Who can the Touched trust? Els Nevers addressed with this question to its premiere episode directed by Joss Whedon, and will clearly be a recurring consultation going forward because the second episode “Exposure” (also directed by Whedon) is based on this same idea. Maybe that was the point of that deluge of villains of the pilot: wherever the Touched twist is (which didn’t want to be a pun, bad!), There’s someone ominous waiting for them. Lord Massen, and his cohort of fellow government. Maladie, and its hangers and sycophants. Hugo Swann, and his promise of female entrepreneurship. The beggar king and his desire to stay in the underworld. And that mysterious doctor at the premiere, who is now revealed to be in the service of a specific teacher: the same benefactress who supports the orphanage and employs Mrs. True and penance. What the hell are Lavinia Bidlow and Dr. Hague doing?
Els Nevers has already provided pieces to this response. Dr. Hague is conducting experiments with people (trepanning, perhaps?) To try to see what is different in the brains of the Headdresses and what could cause them to turn. (The “spark,” he says.) The result seems to be the creation of worker slaves on the one hand, and the kidnappers of demon-like moves on the other. The former are ready to unearth what I believe is the pilot’s crashed ship, while the latter are responsible for the abduction of additional Touched people from all over London so that Dr. And all of this is funded, I suppose, by Lavinia, who in this episode insists that the Touched participate in social civilization, while in this final conversation with Dr. Hague, she says, “That’s not funny. This is war. “But does he declare war? turned on la Tocada, or thinks she’s working with they?
I think Jane Espenson’s writing here is intentionally opaque, but I’ll go ahead and guess what to put on fake ruffles for the orphanage and use Mrs. True’s face to attract desperate people who only know their turns at Dr. Hague, like the lambs for slaughter, it is not particularly benevolent on the part of Lavinia. (Poor Mrs. Cassini. That chase scene, with its range of floating impediments, also felt a little Fantastic beasts, but Domenique Fragale’s terror at the revelation of his secret was quite plausible.) I think it’s only a matter of time before Mrs. True, or anyone else in the orphanage, sees one of these posters, but if the can connect Lavinia is in the air.
The exhibition begins after the attack on Maladie’s opera. The city is nearby and Inspector Mundi is targeting the orphanage. Her (failed) Mrs. True’s interrogation had a good pace — she shouted at Penance’s offense, “How can you not be wonderful?” – and helped establish that, despite being in Hugo Swann’s pocket for whatever reason, Mundi is not a complete idiot. “Do you often do public violence?” it is a sarcastic but fundamental, valid question. Mrs. True is a bit wired, and the super endurance, speed, and ripples that her turn provides seem to make her more powerful than almost every other member of the Touched.
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Except, of course, for Maladie. Yes, she is very bad in Whedon’s wacky Drusilla or in the mold of the vampire Willow, with lust for pain, and I admit that all her whispering and whispering about God and crowns of thorns and pain as pleasure go to me make him wish he was just looking True Detective first season for the millionth time. But it seems that Maladie operates totally out of everything Lord Massen tries to do with government control of the Touched, and whatever Lavinia / Dr. The Hague is trying to find the source of the Tocats’ power. Is she, as Mrs. True observes, driven by this zealous desire to please her God, and perhaps to hurt Mrs. True? The conversation between the two was hard to trace, but I think they knew each other when they were kids, and Mrs. True (“Molly”) abandoned Maladie (“Sarah”) to the authoritarians who had her orphanage? Remember that Mrs. True keeps saying she’s not “from here,” and that she and Maladie are from the same place? And when Mrs. True apparently again leaves Maladie to save the captured Mary and Penance, are you endangering the Touched who are aligned with her? Maladie doesn’t seem to take this kind of rejection lightly. (She probably doesn’t like Bonfire Annie turning it either).
Questions, questions! Although Désireé’s introduction, which compels the truth, means that we get some honesty from several characters in this episode (Mundi and Mary were engaged, but she left him at the altar; Mary doesn’t know the meaning of the song she sings that only the Headdresses can hear; Mrs. True is overwhelmed by the responsibility of directing the orphanage), of course, we also have more uncertainty. Who gave Mrs. True the “mission” that both strengthens and frightens her? Does he refer to the “mission” figuratively, comparing his turn to a kind of responsibility with the rest of Tocats, or does he speak literally? Could Augie, who reveals her bird-room turn to Penance, realize her sister’s nefarious intention? Or will he take his (fanatical) decree to get away from penance seriously?
Finally: what does Mary’s song say? “Hope” is a big, imprecise concept. Hope of social acceptance, respect, solidarity, unity, what? The Touched doesn’t work as a single entity, but Mary’s song seems to unite them. This can scare people: Remember that Dr. Hague tells Mrs. Cassini before lobotomizing her: “Maybe your darkness is part of her plan. I mean, hers, but she does it ”. Lavinia seems to be “his” here, but who is “his”? And did Mary’s song put a target on her back? another villain inside Els Nevers universe?
Lost observations
- Laura Donnelly’s smile while talking about “Wendy bendy” should be a gif right away.
- Do we have an explanation of what “The Snows” means in this episode? No, we don’t.
- Did we already know that Lord Massen was a tough man, but basically guilty of the tragedies of the Swann family in Hugo? Even if Lord Massen didn’t know about Hugo’s curiosity (which I’m not sure he does), this is still an impressively cruel proclamation.
- However: does Hugo Swann look like a mess? Also yes. Two things can be true at the same time.
- It is interesting that Lord Massen and Mrs. True have this immediate aversion to Hugo; remember that she sarcastically describes Inspector Mundi as “the man with the cock out” during the opera performance. And it’s also interesting that Lord Massen seems to have some kind of respect surrounding Mrs. True, even when he addresses her and the rest of the Touched.
- Augie hastily investing in Hugo’s sex club doesn’t seem like the best idea, I’ll be honest. Perhaps Penance would not impress much!
- Do we hear “It’s just a prototype” this episode? We do! But certainly these MatrixThe stylized sunglasses that block out the explosive light were pretty good and I’m sure we’ll see a fire extinguisher appear.
- Désireé is my new favorite character, and “I’m a Whore, a Little Recognized” was delivered perfectly by Ella Smith.
- Have we really determined all of Mrs. True’s powers? He boasted to the beggar king that this was not his face; Maladie keeps calling her the woman who can “let go of her skin,” which Mrs. True doesn’t exactly deny.
- “How many nephews did they have to hire?” I love that there is even nepotism in this supernatural steampunk version of our reality.