Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Season 1, Episode 6 “How It Is With Brothers”
Air Date: Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 10PM E/P on Showtime
Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars
*** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ***
“L.A. doesn’t care who you are when you arrive; it only cares about who you make yourself into.”
– Councilman Townsend
The majority of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels sixth episode, “How It Is With Brothers,” deals with Detectives Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) and Santiago “Tiago” Vega interrogating the only person they caught during their stake out in “Children of the Royal Sun,” – a young Pachuco named Diego (Adan Rocha).
Lewis and Tiago take the first crack at questioning Diego about the murder of Officer Reilly (Rod McLachlan), but when your only suspect knows the kid who got away is the brother of one of the detectives, things can go sideways, fast.
Interrogation Part 1 – Cat and Mouse
Tiago tries to reason with Diego while simultaneously try and pin the murder of Officer Reilly soley on him. Then Michener chimes in asking about the missing suspect, “He got a name?” This is now a game of ‘Cat and Mouse.’ Tiago thinks he’s the cat, but Diego leverages the knowledge of Mateo (Johnathan Nieves) being Tiago’s younger brother and tries to blackmail Tiago in helping him escape police custody.
Surf, Sand, and Hitler?
Councilman Townsend (Michael Gladis) learns a great deal about Kurt (Dominic Sherwood) on their day at the beach. The way Townsend stares at Kurt as he surfs the waves, then walks back toward him clad in snug swim trunks as water glistens off his gorgeous body. Um, yeah; maybe we were both staring. I digress.
Townsend asks where he learned to surf. Kurt begins to talk about his past. He grew up in Hermosa Beach. Surprised by the hometown connection to Southern California, Townsend replies, “I didn’t know Hitler was recruiting in Hermosa.”
Kurt explains, talking about his love of surfing, paddling out and looking at the long stretch of white sand…until “the mongrels came…the chinks, the spics, the spades, you name it, more and more of them every year.” Kurt goes on about how the minorities were taking over his beaches and the city, wondering why no one was doing anything. “Then I heard of the Führer and I read ‘Mein Kampf‘ …finally, here was someone speaking the plain truth.” After moving to Berlin, going through Gestapo training, his first assignment was to come back to “this filthy city I never thought I’d have to see again.”
Obviously taken aback by Kurt’s story, Townsend defends Los Angeles. “I love this city. Do you know who I saw yesterday just walking down Robertson…Fred Astaire. Just like that, there he was; he looked just like himself. That’s what I wanted to be, a dancer like that, a song and dance man. Fred Astaire or Eddie Cantor. But I’m too big. But that’s what I love about L.A., — that I can be Fred Astaire. L.A. doesn’t care who you are when you arrive; it only cares about who you make yourself into.”
A Marriage…Broken
Dr. Peter Craft (Rory Kinnear) has a frank conversation with his wife Linda (Piper Perabo) about their marriage and her unhappiness. Things escalate and she realizes what he’s about to do. “If you think you’re bringing that German whore into my house to take care of my children, to satisfy your filthy fantasies in my bed…I won’t let you take my boys!”
Of course, Peter will not stand for this. “You can’t stop me. You are a drunk; I am a doctor. No authority in the state will side with you. You will be checking into a sanitarium to be treated for intemperance and hysteria.”
Then Linda sits down, and with a calm yet calculated voice, she says, “I know you Peter. You might feel strong right now but you’re not. Believe me you’re not.” What does she know about Peter that we don’t? I am dying to know!
Perabo takes advantage of her limited screen time. While this is the one and only scene where we see Peter and Linda, it is Perabo’s performance that makes Linda linger in my memory. The way the words are spoken, the slight movement of her eyes, and even the way her lips curl, all these attributes combined with Perabo’s impeccable delivery makes Linda a woman to be remembered.
Will the Real Molly Stand Up?
At the beginning of “How It Is With Brothers,” the lighting is drab and dull. In the next scene, the entire screen lights up bright with pale white as Molly (Kerry Bishé) walks down the stairs. She is greeted by a homecooked breakfast courtesy of her mother Adelaide (Amy Madigan) but the a dark shadow is cast as their heart to heart feels duplicitous.
Adelaide knows Molly is seeing Tiago, but she reminds her daughter to keep the focus and her commitment to the temple of Joyful Voices. Obviously if Molly forsakes her duties to ministry for love, it brings their fortunes crashing down. But why can’t she be both Sister Molly and just Molly, a girl in love?
As Molly goes on stage, her performance rings loudly with sadness. The song she sings is heartbreaking yet strangely prophetic. Will she stop seeing Tiago?
Rio Meets Maria
Mateo is hiding out in a shack, a literal shack, with Rio (Natalie Dormer) and Fly Rico (Sebastian Chacon). Mateo is ready to confess to the police but Rio and Fly Rico stop him, telling him that Diego has to take the heat for all of them. Then a knock on the door. It’s Mateo’s mother Maria (Adriana Barraza).
Did your heart stop for a moment as Rio opens the door and comes face to face with one of her sister’s most faithful servants? If you don’t know, Rio is also Magda (Natalie Dormer), the Woman in Black (the bringer of death basically). Dormer plays many characters in this season of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. The Woman in Black’s sister is Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo), the deity Maria has a shrine dedicated to her.
Rio tells Maria, “You’re not welcome here.” But Maria is not the one to be trifled with, “I think you better step aside, Miss.” The way Rio looks at Maria, I wonder if she knows about her prayers to Santa Muerte. Maria begs Mateo to come home. And despite her pleading, Mateo, through his tears, refuses, repeating what Rio said earlier, “She’s right, you’re not welcome here.” I’m so disappointed in Mateo.
Interrogation Part 2 – Things Get Hostile
The interrogation of Diego continues. Chief Vanderhoff (Brent Spiner) whines about Lewis and Tiago not solving the Hazlett Family murders and now, with Officer Reilly dead, they need someone to pin all of it on, fast.
Tiago goes into a bathroom stall, considering his options and Diego’s plan of escape. As Tiago empties the bullets from his gun, he overhears Officer Murphy (Scott Beehner) talking about what they’re going to do when they get a chance to interrogate Diego. After some snide remarks comparing beating Diego and a pinata, Tiago reloads his weapon. Is he going to go along with Diego’s plan and help him escape?
Things get extremely intense in the interrogation and tensions rise. After Tiago loses it, holding his weapon to Diego’s head, Lewis pieces things together. Dragging distraught Tiago outside, the lightbulb goes on. “It’s your brother; the fourth guy; your brother…Your fucking brother and you didn’t tell me!? How many times have I stuck my neck out for you? You think anybody else in the goddamn precinct would have taken you on? Would have trusted you? You should have told me!”
To be fair, Tiago did shoot his own brother Raul (Adam Rodriguez) in the head to save Lewis.
Lewis takes over and gives Diego a choice… a crappy one, but one that will possibly save his life. Diego can go to San Quentin prison either as a cop killer or a rat. A young kid like Diego, anything less than a glorified cop killer he’ll be dead the first night after having been run through the ringer.
Lane’s performance awes me. His quiet tone while talking puts a sense of importance, almost severity in what’s being said, as if each word needs to be paid extreme close attention. As Lewis sits across from Diego, laying out in vivid detail the extremes of his choices leave little room for doubt in which option Diego should choose. Needless to say, the celebration at the end isn’t really one that’s well deserved.
Do you think Rio or Fly Rico will step in or will they let Diego take the wrap?
Tune into Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Sundays at 10PM E/P on Showtime.
For more, go to https://www.sho.com/penny-dreadful-city-of-angels
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Judy Manning
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