Last week’s episode was a bit unnerving as Miss Ives channeled the dead, or was it demons at a séance. Will Sir Malcolm Murray ever learn what happened to his daughter, Mina? I wonder what the handsome Dorian Gray thinks of our mysterious Miss Ives now that he’s seen her doing nasty things with a total stranger. Victor Frankenstein has absolutely no luck with his patchwork creations; say goodbye to Proteus and hello to Caliban. Step into the streets of cheery old London as we check on the latest activities of our Victorian friends.
Sins of Our Fathers
No child wants to be abandoned, but sometimes it happens. Victor’s fascination with death grew because of his mother’s early death. She didn’t mean to die, but she did and Victor did not recover. How do you destroy death? You create the immortal.
Proteus was not the first of Victor’s creations, but he was killed by it. The monster is back and he is angry. I don’t blame him. Victor showed love and concern for Proteus, but not for his first creation. Why? How could you bring forth a life only to abandon it on the day of its birth?
In all ways, Victor’s first monster was like an infant. Without a father to guide him, the monster taught himself to read. Without a father’s protection, the monster learned quickly how evil the people of London could be. Victor didn’t even stay around long enough to give his new creation a name.
It was left to a kindly Shakespearean actor to name the monster, Caliban (Rory Kinnear), after the subhuman son of the witch Sycorax in the story of “The Tempest.” Thanks to this kind actor, Caliban finds a home at the Grand Grignol as a stagehand, but he’s lonely. There is no one like him and even monsters need the love of a woman. Will Victor create a mate for Caliban?
Visions
Miss Vanessa Ives has a vision. After hearing the sounds of various wild animals, she sees Sir Malcom Murray’s daughter Mina. The girl is begging for help. She’s in a place where the creatures come out at night to feed. Well, that’s not much of a clue since most animals forage for food at night, but Miss Ives takes the gang to the London Zoo.
Brona and Chandler are lovers and I think Chandler is falling in love with the lovely Brona, who has consumption and will die without the proper meds. Chandler is broke, but he knows how he can earn enough money to buy those meds. He goes back to work for Sir Murray and Miss Ives and accompanies them to the zoo.
What Miss Ives and Chandler don’t realize is that Sir Murray is using Miss Ives as bait to find his daughter. It has to do with the hieroglyphics on last week’s show. While at the zoo, the group is surrounded by wolves. They could either be vampires or werewolves, but one of the wolves approaches Chandler. When our sharpshooting cowboy extends his hand in a friendly gesture, the wolf does not attack. After Miss Ives finds a young man feasting on a monkey, Fenton (Olly Alexander) is taken prisoner by Sir Murray for questioning. Chandler is not happy with Murray’s mistreatment of Fenton. Victor shows up and wants to do a transfusion on Fenton to clear out the toxic blood.
Conclusion
Fenton is most likely a vampire who claims that his master is nearby…and he is. What is the connection between the Egyptian god Amon Ra and the creature that holds Mina prisoner? And how does this tie in with Miss Ives? We do know that Mina is engaged to Jonathan Harker, but will this set the scene for Dracula to appear in the series? I’m guessing yes.
Tonight’s episode centered on a father’s failure to give his child what is most craved, love. Victor failed as a father with his first creation, but tried to make up for it with Proteus. Now, Caliban is back. He’s angry. He wants answers. He wants revenge. Paybacks are murder
Victor is no different than some of the young men in the world today. For some men, love is a game. They go their merry way from woman to woman, never thinking twice about the child or children they leave behind. Those children grow up angry. Woe to the man who finds his creation knocking on his door and seeking answers.
See you next week, my little pennies, and make sure to lock your doors.
