Written by John Logan
Directed by Dearbhla Walsh
What Are Humans Like? That's the question that's been at the heart of Victor's original creation, which still doesn't have a proper name (though Caliban and Demon were suggestions). Rory Kinnear gave something of an exceptional performance in this episode, highlighting the confusion, anger, rejection and fear his unnamed monster experienced since his birth and his scenes both with Harry Treadaway and Alun Armstrong as a stage owner of the Grand Guignol certainly dominated a lengthy portion of the episode. Thankfully they were also the best scenes of the episode, adding some genuine dimensions to Kinnear's monster as he made it clear to his creator to make him a girlfriend or else. Victor's response to being threatened however was something of a surprise in a way.
Threaten Me With Life: When you're Victor and everyone you've loved (your dog, mother, Proteus) are all dead, then threatened with having loved ones killed will probably ring a little hollow. This episode actually highlighted how alone Victor has become with Proteus slaughtered and his original creation rejecting him as well but despite some questionable actions on Victor's part, he does seem to be man with a moral compass. He certainly didn't waste time in needling Ethan about his own violent past and he was also quick to warn Malcolm that whatever happened to Fenton (Olly Alexander) was their burden to share. I know I keep saying it but again, Victor definitely has become my favourite character of this series so far.
Your Master: As for the main-ish plot of the week - we had Vanessa get a cryptic visit from Mina (when are we going to meet her properly?), the gang then heading off to London Zoo at night where when Ethan wasn't getting acquainted with the wolves, Vanessa was encountering underling boy, Fenton and Malcolm more or less admitted that he was using the clairvoyant as bait, which Vanessa didn't seem all too thrilled about for some reason. There was so mumblings about Amunet but nothing that really progressed the story, though I did enjoy the mentions of Jonathan Harker and I don't think it takes too much to assume that Fenton's ubiquitous master is none other than Dracula.
Not So Dynamic Duo: Vanessa and Sir Malcolm might be two of the most interesting characters on this show but I can't be the only one somewhat perturbed by the fact that Malcolm's treatment of her can be a bit questionable as well. So far, he's openly lying to her about the whole Amunet prophecy, used her as bait to snare Fenton and even warned Ethan off her as well when they were at London Zoo during the night. Perhaps he's still blaming her for Mina's fate or maybe he's trying to protect her in his own way but I do think that at some point, a proper rift may emerge between the two of them if Malcolm isn't a little more forthcoming with things to Vanessa though.
Live Up To The Name: This episode might have been devoid of Reeve Carney's Dorian Gray but we did get one scene with Brona Croft (Billie Piper's Northern Ireland accent still needs to be worked on) and that mainly involved her shagging Ethan and being somewhat accepting of her consumption as well. However we did have a later scene where Ethan discussed Brona's fate with Vanessa, with the latter seemingly being nonchalant about Brona's fate too. I am hoping at some point we do get to see both Brona and Vanessa interact with each other (seeing as they're the only main female characters) and that we also get some more insight into Sembene but other than that, this was a rather delightful episode.
Next week both Vanessa and Dorian catch up with each and Victor has pressure applied to him to make a girlfriend for his original creation.
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