Penny Dreadful – “A Blade of Grass” Review. The Picture Becomes Clearer.

Season 3, Episode 4

Air Date: Sunday, May 22, 2016, 10PM E/P on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“For too long I have been afraid; no longer.” – Vanessa

Sometimes, you have to remember what you’ve locked away in your mind to find clarity. Throughout “A Blade of Grass,” the only three characters we see are Vanessa (Eva Green), Dr. Seward (Patti LuPone), and the man John Clare (Rory Kinnear) was before he was turned into the creature he is today. Dr. Seward attempts to assist Vanessa through more hypnosis to uncover when she first met the “master” in the white padded room at Banning Psychiatric hospital. Through this process, many shocking things are revealed.

Vanessa floats between her conscious mind and her memories as Dr. Seward urges her to try and remember more.

“A Blade of Grass” is a powerful and poignant episode. The first half isn’t very exciting—full of memories and conversation. You’ll find yourself furrowing your brow, but patience has its rewards. As Vanessa recounts her five months or so in the white room, she tells a story about her so-called friendship with the orderly who has no name. For the sake of this review, we’ll call him John. There is a gradual understanding between Vanessa and John. He’s there to do his job but begins to empathize with Vanessa’s plight. The more she tries to engage John in conversation, the more receptive he is to communicating. At first his communication is clinical, telling her “You have to eat, Miss. Please eat.” But he also gives her warnings. “The treatments only get worse.”

The acting in “A Blade of Grass” is superb. The way Green looks to how she twitches and scratches at herself, makes you believe she’s truly demented. Her refusal to eat leads to the “consequences” John mentions. The way Kinnear behaves so calmly as John places wedges into Vanessa’s mouth to force feed her made me cringe. Kinnear’s performance is truly outstanding, deserving of accolades beyond what my words can say. Though we as the audience are also locked away in the white room with Vanessa, like her, John’s visits are a welcome departure from the prison she’s made in her own mind.

As Dr. Seward tries to help Vanessa come out of hypnosis, she realizes Vanessa still needs to explore the depths of her memories to figure out when she met the “Master.” But the further Vanessa goes into her own mind, the deeper she sinks into the hypnosis. Her efforts prove fruitful, but at what cost?

Vanessa continues to recount her memories from the white room.

With John being the only other person she sees on a daily basis, I wondered if Vanessa had met the Master during one of the “hydro therapy” sessions. Throughout the interactions between Vanessa and John, a bond develops into a friendship of sorts. As we slip into the second half of the episode, you begin to see why John cares for Vanessa. There is one scene that pulls my heartstrings so much, I was teary-eyed. A gift that is truly priceless. John sees through her so-called illness and wants to help, however; as John grows closer, so does the evil that stalks her.

Series creator and writer John Logan pens incredible dialogue but it’s the mastery and skill of both Green and Kinnear that set these words alight. John plays multiple characters in “A Blade of Grass” with frightening precision. He seamlessly flows from being the concerned orderly to channeling the Master. As Vanessa continues to recount her deep seeded memories, something comes into clear focus – there is more than one Master who seeks her.

During a conversation, John tries to understand Vanessa’s vehemence against towing the line of normalcy. But the conversation turns dark very quickly. Vanessa asks, “If you were Lucifer, why would you be interested in someone?” The answer comes from John but is not him. Through blackened eyes, a voice speaks, “That’s easy; because I love you.” As the conversation persists, Lucifer says, “I don’t want you to fear me, I want you to embrace me of your own volition.”

Will Vanessa’s faith aide her in resisting the temptations of two dark omnipresent forces?

Throughout this dark conversation, Lucifer says something quite interesting, “Let us be as we were, before there was time, there was thee and me. Before the scorpion crawled and the adder hissed, back to the time when the old gods sang, there was only thee and there was only me. Give yourself to me freely, be what you are and always were.” I am reminded of what Ferdinand Lyle (Simon Russell Beale) revealed in season one “Resurrection” about the ancient Goddess Amunet. Before Lucifer concludes his speech, a sinister laughter emerges from nowhere, the sounds of wings flapping follow. The shocking revelation of who the other evil is sent chills down my spine. The truly shocking event is how Vanessa reacts to all of this. “You think you know evil, here it stands.”

Overall

“A Blade of Grass” propels Vanessa’s story arc further than I had anticipated. Now that she knows both Lucifer and Dracula are after her, what will she do? What can she do? I wonder if Vanessa sees John and the creature he’s become courtesy of Victor (Harry Treadaway), will she recognize the kind orderly who once helped her? Their final moment together in the white room brought me to tears.

Vanessa is strong but can she defeat two Masters?

Throughout “A Blade of Grass,” I am reminded of season one and the vampires that hunted Vanessa. Everything is coming full circle and as Dracula, through John, mentions, Vanessa is of the “flesh.” She is “the scorpion,” and “the wolf.” Let’s hope Ethan (Josh Hartnett) doesn’t get caught up in Hecate’s (Sarah Greene) web because he’s the only one that may be able to save Vanessa. But if Vanessa is truly more evil than Lucifer and Dracula, can she be stopped?

Let me know what you think of “A Blade of Grass.” Leave me a comment below or tweet me @judybopp. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Tune in to Penny Dreadful, Sundays at 10PM E/P, only on Showtime.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.