The showdown in the southwest as Dracula consolidates his plans.
What They Say:
No Beast So Fierce – When Vanessa turns to an old friend for help, she is introduced to a new ally.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After an episode that focused heavily on Vanessa, it was no surprise that last week we saw more of other characters than her. Not all of them, however, as its focus was more on Ethan and Hecate alongside the journey that Malcolm and Kaeteny are taking to find him. There was a lot of exposition bringing us into the background of things and while I enjoyed it a lot, it was definitely different than other episodes as it was the first not written primarily by John Logan after two and a half seasons. I’ve really grown to like Hecate this season with her journey here and getting to see more of her and Ethan together works for me far better than I would have imagined if I’d been told about it last season. The two are bringing out interesting things about each other and doing it in this setting outside of our normal London adventures just adds to the surreal nature of it all.
With so many people now ending up at the Talbot house, well, it’s pretty messy with his father wanting to kill him, Malcolm showing up, and the Queen’s men also now there ready to arrest them all for the various crimes that are attributed to them. There have been so many separate yet connected adventures for these characters that finally getting them in the same room feels like it’s all just going to blow up quickly if not just for the personalities alone.
Reconnecting with Dracula here, who we haven’t seen since Vanessa’s flashback sequence, we see how he’s garnered more information about her through Renfield. It fills him in on what’s going on with Malcolm and Ethan and that she knows his name now, as does Renfield obviously. Renfield’s definitely wanting to be more of his Chosen and the feeding moment itself is disturbing, first for the group that’s there and for Renfields own separate moment that gives him what he needs. Dracula’s plans are still vague to be sure, but it’s obvious he and Lucifer are both playing a long game and are more than willing to take their time to get it right, which is always a welcome thing to see.
Vanessa’s arc is picking up again after some downtime and that has her seeking out Lyle only to discover that he’s departing for a while. It’s a really nice and tender scene, but it has her trying to find someone of his talents that she can lean on for help should it be needed. This introduces us to Catriona Hartdegen, a woman very much like Vanessa in this period, someone who is inserting herself in the world of men and dealing with what it entails. While Vanessa plays a bit more to the shadows with it, Catriona is far more out front with it, almost to the point of making a spectacle of herself but with the confidence to truly back it up. With her study of death, she’s an ideal one to get information from about Dracula, which reveals the backstory in a mostly familiar way.
The amusing part is that as Catriona talks about how Vanessa can protect herself from Dracula, it involves staying close to people and especially those that she loves and love her. But as we’ve seen, they’re all scattered about and mostly in America. The only one she can turn to is the one she can’t… Doctor Sweet. Which is just an obvious yet delicious little moment. Catriona is already someone I really want to see more of.
Victor’s story returns to focus here as he now has the serum from Jekyll ready and has come to Dorian’s home in order to kidnap her and give it to her so that she can return to how she was when he first “created” her. It’s amusing to see how the girls there take him without him able to do anything about it, though Justine is really craving to kill him. Dorian is trying to keep him alive but is realizing more and more he’s losing his power here as Lily and the women she’s bringing in have little regard for men. Lily at least has a little sentimentality toward Victor, though she makes it clear she has no desire to be who she was before, saying she’s worked hard to be who she is now. There’s a really great threat made here by Lily but also Dorian as he makes it clear that Victor is in his debt for surviving the experience. What Lily is putting together is becoming increasingly dangerous.
The dinner at the Talbot house later on is a real delight as we see how Talbot is prodding and pushing his son in a big way. Malcolm’s attempts to intercede are natural as he’s still looking upon him as a son, but Talbot has no interest in dealing with any of that. The pushing that a father can do is powerful and he’s getting to Ethan quite well, though it’s great to see how Hecate is ready to do what’s needed in order to end this farce. Ethan’s saying of grace is particularly hilarious to watch as is how Rusk handles this situation as a whole, particularly when it turns very violent out of the blue. There are some powerful personalities in the mix here, young and old alike, and you kind of just want to see Hecate cut loose. Seeing Ethan struggling to maintain control is worth it just for that alone as he acts out in flashes.
It’s a pretty engaging old school gun fight in the church sequence that lets all three men showcase their skills. Gunfights have had their place in the show from early on but between this and the train sequence this season they’re really embracing some of the old west ideas and themes in a big way. It’s well done with the visuals for it and the way it’s presented overall, but it’s the time between the three men that really drives it here. Ethan’s father is certainly an ass with how he pushes Ethan for the crimes he’s committed, but seeing him get right up to the line and pull back from killing him is definitely great as it redeems him a bit. That we get Malcolm to step up and put an end to things, to help keep Ethan on the right path, just makes it all the more chilling and reminds what his destiny in this arc was all about.
In Summary:
With a good chunk of the episode devoted to the time in the American Southwest, we get some closure for Ethan’s arc but not the fallout from it. There’s a lot to like with how we see events come together here but also some big disappointments for me when it comes to Hecate. Vanessa’s story takes some welcome turns as we get a brief return of Lyle, which delights to no end, but also the introduction if Catriona Hartdegen. I’m definitely hoping this character is tied to the H.G. Wells material that has been suggested by some fan theories as it would be quite the twist. Catriona’s just a delight to watch here. The big win for me is watching what Lily’s up to and how Dorian is feeling things slipping away from him in some ways and having to deal with Victor as well. Lots of good stuff across the board made even better by a Vanessa sex scene as well, though it’s pretty tame by Eva Green standards but still very hot.
Grade: B+
