Once Upon a Time, Season 6, Episode 4: Strange Case

Rumple is sporting a new haircut. This is important or worthy of comment apparently. He also gets a visit from Hyde and EQ which kind of frustrates me

It frustrates me because, in seasons past, I would have laughed at the idea of these two making such a blatant enemy of Rumple’s. In seasons past, I would have gleefully looked forward to Hyde fully regretting trying to out manipulate the most manipulative of them all. With his power, his schemes, his deals and his ability to see the future, manipulating Rumple will always end painfully. Even his attempt to throttle the unkillable Hyde seems half-hearted (like being unkillable means Rumple couldn’t do terribad awful things to Hyde).

But this season? Not so much. And it’s not just because Hyde and EQ are just so much more craftier than Rumple. I could run with that. But Rumple isn’t even trying – and that’d be fine if he was so depressed and focused on Belle that he didn’t want to play the game any more – but he keeps on playing; just badly and with a fraction of the skill he once had.

So he does very little when EQ and Hyde help themselves to a pendant from his shop – not even trying to make a deal over it.

Hyde plants the pendant in Jekyll’s home to freak him out because of the memories attached – and Jekyll and Hyde’s past revealed

Dr. Jekyll was experimenting on his serum but not getting a whole lot of luck in making it work – or getting the prominent Dr. Lidgard to support his work. Or his beautiful daughter Mary who Jekyll is totally obsessed with.

The solution to his problem comes from Rumplestiltskin – back in his Dark One days – who provides the last key to making the serum work: magic. The magic allows the creation of Dr. Hyde, filled with all the elements of Jekyll that he wants to hide (hence the name). He’s passionate and driven – and willing to blackmail Dr. Lidgard to get all what Jekyll wants

In the present Rumple continues to fail – deciding to “save” Belle by imprisoning her on the pirate ship with a defensive spell. Needless to say, Belle is furious with his version of protection which keeps out Hyde and locks Bell in: clearly Rumple could have created a spell to allow Belle to pass (since it allows anyone else to pass) on and off the ship but he has deliberately removed her choices because, as ever, he decides he knows best.

Penny Dreadful, Season 3, Episode 9: The Blessed Dark

This is the end…

The end of Penny Dreadful

Entirely?

We’re ending here?!

No no no NO!

This cannot end here. This cannot be the ending. I refuse to let this incredibly beautiful show end. I refuse to let it end so… disappointingly.

I shall begin with the good – because if this is my last chance to say it then I must: this show is beautiful. The settings are gorgeous, the atmosphere unparalleled, the acting unsurpassed, the music perfectly chosen – every scene is a work of art; a work of pure beautiful art. Every line is a poem, every last moment of this show was crafted to perfection. It was a joy to watch.

This show certainly laid the groundwork for that with devastating tragedy – opening with a grief stricken song and the inevitable awful death of Joh Clare’s son. It’s fitting this episode begins with this death and, at the close of the episode, we see him lower his son’s body into the Thames: despite his wife begging him to take the boy to Frankenstein to be reborn like him. John’s self hatred cannot let him be happy, cannot let him follow a clear path to happiness – he sees no hope or happy ending only more tragedy

And isn’t that Penny Dreadful through and through? Beautiful and tragic. No happy endings here.

So no-one getting a happy ending? Yes, I could see that. That’s the essence of this show. Everything being so sad and grim with its ending isn’t what is disappointing – it’s the anti-climax, it’s the fizzle and it’s the wasted potential.

Waste potential the first: Dorian and Lily. While Dorian FINALLY pulls off the jaded immortal with a rather epic speech that truly encompasses the cost of immortality and with a nice reference to his portrait. It’s a good speech but it’s far too damn late after a season of whiny petulance. Lily reacts to Justine’s death and all her minions fled by… walking away. Her whole revolution is just a footnote in Dorian’s story of jaded immortality! It’s not even Lily’s story any more.

Penny Dreadful, Season 3, Episode 8: Perpetual Night

Everything is very bleak and dark – of course, such imagery is the bread and butter of Penny Dreadful. With Vanessa’s ominous voiceover we have the stage set of darkened and fog clouded streets, evil darkness, cloying poisons in the air and the night creatures rising up

Penny Dreadful is the undisputed master of gothic imagery.

Enter into this the one gloomy bright spot, with John Smith and his family, him making all these happy plans for the future while his eager son is ravaged by a cough, all those happy plans hollow before his inevitable demise

How very… Victorian; gloomy, tragic, desperately sad and sweet.

With Kaetenay, Malcolm and Ethan arriving from America they convene at Sir Malcolm’s house and, after a bit of fun with some vampires, they’re joined by Catriana and hunting skills: saving Ethan and teaching Malcolm the finer points of curing a vampire bite. And the foolishness of stubborn male pride

While Ethan decides to run off into the fog looking for Vanessa, the others are joined by Dr. Seward. She’s just had an unpleasant experience with Renfield who, in addition to being horrifying, also told her a lot about Dracula and tried to murder her, sure she wouldn’t fight back because she’s not a killer

That shows what he knows

Duly beaten and imprisoned in a straight jacket, he is now confined for Seward and Catriona (who have collectively become toweringly awesome in this show) to question.

Ethan is lured through the streets by a child vampire into an ambush. He tells Dracula repeatedly that he will rescue Vanessa while Dracula responds, equally repeatedly that Vanessa isn’t actually his prisoner, she’s there willingly. Ethan won’t hear this so Dracula casually flips him aside and leaves him to his minions

Penny Dreadful, Season 3, Episode 3: Good and Evil Braided Be

Ethan and Hecate continue their wandering through the old west which is all full of deserts and death as we’re reminded frequently. No really, everyone has to tell us how deadly the landscape is probably because we’re not seeing a lot of said deadliness.

Except Hecate. She totally wants to follow Ethan to his dad’s and kill lots of people so they can all be super dark and evil rulers of… everything? It’s an ambitious albeit vague plan. Ethan is against this and her murdering people to get their horses (though he still takes the horses and supplies. That’s a convenient evil companion to have around – don’t want to do anything morally questionable? Let your evil companion do it, judge them and then enjoy the result).

Hecate isn’t exactly on side with his judgement, or moral grey areas. She doesn’t particularly see a whole lot of moral room between her choosing to kill people and Ethan losing control and killing people – the bodies are still on the ground. Obviously there are flaws in her reasoning but it also begs the question of how much Ethan must restrain himself before the murders he causes are intentional. Especially when they are convenient – like escaping his captives.

They’re being followed by Inspector Rusk who continues to have a lot of class and coolness. He tries to introduce Marshall Franklin Ostow to the concept of the occult.

They’re also being followed by Kaetenay, the endlessly cryptic and Malcolm. Kaetenay predicts all kinds of spooky bad things happening if they can’t keep Ethan on the side of goodness. His prediction sounds almost apocalyptic… albeit vague. It isn’t helped when he discusses Hecate’s presence with Michael and they find the bodies she left behind

Malcolm also champions Kaetenay against some nasty racists… there really feels like a kind of forced redemption narrative with Malcolm this season. Taking the imperialist explorer with the characterless Black servant and now making points about how imperialism is wrong and racist segregation is terrible? I mean, obviously they are wrong and terrible, but it feels more like an attempt to make it clear Malcolm isn’t like Those Imperialists more than anything else.