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May 22, 2016 · A Blade of Grass: Directed by Toa Fraser. With Reeve Carney, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, Rory Kinnear. With the help of Dr. Seward, Vanessa undergoes hypnosis to relive her time in the Banning Clinic.
- (3.2K)
- Drama, Fantasy, Horror
- Toa Fraser
- 2016-05-22
May 23, 2016 · Penny Dreadful recap: A Blade of Grass. Vanessa unlocks the memory of her institutionalization -- and the unexpected bond that helped her survive it. By Kelly Connolly. Published on May 22, 2016 ...
A Blade of Grass is the fourth episode, in Season 3 of Penny Dreadful. After receiving a clue about a past experience, Vanessa convinces Dr. Seward to use a new form of therapy, hypnosis, to take her back in time. Eva Green as Vanessa Ives Rory Kinnear as the orderly Patti LuPone as Dr. Seward.
- "Is it day or night?"
- Penny Dreadful: "A Blade of Grass" Photos
- Verdict
By Matt Fowler
Updated: May 23, 2016 3:46 am
Posted: May 23, 2016 2:59 am
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Based off the scenes they had together back in Season 2, we already knew Eva Green and Rory Kinnear worked magnificently together. And that was when he was a totally different character, and not the three beings he wonderfully inhabited this week in the superb "A Blade of Grass." Where Kinnear played the empathetic orderly, Satan AND Dracula.
Just last week, I found myself hoping that an episode like this would come soon. A more isolated, focused episode on par with Penny's previous triumphs "Closer Than Sisters," "Possession," and "The Nightcomers." Time out chapters that help slow the story down a bit while delving into the past. Episodes, with limited locations and characters, that give the show a stage play feel.
There wasn't much plot development this week, but that was more than okay. Vanessa learned the name Dracula while we learned that the two brotherly halves of the fallen angel - Satan and Dracula - are actually quite adversarial. They're both out for themselves when it comes to their separate affections for Vanessa. And Dracula actually has a more lustful, earthly leg up on Lucifer, as it turns out. So not much story here, but some nice revelations.
But forwarding the plot wasn't what this chapter was about. Green and Kinear, and John Logan's script, beautifully laid out a strange, bewitching friendship that only a show like Penny Dreadful could properly nurture. I knew Dracula was coming at some point this week, but what I really got invested in was the interplay between the orderly and Vanessa.. Their "love," really. The way it slowly built from no conversations at all to the orderly removing her gag, fixing her hair and face respectfully, and reading her children's poems, was spectacular. And yes, there could have easily been something creepy and wrong about this pairing, given the power dynamic (he even had to force feed her at one point) and there were desperate moments when things did cross the line, but overall it was heartfelt, pure, and tragic.
"A Blade of Grass" was just what Season 3 needed. A Vanessa-centric episode that both added clarity and heart. Along with a thoughtful, amazing friendship between Vanessa and the man in charge of her care at the asylum. A relationship that built itself up magnificently over the course of the episode. I know Penny Dreadful is too much of a genre ser...
May 23, 2016 · Our recap of 'Penny Dreadful' Season 3, Episode 4, 'A Blade of Grass,' reveals what Vanessa learns about her forgotten past with Dracula.
- Charlie Mason
May 25, 2016 · 3.4 A Blade Of Grass. A Blade of Grass follows immediately on from the reveal of the last episode; John Clare was the orderly who worked at the Banning Clinic in which Vanessa was confined. The ...
May 22, 2016 · Rory Kinnear, too. Their performances on Penny Dreadful Season 3 Episode 4 certainly warrant all that and more. Throw the show a couple for writing and direction, while you're at it. Three seasons ...
