Each week, Joe (@bstolemyremote) and Terry (@gaylydreadful) review an episode of Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, alternating between our respective sites — queerhorrormovies.com and gaylydreadful.com.

Spoilers for episode three…

1.03 “Wicked Old World”: Tiago and Molly try escaping their complicated lives. Lewis interrogates a Cal-Tech student. Townsend and Alex's agenda is jeopardized by a Councilwoman. Peter Craft discovers a dark truth at Elsa's home. Mateo visits a Chicano dance hall.

TERRY

Alright, Joe. I’m curious to hear your thoughts about this episode because, honestly, this was my favorite so far. To me, Penny Dreadful was at its best when it focused on its wonderful characters, building out their relationships and their backgrounds. And that’s just what “Wicked Old World” does. It’s a much slower-paced episode that barely touches on the main plot thread of the Hazlett murders until the denouement powerfully rips away any lingering magic spent at a boardwalk carnival at the golden hour.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The third episode of City of Angels opens on the blackened and burnt corpses of Anton and Sam, who were executed in their car before being pushed down a hill. It’s quickly established that they weren’t killed by the flames as the coroner reveals the bullets found lodged in their skulls. Detective Lewis (Nathan Lane) implores him to keep that secret for a little bit, then he leaves and bawls. It’s a small moment, but a needed one and I completely felt Lewis’s pain as he prayed for his lost friends.

Back at the Vega family, Raul (Adam Rodriguez) convalesces while trying to be the surprising voice of reason to Mateo (Johnathan Nieves). Mateo tells Raul that it was Tiago (Daniel Zovatto) who shot him and while there’s a momentary darkness in Raul’s bloodied eye, he tells Mateo that Tiago is at a crossroads. He’s a cop. He’s Chicano. “He doesn’t know what he is.” But, “you look in his eyes. You be kind,” he tells Mateo.

Moments after Mateo leaves, Tiago enters, asking Raul how he’s feeling today. Raul takes his hand and puts it on his chest, right over his heart, and I’m not sure how to read this scene. “Hearts” have already been a very strong motif this season with questions asked about “where’s your heart?” and not knowing where your heart should be, as well as the more literal ritualistic murders and heart-removal. So I initially took this as a way of forgiving Tiago by showing him his heart. But it’s weird that it’s the answer to “how are you feeling?” There’s a part of me that thinks that maybe the action is the answer to Tiago’s question. That maybe Raul has no heartbeat.

But the narrative doesn’t answer this (maybe Terry-created) enigma and instead we get a kind of hilarious scene of Councilman Townsend (Michael Gladis) at a gym using one of those olden vibrating exercise belts that, I guess, is supposed to jiggle the fat away. Alex (Natalie Dormer) needs him in tip-top form and that means no more nightly encounters at the rest stops we see later in the episode. Our hypocritical councilman seems to enjoy the muscled presence of young men. While I can’t blame him, it is rather problematic that our loathed political figure is getting into bed with the queer-hating Nazis.

That’s not going to backfire.

But we also get re-introduced to Councilwoman Beck (Christine Estabrook) who storms into the gym and lays down the tea: “If you think I’m going to let you turn the Los Angeles City Council into your own little Third Reich, you’re sadly mistaken.” She rattles on that she’s been “knocking pisspot fascists like you since you were at your momma’s tit-ty.” I particularly loved the emphasis she places on tit-ty. I’m simultaneously cheering her on while immediately fearing for her. Alex/Magda (also Dormer) does not like flies in her ointment.

“Wicked Old World” is filled to the brim with character moments like this and we’re not even that far into the main thrust of the narrative. I imagine this episode might be boring to some viewers because after the supernatural and murder-filled events of the first two episodes, it takes a slower approach. But I personally loved the way it filled out the characters and gave them a bit more depth. Which leads me to my favorite sequence, not only because of the sequence but how it ties into the ending.

Joe, I’m talking about Molly (Kerry Bishé) going full-on-femme-fatale-mode with such delicious style and her date with Tiago at the boardwalk. You enjoyed the two’s meet cute last episode, so I’m curious if this scene played well for you? Did Lewis’ ending revelation payoff this scene for you? What did you think of Townsend’s meeting with the Nazis and Magda’s glass-shattering anger at what seems to be her first setback? And are you giddy at the prospect of Elsa (also Dormer) and Frank (Santino Barnard) going to young Tom Craft (Julian Hilliard)’s party?

JOE

It’s funny, Terry, because last week I suggested that, aside from that one moment of supernatural reanimation at the end, episode two was a mostly grounded character-driven episode. I didn’t expect episode three to focus even more on the character work. I can definitely imagine impatient audiences getting frustrating, but personally I’m with you. “Wicked Old World” really worked for me because it, like last week’s episode, prioritized its characters.

We’re still early in this (potentially first) season of City of Angels, and if the show is settling in for the long haul, some of these characters could potentially stick around for a while. So we need to care about Tiago winning Molly a Popeye doll or what it means for Mateo to let his hair down at The Crimson Cat Club with the queers and gender-fluid Pachuco crowd.

Let me begin with Molly and Tiago first. I didn’t like the latter character in the pilot, but these last two episodes have done wonders. Something about the easy chemistry between the pair of them, coupled with that frankly stunning Katherine Hepburn-esque pant/blouse combo that Molly wears had me swooning over their perfect date at the pier. These are arguably the least dramatically interesting characters because they’re so good, but for at least one episode, I was happy to revel in their romance. Plus it pays off when Molly’s mom-anager from hell, Miss Adelaide (Amy Madigan) shows up in Molly’s glamorous all-white apartment in the dark like a goddamn horror villain. It’s a burst of camp that I couldn’t help chuckling over.

Less amusing is Townsend, who I continue to be frustrating with. While it’s certainly fun to see Alex/Magda tell off uppity Nazi Richard Goss (Thomas Kretschmann) for not being as smart as he thinks and then blowing out every window on the street, this particular narrative thread still feels paper-thin.

I can’t help but think that Townsend’s disappointing reveal as a secret gay man is intended to make him a more complicated, interesting character, but I’ll go on the record that I didn’t care for this new detail. Not only is it too obvious, it makes Townsend even more despicable and paints queers in such an unfortunate, self-hating light. Perhaps I’m being too sensitive, but I hate that our main human antagonist is also our gay point of identification.

No, I much preferred the more complicated notions of gender and fluidity at the club where we meet our fourth(!) Natalie Dormer character, Rio. The (surprisingly large) backroom of the Crimson Cat is a kind of queer-speakeasy, populated by mixed race couples, gays and lesbians and Pachucos, which adds another exciting flavour to the mixed-cultural heritage of the show.

As a dumb white guy, I wasn’t familiar with Pachucos, who are “a subculture of Chicanos and Mexican-Americans, associated with zoot suits, street gangs, nightlife, and flamboyant public behavior.” That is quite the set of qualifiers and we see them all in this group of people, whom Rio naturally wants to rile up as the original owners of Los Angeles. While certain storylines, like Doctor Craft’s seem to be stagnating a little right now, I’m definitely intrigued by the idea of Tiago and Raul’s little brother becoming embroiled (or is it ensared) in a queer & female-led uprising.

One request, though: no more shots of Fly Rico (Sebastian Chacon) flinging sweat off his brow. That’s nasty.

Terry, were you - like me - bored by Dr. Craft/Elsa’s storyline? What did Detective Lewis gain from beating up the CalTech student, especially when it could easily put him in Goss’ line of fire? And how much did you love the final montage set to Molly singing “Let’s Face The Music and Dance”, which immediately brings to mind Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in 1936’s “Follow The Fleet”

TERRY

Joe, I’m so glad you mentioned Mom-anager’s appearance in the white-on-white-on-white apartment. That audible *click* as she turns the light on followed by another *click* as she fades back into the darkness was a camp moment for the ages. I just love the idea of Adelaide just sitting in the dark, just waiting for Molly to come home, only to return to the darkness. It’s a cinematic scene that would be ridiculous in the real world because of its awkwardness. She turns off the light and...then what? Just sits in the chair for the rest of the night? It’s so silly and camp, but filled with delightful menace.

Another camp moment? Seeing Randolph (David Figlioli) trailing Tiago and Molly...while gnawing down on some bright pink cotton candy.

That said, I would also like to disagree with you. While the actuality of Fly Rico’s sweat is probably nasty, that shot was hot and oozed wet sex. I was waiting to see a massive orgy erupt on the dance floor. I mean, we did get a non-literal orgy as the music pulsed and various couples danced, trading dancers (men and women) and just living for a sensuous moment.

I needed a cigarette afterwards...and I don’t smoke.

The whole scene also made me wish for a club that played lived music like that. Just brass instruments and sexy saxes blasting jazz infusion. Watching that scene while currently huddled in quarantine felt both incredibly dangerous (the sweat! The bodily fluids! The closeness!) but also heart-breaking because it was so full of people and life.

One point I wanted to make about Natalie’s fourth role is the way John Logan thankfully didn’t employ the racist use of brownface. The moment she was introduced as Rio, I immediately cringed. But instead of nauseously sidestepping the moment, Logan forced a conversation as Mateo immediately says, “But you’re white.” It’s a brief moment that acknowledges that Rio (and Natalie) isn’t Spanish, though she was raised in Seville and Mexico and identifies with them than white America. I also dug the androgynous use of Rio, which is the masculine language form. It adds to the queerness of the character.

Of course none of this really matters since it’s all a construct by Magda...but still.

On the issue of Dr. Craft…yes, the story felt incredibly stagnant, particularly when we’re blessed with the colorful, non-white spectacle of The Crimson Cat (Which, by the way, is how you do a dance sequence. Take note Motherland: Fort Salem). It felt a bit pigeonholed in the episode as a kind of, “hey, these characters do exist” and set up what could be a contentious birthday party in, presumably, the next episode. Ditto Lewis’s kind of stupid Bad Cop attack on the CalTech Nazi sympathizer. Outside of the casual namedrop of Wernher von Braun, who was the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, according to Wikipiedia. I have a feeling that little nugget will show up later and Logan needed to set the scene a bit.

Finally, Joe, I love a good montage set to music and this one was...er...music to my ears. The combination of Molly huddled on the floor while her mother presumably yells at her through the door mixed with Mateo getting his tattoo, swapping alcohol with Rio, and the final image of Tiago reading the damning reports of Molly and Hazlet as Popeye stared down at him...perfection.

Let’s have a gimlet and discuss that report, Joe. Do you think it’s as damning as our heroes think? Is it as simple as cherchez la femme? Do you think Molly really was having an affair with the murdered Hazlet? Is she our femme fatale, complicit in someway in Hazlet’s death? And how long do you think until we get a Rio, Rico and Mateo threesome?

My, my, you do have the quarantine thirst, don’t you? I hadn’t even considered a threesome...and yet now it seems entirely possible. It’s a bit odd because despite the series’ tendency to cast incredibly sexy people, and feature some incredibly sexy scenes, I would never classify it as steamy. I guess we’ll see if City of Angels takes the hot road not travelled.

As for Molly: I’m hesitant to pass judgment on the blonde starlet. It would certainly shake things up to have the naive, ingenue be exposed as a kept woman (or perhaps we’re headed into L.A. Confidential territory?). We know next to nothing about Hazlett, so it’s unclear what kind of character he was, but considering everything we know of Molly, my instincts are that the space Hazlett was renting was an escape for Molly from her overbearing mother...or perhaps she was being forced into some dirty dailiance’s at her mom’s behest?

I honestly don’t know. There are still plenty of questions and intrigue in these characters for me. With several of them (Townsend, Mateo), we understand immediately what Alex/Rio wants from them: to instigate a race war that will burn the city down. How Sister Molly’s church and Dr. Craft play into this, however, is unclear (for now). This is de rigeur for Penny Dreadful, which has never been known for twists or unexpected developments; it trafficks in slow-mounting dread and the inevitability of unstoppable forces slowly but surely inching towards conflict.

By this point in the original series’ run, we’d had Vanessa Ives at the séance and a team-up of sorts at the zoo. City of Angels is playing its narrative cards a little closer to the vest than its predecessor, despite employing a cast of characters whose qualities and motivations are more simplistic. I’m still on board, but after two episodes of relative calm, I do hope that next week introduces a big talky set piece. I could do with a little bit more of a hook after two slow burns.

We’ll see what John Logan has in store for us when we return for QueerHorrorMovies for 1.04 “Josefina and the Holy Spirit”.