Penny Dreadful: Memento Mori

June 22, 2015 5:31 AM - Season 2, Episode 8

The Creature unleashes his rage; Sir Malcolm confronts Evelyn.

*Inspector Rusk interviews Sir Malcolm.
*Lyle finally tells the full 'Hound of God' prophecy to the whole team, so the wolf connection is made at last.
*Sembene gets Malcolm to snap out of Evelyn's enchantment.
*Angelique finds Dorian's portrait; Dorian poisons her.
*Lily turns the tables on Caliban, gives one of the finest Evil Speeches of Evil in monster history.
*Sir Malcolm's confrontation with Evelyn leaves him trapped in her mansion, surrounded by the animated corpses of his family (or hallucinations thereof)

posted by oh yeah! (11 comments total)

I was like 80% asleep/medicatedly goobery by the final scene and you'd have thought it would make it even more spooky but instead it was just confusing. I didn't remember what Peter looked like so I was like "why is he crying and cuddling this dead guy".

I AM VERY UPSET ABOUT ANGELIQUE OH MY GOD

I love Lily's transformation into a glorious monster but I am sad that she has chosen Caliban the whiny entitled douchebag as her love minion.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:31 AM on June 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

I was so hoping they weren't going to kill Angelique. Ugh.
(I'm clinging to a tiny shred of hope that it isn't the last time we'll see her, though I have absolutely nothing to base it on.)

The painting wasn't actually that horrific in the end. I'd rather not have seen it at all, to be honest - what you imagine is always worse.

Called it on Lily. Great scene. Have to digest the rest of the ep when I have a bit more time.
posted by along came the crocodile at 1:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

I would like to take my hat off both to Billie Piper for pulling off that scene with the milksop man-monster, and to poffin boffin for the phrase "medicatedly goobery".
posted by sobarel at 4:37 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I knew Angelique wouldn't get a happy-ever-after with Dorian, but I was really really hoping that she'd get to ride the Nopetopus out of fucktown, rather than become yet another entry on the gargantuan list of killed-off trans & queer characters.

Billie Piper's rage-speech was phenomenal. (But I still have so much S1 loathing for Caliban, ugh.)
posted by oh yeah! at 5:25 PM on June 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

Oh this thread. I had never seen the nopetopus before and it just made my whole day and probably part of tomorrow as well.

Billie Piper....oh was she glorious or WHAT? That whole scene I was just staring in slack jawed awe. So so good. (Such a soothing balm for the disappointment that was e1 s2 of True Detectives.)

But I also really loved the theme of this episode which was identity and who we really are and how we deceive ourselves as well was others. Sir Malcolm begins to scratch the edges of his enchantment when he confides in Victor that this happy man is not who he is. Later when he is possessed Sembene, who has recognized that Sir Malcolm is not himself from the beginning, says "KNOW WHO YOU ARE" and through memory, Sir Malcolm is able to reclaim himself. Dorian comes to the end of his sham with Angelique. As much as he would like to be the man he pretended to be for her, he is not. And unfortunately, that means she gets the axe. (Although I wish he let her say more. I was curious of her reaction to the painting before he swooped in with his dashing killer act.) The painting fits Dorian and that smile he gave it, that acceptance of his monstrousness, oh it thrilled my little heart.

And this brings us back to Lily who finished the ep with a roar of epiphany. I really really loved it.
posted by miss-lapin at 6:53 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I must admit I haven't been a Billie Piper fan, going back to her companion days, but ... that was a revelation. Smash the patriarchy! Or drown it in blood, that works too, I suppose. I wonder if this was a sudden development, or has been growing slowly, or whether she's been putting it over on everyone up to now. I will always find Caliban ludicrous, however, despite the fine job Roy Kinnear is doing; his appearance makes me think of this doofus.

Have there been hints of Victor's addiction before now? If so, I completely missed them. What I have noticed the last few episodes is the extreme redness around his eyes, sometimes highlighted by the lighting, but I never connected that with addiction.

Dorian's portrait was not what I expected, but was extremely effective, if we were to be shown it at all. It made me think of Goya, especially that crazy one of Saturn. The figure was very haunting, bound in chains of his own making.

Of all the characters, I find Sir Malcolm to be the least relatable and sympathetic. Perhaps that's a reflection of the coldness that apparently if his chief characteristic. But frankly I see some justice in how he's haunted by his personal ghosts; it'll build character.

Super excited for these last two episodes; I expect them to be cra-hay-zee.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 7:59 AM on June 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

i don't think there's been any mention of it this season but last season there were a few scenes of victor messing about with needles.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:22 AM on June 23, 2015

I always thought addiction would eventually be a story line with victor because of the redness around the eyes. Addiction was beginning to become a serious problem at that point especially with doctors who had access to drugs like opium and cocaine. But they did a very poor job of setting up the addiction issue with Victor and it seems...weird to put it here what with all the other big things going down. I suppose the point is we have several characters now (Vanessa, Sir. Malcolm, and now Victor) who will have trouble with hallucinations that is if Victor plans to stop using.) Dealing with attacks by witches and two rage fueled monsters while coping with withdrawal seems...ill advised.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:32 AM on June 23, 2015

I thought that was one of the most romantic evil speeches ever.

And we finally got a reveal of the painting, which wasn't as bad as I'd imagined it'd be. Still, it was a bit of a nightmare though, wasn't it?
posted by Catblack at 8:13 PM on June 23, 2015

This may be the flimsiest of straws, but remember the scene with the table tennis champagne corks where Angelique said she could smell champagne at 30 paces etc?

Is it possible that she realised the champagne Dorian offered her was poisoned and has actually faked her death? It was a fantastically melodramatic collapse. Totally in keeping with the show's aesthetic, but also therefore a clever way to trick Dorian and us?

I'm probably wrong - it's a dark irony that Dorian poisoned her that way. But I'm really hoping that she's too smart for him.
posted by along came the crocodile at 2:32 PM on June 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I was ready to rage out at Angelique's death but then again, Dorian is a bad guy. Easy to forget, but he's an actual full on villian, so while I was sad it was a bit of an anticlimax. I was initially worried Caliban was going to rip her to bits in retaliation for Dorian's interest in Lilly.

Speaking of which, I am pleased someone has finally recognised Brouna through that very half hearted disguise. I expected more from Vanessa actually when they met at tea, so good to see someone's paying attention.
posted by Jilder at 8:48 PM on July 4, 2015 [1 favorite]