Archive 81: The Ferryman

February 11, 2022 6:22 AM - Season 1, Episode 7

The veil drops from a cursed film's origins; at the Vos Mansion in 1924, Iris recruits Rose for a blood ritual; Dan knows he must find Anabelle.
posted by chavenet (3 comments total)

Dan wakes up in his own bed, at home. He goes to LMG to confront Virgil, who claims he had a breakdown and had to be taken from the compound. Tells Dan to forget the whole thing. The main focus of the episode is on the past, the story of Iris Vos, the Comet Kharon and the making of the snuff film in the basement of the Vos mansion. Dan and Mark watch the resulting movie, and the invocation of the demon. They decide they need to see if there's anyone still alive from the Visser, and they discover Anabelle, who is ... waiting for them.
posted by chavenet at 6:25 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is an outlier of an episode, a whole other cast in a whole other setting. Felt a little bit like a "Titanic" side story (upstairs downstairs, plus the maid's called Rose...). Very neat effect with the blood welling into the ridges of the icon during the sacrifice scene. The demon's arrival is very Indiana Joneslike. And there's some interesting twinning, maybe not intentional (Emma the Baldung could be Melody; Rose Jess and Iris ... Sam? or Tamara?)
posted by chavenet at 6:29 AM on February 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yup, another numbered list:

1. The teasers are really good on this series.

2. Mark is a better friend than Dan deserves, although he is kind of a "plot coupon" dispenser.

3.I really like the whole 1920s plot. There, I said it.

4. I like the way that the relationship between Rose and Iris Vos develops. Iris is like a junkie -- it's not that she doesn't care about other people; she just care about something else more. I did not love the "Iris wants a child" subplot. Can't a woman want something else?

5. I do feel like we have wandered into a particularly occult episode of Babylon Berlin, but that is a natural mistake, I think.

6. Rose dressed in roses is kind of on the nose.

7. What is that language. We are going to get 3 repeats of this scene in the next two episodes, which is a lot, but also has an impact.

8. I like the blood pouring on the statue effect.

9. Mark is such a loyal friend. I wish Annabelle hadn't been turned into a "plot coupon" dispenser.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:04 PM on February 12, 2022 [2 favorites]