The Creature unleashes his rage on Frankenstein over Lily. Inspector Rusk discovers Sir Malcolm's connection to Ethan. Malcolm goes to confront Evelyn - but quickly finds himself assaulted by another one of her deadly enchantments.
It's a very daunting and ambitious proposition by Penny Dreadful to do an entire episode without a single appearance by Eva Green or Josh Hartnett as Vanessa Ives and Ethan Chandler. There presence is still deeply felt by the rest of the characters. But it's also important and nice to see how the rest of the ensemble is continuing on in the horrors of their own lives in their prolonged absence. Too often the show simply relies on driving the story forward with Vanessa at the center of it. That's entirely because Green's performance is just so phenomenal. The rest of the ensemble is great as well but she definitely steals the spotlight during every minute she appears on the screen. Without her, one could easily believe that the thing that makes Penny Dreadful special and a delight to watch would also be gone. However, "Memento Mori" continues the season's trend of strong episodes filled with dynamic performances that come from horrifying and tragic sequences.Vanessa and Ethan left London in order to seek refuge at the Cut-Wife's cottage. They have not yet been disturbed by the horrors that currently plague London. They still are struggling with their own personal demons and how to control the darkness in their lives. But they are not the focus here. Their actions still have consequences for the people still in London. Inspector Rusk comes to the mansion to question Malcolm about his association with Ethan while Evelyn continues to manipulate her enchantment over Malcolm to her advantage. It's a very personally devastating hour for several characters of the ensemble as many have to come to realizations regarding what is truly happening in their increasingly horrifying worlds.
Over the course of this season so far, both Malcolm and Victor have fallen under the spell of love. With Malcolm, it actually is a spell. With Victor, it's a connection of his own making. There's darkness surrounding both of their lives but they've used Evelyn and Lily as a way to escape that pain. That want to believe in these connections. They are desperate to believe that they are genuine and represent the future lightness despite the increasing horror in their worlds. In reality though, Evelyn and Lily will be the causes of so much more devastation for them. With Evelyn, that has always been transparent to the audience. She has been the face of evil that has been haunting Vanessa all season long for the Devil in the pursuit of immortality and beauty. With Lily though, it's a much sudden and violent shift for the character. She really was allowed to be innocent in the beginning. A character completely pure in this dark and unforgiving world. She looked at the world with fresh eyes. Victor was showing her so much and she allowed him to be intimate for the first time. That quality wasn't without its own sense of power. But now, it's much more apparent just how devilish Lily truly is. It started with her killing an innocent bar patron in the previous episode. And now, she's using her status as one of the few undead people to bring about more pain and evil into the world. She's much more terrifying than the Creature ever was. She was smart and calculating. She is now the one who presents so much risk to Victor's future which is such a devastating but compelling twist to the narrative.
Billie Piper really is fantastic in making that shift from the naive innocent girl to the powerful woman hellbent on making sure she never succumbs to the carnal desires of a man ever again. That epic monologue eventually gives way to darkness and horror as she accepts her position as the undead to bring about radical change to the world by first killing her creator. But before that it is a very powerful and moving speech about how women in society have to fall in line to whatever desires plague the men they choose to be with. In that moment, she is taking her own narrative into her hands and shaping its future. The Creature entered that scene with power and domination. He was the one furious that Lily chose to be with Victor and Dorian instead of him. He was so simple in his desire to have a woman who loved him. It destroyed him to see her not reciprocate those feelings. And yet, Lily is able to take that power away and make him the one fearful of her. She has immense power and strength as well. She was able to show her true self with the Creature. She may be reluctant to be with him in such a sexual way. But she recognizes that they are the same. She doesn't want to romanticize it or linger in the sadness of their situation. That's destructive in a way that is powerful and very enticing to watch - even though it means certain doom for Victor.
Lyle has finally finished translating the entire Verbis Diablo. It tells a tale of two brothers being cast out of Heaven together - one devil destined to remain in Hell and plague the dead while his brother is destined to remain on Earth for all eternity to plague the living. That's an interesting detail for the future. The team speculates that the vampire master who plagued their lives last season is the devil alluded to in the text who roams this world. That's a strong way to continue bridging the two seasons together. But right now, the narrative is building to a conflict between Malcolm and Evelyn as he comes to realize just how much this romance has changed who he is as a person.
It's wonderful that Victor seeks out Malcolm in order to discuss matters of the heart. Both of them are caught in the same situation at the moment. But Malcolm is allowed a moment of self-reflection to see that he isn't the man he used to be. He is no longer the striking man who commands the room. He has fallen in love and allowed the relationship to alter his mood and priorities in life. He comes to that realization moments before Evelyn tries to exploit their connection. She wanted to use him as a vessel for monstrosity. A way to eliminate the other people at the mansion after they hear the full Verbis Diablo story. Timothy Dalton and Helen McCrory do fantastic work across the episode as Evelyn's enchantment over Malcolm comes to a pivotal moment. Sembene reminds Malcolm of the tragedy and love of his past. The connection he had with his wife and children far outweighs whatever he thought he had with Evelyn. That reminder was enough to break the spell she had over him. She wasn't expecting such power to come out of such a memory.
But Evelyn still has a master plan. She knows exactly how Malcolm will react to the situation. She's not afraid that the enchantment failing means all her hard work was for nothing. Hecate is much more quick to react. She believes she can conspire against her mother because she believes she knows better. Hecate really doesn't know anything. Evelyn still has all the power and she's not afraid to show it. She can force Hecate to listen. She knows that Malcolm will come looking for her fueled by his anger. That's her advantage in this situation. He is walking into a trap. So she still holds the power. But that also leads to a wonderfully profound moment of her addressing the shallowness of her pursuit for youth and beauty. Immortality is wonderful but it can also be incredibly lonely. Evelyn has learned that she can't rely on her children and followers. She has had to do all the hard work in order to potentially get Vanessa for her master. She has power but it is a lonely experience. However, how much of that is just another gambit to get Malcolm to cooperate? He has lost so much in this life. He must be lonely and so she is just playing into that weakness. When that doesn't work, she just brings those painful memories of his past misdeeds to the surface once more. Images of Mina and Peter were enough to get Malcolm's wife to kill herself. Will the return of all three produce an equal reaction from Malcolm?
Some more thoughts:
- "Memento Mori" was written by John Logan and directed by Kari Skogland.
- Angelique discovers Dorian's hidden room and the painting that gives him his healing powers of immortality. He kills her because he doesn't believe she can fully embrace his true self. That is devastating because of the amount of buildup they had this season. But that scene's main focus is in seeing the monster actually depicted in the painting for the first time and how it's movements can still startle Dorian.
- Malcolm really was foolish in thinking that he could go after Evelyn and her witches by himself. He knows what they are capable of at night. And yet, his anger fueled him anyway. However, it's not like Victor or Lyle could offer him much assistance anyway.
- Though Malcolm being prisoner to Evelyn at the witches' fortress should be enough to get Vanessa and Ethan to return to London - and possibly keep Victor away from his home for awhile too.
- How exactly does Inspector Rusk's investigation play into the season's end game? It does provide real world consequences to the destruction brought about by the characters. But will it actually form something meaningful to the narrative at the end of the year? Or does he simply exist in order to aggravate Malcolm over illegally dealing with his daughter's death?
- Lyle is clearly lying to Evelyn about not caring for the people who reside at Malcolm's mansion. And yet, he also seems resigned in his acceptation that his fate lies with her.
- The Verbis Diablo also refers to something called "the hound of God" which Malcolm promptly corrects as "the wolf of God." That's clearly alluding to Ethan, right?
