Miranda, Peter and Roman are in bed together- and all three of them seem to have a creepy Mask murder dream
When they actually wake up and get up, Peter and Roman are both having a serious case of the awkwards while Miranda is bright, happy and quite unconcerned. She brightly talks about her dream and the guys realise she’s had a creepy Mask dream. Peter and Roman have a sidebar when they discuss whether to bring Miranda in on the whole “hey the dreams are predictions” thing (and Roman seems to be joining Peter in the saving people business). Peter is worried about her getting hurt – and the whole werewolf/upir thing getting out as well.
Peter passes on his dream and his research on it to Michael. But Michael has other crime he can’t go chasing dreams. Peter reveals Roman has them too which gains his interest – but he still won’t let Peter come with him
Roman is heading to the secret lab and joined by Olivia, cue the standard snarling. And Norman wheels out Shelly – Roman falls into an embrace and even Olivia looks happy. More happiness when they realise Shelly can talk. Awwwww….. it’d be sweet if the collective death count weren’t so high. After she, presumably, tells them everything, she makes sure that Peter will look after Jason – the boy she befriended. But Roman can’t restrain his anger at Olivia. She assures them she’s trying and will be better but Roman denies it and keeps calling it all lies and manipulation until Johann kicks them out
Damn it Johann, that was almost reasonable.
When Peter tries to go back in, Johann makes it clear that Olivia isn’t the only problem and Shelly who has been through a lot, doesn’t need more drama (or, as he puts it “your endless fucking familial dysfunction”. Agreed to the hilt doc). While Roman doesn’t trust Johann he accepts it when Johann pledges his devotion – and that, obviously, Shelly’s presence needs to be kept secret.
Peter sneaks back in anyway and can’t go two seconds without saying how awful Olivia is. Then it’s up to his office to play ignorant when Michael arrives asking about the murder prediction dreams then that he’s ignorant about the people Shelly killed/injured last episode. Michael invites Roman to come along on the dream expedition, but unlike Peter, Roman isn’t eager to go on a road trip to Ohio.
The family who are due to be Mask murdered are facing ominous weather when it’s already cold and snowy.
Norman meets his private investigator who has managed to connect Olivia to a double murder in the 1965. Before Olivia was alive (apparently) – leaving his private investigator to speculate maybe Olivia is older than she looks. Norman decides they need to speak to a witness who was a child at the time.
That means going to Buffalo with the detective (Letitia) to see the witness (Donna) who has had several strokes and doesn’t respond well. But she does get extremely agitated when she sees pictures of women including Olivia. She smears a number 3 on the wall – the 3rd picture is Olivia’s.
Letitia wants to go to the police, Norman points out how terrible the cases is. Especially since if Marie does turn up dead (which she thinks is likely. So do I since Olivia killed her) then Norman is the most likely to be implicated as the ex-husband. Norman refuses, but Letitia has to report crimes anyway, it’s part of her detective’s license.
Johann takes Shelly to see Prycilla, the human woman he’s growing in a tank. He wants to import Shelly’s brain into the new body. She hugs him – aww and even Johann seems to care. Creepily, Prycilla opens her eyes.
Later, Shelly notices this and that Prycilla will copy Shelly’s movements. Then she starts moving on her own. This doesn’t look like the actions of a woman with a blank mind.
This spurs Olivia to go it on the roof, legs dangling over the edge (much to Johann’s consternation) and wish she hadn’t come back. She also refuses the new body because Prycilla is a person with a soul – Johann scoffs but she says they talked (not with words, but Shelly has a lot of practice of talking without words). Taking Prycilla’s body would make her the killer everyone thinks she is.
Johann uses his computer to show that while Prycilla imitates facial expressions and feelings, she doesn’t actually feel anything. He calls Prycilla a blank slate. This reassures Shelly, but once she’s gone, Johann reconnects a lead he’d unplugged and the map of Prycilla’s brain lights up.
Peter goes home to Destiny who is still on a “I hate Miranda” mode but the whole threesome thing kind of derails her theory. She goes to Roman’s to speak to Miranda – somehow managing to bypass security. Miranda is duly snarky and Destiny flips her attack – Miranda isn’t a conniving gold digger any more, she’s a desperate narcissist! Miranda pushes her to try and get rid of her and Destiny has a snakey vision – she grabs Miranda’s eyes for a longer vision (blood snakes, sharp things and breasts). Destiny warns her to run to the hills, Miranda, naturally ignores her
Back at the Godfrey Institute Olivia and Roman run into each other again because Roman is trying to evict Olivia. She tries to assure Roman that she has changed and realised his mistakes – not something he buys. Especially since he’s heading in to another awful round of treatment for his Upirness that he blames on Olivia. He also tells her he’s going to de-upir Nadia when she’s old enough – which horrifies her – and he lauds his father to her detriment (adding that his suicidal) dad died because of her).
So Olivia tells him that JR isn’t his real dad. She also adds that this company wasn’t built by JR’s genius, as Roman thinks, it was all Johann and Olivia. Roman does the lip wobbling thing he does. Roman absorbs that Norman was probably his father… and Letha his sister… but before he can fully absorb it Olivia lifts him with one hands and throws him across the corridor. How does it feel to be human?
So Olivia tells him that JR isn’t his real dad. She also adds that this company wasn’t built by JR’s genius, as Roman thinks, it was all Johann and Olivia. Roman does the lip wobbling thing he does. Roman absorbs that Norman was probably his father… and Letha his sister… but before he can fully absorb it Olivia lifts him with one hands and throws him across the corridor. How does it feel to be human?
Thank you! Someone reminding Roman that there are advantages to being Upir!
To the Mask Victim family. One of the Masky people puts a large stinging insect nest in one of their heating ducts. Do you get large stinging insect nests in the winter?
Michael arrives at the location, but the research didn’t lead him to the right place and he suspects that Peter did it on purpose to get him out of town. Accusation, protestation of innocence etc.
Realising he’s missing pieces of the puzzle, Peter uses a dream book to convince Miranda to talk about her dream. He runs what she tells him past Roman (who is upset and headbutting mirrors) and interprets the clues. They head out and Miranda so doesn’t believe their lies.
Olivia meets up with the Russian doctor to continue their plotting – the doctor offers to disrupt Roman’s last de-upir procedure so he will die during it – meaning he can’t turn his daughter and control over the whole institute will revert to Olivia (I’m not quite sure why Olivia doesn’t have control now?)
And Norman and Letitia report their findings to Michael who is interested (much to Norman’s disdain) – he tells them his murdered sister was very interested in the unexplained (that’s one way of putting it). He asks them about upirs.
Roman and Peter arrive at the house of the Mask’s next victims – they arrive just as the insects from the nest start swarming. Roman helps get the family out and Peter chases after the Masked man, shifting as he goes. Roman follows with a shovel. The werewolf and the Upir face off against 2 Masked men
Masked men end up dead. Miranda followed them and seems to arrive in time to see Peter shift back.
Norman goes to see Olivia, apparently enraged. She greets him – and he slaps her hand away, bends her over and has sex with her – it looks a lot like rape; no consent was sought nor did he seem to care if there was or not. He’s angry, the whole scene looks like he’s trying to “punish” her. After sex, when she’s asleep, he steals some of her hair.
Johann has a moment with Prycilla, praising what a wonderful creation she is and how famous she would have made him – but Shelley is more important . He makes a sad, even tearful goodbye to her, before, presumably, wiping her mind.
Miranda takes baby Nadia – and drives off with her.
Here are a lot of cruel, evil people on Hemlock Grove there always has been. Shelly’s role seems to be that of the ultimate innocent, someone so good and kind that she inspires caring and love even in Roman, Olivia and Johann. Despite her large size and vast strength, she is the delicate, child-like figure they all seek to nurture and protect.
But do any of them see her beyond that? In season 1 it was clear Olivia cared little about what Olivia wanted. Roman sees her as something precious to protect from Olivia without really listening to her. Does Johann see a person or just someone to improve and make better? What about Norman? He seems to be the only character who has made a habit of listening to her.
Was there really a reason to have Destiny loathe Miranda on sight?
For once, I also think some recapping is in order to remind us why Roman has a beef with Olivia – because Roman pulls of petulant all the time, it’s easy to think he’s just being a brat.
I also have to question this show’s squeamishness. We have seen Miranda’s breasts over and over. Last season we saw Roman rape a woman. We have seen blood and gore plastered everywhere in great gobbets of flesh and death and more… but a threesome is a fade to black? Really? Blood spraying from arterial wounds is fine but 3 people having consensual sex will burn out our eyes? Especially since this same episode we saw Norman rape Olivia.
And I am calling it rape. Norman is angry at Olivia and looks like he’s trying to hurt her. He didn’t care whether she consented or not. Could she, Upir-y, turn round and rip his head off? Yes. But lack of a no is not a yes.
