As far as origin episodes go “Closer Than Sisters” did not disappoint. Last episode we found out Vanessa had betrayed Mina in some way that may have led to her abduction. In this episode we find out what she did as well as the history of the Murray and Ives families, and the beginnings and development of Vanessa’s demonic clairvoyance. The reveals are captivating and interesting, the acting especially on Eva Green’s part superb, and it really makes you both sympathize with and fear Vanessa Ives even more.
Vanessa is writing a letter to Mina which with her narration segues into revealing their past. Vanessa and Mina had been very close childhood friends, their families growing up together. Vanessa in fact was from a young age promised to marry Peter Murray. One night she witnesses her mother and Sir Malcolm having an affair and it begins to set her down a dark path. Spurned by dark impulses she eventually seduces Mina’s fiancé Captain Branson on the eve of their wedding and is caught by Mina herself leading to a permanent estrangement between their two families. The trauma of this allows Vanessa’s connection and clairvoyance with evil creatures to become stronger and after attacking her psychiatrist, she is placed in a mental asylum and lobotomised. However, after predicting Peter’s death and being visited by a spirit in Sir Malcolm’s form who seduces her, she’s able to recover but at the cost of her mother’s life. Eventually she reunites with Mina only to discover she’s already under the control of a mysterious master; and so she seeks out Sir Malcolm to forge an alliance to search for her.
Though most of the main cast don’t appear in this episode, the performers who are there certainly carry it. Eva Green is tremendous once again not going too over the top in the scenes where she freaks out. She plays the curiosity and fear Vanessa has towards her dark side terrifically, allowing the audience to better understand her hardships. Through her dialogue and expressions she often feels like a malevolent force herself though. Vanessa’s story is revealed to be quite the tragic one but I like how it leaves you uncertain how to feel about her. The spirit tells her she chose to let the darkness in, but I’m still not too sure. You don’t know whether this connection to evil was always in her or if it’s indirectly Sir Malcolm’s fault. And Timothy Dalton really shines as well. His young appearance may not be the best (it consists pretty much of just making his hair and beard darker), but he’s still remarkable in some of his scenes. Particularly when he cuts off Vanessa from Mina accusing her of “killing” his family, and when the spirit confronts Vanessa in his form. It was disturbing to see the two kiss but that was really the point. The guest cast performed very well too, from Olivia Llewellyn as Mina to Graham Butler as Peter, but especially Anna Chancellor as Vanessa’s mother. Her attempts to comfort the sick Vanessa, her state of denial, and her attempts to cope are really believable. You can feel her turmoil over losing her daughter.
“Closer Than Sisters” was certainly not short on reveals. We finally know what Vanessa was referring to when she was taunting Sir Malcolm in “Séance” about “fucking her”. The extent of their relationship is revealed, how much of a father figure he is to her, and of course her attachment to Mina; the suggestion she seduced Captain Branson to intentionally break them up out of a fear of losing her for instance. And it’s also clearer now more than ever that Mina’s kidnapper, the vampire who we all know but has yet to be named, is using her to get to Vanessa. And I think Vanessa’s last words of her letter (one of dozens she hasn’t sent) are very fascinating: “I love you enough to kill you”. It comes off as really harsh but you understand it given how far down the rabbit hole Vanessa’s gone and how she’d see killing Mina as being best for her. Oh and Jonathan Harker is referenced, it’s only a matter of time before we see him.
In addition to all this, there is some killer imagery in this episode that makes it feel to me the most Gothic this series has been since “Resurrection”. The way the opening scenes by the beach are shot is great and the hedge maze where the girls play, where Sir Malcolm and Vanessa’s mother have sex, and where Vanessa attempts to seduce Peter is straight out of The Shining. The scene between Vanessa and Branson among all the stuffed animals with the atmosphere of death creates a very dark mood made more effective by the unrepentant look on Vanessa’s face when Mina catches them. And of course there are the scenes of Vanessa going mad. When she attacks her doctor and screeches Satanic I half expected her to cry “Pazuzu” among it all. Her straight-coat, and struggles against restraint are further well executed scenes that again cause you to feel sorry for her but also realize these actions are necessary. The shaving of her head so she looks like Ripley in Alien 3 and subsequent lobotomy were perhaps not as necessary, and that latter scene was particularly uncomfortable. It all amounted to the episode’s most vivid image, when after she’s met by the Sir Malcolm spirit her mother goes up to her room to find her naked on her bed having violent sex with the unseen entity, her pupils vanished and her expression enraged. It’s a perfect image of demonic horror and its enough to shock her mother to death.
After these kind of episodes regardless of how good they are, you sometimes wonder if there is any mystery left to the characters portrayed or their relationship. And I think there is. While “Closer Than Sisters” acted as an exploration of Vanessa’s past, the nature of her power is still a little ambiguous. I think back to Lyle’s words about the apocalypse and how she’s being hunted by the devil and I have to think there’s more. And I’m still curious about that expedition to Africa. Vanessa had clear feelings for Peter so I expect his death is going to resurface with some impact on both her and Sir Malcolm. While I think this episode came a little early in the series’ run I’d be lying if I said its not my favourite episode thus far. It succeeds in making me more invested in Vanessa, Sir Malcolm, and their quest to get Mina back, now that we know their histories and feelings.
I do have a theory though, considering we didn’t see Sir Malcolm’s wife at all: all this time Timothy Dalton’s been reprising his role from a 1983 miniseries, because Sir Malcolm is really Rochester from Jane Eyre! The timelines add up, he just made a deal with the devil for his hand and sight back, but it cost him his wife which led him down a morally ambiguous path! It makes perfect sense and if they’re smart, Penny Dreadful will make it happen!
Comments
Post a Comment