PENNYWORTH S1E7 Recap – “Julie Christie”

Things have been ramping up over at Pennyworth, what with Alfred on the verge of finding Esme’s killer and all. In the meantime, we’re also dealing with Martha’s Satanic blackout and how exactly Thomas is going to react to it. Come with me, won’t you?

“What the hell happened to you? Where’s Patricia?”

Following the events of last episode’s psychedelic Satanist shindig, Martha found herself naked and alone in another city. We pick up today’s episode with her clad in a sheet, walking against the massive crowd making its way to work. She heads back to her apartment and is immediately confronted by an angry Thomas Wayne, demanding to know where she has been. She isn’t exactly taking Thomas’ criticism in stride, but she maintains that his sister Patricia is a grown woman and can do what she wants. Thomas tasked Martha with his drunken sister Patricia while he had an important meeting to attend, you see. Martha puts some clothes on and defends herself, saying that everyone has those nights where you lose track of time. This enrages Thomas, as he reveals that she has been gone for three days. This shocks Martha, who now understands why Thomas is so angry.

“The bastard wore it like a medal.” 

Alfred, Bazza, and Davey Boy are at Captain Curzon’s house, tearing through all of his belongings in order to find some clue to help them on their search for the man. Curzon is the man who killed Alfred’s fiancé, Esme. Alfred embarrassed him in front of his troops years ago, during the war. Bazza finds Curzon’s uniform, where the group find Esme’s engagement ring pinned to it, near his various medals.

Just then, they hear someone entering the house through the main door. The trio are there to greet whoever enters, guns cocked. It turns out to be Curzon’s maid, who only pops in on Mondays and Thursdays. She doesn’t even clean the whole house per Curzon’s orders; he only wants his bedroom cleaned. Alfred pesters her for more information but she truly doesn’t know anything about the man. She always sees him don his uniform and leave the house. Alfred notes that according to the records he searched, Curzon is no longer commissioned. Where is he going all dressed up, asks Davey Boy?

“Come now, wish us luck.” 

At the Sykes residence, Bet is upset that Lord Harwood and her sister Peggy are going to London without her. Harwood tells her that she’s a liability, that someone there might recognise her. She’s supposed to be dead, after all. She begrudgingly wishes them luck and they head out.

They arrive at Frances Gaunt’s residence, where the current leader of the Raven Society lives. Peggy exits the car and speaks to the gun-toting guard, who tells Peggy that she won’t be able to see Gaunt if she isn’t on the list. Peggy insists, and the guard brings out Gaunt. Peggy tells Gaunt that the matter she wishes to discuss requires discretion, and out comes Harwood. Gaunt is very happy to see him, telling him that they all thought he was dead. They embrace but Harwood doesn’t look to happy about it.

“You self-important boob.” 

Martha and Thomas are heading back to Aleistar Crowley’s house where Martha and Patricia attended the Satanist party. Thomas is doubting Martha’s every move, and caps it off by saying that Patricia’s exploits always end up on the tabloids which drag the Wayne family name through the mud. Martha explodes at him for that self-righteous comment, since he apparently only wants to find his sister in order to ensure his name doesn’t become sullied. Someone answers the door and they enter the house. By the way, this someone absolutely has to be Jacob Ripper from earlier in the season. He appeared in the last episode during the party scene and I didn’t want to mention him for fear of being mistaken, but after hearing him speak it has to be him.

Jacob escorts Martha and Thomas into the house. Jacob seems awfully familiar with Martha but she seemingly doesn’t remember any of their interactions that night. Crowley enters the room and is just as charming as he was during the party, charming enough to disarm Thomas. Martha’s clearly upset at Crowley and accuses him of putting something in her drink, but Crowley denies that allegation. All the while, Thomas is constantly asking Martha to calm down which infuriates her. Jacob brings Patricia in, and she seems alright. She’s a lot cleaner and attentive compared to her last meeting with Thomas, where she was just a wreck. Thomas asks her to gather her things so they can leave, but she’s pretty insistent that she stays. Crowley doesn’t mind this at all, as he’s trying to project this gracious host persona that Martha and Thomas aren’t buying. Thomas takes Patricia into another room so they can speak privately.

“You seem doubtful.” 

Harwood and Gaunt are chatting at Gaunt’s house. There’s an interesting dynamic at play, since we know Gaunt as a very confident person who wouldn’t let anyone undermine her. She speaks to Harwood with such reverence and respect and this is a side of the character we haven’t seen before. Gaunt suggests that they fly Harwood to Germany for safety since his safety is paramount, but he rejects the plan. He wants to stay in England since he thinks the crisis they have been preparing for is finally coming. Gaunt mentions the peace that she and the leader of the No Name League, Undine Thwaite, have managed to put together. Harwood commends Gaunt for the bold act of killing her husband right in front of her, which Gaunt denies; he also thinks that the peace will be short-lived since Thwaite will want revenge on Gaunt for the murder of her husband Julian. After asking Harwood for what he has planned since the government will arrest and kill him if he reveals himself publically, he says that he will work in the shadows. Nobody will know of his survival save for the Grand Council of the Raven Society, and he will reveal himself to the public when the time comes. He notices that Gaunt doesn’t seem terribly receptive to his plan, but she quickly assures him that his plan works.

“Tommy, you’re my brother and I love you. So I’m going to tell you the truth.” 

Thomas and Patricia are taking a walk in Crowley’s garden. Patricia tells Thomas that she’s finally happy, and she’s finally awake. She’s taking drugs that are helping her and Crowley has shown her the way. Thomas is supremely dismissive here, again spouting out that nonsense of having to defend the Wayne family’s name… and the associated share prices. So, Thomas is a massive dick. And, Patricia rightly calls him out on it. She insults him in what just might be the most charming moment of the entire episode, but Thomas takes it surprisingly well. She tells him once again that she’s finally happy, and he needs to believe her.

“I think I can manage that little thing.” 

Alfred is back home, scrubbing Esme’s ring with a toothbrush. His mother walks in and offers to make him something to eat when she realises what he’s doing. His father then walks in and tells Alfred that some carbonated soda will do the trick. He makes a paste with some powdered soda and water, and asks Alfred for the ring. He hesitantly obliges and his father’s rubs the ring with some soda paste, and it looks good as new. Mr. Pennyworth laments Esme’s loss, saying that she would have been a great daughter-in-law. This is the second episode in a row that got my teary-eyed; seeing the relationship between Alfred and his father heal has been satisfying to watch, and I guess it somehow hardwired me into caring about Esme’s death a lot more than I had previously.

“You’re nothing but a pathetic little con man.” 

Martha, Crowley, and Jacob are sitting together silently. Crowley breaks the silence and continues to claim to have nothing to do with Martha’s blackout, that whatever happened to her was what she wanted to happen. Thomas and Patricia walk in, and Thomas warns Crowley that he would pay if anything were to happen to his sister. Thomas tells Martha that they’ll be leaving but she’s incredulous that Thomas would let Patricia stay with Crowley.

Outside of Crowley’s house, Martha asks Thomas why he would ever leave his sister with someone like Crowley. Thomas is apparently used to things like this happening, where he’ll eventually have to pay Crowley off if he ever gets tired of Patricia. Thomas tells Martha that before worrying about Patricia, she should take care of herself first since he thinks she has some serious personal issues to work out. He gets in a cab and takes off. Martha’s distraught attitude is clearly stemming from the fact that she blames herself for all of this, that it’s because of her that Patricia attended the party when Thomas asked her to look after his sister.

“You SAS chaps, you’re an odd bunch.”

Alfred approaches a club that is hosting retired army officers, and he tries to enter. The bouncer doesn’t believe that he’s an officer given his youth and turns him away. Alfred finds another way in and asks for the officers’ attention, that he’s trying to find a man named Curzon from their battalion. The bouncer tries to drag Alfred away but a mustached officer tells the bouncer to let Alfred speak. After explaining Curzon’s crimes and hearing nothing, Alfred leaves. He nearly picks a fight with the bouncer when the same mustached officer asks the bouncer to leave Alfred alone. The officer agrees to help Alfred and promises to make some inquiries as to the whereabouts of his man. Alfred gives him an address, to which the officer responds that he will send a man to that address at 14:00 the next day.

“What was the League thinking?”

Martha has a rather terrifying, quick dream about the goat-headed man from Crowley’s party, and wakes up in a cold sweat.

At Thomas’ hotel, a series of violent knocks appear. It’s Martha, who barges in and insists that Thomas needs to save Patricia. She’s finally beginning to remember what happened to her at the party, which peaks Thomas’ interest. He gently asks if she was sexually assaulted, but she says something worse happened. She can’t exactly articulate, but something evil was done to her and she’s worried for Patricia. Thomas doesn’t believe her and tells her to get help, that she just had a bad party and some bad dreams. Martha doesn’t think the police will do anything, so she’s off to help Patricia herself. Thomas joins her.

They enter Crowley’s house and find him at the head of a dining table. Crowley asks Jacob to fetch Patricia while they talk. Thomas immediately asks Crowley to name a price, but Crowley feigns ignorance. Thomas tells him of his various dealings with pimps and perverts who ask for money in exchange for Patricia’s freedom. Crowley says he doesn’t want Thomas’ money, but his soul. Or, at least his master does. Thomas seems to be enjoying himself, since he’s talking to some sort of crazy person. Crowley flicks his hand and the door nearby closes, which Thomas commends for being a neat trick. Crowley reiterates; his master wants Thomas’ soul, which has a darkness inside.

Patricia enters the room and takes a seat. Crowley gets up to serve his guests some wine when he wonders aloud what the League was thinking when they had Thomas and Martha work together. Thomas pretends to not know what Crowley is talking about, to which Crowley says he also knows that Thomas is spying on them for the CIA. Literally every single person at this table is astonishing and are repeating themselves as Thomas denies the claim. He’s getting visibly angrier too. Crowley tells Thomas that if he sells his soul to the devil, then he’ll also be getting the devil’s eternal friendship which is invaluable. Since he’s a businessman, Thomas asks to see Crowley’s boss. Crowley says that his master reserves such a privilege for saints and such, but there’s no harm in asking.

Crowley and Jacob take Thomas into the basement, which is a sort of viewing room. There are rows of chairs and an altar of some kind at the end of the room. Thomas is clearly enjoying the effort that the two of them are putting into this to make it seem real. He chuckles with Jacob brings a projector into the room, and is seated by Crowley. Thomas turns around to ask Crowley about the film he’s being shown but he isn’t there anymore. The film depicts some naked women, a goat head, and some more naked women. Thomas is slowly becoming transfixed by what he’s watching; he looks like he’s falling prey to whatever game Crowley is playing. A woman moans as she engages in sex, and this woman turns out to be Patricia with a star drawn on her head. Thomas freaks out and knocks the projector on the ground, and begins to beat up Jacob. He kicks him and uses the film reel to choke the life out of him, even going so far as to take some more film reel to stuff in his mouth while he chokes him further. He eventually stops and realises what he’s done, shaking. Crowley suddenly appears behind him and says that he knew there was a beast in his soul. And, Thomas has met the devil. It was more of a metaphorical meeting, after all.

Thomas rushes into the living room and grabs Patricia in a fit, who quickly breaks Thomas’ hold. Crowley enters the room and calms Patricia, telling her that he and Thomas have come to an understanding and that she must do what he says now. Thomas drags Patricia away and Martha follows.

“I know this place. It’s a one-man job. 

Bazza is warning Alfred of the danger of what he’s getting into. He says that officers stick together and the man Alfred is meeting may be trouble. It turns out the address Alfred gave the officer was Sid’s pub, where Alfred is watching everybody that enters the establishment.

While they’re waiting, Alfred asks Sid after Sandra. Alfred and Sandra had sex after Davey Boy’s botched mission a couple episode ago, and Alfred failed to acknowledge Sandra in the last episode because he was distracted by Thomas Wayne. She took it as a slight and Sid says that Sandra’s pretty angry at Alfred, for some reason.

The bouncer from earlier enters the bar and hands Alfred a piece of paper. Alfred notes the information came from Officer Morgan, the mustached man from the club. Bazza is suspicious and thinks it might be a trap, but Alfred claims to know the area and wants to do the job alone.

“Who did it? Where are they?”

Back at the Sykes residence, Peggy is reading Harwood’s horoscope while he’s painting her toenails. The horoscope reads to keep watch of false friends and empty promises, which Peggy suggests might have something to do with Gaunt. Harwood isn’t worried, saying that Gaunt isn’t capable of treachery. Bet walks in and Harwood informs her of what he’s learned from his Raven Society contacts. It seems Alfred Pennyworth has discovered the identity of the man that killed Esme. Bet has some sick attachment to Esme, claiming to love her despite kidnapping her and knowing her for a few hours. She asks Harwood where the killer is.

“You saw him.”

At Martha’s apartment, Thomas is solemnly looking outside the window. Martha asks Thomas what happened at Crowley’s house, but he says that nothing happened. Oh, and that they were never there. Patricia is also there and looks equally solemn, so I have a feeling she might be coming around on Crowley.

“That was your bloody doing.” 

Alfred pulls up at the Royal Almshouse, where he’ll apparently find Curzon. He equips a knife and heads inside. As he sneaks by, he runs into Bet Sykes. He’s shocked to find that she’s alive, but she implores him to get on with it. They enter his room but he’s not there. They leave and they find him creeping in the hallway, but he runs and Alfred gives chase. After a lengthy run Curzon manages to get away on a bus. Bet catches up with him and blames Alfred for losing him.

“Those citizens that are not loyal patriots shall be silenced.” 

Gaunt is giving a speech to what I assume is the Grand Council of the Raven Society, a smallish collection of individuals who seem moved by what she’s saying. She doesn’t mention Harwood’s reappearance but her claim of shocking the world with a revelation might be alluding to his return. This moment isn’t treated with much attention, but Alfred’s father is in attendance. At the end of the speech, he stands up and claps with everyone else.

The End

Way to pull at my heartstrings, Pennyworth. You hook me in with a meaningful father/son relationship, and this is what you do to me. Fair play.

I’ll be here next week with my recap of “Sandie Shaw,” the eighth episode of the series. In the meantime, check out my recap of last week’s “Cilla Black.”