Welcome Dreadfuls!! The last episode left us with several burning questions. Is Kaetenay dead? Will Jared kill Ethan, or will Ethan keep his vow to end Jared? And what will happen if Inspector Rusk and Marshall Ostow catch up with Ethan at Jared’s home? Did Ethan’s sister in fact die when they were attacked by Kaetenay’s men? Is Ethan’s wolfiness a genetic thing? Read on for some answers!
This episode opens exactly where the previous one left off; at Jared Talbot’s homestead, in the chapel, with Ethan at the wrong end of Jared’s gun, defying Jared’s insistence on repentance, and welcoming the possibility of being blown to Hell. Instead, the moment itself is blown to hell as one of Jared’s men interrupts to announce that they have visitors.
Jared has all of his guests forcibly assembled in the lobby to meet none other than Inspector Rusk and his sidekick Marshall Ostow. I find it odd that Ostow allowed Rusk to take point in this quest, even though Rusk did pull rank right away. One would think that as it is his country, there would have been more Alpha Dog posturing. I’m off track. Rusk confirms that Jared is Ethan’s father and declares that by the joint authority of the Queen and POTUS, all present are now under arrest. The man has a great big pair, considering that they are surrounded by Jared’s men, lol.
Since Jared has the upper hand, and since there is no point in not being at least somewhat civilized about it, they all sit down for dinner under the watchful eyes of Jared’s men. There is a tense scene here where Jared serves up a large dollop of guilt for Ethan to digest, all the while insisting that Ethan say grace, since he is seated in the grace-saying chair. The one where his brother was sitting on that fateful night. Sir Malcolm tries to intervene, but his advice is rebuffed. And so is his claim that he believes Ethan to be a good man. With his flair for the dramatic, Jared drops the bomb that Ethan slaughtered his brother and sister, which perks up Rusks’ ears, as he wants to know how. Jared says that it was not like a man, to which Rusk replies that he would think not, with a meaningful look at Ethan. Jared then states that Ethan did so by running and hiding. Just like he always does. Jared compliments Rusk and Ostow by telling them that if he thought they could be bought; he would have offered them a bribe. Not done with the compliments, he tells Hecate that she is ravishing tonight, to which she offers him a little kiss if he will just come closer. Ethan does eventually say a perverted version of the Lord’s Prayer, and then he and Hecate begin to eat. Hecate chomps at the bit, but Ethan won’t turn her loose, not yet. Jared inquires of Ostow why he has been glaring at him throughout. Ostow tells him that the men on the train were his, and promises a reckoning. Jared draws, shoots and Ostow goes down like an old oak tree, thoroughly reckoned. Sir Malcolm makes the point that Jared is taking a chance, allowing everyone present to have dinner knives, but Jared likes his odds. Rusk tells him that this may be because he does not understand who is sitting at his table. He asks who sent the snakes, which is something that Jared has not yet heard about. Rusk tells Jared that Ethan and his paramour are far more ingenious in the ways of slaughter and mayhem than he can imagine. Ethan agrees. Jared doesn’t understand, so Ethan shows him. All hell breaks loose in a heartbeat. Hecate changes to her witch form and breaks her guard’s neck, Ethan slashes his guard with a knife, Malcolm stabs his through the hand and the rest of the guards hustle Jared out, shooting all the while. As Ethan deals with another guard, now having found a gun, Rusk stands firm in the midst of the mayhem, waiting for his chance. Sir Malcolm and his opponent fight each other right out of the room, leaving only Hecate, Ethan and Rusk in the dining room. Hecate jumps up on the table, threatening Rusk, who clearly has no idea the danger he is in. He keeps asking her what she is, to which she answers the “End of Days”. She leaps at Rusk, he shoots her through the heart, Ethan shoots him, and rushes to Hecate, who tells him with her dying breath that ‘Hell awaits them both”. Meanwhile, the fight between Sir Malcolm and his guard is not going well for Malcolm. At the moment that Malcolm is at the point blank business end of a gun, the guard is shot from behind. Yay Kaetenay! Sir Malcolm is understandably quite happy to see him, exclaiming that he “knew you were too mean to die!” Kaetenay sees that someone has beaten him to killing Hecate. Our trio arms themselves from a handy gun cabinet, and they go looking for Jared. Jared has decided he will make his stand in the chapel where his family died, and quickly places his men; but Ethan knows his father, and tells Sir Malcolm where the men will be hidden. Kaetenay has attacked the chapel before, and knows what to do. Kaetenay blasts through the side wall of the chapel, Malcolm goes right, Ethan goes left and they enter, guns blazing. As Malcolm covers Ethan, he walks down the aisle, killing everyone in his path to his father. He shoots the gun out of his father’s hand, and now Jared is the defiant one at the wrong end of a Colt. Jared taunts him, telling him to go ahead and do the Devil’s work. Ethan can’t and walks away, while Jared continues to hurl invectives and threats of being forever hunted at him. Before he can finish with what his dying curse will be, Sir Malcolm decisively puts a permanent stop to his verbal diarrhea.
Meanwhile, in London, Dracula meets with Renfield whilst the familiars are feasting on a body hanging from a meat hook. Renfield, who cannot keep his eyes off the feast, reports to his master that Sir Malcolm is on some mad hunt in America, her old love has abandoned her, the wolf is gone – Vanessa doesn’t know where, and she knows Dracula’s name. This information leads Dracula to believe that the time is nearly upon them, that soon Vanessa will come to him. Renfield, who is literally drooling over the familiars’ dinner, begs Dracula to “not pass him by when he distributes all the fat juicy things, the sweeties”. With a twitch of the finger, Dracula dismisses the familiars, assures Renfield that he is his Chosen One, and allows him to feed. Renfield scuttles over to dine alone on the hanging meat.
Vanessa visits Ferdinand at the Museum and discovers that he is packing for an indefinite jaunt to Cairo. She wonders what she will do without him, as he is the last friend she has in London. She asks him for the name of a person with skills similar to his own just in case, which he provides saying that he thinks that they will make a formidable team. They say an affectionate goodbye.
Later, Vanessa watches a fencing match at a club. The winner of the match proves to be a woman, much to Vanessa’s delight. Her opponent claims that she cheated, but Catriona Hartdegen (Perdita Weeks) prefers to think of it as “creative improvisation to assure a victory. Which is rather the point”. Vanessa introduces herself. Catriona is a Thanatologist, one who studies all the aspects of death, which is how she is acquainted with Ferdinand. As they enjoy brandy and smokes in the lounge, Vanessa asks Catriona what she knows about Dracula. Catriona proves to be very knowledgeable, noting that Dracula is a Romanian word meaning Dragon, and that he had started a war between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire simply because he wanted the world to be wet with blood. The peasants of the time believed him to be a Vampire. She notes that Vanessa didn’t even blink about this information. One of the few accounts written of him calls him the First Vampire, an ancient being flush with youth, changing his appearance and identity from century to century. This account calls him a seducer, but in the antiquated form of the word, which more literally means one who is able to lead men astray, a corrupter. Vanessa tells Catriona that Dracula is hunting her here and now, that he doesn’t want her dead but submissive. She notes that Catriona seems like a woman who understands why submission is intolerable, even if she has to cheat. Vanessa invites her to help cheat him together. Catriona warns her to surround herself with people who care for her and would defend her. Vanessa can think of only one person who might fit that bill.
Vanessa visits Dr. Seward at her office, where they sit and have drinks by the fireplace. Dr. Seward has become a friend. Vanessa confesses that she misses Sir Malcolm and Ethan, much more than she thought possible. Dr. Seward has tried not to rely on anyone since she killed her abusive husband and stood trial for it in NYC. She tells Vanessa that she is not her only friend and urges her to go to Dr. Sweet.
She takes Sewards’ advice, and goes to visit Dr. Sweet at the Natural History Museum. She tells him that if they are to continue on, he needs to know the dangers, and tells him about the creature hunting her. Sweet wants this creature’s name, and Vanessa obliges, then asks him if he can believe. Sweet takes her to the room where an upcoming exhibition of night creatures is being prepared, and draws her attention away from the wolf to show her a vampire bat. He tells her that because of this bat, he does believe that such creatures exist. He declares that he has no sympathy for any creature that means her harm, he loves her and will not leave her side. Which leads to the inevitable sex scene, overseen by the night creatures exhibit. Good thing the museum was closed by then, lol! Vanessa has let her walls down, and the release is such a relief for her that she cries.
Over at Bedlam, Victor and Henry have prepared a powerful tranquilizer for Lily, one strong enough to take down any man alive. Victor notes that Lily is more powerful than any man, and is not entirely alive. Henry assures Victor that this will take down an elephant… Lily will be out in two breaths. Henry asks again if Victor still has the nerve to bring Lily here. Victor tells him “You’ve not met her, old boy. You’ll be the one who needs the nerve.”
We arrive at Dorian’s house to see two “fallen women” ringing the doorbell. They are looking for “The pale lady, her that makes men bleed.” Justine lets them in and they join other women in the ballroom, where Lily is giving lessons on three ways to kill the men who would debase them, using Dorian as the victim. Lily warns the women that they will be “branded radicals and revolutionists, because they will not crawl or kneel. That women who are strong and refuse to be degraded and protect themselves will be called monsters.” Then she asks who wants to try. Justine eagerly accepts, taking the knife from Lily, and is told by Dorian that he will not go easy on her. Justine taunts him that he will play the part of the john very well in that case. She really gets her little potty mouth going, and holds the knife to Dorian’s throat, the light of a zealot in her eyes. Lily praises her, and wants to know who’s next, but Justine is not done. She pushes the point of the knife into Dorian’s neck, causing him to bleed and to warn her that she is pushing her luck. Ignoring him, she asks Lily if she wants to see him drown in his own blood. Lily replies matter of factly “Well, then, who would the others practice on?”. She takes the knife from Justine, and invites the next woman up.
After the lesson, Justine and Lily are dancing in the ballroom when Dorian asks to cut in. Lily refuses, so Dorian stops the music and asks the women to leave the room. He is worried that Lily is becoming more involved with Justine and the women than she is with him, and is very concerned that Justine does not know her place. He doesn’t understand why Justine would feel that she is the equal of him, to stand at Lily’s side. Lily explains that Justine is the soul of her, the heart of who she was. She tells Dorian that she has all of Brona’s memories, that she remembers every man who ever used and debased her. Dorian cannot possibly know how she feels, but these women do, and she is committed to them and asks for his understanding. Dorian agrees that there is little that he understands, but he does understand the love that he and Lily feel for each other.
They are interrupted by Justine, who has a straight razor at Victor’s throat. It seems that Victor has broken in to kidnap Lily, which Lily actually finds amusing. Victor pleads that he wants only to heal her, to take away all her anger, and rage. To make her who she was, a whole human, unblemished by sadness. Lily knows that it is her anger, rage and sadness that makes her who she is, and so refuses Victor’s “help”. Justine is enraged by Victor’s assumption that Lily is broken, and wants desperately to kill him. Dorian tells her no, but Justine refuses to take orders from any man, even Dorian. Lily hesitates, so Dorian begs her for Victor’s life, his only crime is being a man and loving Lily, and that does not justify killing him. Lily finally tells Justine that she is sentimental about Victor, and they may at some point need his unique services, but she tells Victor that the next time she sees him she herself will hold the razor. Dorian escorts Victor out, reminding him that he is now in his debt, and he will call the debt in.
John Clare is watching over his sick son from the attic, and finally cannot stand the labored breathing and coughing that wracks the boy while he watches. He enters the apartment, helps the boy take a sip of water, and mops his brow. The boy, eyes closed, recognizes the voice of his father, and wonders if he is an angel. He knows he is dying, and the angels will come soon to take him away. John holds him and comforts him, promising that he will bring medicine and whatever else the boy needs. As he lays his son back down, the boy opens his eyes, looks at him and screams and screams, terrified of what he sees. John runs away, falls to his knees and cries to the heavens. This short yet poignantly heartbreaking scene gets my vote as the absolute best scene of this episode, hands down. And is a fitting place for the episode to end.
So we say goodbye to Inspector Rusk, Hecate and Jared. I will most emphatically not miss that vile man Jared one whit. Sir Malcolm ending Jared has halted Ethan’s journey to the dark side, at least temporarily. Nor can Ethan blame Kaetenay for Hecate’s death, which may also help to turn him back to the light and Lupus Dei. Oddly enough, both Inspector Rusk and Hecate grew on me over the course of the season, and I will miss them. We still don’t know if Ethan’s sister is truly dead, although she probably is. Jared might even have been the one to put her out of her misery. We’ll never know. On the score of Ethan being a werewolf, it appears that may have been something that Kaetenay caused, since Jared clearly was unaware of Ethan’s condition. Victor and Henry are building towards an epic fail, IMO, a fail that will perhaps see at least one, if not both, dead very soon. Vanessa’s new ally will prove to be an invaluable one in the quest to defeat Dracula, I believe, but how long before she realizes that Sweet and Dracula are one and the same? And when will the boys return to Vanessa? There are only 3 episodes left in this season, so I anticipate quite the cliffhanger to keep us waiting for Season 4. And on that note, here is a teaser trailer for the next episode.
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Who meets an untimely end this week? This and other questions answered below.
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