S03.E02: Season 3, Episode 2

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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With Charlotte's brothel damaged by fire and all of her savings up in smoke, she is determined to retaliate -- but the Wells women need to be clever; the Pinchers are violent men; Lucy offers to help her sister in a way that benefits her business.

Original air date: 7/17/19

[HeySandyStrange]

There are still too many characters for my tastes, tbh. Nothing against Isabella, the Mom and son Molly house duo, or North's young protege, but they seem superfluous and I can't really work myself up to care about them. The mom and son feel like the should be apart of a less crowded season, Isabella's story feels thin, and I like the protege, but still it's overwhelming.

I was glad to see North and his common sense back. Now I'd just like to hear an update on Mrs. Scanwell, Violet, Amelia, and Hunt. 

I'm still loving Emily Lacy trying to transform herself into a shrewd business woman. I wonder if all this America talk is setting up for something, maybe next season.

I feel like Charlotte is really playing with fire. And I hope Lucy doesn't get to comfortable with the mother and son, I was afraid she'd say something about her killings during the game.

Do Isabella and Charlotte are still occasional friends with benefits? I feel like that might not end will, because I can see Isabella catching feelings. Oh, and her daughter is a moron, I have to reiterate.

[LadyintheLoop]

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And I hope Lucy doesn't get to comfortable with the mother and son, I was afraid she'd say something about her killings during the game.

Me too. Weren't all three of her statements true to a point?

So Nell's disappeared. Are the Spartans still in business?

I keep hoping Armitage will notice something about Kitty/Mercy -- a birthmark, a crooked finger, anything -- that convinces him he's her father.

Had to laugh at Cherry looking the guy over, then selling him a shorter condom.

[UNOSEZ]

Another strong episode... I felt for daddy north.. His girls are just like his wife... He can't stop them from charging head on Into danger.. Tho I'm sure he was proud of Charlotte's power move... Don't know why.. But I think Lucy has an eye towards Hal . Dunno if anything will come of it... Emily is really making moves.. But she must forgot that her man is mixed so I don't think going to America is the move... Unless they have a white face to front them... That isn't pyro brother.... I had to Lol when he asked Emily why she was always there... Well quigley's out... Not long before she's making noise... Didn't mind the boxer kid he's interesting enough.. Wonder what they plan to do with him

[goldilocks]

2 hours ago, LadyintheLoop said:

Had to laugh at Cherry looking the guy over, then selling him a shorter condom.

That was funny. Men are so full of themselves. He picks the biggest one there. Did he think he would grow into it (excuse the pun)?

[ferjy]

9 hours ago, HeySandyStrange said:

I was glad to see North and his common sense back.

I was too, I was afraid he might have been written out of the show with Margaret gone. 

[ferjy]

2 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Well quigley's out... Not long before she's making noise.

We knew she wouldn’t be stuck in that hideous chair all season but I thought she might have been in longer. Glad she’s out, those scenes were hard to watch. I did like her and Kate’s escape scheme, the good doctor caught with his pants down, literally!  Wonder how Quigley will exact her revenge, and we know she will. 

[steph369]

8 hours ago, LadyintheLoop said:

Me too. Weren't all three of her statements true to a point?

I thought they all were true. And isn’t your opponent supposed to guess which one is true? They never did that. 

Edited July 18, 2019 by steph369

[PinkRibbons]

...Harlots Heist. Then almost topped by a madhouse escape. I laughed so hard at those two ladies losing their shit over a woman who was just standing there singing!

I like that they're still using Charlotte's almost preternatural power to convince others that she wants them/wants to be with them. Isaac Pincher never stood a chance.

Speaking of Isaac, as far and I'm concerned, the dude is a psychopath. And I thought that even before he burned the house down; the way he came at Fanny and targeted her child said it all. (I loved that it was such a contrast to Charles, who immediately called her "Miss Kitty". Charles is an enormous fuckup but in the end he was raised by and with women and I think he at least has some respect for them.)

I was little confused about the assertion about Emily having seen a murder coverup before -- she wasn't there after they killed Charlotte's old keeper. But I guess she's been around long enough to have seen plenty of things.

I hope Sofia comes back ruefully regretting her marriage. That servant gave me the creeps. Not to mention she's hurt her mother by leaving her -- does she expect Lady Fitz to just take her and her husband in and pay for them both? It's not like he still has the footman's job. As a ward it's entirely possible Sofia has no fortune other than what her mother would have chosen to give her.

In any case, her justifying her actions by absolutely refusing to believe her mother did anything different needs remedying. Clearly it never occurred to Sofia that her own conception wasn't spoken of because it was too painful for her mother to divulge.

I think Lucy was lying about the exact amount of money paid for her virginity. I think it may have been more.

Edited July 18, 2019 by PinkRibbons

[kieyra]

I thought this was a fantastic episode and I love that they’re keeping up the pace. 

I loved the heist and the escape.

I’m extremely concerned that Isaac and Charlotte *still* have chemistry. Yikes. I can’t get a read on him. He doesn’t seem full-on evil, and he keeps apologizing or quasi-apologizing, but you just know Charlotte is playing with fire. Still, I like that they’re writing him in such a way that there’s room for guessing. And I REALLY like that they’re not making him one of those overly obvious danger-boys who loves the sound of his own voice and is constantly spewing some sort of manipulative egotistical bullshit. Like Fallon and his dumb speechifying. The fact that Isaac doesn’t have much dialogue, all things considered, makes it a little harder to know how evil he might actually be.

I like that Emily is continuing to try to better herself. (Someone upthread mentioned that her BF is mixed race, but since he and Isaac keep referring to themselves as brothers, I’d been wondering if it was just colorblind casting of a sort. And Fredo looks nothing at all like his mother. But I suppose a show set in this era, which has already acknowledged racism textually, can’t really do that kind of casting. Maybe they mentioned having different fathers and I missed it.) She’s usually in a more antagonistic role, and it’s fun watching her just kind of rolling her eyes at everyone else’s drama while taking investment lessons. 

Edited July 19, 2019 by kieyra

[chaifan]

I was so cheering on Lydia and whatshername's escape.  Glad they let out the other women, whether it was out of kindness or to create a bigger distraction.  I am curious how Lydia will reenter society without getting thrown back into Bedlam. 

I like the Harper's, but I do think it's funny that none of the characters have questioned, even with a wink and a nod, of them really being mother and son. 

I loved the scheme to rob the Pincher's.  It was like Ocean's 8 18th century style.  I hope the "truce" between Isaac and Charlotte holds.  This was fun for a few episodes, but I don't need more screen time spent on a back and forth of those two trying to ruin the other. 

[UNOSEZ]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

I thought this was a fantastic episode and I love that they’re keeping up the pace. 

I loved the heist and the escape.

I’m extremely concerned that Isaac and Charlotte *still* have chemistry. Yikes. I can’t get a read on him. He doesn’t seem full-on evil, and he keeps apologizing or quasi-apologizing, but you just know Charlotte is playing with fire. Still, I like that they’re writing him in such a way that there’s room for guessing. And I REALLY like that they’re not making him one of those overly obvious danger-boys who loves the sound of his own voice and is constantly spewing some sort of manipulative egotistical bullshit. Like Fallon and his dumb speechifying. The fact that Isaac doesn’t have much dialogue, all things considered, makes it a little harder to know how evil he might actually be.

I like that Emily is continuing to try to better herself. (Someone upthread mentioned that her BF is mixed race, but since he and Isaac keep referring to themselves as brothers, I’d been wondering if it was just colorblind casting of a sort. And Fredo looks nothing at all like his mother. But I suppose a show set in this era, which has already acknowledged racism textually, can’t really do that kind of casting. Maybe they mentioned having different fathers and I missed it.) She’s usually in a more antagonistic role, and it’s fun watching her just kind of rolling her eyes at everyone else’s drama while taking investment lessons. 

I heard Isaac and Hal both call their dad... Dad so I'm assuming half has a diff mother.. I mean they could be foster or step brothers.. But I don't think the show would go that convoluted... Daddy pincher just got a lil brown sugar along the way and out popped Hal...  As for fredo( I'm guessing that's Mr.  North and Mags' boy's name)  Mr. North is quite dark so a pairing between him and a white lady could result in a kid who looks like him... More than how he looks I'd like if only for a scene or two if he could properly interact with his sisters

[kieyra]

11 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

I heard Isaac and Hal both call their dad... Dad so I'm assuming half has a diff mother.. I mean they could be foster or step brothers.. But I don't think the show would go that convoluted... Daddy pincher just got a lil brown sugar along the way and out popped Hal...  As for fredo( I'm guessing that's Mr.  North and Mags' boy's name)  Mr. North is quite dark so a pairing between him and a white lady could result in a kid who looks like him... More than how he looks I'd like if only for a scene or two if he could properly interact with his sisters

Thanks for the clarification on Dad Pincher, I did miss that part.

Fredo (if my closed captioning is correct) is the name of the tailor/clothing designer/“Molly boy” who looks, to me, very Asian. His mother does not.  

(Maggie’s son is Jacob.)

I want to take two steps back and clarify: I’m only bringing all of this up in reference to the idea of Emily’s boyfriend not being able to go to America due to not being Caucasian enough, and whether the show expects us (or Emily) to take that into account. I absolutely love the diversity of shapes/sizes/colors/ages in this cast. I do also like that they define “family” by things other than DNA. 

Edited July 19, 2019 by kieyra

[UNOSEZ]

40 minutes ago, kieyra said:

Thanks for the clarification on Dad Pincher, I did miss that part.

Fredo (if my closed captioning is correct) is the name of the tailor/clothing designer/“Molly boy” who looks, to me, very Asian. His mother does not.  

(Maggie’s son is Jacob.)

I want to take two steps back and clarify: I’m only bringing all of this up in reference to the idea of Emily’s boyfriend not being able to go to America due to not being Caucasian enough, and whether the show expects us (or Emily) to take that into account. I absolutely love the diversity of shapes/sizes/colors/ages in this cast. I do also like that they define “family” by things other than DNA. 

Ahh Jacob.. I forgot his name.. Yes Fredo does look Asian.. Tho he could be biologically the son of the elizabeth woman who looks bi-racial herself .. And just favor his Asian dad.. Or she just raised him like pa north raised the girls... Either way its awesome... As for Hal.. As I was the one who pointed it out... You are right that maybe they are playing it that were supposed to not notice Hal being at least not totally white.. But I doubt it.. Mainly because the show has done such a good job about weaving race and all that comes with it into the show.. And with the new kid who's with Mr. North who seems quite ready to let anyone know he's a proud black man.. I don't see them shying away from a kind of obvious plot point of a black guy shacked up with a white woman wanting to run and open business in America 

[abbyzenn]

Great episode.  Loved how all the women teamed up to rob the Pinchers.  I thought that even Emily Lacy knew what was going on (that look she gave when she saw the group hiding between the buildings) but didn't say/do anything to stop them.  

I do like how Emily Lacy is trying to better herself without doing it at the cost of someone else but rather relying on her own wits/ambition.  Example - she's getting the knowledge from that man (don't know his name), doing it openly, and not backstabbing him.

Wasn't expecting the breakout so soon but they pulled it off quite cleverly.

I agree with a previous poster that there's too many characters.  Still curious as to how this is all going to wrap up.

[Avaleigh]

On 7/17/2019 at 10:14 AM, HeySandyStrange said:

I was glad to see North and his common sense back. Now I'd just like to hear an update on Mrs. Scanwell, Violet, Amelia, and Hunt. 

I have to admit that I haven't missed this group. Nothing against the characters but I've found these past two episodes to be so compelling that I didn't even remember that we haven't received an update on this group until I read your post. 

Another great episode. Loved the heist, loved the break out of Bedlam. It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to seeing Lydia get back on her feet. I wonder if there are any favors she hasn't called in.

It's going to be hard for her to live freely until she finds a way to make sure that she isn't captured and sent back to Bedlam. I'm guessing that she won't ever be sent back only because that would feel repetitive in terms of the story. We've already seen how horrible it is there and I can't imagine that the majority of the viewers are interested in seeing more Bedlam scenes. If Lydia is taken out of the game once and for all this season or next, I'm guessing it'll be from her death. 

Isabelle's story is a little weak this season. I don't feel like I really got to know the daughter very well so I don't have strong feelings about her elopement. My guess though is that sharp disappointment is right around the corner for her and that this isn't going to be some Sybil/Branson type of union. 

Emily went from kind of annoying me in the first season to being a bit of a delight. The actress has done a wonderful job of showing what a survivor she is.

I guess survival really the theme that ties all of these characters together. They're survivors and it's all about surviving in their rotten world. When I think of all of the things the characters have survived it's incredible that not only are they still standing, but they're still hopeful that things can get better. Emily in particular always seems to think that a better life is within her reach. 

I liked Nancy's line to Isabelle about there not being a type of secret that she probably hasn't heard before. It's like she's way past being shocked by anything anymore. 

[chaifan]

Can someone fill me in on who was the dead guy in Emily's patron's room?  It totally missed who he was and what happened there. 

[kieyra]

21 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Can someone fill me in on who was the dead guy in Emily's patron's room?  It totally missed who he was and what happened there. 

Emily's 'tutor' had a friend in a duel, I believe he was acting as second. Duel went bad, guy is dead. Mostly he was just a random redshirt so that the tutor would owe Emily & Pinchers a little something extra for dead body disposal. Which reminds me that she pulled some pistols out of her skirt at the end, so that probably won't end well. 

[nodorothyparker]

What a fantastic balls to the wall episode.  The pacing was just fantastic.

"His rod will be his ruin" indeed.  I know Lydia Quigley is a monster who's done some terribly monstrous things, but I was totally rooting for her and Catherine during the big breakout.  These people are going to a madhouse to gawk at the unfortunates there being tortured and they're horrified just horrified to catch the good doctor with his pants down with one of the patients, really?  Because she's Lydia and she was already on the loose, I worried for a moment that she would try to make her own break for it and leave Catherine on that table, but for once she didn't screw over someone taking one to help her.  Granted, Catherine was the one snagging the keys and letting the other women out of their cells helped create more confusion during their escape, but it was still fun to see her on the right side of things for a change.  With Charles as the male relative of record who had her locked away also in trouble and on the run, is anyone even going to care enough to go looking for her?  I could well imagine that's one of those things where Bedlam will just officially ignore that she's gone missing unless she forces someone with power to notice that she's on the outside again.

The heist was also all kinds of terrific.  All the moving parts of the women working together were great, although North really ought to know by now that both of his girls are just pig-headed and impulsive as their mother is and that it was unlikely they were going to be content to sit and wait for him to figure something out.  Charlotte and Isaac/Not Theon Greyjoy have chemistry to spare, and while yes, he's done his share of throwing threats around and being an all-around prick, he doesn't quite read as truly evil either.  Last episode, he was talking to Charlotte about how he'd grown up poor in the streets as a way of trying to relate to her, and right now he's reading more as scrappy and trying to use what he can to make an easy pound off people who will roll over for him.  It's clear he didn't expect the kind of pushback Charlotte's been giving him and doesn't know how to respond to that.  I also get the sense he's really attracted to Charlotte beyond just transactional sex and wants her to like him even as some part of him is fully aware that burning a woman's house down and threatening her is having the opposite affect on her.  The actor's reading of saying he was sorry before he realized she was playing him felt sincere.  Of course I do realize I'm giving the character a fairly generous read at this point because I like the actor so much, but we'll see.

Loved Isabella rolling up to the smoke-blackened house and protesting just a little too much that they probably had bigger things to worry about than her problems but then proceeded to dump them on Nancy anyway.  It amuses me that the character can be oblivious to the point of thinking they're all just hanging out waiting to solve her problems even as I appreciate that she wasn't afraid to throw her much heavier social weight around to benefit them in the end.

[tennisgurl]

This season has so MUCH going on, but I am loving it so I cant complain. I admit I do want to check in with some of the previous characters like Violet and the Scanwalls, but I like the new characters and I think they add a lot of new dynamics to the show. I especially like how the Pinchers are a different sort of antagonists than we have had previously. They might not be TOTALLY villains at this point, and unlike many of the previous villains, they arent particularly wealthy or well connected (if anything, the Wells girls have more of a veneer of class and some friends in high places) so they cant just pay people off to make their problems go away. Its an interesting dynamic, especially because, damn it Charlotte and Isaac have crazy chemistry, no matter how clearly he is bad news. 

I cant imagine the show wouldn't take a characters ethnicity into question, they have done a pretty good job at working racial issues into the characters and backstories, so I can guess that the Pinchers are half brothers and share a father but have different mothers of different backgrounds, since they reference a mutual father, or they were raised together and consider each other to be brothers, while we can guess that Fredo might have an Asian father he takes after, or his mother is his mother the same way Mr. North is Lucy and Charlototts Pa. We might find out details, but we might just have to guess. 

Speaking of, so glad to see Mr. North again, bringing common sense back with him! Of course he sees the Harlots 11 stealing money from the Pinchers as a ridiculous scheme, but they all think it was a blast! 

The robbery was a fun bit, it was nice seeing everyone working together, and even Emily looked the other way, even though she has pretty much aligned herself with her new boyfriend. I love how she is so committed to her lessons and moving up in the world, and also her reaction when her benefactor accidentally killed that guy and she had to deal with it. "Oh dont worry, I know TONS of sketchy people, I got this!"

[rubinia]

I didn’t think that Fredo was *actually* her son. I thought it was just a little “wink-wink” sort of thing to explain why this single woman was hanging out with a rather flamboyant younger gentleman.

Edited July 21, 2019 by rubinia

[aradia22]

Is it just me or did it look like all Charlotte's house needed was some cleaning and maybe new coats of paint?

I can't be sympathetic to Bottomly if she's going to be so stupid as to think Lydia is a good person. She saw her screaming at Isabella.

To be fair to Armitage, they don't have any proof that Isaac set the fire.

The gowns! The ones for Isabella and the high society ladies are my favorites but I love the color clashing for the prostitute costumes as well.

Lol. It took me a while to figure out that Cherry's "skins" were condoms. They looked so rectangular in the earlier scenes.

Ew, that Charlotte had to tup Isaac again as a distraction.

I loved seeing so many of the different women working together. I love a heist!

I don't think it would be that easy to escape Bedlam. 

We're going to continue on in this delusion that Sophia is in love with a man who spoke to her once? And that he won't be abusive down the line? Okay...

It's a shame Emily Lacey hooked up with Hal. She's great this season but I can't root for her as long as she's got the deadweight of Isaac on her side.

I don't really care about Will's young boxer Lively being into Harriet. I don't know if they can make Harriet a compelling character to me at this point.

[aradia22]

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I’m extremely concerned that Isaac and Charlotte *still* have chemistry. Yikes. I can’t get a read on him. He doesn’t seem full-on evil, and he keeps apologizing or quasi-apologizing, but you just know Charlotte is playing with fire. Still, I like that they’re writing him in such a way that there’s room for guessing. And I REALLY like that they’re not making him one of those overly obvious danger-boys who loves the sound of his own voice and is constantly spewing some sort of manipulative egotistical bullshit. Like Fallon and his dumb speechifying. The fact that Isaac doesn’t have much dialogue, all things considered, makes it a little harder to know how evil he might actually be.

Yeah, no. Dude's a psycho. He's blatantly misogynistic, especially towards Emily. He uses physical violence and intimidation against women and children. He profits from sex work but he has no respect for the sex workers. He is not a bad boy who just needs a cuddle. He's an abusive asshole. Don't forget him choking Charlotte in episode 1. 

[Roseanna]

On 7/19/2019 at 4:36 AM, kieyra said:

he keeps apologizing or quasi-apologizing

As far I remember, Isaac only once said "I am sorry" and that was when Charlotte had lured her to have sex in order to get her money back.

But I can't really call it an apology which means that you want to atone what you have done to the other or at least you promise never do it again. Isaac meant neither. 

Well, Charlotte also said to him "I am sorry, too", which meant rather "I am sorry I had to deceive you, but after you burned my house, there was no other way".