gentle walk he takes with Victor along the waterfront is one of my favorite moments of any series last year. Just a lovely, dreamlike moment (and he and Brona were so sweet together -- Billie Piper was just wonderful in that scene).  When the second creature ripped him apart I was absolutely gutted -- but what an entrance for Frankenstein's firstborn!

 

It's freaking me out.  But her acting is lovely.  Which just makes it worse.

 

I get why it bothers some folks, but weirdly, Billie Piper's accent as Brona never bothers me. It took some adjusting to, but I ended up really liking it, and Piper paints her as such a warm, vulnerable, realistic, believable character that for me the weird accent is part of her charm. I agree that her acting is lovely as Brona, so I just go with the accent and it all works for me.

 

I also love that Piper doesn't have a standard big-boobs Hollywood body, but that she's so comfortable with nudity anyway. My favorite thing about Brona is how worn and fragile she can appear in some scenes, and yet in others (as when she meets Dorian), she's luminous, and absolutely gorgeous.

 

For me, the photography on this show is so stunning -- I know it's dark, but the characters are consistently shown in this almost chiaroscuro fashion, as if they're emerging from the shadows and into the light. Some screen shots from this episode would have looked at home in a Rembrandt.

[Jordan27]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2014 at 9:18 AM, SilverStormm said:

For a moment at the end there, I thought there was someone else coming out of Proteus's body, I was like 'wtf?!', then I realised lol.

I thought of "Alien" for a second.   Certainly a shocking scene.

[Jordan27]

One thing that always bothers me about European shows is that very often the accents are hard to understand.  Sometimes I can't understand a whole sentence of dialogue.  Maybe two.

But, I like the show and yes, being a Doctor Who fan,  Piper's accent and character were strange, but really good acting.