Who can trust the Touched? The Nevers led with that question the first episode directed by Joss Whedon, and it will clearly be a recurring question as the second episode “Exposure” (also directed by Whedon) is built around the same idea. Perhaps this was the point of that deluge of villains in the pilot: wherever the Touched turn (not meant to be a pun, my bad one!), Someone nefariously awaits them. Lord Massen and his cohort of government friends. Maladie, and her followers and sycophants. Hugo Swann, and his promise of female entrepreneurship. The Beggar King, and His Desire to Hold the Underworld. And that mysterious doctor from the premiere, now revealed to serve a specific master: the actual benefactress who supports the orphanage and employs Mrs. True and Penance. What are Lavinia Bidlow and Dr. Hague planning for God’s sake?
The Nevers has already provided pieces to this answer. Dr. Hague is conducting experiments on humans – maybe traning? – to try to see what is different about the brains of the touched people and what could be causing their twists and turns. (The “spark,” he calls it.) The result seems to be the creation of workers’ slaves on the one hand, and the kidnapping of creepy bogeymen on the other. The former are planning to dig up what I believe is the pilot’s crashed ship, while the latter is responsible for kidnapping additional Touched people from all over London, so Dr. Hague can cut it open. And all of this is funded, I suppose, by Lavinia, who insists in this episode that the Touched are concerned with social courtesy – while in that final conversation with Dr. Hague she says, “This is no fun. This is war. ”But does she declare war? On the Touched, or thinks she’s working with them?
I think Jane Espenson’s writing here is purposely opaque, but I’m going to go ahead and think that putting up fake kites for the orphanage and using Mrs. True’s face to lure desperate people who have just learned that they are turning to doctors Hedge can turn, like lambs. for the slaughter, it is not in particular benevolent on the part of Lavinia. (Poor Mrs. Cassini. That chase scene, with its series of floating obstacles, felt a bit too Fantastic beasts, but Domenique Fragale’s fear of revealing her secret was very believable.) I would think it’s only a matter of time before Mrs. True, or someone else from the orphanage, sees one of those posters, but whether they can connect them with Lavinia is in the air.
“Exposure” begins in the wake of Maladie’s operatic attack. The city is on edge and Inspector Mundi sets his sights on the orphanage. His (failed) interrogation of Mrs. True had a nice rhythm – shout to the offended fine “How are you not great?” – and helped establish that, despite being in Hugo Swann’s pocket for whatever reason, Mundi is not a complete idiot. “Are you often involved in public violence?” is a sarcastic question, but a valid one at its core. Mrs. True is a bit of a living thread, and the super strength, super speed, and rippling movements that her turn provides seem to make her more powerful than almost any other member of the Touched.
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Except of course for Maladie. Yes, she really is a bad guy in Whedon’s crazy Drusilla or lusty-for-pain Vampire Willow mold, and I admit all her murmurs and murmurs about God and crowns of thorns and pain as pleasure made me wish I was just watching Real detective season one for the millionth time. But Maladie seems to be operating completely beyond anything Lord Massen is trying to do with the Touched’s government control, and what Lavinia / Dr. Hague tries to find the source of the power of the Touched. As Mrs. True points out, she is driven by this zealous desire to please her God — and perhaps to hurt Mrs. True? The conversation between the two was hard to follow, but I think they knew each other as children, and Mrs. True (“Molly”) left Maladie (“Sarah”) to the authoritarians who ran their orphanage. Remember, Mrs. True keeps saying she’s not “from here” – so are she and Maladie from the same place? And as Mrs. True apparently again leaves Maladie to rescue the imprisoned Mary and Penance, is she putting the Touched that are in line with her more in danger? It seems Maladie wouldn’t take that kind of rejection lightly. (She probably doesn’t like Bonfire Annie turning on her either.)
Questions, questions! Although the introduction of the truth compelling Désireé means that in this episode we get some honesty from various characters (Mundi and Mary were engaged, but they left him at the altar; Mary knows the meaning of the song she is singing not that only the Touched can hear; Ms. True is overwhelmed by the responsibility of running the orphanage), of course we also get more uncertainty in the future. Who gave Mrs. True the “mission” that simultaneously compels and terrifies her? Is she figuratively referring to the “mission,” comparing her turn with some sort of responsibility to the rest of the Touched, or is she speaking literally? Would Augie, revealing that his bird dweller is turning to Penance, realize his sister’s nefarious intent? Or will he take her (bigoted) decree to stay away from penance seriously?
Finally, what does Mary’s song say? Hope is a big concept, and a vague one. Hope for social acceptance, respect, solidarity, unity, what? The Touched don’t operate as a whole, but Mary’s song seems to bring them together. That could scare people: Remember that Dr. Hague says to Mrs. Cassini before lobotomizing her, “Maybe your darkness is part of her plan. I mean, his, but she does. Lavinia seems to be the “her” here, but who is the “his”? yet another villain in The Nevers universe?
Stray observations
- Laura Donnelly’s grin as she talked about ‘bendy Wendy’ should be an instant poison.
- Can we get an explanation for what “The Nevers” means in this episode? No we don’t.
- We already knew that Lord Massen was a tough man, but essentially blaming Hugo for the Swann family’s tragedies? Even if Lord Massen didn’t know about Hugo’s oddity (which I’m not sure), that’s still an impressively brutal proclamation.
- But: Does Hugo Swann seem to pull off a scammer? Yes also. Two things can be true at the same time.
- Interesting that Lord Massen and Mrs. True both have an immediate dislike for Hugo; remember she sarcastically describes him to Inspector Mundi as “the man with his dick off” during the opera performance. And also interesting that Lord Massen seems to have some kind of reluctance to respect Mrs. True, even when targeting her and the rest of the Touched.
- Augie hastily investing in Hugo’s sex club doesn’t seem like the best idea to me, I’ll be honest. Doesn’t make much of an impression on Fine!
- Do we hear this episode “It’s just a prototype” again? We do! But admittedly, that one Matrixstyle sunglasses that block explosive light were pretty good, and I’m sure we’ll see that messy fire extinguisher reappear.
- Désireé is my new favorite character, and “I’m a whore, a little bit familiar” was delivered perfectly by Ella Smith.
- Have we really already determined Ms. True’s powers? She boasted to the beggar king that this was not her face; Maladie continues to call her the woman who can “shed her skin” – which Mrs. True doesn’t exactly deny.
- “How many cousins did they have to hire?” I love that cronyism even exists in this supernatural steampunk version of our reality!