Penny Dreadful 2×08 – Memento Mori

“On the day of my wife’s funeral, I was dancing at a ball. Who is that man?” – Sir Malcolm

It was about time the writers devoted some time to other characters and since we left Vanessa and Ethan in the moors, it’s time to brace ourselves for the danger lurking in London.

First of all, about damn time to finally have an answer on Lily’s intentions. Spoilers aside, since the episode was on air a week ago, Brona-Lily is fully aware of who she was, who she is and she isn’t afraid to play the men in her path on her little fingers. She’s a strong creature, angry and bitter and ready to subdue the world. In this intricate game of conquest, the Creature seams like a scared mouse, babbling poetry and unable to tame, to control or even rise and match Lily’s temper, intelligence and strength. The two now plan to get rid of Victor and take over the world. I’d say it was about time because poetry and awkwardness aside, The Creature was starting to be a dull member of this tale.

Another character who had been delegated to the shadows and finally had his chance to shine was Dorian. And we got to part ways with dear Angelique. Dorian left her alone in order to pursue his infatuation with Lily which led Angelique to stumble on his grotesque portrait. Now Dorian is a smart man. He doesn’t trust a casual romp he took shine on, so the damsel is killed and we’re finally entertained why the possibility of adding Dorian to the mix of demons, vampires, witches and werewolves.

Above all else, this episode was entirely owned start to finish by Sir Malcolm. With Eva Green being front and center of this show, Timothy Dalton finally had almost an hour to take over the show from Vanessa And we got to learn that Madam Kali is letting her guard down a little when it comes to Malcolm because she feels alone. However she isn’t shy and goes full throttle with voodoo dolls and evil chants. Bottom line, she’s alone, Malcolm is the man she desires, Hecate has a grudge on mommy dearest and Malcolm Murray finally faced his demons. His late wife, his children – I do wonder if we get zombies in the next season – they came to torment the man who was indifferent to their plight.

We’re also left with a few interesting morsels. Malcolm translated the verbis diablo and instead of Hound of God, the correct term is wolf – hello Ethan – and there’s a reference on Vanessa being his daughter – no surprise here for me taking in account the fact that Malcolm carried a long term affair with her mother. With two episodes left, the stakes are high on “Penny Dreadful”.