“Little Scorpion” is to Penny Dreadful what “The Truth About Unicorns” was for Banshee; it separates the show’s two most compelling, ideologically connected characters from the rest of the group, exploring the deeper bond between the two in an isolated location, with tragic results. And while it’s certainly worth arguing that Penny Dreadful should probably be advancing its major story arcs a little further at this point, “Little Scorpion” is still a fun diversion from Penny‘s normal rhythms – that is, until an unsettling third act comes in and cuts it off at the knees.
What works in “Little Scorpion,” though, is amazing: Ethan and Vanessa dancing is a sight to see, as is Vanessa watching him practice said dancing from the steps of the Cut Wife’s house. Initially assumed to be following Vanessa to a safe place for them both (since it’s that time of the month for ol’ Wolfy), the trip to the Cut Wife’s Cottage began as a pleasant adventure for two friends, finally able to explore the chemistry between each other they expressed way back in the show’s pilot, when a well-dressed, eloquent woman approached a handy-looking American showman about a potential job offer. Since then, their world has been drenched in darkness and death; their little excursion gives the show a different location to explore, but more importantly, it gives Penny Dreadful the opportunity to extricate two characters entrenched in different stories and explore them in a completely different light, if only for a moment. And the choices made to capture said light in “Little Scorpion” are beautiful; the montage itself is worth a season full of dull John Dorian stories, a delightful rarity where Penny Dreadful lets Hartnett play Ethan a little more loose and energetic than normal, which only adds more color to their exchanges about the demons they fight inside them (which is mostly recounting old stories and reinforcing certain thematic points, but still plays wonderfully to the playful rapport between Chandler and Ives).
Of course, all good things must go dark in “Little Scorpion” – and when the storm arrives on the shore to tear down the house and (almost) ignite the passions between the two, Penny Dreadful begins to explore the tragic pairing of their friendship, both on personal and macro levels. Even though it undercuts the mood at the cabin by jumping back and forth to Lyle’s silly face, these moments serve an important purpose in establishing the duality of Ethan and Vanessa’s relationship – and in a larger scope (one explained thoroughly by Lyle), how maintaining that might be the key to defeating Legion, the devil who can take many forms. It gets a little talk-y in places here, but there is mention by Lyle of “the hound of God,” suggesting that, maybe, Wolfman was brought to London to protect Miss Ives, rather than rip apart the good, tax-fearing people of Victorian London.
However, it’s when we begin to pull away from Vanessa and Ethan’s tale of revenge and sad depravity that the episode begins to falter: while Viktor and Lyle’s conversation serves great purpose as exposition for the ever-lasting battle between the demon, the hound, and the scorpion, it’s also the thread that connects this story to that of Murdering Lily, a wholly unsatisfying turn for what’s been a slog through undead waters all season. Lily’s story of discovery has been cute in its own right, but Viktor’s stories with Caliban are drenched in ridiculous melodrama, only furthered by a jealous Caliban watching a curious Dorian observe Lily’s innocent ways, something that continues to devolve until Lily is suffocating a man mid-coitus because… well, an undead girl just needs something a little more thrilling than regular sex, I suppose.
That murder – the second of the episode, though the death of the hateful constable was in its own, infinitely more satisfying context – is a terrible way to both advance the character and end the episode. Coming on the heels of such great Ethan/Vanessa material, Lily’s sudden bursting sexuality combines with Viktor’s jealous, trembling tears to make a decidedly unpleasant mix – their stories lack the most basic dramatic nuances, ones abundant in the cabin far away from London, where a lightning fire and pack of guard dogs provide all the dramatic propulsion you could need (“You’ll never get your soul back”… Damn, Ethan!). If “Little Scorpion” had adhered to the typical blueprint of these off-location stories, the episode would’ve had a little more room to make its romanticized ironies felt; Vanessa proclaiming “We are dangerous” is a powerful, evocative moment, but in the wake of her first dark spell casting (against the man who killed the Cut Wife), “Little Scorpion” would’ve been better served remaining focused on Vanessa’s emotional fall out, rather than the attempts to titillate the audience in the final few moments.
[Photo via Showtime]
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