Penny Dreadful: Verbis Diablo
May 11, 2015 5:28 AM - Season 2, Episode 2 - Subscribe

Vanessa seeks solace with Sir Malcolm; Dorian Gray meets an intriguing woman; Rusk seeks a survivor; Hecate hunts down a prize for her mother; Ferdinand Lyle reveals Verbis Diablo's backstory.

*Victor names re-animated Brona as Lily, tells her she was his cousin.
*Evelyn Poole makes a Vanessa doll with a murdered baby's heart sewn inside.
posted by oh yeah! (14 comments total)
 
Wow, that doll-room sequence was horrific. Was giving me flashbacks to that animated short from several years ago, Alma.

Lyle's museum trip with Chandler was fun, and I'm glad Dorian is back. Loved his little smile at Angelique's reveal.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:44 AM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Just watched this episode. Much better than the first one of season two. I'm excited about this show again. Ditto everything oh yeah! said.
posted by pearlybob at 6:35 AM on May 11, 2015


I just realized that Mrs Poole is Narcissa Malfoy.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:30 PM on May 11, 2015


Ferdinand Lyle was great in season one. That expository scene he gave in this episode was one of the best ever. I wish they hadn't given us the reveal that he's in league with the witches, but at least he can delightfully claim the honor of being among the first people to succumb to the ruffian's art of blackmail.
posted by Catblack at 9:41 PM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


From last week's thread..
jadepearl: The part that is going to get weird, is the love triangle that will emerge between undead Brona, Victor and Caliban.

Nah. It's not gonna get truly weird until Chandler comes across his dead love on the arm of the Good Doc.
posted by coriolisdave at 9:21 PM on May 12, 2015


>Nah. It's not gonna get truly weird until Chandler comes across his dead love on the arm of the Good Doc.

"The werewolf was dancing with Frankenstein's bride! Frankie got mad, he nearly redied! It's horrible!"
posted by Catblack at 2:23 AM on May 13, 2015


While I love seeing a gorgeous trans woman on my TV, I am really not sure how Dorian Gray now fits into the series anymore other than to be pretty. That whole bit just felt like, "Oh yeah, this guy is in the cast too, isn't he? Crap! Someone write a scene for him!"
posted by Kitteh at 1:05 PM on May 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


A voodoo doll? Wow. Going old school, I see. I found the whole thing really funny. I think it was the blood. I just wanted the witch to wash her hands.

Other funny bits:

Vanessa: Have you religion?

F's Monster: Are you offering it?

Vanessa: Do you require it?

F's Monster: I never have. ‎

Vanessa: Then I shan't offer. ‎

I enjoyed that bit because I got the impression a writer was heavily influenced by Whose Line Is It Anyway.

‎Ferdinand: The British Museum holds the world's largest collection of historical pornography--except the Vatican of course. 

Too funny!
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 6:23 PM on May 18, 2015


Yeah, kind of digesting the episode. It is so clear that Frankenstein is falling in love with his undead creation and it starts with narrative story of his life with her as a child.

The doll scene was very creepy, because I started counting the number of dolls in that room and it was staggering. Dolls are totemic, in of themselves, but their uncanny valley is super enhanced knowing that a murdered child's heart resides in each of those dolls.

Yeah, Dorian. I am not sure what his scene establishes but that he is decadent?
posted by jadepearl at 3:12 PM on May 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Dorian scene surprised me but only because I'm sure that last season there was a sex montage that showed Dorian with other men. Raising it again, unless this is going to turn into a relationship, seems repetitive. I agree with Kitteh that this felt like a holding pattern scene.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 8:03 PM on May 23, 2015


I could watch an entire series of Simon Russell Beale doing pretty much anything.
posted by fullerine at 6:09 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


Lyle is so great. A much needed dollop of levity among (rightfully) dour faces. And he's right about the classical education.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:23 PM on August 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


Michael Moorcock once told me that Simon Russell Beale was his first choice to portray Elric in any film adaptation, specifically citing Beale in the 1970s and with reference to both a never-made film from that era and the never-made film project optioned in the early 2000s by the Weitz Bros, in the wake of About a Boy. Having never seen Beale's work, I am deeply appreciative of the character seen here. Very, very amusing.
posted by mwhybark at 12:57 PM on January 30, 2018


Test, due to wacky timestamp
posted by mwhybark at 11:19 PM on January 30, 2018


« Older Adventure Time: Trouble in Lum...   |  Last Week Tonight with John Ol... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster