Game of Thrones, Season 6, Ep. 4 recap for “Book of the Stranger”
Posted by Michael Flores | TV[For Game of Thrones “Book of the Stranger” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]
HBO Summary:
Book of the Stranger. Jorah and Daario engage in a difficult task; Jaime and Cersei try to improve their situation.
“Book of the Stranger” opens on Longclaw. Jon Snow’s Valyrian steel sword, gifted to him by the previous Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Edd handles Longclaw and you wonder for a moment if Longclaw — despite having its pommel replaced with the Ghost-like direwolf — sigil of House Stark — follows the office of Lord Commander and not just Jon’s hip.
But no! Jon is still there and just chatting with Edd, making plans with the ostensible new Lord Commander. Jon will go “South” with the agenda of getting “warm”. As many have speculated, Jon considers his tenure with the Night’s Watch legitimately up, having pledged his life, and given that life while in office.
Jon — at this stage at least — doesn’t look like he is soon going to get over his own Brothers killing him.
Edd doesn’t have a long time to argue the point though, as by 9:05 Sansa, flanked by Brienne and Pod, enters Castle Black. In the blink of an eye Jon and Sansa are embracing one another and both lamenting ever having left Winterfell. “How could we know?”
Sansa makes many an apology for being awful to Jon as children — remember, Sansa was much more of a Tully (beautiful, lighter haired, and anything but Northern) while Jon was almost aggressively an “Arya”-type Stark (wild and of the North, with nothing [obviously] of Catelyn’s people in him)… Their appearances a constant reminder of their father’s betrayal. Both of them are just happy to see a friendly face after all these years, even if you get the feeling each would have preferred another brother or sister. Nevertheless Jon pledges to protect his sister, err… “sister”, err… half-“sister”(?). We’ll go with sister.
Sansa insists they go home, to retake Winterfell; Jon is tired of fighting despite his promise to protect Sansa.
An interesting sub-plot seems to be developing amongst the key lieutenants. Davos asks what happened to Stannis and Shireen; Melisandre openly shifts her allegiance to Jon (whom she now sees as the true Prince Who Was Promised, not Stannis); and Brienne lets them both know that she served Renly and has not forgotten the demon shadow who killed him. So basically, even though Davos quite likes Jon, it was always supposed to be Melisandre following around Prince Who Was Promised-Stannis; and Brienne was tragically in love with Renly, who was assassinated by a shadow that emerged from Melisandre’s nethers. Go Team Stark? Err… Snow?
Oh, and at 9:11 Brienne tells Davos and Melisandre both that it was her steel that executed their King.
Littlefinger returns to the Vale (and the screen) briefly… But long enough to convince Lord Robin — the weak-willed (not to mention weak-armed) Defender of the Vale — to go to his cousin’s aid. Remember, Robin’s mother was Catelyn Stark’s younger sister. Sansa rescue mission? How about bringing The. Entire. Vale. Army?
Across the Narrow Sea Tyrion shows Missandei and Grey Worm the meaning of diplomacy… By offering the Masters of the other Slaver’s Bay cities seven years to iron out their economies. There will never be slavery in Meereen again, but Dany (through Tyrion’s offer) will give them time to figure out their next moves. Way of life or no, there hasn’t been slavery in Westeros for hundreds of years and Tyrion reminds these Masters that he grew up richer than any of them! They don’t need slavery to be — or stay — the wealthy elite.
Grey Worm and Missandei are conflicted, to say the least, around these negotiations, but have Tyrion’s back when Meereen citizens — ex-slaves — confront him about meeting with their enemies. Missandei quotes “a wise man” (Tyrion himself, actually) that you don’t make peace with your friends but your enemies. In a private moment Tyrion calls both slavery and war awful things that should both end, but he can’t get rid of both today.
Daario and Jorah infiltrate Vaes Dothrak in search of Dany. They do some murdering; Daario breaks a rule or three, Jorah’s torn shirt sleeve reveals his greyscale affliction [to Daario]… But Dany ultimately refuses to go along with them. To be fair, they’d never get out of Vaes Dothrak alive. She has her own plan.
“Book of the Stranger” takes its name from an interaction between Margaery and the High Sparrow. It is strongly implied that Margaery — queen though she is — hasn’t seen sunlight in some time. We learn about the High Sparrow’s personal transformation from successful cobbler to guy who doesn’t wear shoes. He asks Margaery where she would go if he let her free, and she says her brother, her husband, her family.
The High Sparrow accommodates her, and lets her see Ser Loras.
Loras isn’t doing so well. We don’t actually know what the Faith Militant have been doing to him but it can’t be good. He seems wounded physically and on the verge of breaking mentally. He is filthy and cowering in his dungeon cell. He just wants to quit.
Margaery won’t let him.
Across town, Cersei and Jaime invite the Queen of Thorns to bring the Tyrell army into King’s Landing. Tommen has ordered his Hand to stand down against the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant, but the Tyrell family have no such restriction. The plan is for the Tyrells to come in, come in in force, and liberate their Queen and family heir. All anticipate quite a bit of bloodshed; but an echo to Jaime and Cersei some episodes ago, the Queen of Thorns expresses a “better them not us” attitude. This is not going to end well.
Up at Winterfell Osha is bathed and given the Ramsay. She throws herself at him, presumably with the intent of murdering him while distracted by passion… But Ramsay seems to have been planning to kill her all along. Osha dies unceremoniously with a stab to the throat, and Ramsay uses the same knife to slice an apple a few seconds later. Ew.
Like many of you I was holding out hope that the Umbers placing Osha and Rickon into Bolton power was some sort of infiltration move; that Shaggydog’s head was actually from some smaller wolf… But with Osha dying it really seems like the Umbers have betrayed what is left of the Starks and have actually put baby Rickon into the worst possible position under the worst possible human.
Three minutes later, at the Wall, Jon and company are breaking bread. It is heavily implied that big old Tormund fancies the mighty Brienne, but there isn’t much time to dwell on the size of their Stark (Snow?) bannermen-to-be progeny, as a letter comes from the Lord Commander; a letter marked with the flayed man of Bolton.
To the traitor and bastard Jon Snow:
You allowed thousands of Wildlings past the wall.
You have betrayed your own kind. you have betrayed the North.
Winterfell is mine, come and see.
Your brother Rickon is in my dungeon.
His direwolf’s skin is on my floor, come and see.
I want my bride back.
Send her to me bastard and I will not trouble you or your Wildling lovers.
Keep her from me and I will ride north and slaughter every Wildling man, woman, and babe living under your protection.
You will watch as I skin them living.
You will watch as my soldiers take turns raping your sister.
You will watch as my dogs devour your wild little brother.
Then I will spoon your eyes from your sockets and let my dogs to the rest, come and see.Ramsay Bolton, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North
All this seems to sway Jon, finally. Sansa tells him that Ramsay has maybe five thousand troops, but that the other Northern Lords will rally to the son of the last true Warden of the North. Tormund has two thousand Free Folk fighters to commit, even without loyal Northerners. It really looks like Ramsay is going to have his hands full soon, with Jon Snow and his Wildlings coming from the North, and Littlefinger and his Knights coming from the Vale. I, for one, can’t wait.
In the final scene we get the most spectacular Dany moment in three seasons. The assembled Khals discuss what to do with her. Can she stay in Vaes Dothrak with the other Khal widows? Dany says none of them are worthy of ruling the Dothraki, but she is. Okay, instead they’ll pass her around, then give her to their lieutenants and even horses. Dany’s plan unfolds.
Daario and Jorah have killed the guards and bolted shut the door to the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen. It is not Dany who is locked in with the violent Khals, but they who are trapped in the temple with her. Dany knocks over lamp after lamp, scattering oil throughout the exit-less temple, burning the assembled Khals alive.
Dany, of course, is fireproof.
The temple burns down, and the Mother of Dragons emerges, naked but unburnt as usual. Presumably every Khal on the Dothraki Sea is dead, leaving only the white-haired Khaleesi, last of the Targaryens, to command the entire nation. Each and every assembled Dothraki bends the knee, as do Jorah and Daario.
“Book of the Stranger” is the most decisive episode of Game of Thrones so far this season, for sure. Even if Jorah and Daario had been successful in liberating Dany, there would have been a long-term problem with the Dothraki Khals; not so, now. The Masters of Slavers Bay offered ten thousand horses to sell Dany into their power. What is going to happen next given Tyrion’s offer to them… And the fact that the Queen will be returning to Slaver’s Bay with the entirety of the finest cavalry in the world at her back?
“Book of the Stranger” is an episode full of foreshadowing and posturing. The camera made a big deal of a knife being nearby when Osha met with Ramsay; it was by a different knife that she died. The Khals made a huge speech about what kind of violence they would bring on the Mother of Dragons… Right before she killed them all! No knights, no mercenaries, no dragons needed; just Dany was enough! Ramsay’s letter is similar posturing, and full of just as much promised princess-rape; hopefully he finds himself flayed, castrated, or devoured by dogs soon.
What is interesting to me is that all these rulers with mines full of gold, giant temples, thousands of soldiers at their command, and even dragons are currently struggling with internal conflicts that are preventing them from wielding their full influence. Despite her Unsullied (and now Dothraki) Dany is bedeviled by Sons of the Harpy and Masters from her allegedly liberated cities; the Umbers went turncloak from Stark to Bolton in fear of the Wildlings; Jon is juggling Night’s Watch, duty, a witch, and the aforementioned Wildlings; while the Lannisters — who supposedly won the War of Five Kings — can’t even keep their Queens from being marched naked and humiliated in the street. Don’t get me started on either the Iron Islands (regicide) or Dorne (um, regicide). It seems that whoever gets his — or her — kingdom in order will be best positioned in the coming conflict; and right now, between Tyrion’s diplomacy and a brand spanking new army, that looks like Dany. #TeamTargaryen?
LOVE
MIKE
Bedlam: Officially London’s Bethlem Hospital, it’s notoriety for inspiring “lunacy reform” in the psychiatric movement earned this institution the nickname Bedlam. What a perfect place for Dr. Jekyll to conduct his research – the corrupted bowels of a lunatic asylum. Although Bedlam was a real place, it certainly felt like hell to its many inhabitants and thus the painting by Hieronymous Bosch, “The Garden of Earthly Delights – Hell” portrays just the sort of pandemonium that the occupants of the infamous Bedlam experienced. A catastrophic scene of mayhem employed by the great master of macabre, “Hell” depicts every particular agony of the damned. From what we learn of Jekyll’s work in its basement, Bedlam too housed the damned. Bedlam inhabitants’ only hope lies in the twisted experiments of a mad scientist. Some of which cause them great agony indeed.
Dr. Henry Jekyll Henry obsesses over the duality in each person throughout “Predators Far and Near”. Jekyll is, of course, the main example of a predator lying “near” considering that his beastie lies within himself. Being both monster and man, he’s been the exemplary literary archetype of this precise duality for the past two centuries. Jekyll believes the pull between light and dark/angel and devil not only energizes us, it is the meaning of life itself. This is why “Gustave Courbet’s “The Wave” perfectly captures Dr. Jekyll. The painting conveys the mutual battle between the tossing emotion of the sea and the wild fury of the sky. Courbet also admires the dignity with which the water and air maintain their individuality. It’s perfectly parallel to Jekyll’s work. Especially in this episode where we see his use of the beast-taming antidote for the first time. The beastie and the man who remains after the injection are two separate entities locked in an eternal battle over their one body.
Kaetany & Sir Malcolm: Both of these men follow a higher calling as they engage with Ethan in what they believe is their duty to help him. They’re aware of his murderous rages but still, Kaetany also makes it clear in this episode that Ethan is just the Apache he needs. So, it’s an interdependent situation much like in Jean-Baptiste Oudrey’s painting “The Dead Wolf”. The two hounds represent Kaetany and Sir Malcolm, aware that they are in the presence of greatness next to the tremendous symbol of courage and violence beside them. While Ethan is, of course, the wolf. By all appearances this beast is down for the count – much like the perpetually handcuffed Ethan. So, why do the two hounds look so scared? Because you can never be too careful around the truly wild. Just when you begin to lament their death, the untamed rise again to fight the next battle with ferocious resilience. 
Vanessa & Dr. Seward In Vanessa’s second session with Dr. Seward she lets her freak flag fly at full mast. First Vanessa warns the doctor that if Seward believes what she says it’s likely she’s had her last restful night’s sleep. Then Vanessa plunges into the depths of her torturous past while Seward intently records the session. Edgar Degas’ “Melancholy” suits this part of the story with its classic repose of suffering and the feeling of inertia grief often brings. Vanessa has reached the depths of her despair in this scene. So, Dr. Seward recommends she go out and do something she believes will make her happy. This, of course, points Vanessa toward the charming Dr. Sweet.
Dr.Sweet/Dracula The title of this episode, “Predators Far and Near” forewarns that evil lurks all around, even in the most unexpected places. The most shocking and, admittedly kind of thrilling, part of this episode rolls out with a terrifying revelation at the end. After a delightful date with Vanessa, the modest and seemingly oblivious zoologist, Dr. Sweet, turns out to be Dracula himself. His whole dismissive-of-Vanessa-thing is an utter charade. Max Ernst’s “Celebes” portrays just this sort of alluring facade. Ernst presents a mechanical-pseudo elephant as a headless figure, eerily reminiscent of a mannequin, entices us to encounter the beast behind it. Nothing in this painting is at it seems. Dracula seduced Vanessa so easily with his apparent disinterest because up until now she’s been constantly harassed, stalked, and tormented. Thus Dr. Sweet seems like a refreshing change for the better. The man can’t even remember her name… little does Vanessa know he’s just more of that same old evil she can’t seem to shake off.
Lily The opening scene of this week’s episode holds us spellbound as Lily slits the throats around a circle of men with the finesse of a figure skater dancing on ice. She’s truly an out-of-this-world phenom, taking down the men who paid top dollar to watch a girl tortured to death. While Dorian does help Lily quite a bit, he shoots his gun from a distance in a matter of fact way. Lily’s grace and obvious delight in the more intimate process of cutting throats seems mystical in comparison, as if she’s found her calling. Paul Delvaux’s painting, “A Siren in Full Moonlight” portrays just this sort of vision Lilly now exemplifies – a woman, but no longer a woman. Delvaux depicts a siren in the secret world of her unknowable mysteries, woman as alien. She is distanced from us, seemingly with a mixture of fascination and fear. Much like Lily, the siren’s also surrounded by symbols of luxury but looks only at her tail. Lily too, has no interest in opulence. Vengeance remains the only thing left that matters to her now.
Justine: We’re introduced to a new character in “Predators Far and Near,” the incomparable Justine. Naked, bound, and facing imminent torture and death, she spits in the face of her executioner. No ordinary girl, she’s a perfect match to James Whistler’s portrait “Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cecily Alexander”. Because Whistler made her stand for hours upon hours, Cecily has a rather disgruntled expression which reminds us of Justine’s testy reproach to her savior, Lily “You killed them!” she crankily accuses the morning after. But Lily’s resolute and bold reply shows us Justine’s vulnerability, her softer side. Whistler portrays this fragility of youth with the butterflies hovering above Cecily’s head. Justine is just a girl, after all, barely a woman. Although she’s no longer the chattel of men, Justine belongs to Lily now rather than to herself.
Speaking of “picture” this show integrates current cellphone technology into the story in a perfunctory manner. Why more spy stories don’t do this these days makes no sense. Of course spies would be using their phones all the time! It’s the most realistic thing about “The Night Manager” and gives it a sense of “now” that works. The episode opens with Roper explaining to Pine how he’s the straw man in the arms deal. He’ll play Andrew Birch and all the contract signing and dealing will be done in his name. Then Danny and Jed come in so Roper can say goodbye to his son as he goes back to be with his mother, location classified.
Speaking of classified, Burr has a secret meeting with Harry, an MI6 agent from her old days working there. Harry says Halo is Dromgoole, the head of MI6, and Felix is Langley in London. They’re falsifying MOD certificates with Harry’s help. This is corruption and fraud. So, a contrite Harry gives her helpful documents that she and Steadman analyze with their team. Through these docs, Angela finds out Roper and Langbourne are on a plane to Instanbul with a man named Andrew Birch. Burr then realizes that Pine may now be Andrew Birch.
Jed then confronts Pine, asking if he’s Andrew Birch, Thomas Quince, or Johnathan Pine. He says he can’t tell her. For some reason this mystery gets Jed really hot. So, they go up to his room and do it. Question now is whether Andrew Birch is a sentimental schmuck like Pine with his lady in Cairo or more like the douchebag he was as Thomas Quince in Devon – just lovin and leavin them. Or perhaps Birch is a new brand of blue-eyed babe. He certainly seems comfortable in Roper’s world now.
The next day during the contract signing part of the deal the sellers do a biometric iris scan of Andrew Birch and take a look at his bank account, which miraculously contains three hundred million dollars. Pine’s come a long way from being “The Night Manager” now.
Part two of the deal takes place late at night on a cargo ship. The sellers then do another retinal scan on Birch and the purchase gets authorized. They give Birch/Pine special vodka and convey the arms from their cargo ship onto Roper’s trucks. The next day Roper, Langbourne, and Birch will fly out to the buyer with enough weapons to start a war.
Late that night Jed calls Pine “just to know he’s there” but instead of cooing back, he tells her to get off the line. Pine knows Burr’s team is listening. The next morning Angela says Pine’s in too deep. Pine retorts that Burr can’t nail Roper without him. She’s certain to get him, though, as long as the operation goes forward. Angela still insists Pine has to flee the operation but Instead he notifies Roper that being monitored by police. So, Roper calls for a full evacuation, everybody on the road in ten minutes. Pine leaves with Roper, off the grid now and officially pisses off Burr who’s mad pregnant at this point. Anyone familiar with pregnancy rage knows that the real action hasn’t even started yet on “The Night Manager” so stay tuned for the inevitable blitzkreig.
“Meinertzhagen’s Haversack” takes a page from the playbook of military deception to tell the story of five software engineers in battle with the very company they created. In fact, this whole episode revolves around the theme of taking a page from another’s playbook. The first line of the show is a guy who tells Richard, Dinesh, and Gilfoyle, “This is your future,” while pointing into a space for a small box to fit. Needless to say, they’re not inspired by this vision of their future and are looking for a new play in the Pied Piper game. If Jack Barker goes through with the sales team’s “box” vision the three of them will end up living in this basement warehouse so they can provide the 24/7 service the sales team promised.
So, Richard approaches Jack about turning Pied Piper into an appliance. But Jack’s unreachable and says he needs the box. What the engineers want doesn’t matter, a moot point with him. Gilfoyle, in response, changes his LinkedIn status to “looking for work” and immediately starts getting wooed by every engineering recruiter in town. The more Gilfoyle refuses to take meetings, the more goodies they send. It’s straight out of the “playing hard to get” playbook AKA The Rules. In Gilfoyle’s case, unlike the majority of women who actually bought that book, this play works and he uses it throughout the episode; even getting pizza for the house with the mere promise of a meeting.
Meanwhile Richard’s going off book when he decides to talk to Laurie (head of Raviga – their investor company) behind Jack’s back. Jared points out that this is a “serious breach of protocol” but Richard does it anyway. He’s always been a rule-follower before, so Richard’s gone rogue and uses a whole new playbook here. Considering this play involves a breach of ethics and two beautiful women, maybe he’s using Barney Stinson’s. As a result of Richard’s attempt at rebellion, Laurie calls Jack to root for the platform and nix the box idea. But Jack’s working out of the sandbox playbook and says either they do it his way or he’s taking all his toys and going home. Laurie just fired Richard, so she can’t oust Jack now without looking like she fires a CEO every time her phone needs charging. So, when Barker threatens to leave Pied Piper, Laurie has to concede and they’re back to “the box”.
Gilfoyle finally ends up taking a meeting but it’s an unwelcome revelation. The company EndFrame, who stole half of the Pied Piper Algorithm in a previous episode, now has the other half as well; thanks to the Nucleus team who cracked that code in the last episode and then joined EndFrame. It’s a dark day for Pied Piper. They underestimated their competition, a classic mistake for those not mindful of their Art of War in the workplace playbook.
Then the Pied Piper core team has a meeting and Erlich inspires them with a revolutionary speech saying they should just build the platform anyway. What can Jack do? Richard gets inspired by this idea. He realizes that if they could get away with doing it surreptitiously, Barker would have to act like it was his idea all along when they ended up delivering the platform rather than the box. So, they plan to create a secret company inside the company – a Skunk Works. They’ll pretend to build the box and the whole time secretly build the platform, all the while hiding it from the sales team. This is where we’re hit with a barrage of playbook references, Oceans Eleven, Shawshank Redemption, and The Great Escape, are all mentioned as they try to configure a playbook for their own version of Skunk Works.
After they work it all out and have a playbook ready, Jared tells them about “Meinertzhagen’s Haversack,” a principle of military deception. Essentially, you keep acting “the part” to maintain the appearance of the status quo and thus protect your secret deeds from detection. But when they go into the office the next morning all prepped and ready to pull of their secret mission, it all falls apart. Richard trips, falls, and sends the Skunk Works secret documents right into the hand of a sales team guy. That guy brings their Skunk Works playbook to Jack right away and thus, they’re busted before they even began. This creates a conundrum for Jack. He can’t really fire them because without them he has no Pied Piper Algorithm. Jack can demand that they make the box but can’t watch them every minute to make sure they’re not really making the platform. That would require George Orwell’s “1984,” probably the most unpopular workplace playbook of all time.
Vanessa Ives: Hermit, introspection, searching, guidance, solitude. Tarot cards sometimes work on a literal level, like here with Vanessa opening the episode in classic Hermit fashion. Vanessa has pulled the drapes closed and left piles of dirty dishes on every surface of her house, waking only to eat and ignore visitors. She’s the Rip Van Winkle of Penny Dreadful in “The Day Tennyson Died,” and deeply depressed too. Vanessa rises from a sleep of the ages to a state of semi-consciousness thank to Lyle at her front door. The Hermit card signifies solitude but also searching, which Vanessa begins anew in this episode. She seeks the guidance of Dr. Seward and, by the end of the episode, takes her advice. All this seems to point to the beginning of a new phase for Vanessa. She’s ready to come out from Hermit hiding now and into the sunlight.
Sir Malcolm Murray: Hanged Man, reversal, suspension, sacrifice. Malcolm just buried Sembene in his homeland of Africa and now contrite, just wants to disappear and never face a demon again. Who can blame him? But The Hanged Man card instructs to turn back and face that which we’d rather ignore. In Malcolm’s case this means facing his destiny as a demon-hunter. It’s clearly a sacrifice for him to resume his Allan Quatermain lifestyle now just when Malcolm most wants to Netflix and chill. But Murray is, above all else, a man with a mission no matter how much he wants to deny it. This is why The Hanged Man card is perfect for him at the this juncture because it’s about putting self interest aside and following one’s “calling” which Kaetenay, a new friend, reminds Malcolm.
Ethan Talbot: The Star, hope, inspiration, serenity (The Moon) illusion, imagination, shadows. Normally, Ethan would clearly be The Moon card. In fact, the actual card has wolves on it and is all about secret hidden selves, in other words – Ethan’s jam. But “The Day Tennyson Died” remarks on many new beginnings for characters and this is where Ethan finals begins to seem at peace. He’s accepted his situation and is finally ready to shine a light on his own personal truth. He’s finally facing his father and in the meantime everybody else is looking at him. This is The Star tarot card in a nutshell. He’s inspiring a whole new territory now, New Mexico and all the wonders of the American West. Ethan’s The Star of this show, with a group of hired bandits taking over an entire locomotive just to steal him away from Scotland Yard and return him to his father. Meanwhile Hecate isn’t letting Ethan out of her sight. So, he’s being watched from all sides. We’re certain he’ll be back to his hidden moon phase soon enough. The last words from him were wishing his captors luck at getting him “home” because though Ethan doesn’t know exactly what the wolf inside him will do, he knows it’s gonna be dangerous.
Dr. Victor Frankenstein: Devil, bondage, obsession, addiction, materialism. We knew Victor was becoming a drug addict because he ended season two with a needle in his arm. So, when “The Day Tennyson Died” reveals that he’s descended fully now into narcotic oblivion we’re unsurprised. Victor’s obsession remains the same, his creation, Lily, and the drugs that help him forget her. Frankenstein enlists his old pal from medical school, the notorious Dr. Jekyll, to help him tame Lily. Or, if that doesn’t work, help him destroy her. The Devil Card arises at just these times, when addictions compel one to act in complete disdain of reason. Victor can no longer be reasonable. He’s wrapped up in his addiction to Lily and the fact that she’s actually a monster drives him drugs and becoming a madman himself. Of course, because he’s Victor Frankenstein, he thinks he can “tamper with the formula” of his creation and perhaps fix her. Little does Victor realize that his only fixable problems are his own. Victor would be best off hitting a twelve step program at this point but instead he’s riding The Devil train to his own destruction. More fun for us to watch, at least.
Dr. Henry Jekyll: Temperance, balance, health, combining.
The Creature: The Fool, beginnings, faith, folly. The Creature ended last season in “The Bell Jar” so, we imagine it’s all uphill from here. Yes, he starts season three in a starvation snow storm situation… but soon leaves it behind to start a new adventure. He’s The Fool because finally, after a veritable lifetime of anguish, The Creature has a twinkling of hope. A vision of himself in his former life, before he became The Creature, gives him a glimpse of the man he once was. He had a son and a home life, apparently. It’s a brief vision but enough for The Creature to shift into gear and ready himself for a new beginning. He declares that he’s going “home” to the ravenous men left behind on an the abandoned ship in the middle of an arctic nowhere-land. The Creature starts on the journey of The Fool the “zero” card because it signifies the fresh start of the whole archetypal story. He has no idea what lies ahead but still, he can’t wait to get there and find out. That is The Fool in a nutshell.
Dr. Seward: The Magician, action, concentration, conscious awareness. Patti Lupone brought one of the most powerful characters to season two with the Cut Wife/Joan Clayton and she’s set up to be no less a master in season three. Dr. Seward personifies the Magician in her conscious awareness of how to help Vanessa. She jumps in and gets Vanessa focused on a small achievable goal for the day, “do something new,” and it has magical results. This is how the Magician works. It’s a card about creating change through conscious intervention. Dr. Seward energizes the bereft Vanessa into action when she least wants to do anything. Therapists really can help people this way but it’s gonna take a true Magician to face down Vanessa’s demons.
Dr. Sweet: The Sun, vitality, enlightenment, greatness, assurance. Vanessa meets Dr. Sweet for the first time right after her first therapy session. He quickly wins her (and us) over with his sunny disposition in only one tiny scene. Like The Sun, Dr. Sweet is all about vitality and joy. He’s intrigued by the world of animals and can’t help but share his enthusiasm as he bubbles over with amazing facts from the animal kingdom. Dr. Sweet is delightful and inspiring, just the burst of charming sunshine Vanessa needs in her life right now.
Dorian & Lily: The Lovers, sex, love, passion. Admittedly, we don’t see Dorian and Lily in “The Day Tennyson Died” but we all know what’s going on with them offscreen. They’re doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well.
Hecate: Justice, responsibility, cause and effect, consequences. Speaking of Satan’s minions, this brings us to Hecate AKA hottie-from-the-coven. She’s the only character on the same mission this season as in season two. The girl is out to get Ethan no matter what it takes. The Justice card speaks to facing consequences and taking responsibility which Hecate wants Ethan to do for her. She sees him as the “Wolf of God” calling him “Lupus Dei” and thus, the key to getting Vanessa for her master. Hecate believes she’s a servant of Justice and seeks only to fulfill her servitude. She’ll keep her eye on Ethan and watch him like a cop sitting in wait at a roadside speed trap. The moment he’s vulnerable, she’ll strike with her sexy, naked Hecate brand of Justice and wrath.
Lyle: Strength, patience, compassion, resilience, persuasion. We’ve always seen Lyle as the sort of Oscar Wilde of Egyptogolists but now, with season three, we also get to see his softer side. The Strength card does this as well, it shows a lion to signify inner strength but there’s also an angel on the card because it’s really a card about compassion and composure. Much like Lyle, the Strength card cares deeply. He wants to help Vanessa out of her funk and so he tells her how Dr. Seward guided him out of his own similar depression years before. This persuades Vanessa to get help. Lyle’s inner fortitude, his resilience, enable him to be such an incredible friend that he’s like Vanessa’s guardian angel. The Strength card has the lion beside the angel to remind us that one has to be strong as a lion inside to behave like an angel in this world.
Then Frisky brings Pine’s to meet with Roper and Corcoran soon joins to interrogate Pine about his “sordid” past. “Makes a man wonder who you really are,” Roper says. Then he suggests maybe it’s time for Pine to become somebody new since there’s a worldwide warrant out for him. Pine acts like he’s gonna leave but he can’t. It turns out Roper has confiscated his passport. They want him to stay in the cottage down the beach until Roper figures out what to do with him. It’s a forced welcome into the fold. Corky, though, still doesn’t trust him and wishes he’d just walk into the sea with stones in his pockets, Virginia Woolf style.
Meanhwile Steadman tells Burr that since Apostel’s daughter killed herself he’s been attending church daily and even called the investigators in Madrid to say he has information about a big arms deal about to go down. The guy’s contrite as fuck. So, Burr approaches him at church and tells him she’s his guardian angel. She claims that if Roper wasn’t in Apostel’s life maybe his daughter wouldn’t have killed herself. Although this isn’t really logical or even a reasonable thing for a stranger to say, Apostel isn’t thinking clearly. Burr then tells him he can find redemption by assisting her and taking down Roper. The first step will be extricating Corky from Roper’s inner circle. Right away Burr puts Apostel to this task.
Next we finally see the big meeting between Apostel, Roper, and Langbourne. During it Pine listens in on Jed talking to her mother and crying. He interrupts to tell her the guests are arriving and sees her partially naked in the process – just a side boob, really. But much is made of it by Pine who apologizes later. During the party he and Jed go for a walk along the beach and she says she doesn’t care who sees her naked but makes him promise not to tell anyone she was crying. Then Jed strips down and skinny dips to prove her point about nudity and though Pine refuses to join her in the water, it’s obvious he wants to. We’re meant to understand that women are Pine’s speical weakness and yeah, we get it. He’s here in this mess to avenge a woman he literally slept with once. But guess what? Being into women isn’t really so unique. It’s what straight guys do. You’re not so freaking special, Pine!
While at the meeting Apostel tells Langbourne that “Mr. Bargatti,” the guy with the arms to sell, is concerned about Corky and thinks he’ll run off at the mouth because he’s a big drinker. So, when Langbourne passes along this info to Roper, he starts alienating Corky a bit from the inner circle. Corcoran is an instinctual fellow and immediately senses something is off. Speaking of Langbourne, it turns out that hot potato teen he was flirting with isn’t his daughter at all. She’s the family nanny. We were right about him screwing her, though. Langbourne’s wife tells Pine all about it on the sexy end of the pool where all the action seems to happen at Roper’s place. She also divulges a ton of insider info about the arms deal going on between Bargatti, Apostel and Roper. Her motivation for this seems rather implausible as all she gets out of it is a half-ass back rub from Pine while he puts sunscreen on her. Then Pine sends a surreptitious text to Burr and Steadman using Danny’s cellphone to give them all the dirt Ms. Langbourne told him about the arms deal.
Speaking of secrets, one of the MI6 peeps meets with Roper and Langbourne to tell them about Burr and Steadman’s operation. So, he’s a double agent of sorts and then it turns out Halo itself – a division of MI6 is in on the whole deal. This is also in the documents Pine photographed. Then Roper and Jed have a huge fight over the phone where she accuses him of hiding stuff and he confronts her about having a secret kid. Meanwhile Pine’s texting the documents he photographed to Burr and Steadman. This is when they discover Halo’s involvement. In this rapid unfurling of two parallel secrets, the truth comes out on both sides of the story, personal and business.
When Roper’s back from Monaco he has a present for Pine, a new identity and passport but first Pine needs to witness a document for Roper. He’s going to be Andrew Stephen Birch now and sign on to a “new company” with this new name. Best line from “Part Three” of The Night Manager is when Pine asks about what he’s signing and Langbourne says, “Jesus, for a murderer on the run you’re pretty bloody picky”. While reading it over Pine sees that he’s officially replacing Corky as Roper’s right hand man. Then as “Part three” concludes Roper says, “Welcome to the family, Andrew,” and thus Pine’s in like Flynn. We can only presume/hope he’ll ruin this picture perfect postcard family situation by banging Jed in the near future. That beautiful face of his is just begging for another beating. At least we think so.
Episode two opens with Richard in the same doctor’s office he visited way back in the first episode of Silicon Valley. Difference is that this time he’s healthy, glowing even. But then, just like in the pilot, the cheerful doc somehow manages to dishearten Richard about his prospects, “You have a boss at your own company?” the doc asks. Speaking of Pied Piper, in the next scene Richard and his whole team enter their new super dope office space brought to them by new CEO Action Jack. Dinesh and Gilfoyle get sucked into how amazeballs “work” is now. But Richard immediately asks Jack if the company can really afford all this. In response Jack tells Richard a story about Google without really answering the question. He’s all about growth, baby.
Jared remains a beacon of positivity and he’s right about the new logo Jack gave Pied Piper. It’s better. Sometimes Jared’s sunny disposition can be his undoing, though. For instance, he can move back into his condo now that Pied Piper’s funded and he’s got the money for the mortgage. But it turns out the guy who was air-bnbing his place never left and has transitioned to squatter status. Given the California tenant protection laws, this doesn’t bode well for Jared having a home anytime soon unless he breaks some – a most un-Jared proposition.
Action Jack sets up a sales team meeting with Richard where he hears more news that upsets him about the path Action Jack’s choosing for Pied Piper. But where is he? The CEO rarely seems to be around the office. In fact, he’s preoccupied at a horse stable when Richard finally chases Jack down to confront him about all this. They watch a stallion mount a mare as Richard tries to do his own brand of drilling down to what exactly is going on with his company. Why does sales want to cut all the best parts of Pied Piper? And how can they when Jack promised he wouldn’t compromise the product?
Richard is caught up in all the possibilities of his compression capabilities, as he should be because they’re his and have potential to be world-changing for reals. But then Jack breaks the news to him that right now his job as CEO is simply to raise the price of Pied Piper stock. That this is actually the “product” everybody is talking about, the stock. We know from when Jack was introduced in the last episode that his value as CEO was measured by how much he raised the stock value at his last company, so this makes total sense. It’s what he does. Problem is, this goal creates a trajectory that twists Pied Piper into something other than what it actually is. Sure this thing can “sell easily to businesses” but it’s not even a compression service. It’s a black box for backing up and storing your company’s data to “safely protect it from spies, thieves, criminals, and foreigners”. These fear-mongering words end the video the sales team shows Pied Piper about their “product”. Everybody’s celebrating at the conference table while horrified Richard watches.
Meanwhile at Hooli, Gavin demands the former Nucleus employees, hanging on for their last few days at work, “fix” Hooli searches. This means he wants any search on Hooli to only bring up results that speak of the company in a positive way. It could require changing the search algorithm or promoting other websites to outrank the bad Nucleus news – both highly arduous and troublesome methods that would violate public trust in Hooli search. In the process of figuring out how to fix this “problem” for Gavin the team just happens to crack Richard’s compression algorithm. This means now that they’re leaving Hooli, they can startup a competitive company that’ll have essentially the same capability Pied Piper has. Uh oh. The feces storm has officially flown into Richard’s fan. All while Dinesh and Gifoyle rave happily about how the chef serves watermelon jello in a real watermelon rind.
Reeve Carney as Dorian Gray, immortal thanks to his painting. Gorgeous, monstrous, and fearless, Dorian takes narcissism to a new level. He teams up with Lily Frankenstein at the end of season two – a terrifying duo of bloodlust who literally can’t be killed.
Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcolm Murray, a hardened explorer of the African continent, in previous seasons on a deeply personal quest to save and protect his family. Now they’re all dead so he’s enlisted to help Ethan overcome his troubles in America.
Eva Green is Vanessa Ives, an enigmatic heroine. Her history’s fraught with fighting demons, mainly because Satan himself believes she’s the only way he can return to heaven.
Rory Kinnear plays The Creature, a creation Frankenstein abandoned. Not given a name, he uses the alias John Clare. Mr. Clare spent seasons one and two seeking love only to experience cruelty and betrayal at every turn.
Billie Piper as Brona Croft/Lily Frankenstein, as Brona she was an Irish immigrant escaping a brutal past but after dying of consumption she becomes Lily Frankenstein, out for revenge.
Harry Treadaway as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, an arrogant young doctor obsessed with transcending death. Victor brings three corpses to life before realizing he’s actually the monster. He becomes an intravenous drug abuser after losing his beloved Lily Frankenstein; and hopes his friend Dr. Hyde can help him recover.
Josh Hartnett as Ethan Chandler (real name Ethan Talbot), a charming, brash and daring American man with uncanny marksmanship, a pacifist ideal, and a secret wolf inside that comes out with the full moon.
Simon Russell Beale as Ferdinand Lyle, an eccentric Egyptologist. Often the source of information and amusement, he’s the most human character on Penny Dreadful. Because he helped the witches coven a bit in season two, Lyle feels tremendous guilt and thus always attempts to help out Vanessa as penance.
Shazad Latif is Dr. Henry Jekyll, the notorious master chemist we’ve all heard about from the Robert Louis Stevenson.story. A friend of Dr. Victor Frankenstein from medical school, he plays confidante to Frankenstein’s “dreadful gorgeous secrets” and promises to “tame” Lily with the chemistry he’s developing as antidote to his own beast. But mostly he’s concerned about Victor’s drug problem.
Sarah Greene plays Hecate Poole, high profile member of the witches coven. She’s obsessed with Ethan, calling him “the wolf of God” and not just because he’s beautiful. Last season Hecate made several seductive attempts at landing Ethan’s soul for Satan, her master, and it appears she’s one of those types who never give up.
Christian Camargo is Dr. Alexander Sweet, a zoologist who becomes friends with Vanessa. She meets him on her first therapeutic venture and he greatly lifts her sad sack spirits.