Original Airdate: November 15, 2013
As Lady Jayne predicted, as soon as the Seers were gone, vampires would descend upon London. And they do. As modern creatures, some arrive on the train. What they don’t know is that Lady Jayne, the seasoned vampire hunter, would be waiting for them. As the newest arrivals get a bit peckish on the train, she jumps into action. One of them is watching her. Once she dispatches two of the vampires, the third jumps off the train.
Grayson tells Renfield that Lady Jayne is a vampire hunter. The Order of the Dragon is clearly more cunning than he expected. Clearly, he can’t kill her, as that would bring undue attention to him. His plan is simple—gain her trust so he’s in the inner circle. He tells Renfield to book a table for two at the Savoy the following evening, and he wants one in the middle of the room so as to command everyone’s attention.
Back at OotD HQ, Jayne surveys the bodies of the vampires and determines that the male is about a hundred years old and the female is considerably younger. Neither would be able to kill the Seers. She tells Browning that he will be a formidable opponent, and heaven help them if she can’t defeat him.
Grayson finds another vampire outside on the balcony. It’s Josef, his “right hand.” He summoned Josef because he has a plan to defeat their greatest foe. Josef tells Grayson about Jayne, not realizing that Grayson already knows. Grayson’s plan doesn’t involve bloodshed; it involves cleaning out their bank accounts and making them powerless. Josef doesn’t see the point of it, but Grayson cannot be deterred from his plan. Renfield hears their voices and comes to check on his boss. Grayson says that Josef will be staying with them indefinitely.
Jayne and Lord Davenport walk through the cemetery after Daniel’s funeral. She finds his death suspicious, but Davenport isn’t going to admit that his son killed himself, rather he tells her that he had been born with an irregular heartbeat.
Mina and Harker enjoy a kiss in Harker’s new home while Renfield closes a few windows and Grayson looks on. Lucy plans the decorations for them. Grayson says he’ll happily host their engagement party. Shrewd Lucy watches Harker with evident disdain and pulls Mina away to teach her how to make an entrance. While the women are away, Grayson asks what Harker knows about General Arthur Ogilvee, who seems to be pushing for war against the Ottoman Empire. Harker says that he opposes the war privately, but together they deduce that he may be going against his beliefs for financial gain. He sends Harker out to learn more. Grayson takes advantage of this moment to gaze longingly at Mina, while Josef watches her from the staircase and realizes that she looks just like Grayson’s dead wife.
Mr. Kowalski, the chief engineer, announces that they are ready to conduct another test of the geomagnetic electricity machine. Lucy is so over the technical stuff, so Grayson sends her off in her own carriage and then escorts Mina down to watch the test. Stage one goes off without a hitch, but then things start to go awry. Rivets shoot from the coolant casing and Grayson pulls Mina out of the way. Everyone around them ducks for cover, but Grayson holds her tight. When the machine shuts down, Grayson says that the defect is in the metal, so Renfield’s next task is to look into British metal manufacturers. Grayson could have used the demonstration to lend credence to his need for a new metal supply, hence his desire to have Mina witness the whole thing. He tells her that her desire to be a doctor far outweighs the work he’s doing, which makes her blush.
Later on, Josef tells Grayson that the resemblance between Mina and his dead wife, Ilona, is uncanny. Grayson forbids him from mentioning their resemblance to anyone. Grayson leaves for his date with Jayne at the Savoy. He watches her for a moment but doesn’t go to join her.
Harker returns home to find Mina in the empty apartment. He figured she’d be making arrangements for their party. He notices that something is bothering her, and she says that she doesn’t know if allowing Grayson to host their engagement party is the right thing. She thinks Grayson is too involved in their relationship. Harker agrees, but he only sees the part where Grayson helped him to see the noble side of Mina’s work as a doctor. Without Grayson, they wouldn’t be engaged. She concedes that Harker has a point. He sends her on her way, to make arrangements for the party and to bury herself in her beloved work.
Van Helsing tells Mina that she’s free to go after grading papers and preparing dissections. She had been hoping for something more “prosaic,” but he tells her that there is no rush, making a reference to the Tortoise and the Hare. She’s glad he doesn’t mention the lamb.
After leaving Mina, Van Helsing heads to Grayson’s house and performs another series of injections while Josef scoffs at the “witchcraft.” “Science,” Van Helsing corrects him. Grayson tells Josef that the purpose of the shots is to make him resistant to the harmful effects of sunlight. They would be invincible if they could walk in daylight, Josef reasons. Van Helsing opens the window, and after tossing back a drink, Grayson sticks his hand in the sunlight. At first nothing happens, but then his hand starts burning. Josef bares his fangs in warning but Grayson orders him to stay put. Renfield watches from the doorway. The experiment was a success, but only around the injection site. Vampires’ hearts don’t beat, and so their blood doesn’t circulate. Grayson posits that if he can get his heart to work, then he could get the serum moving through his body. And then he could walk in the sun.
Mina is working late in the office. She moves from the desk to the lab table and from there she spies a hidden door. It’s locked, so of course she has to go searching for a key. Somehow she manages to find one, and when she goes inside she finds papers containing Van Helsing’s secret work. There are vials of blood and samples of blood on slides. Lucy comes to visit and can’t believe that she’s so interested in her work and not her own engagement party, but Mina says that the blood cells on the slides are alive, even though they are dated ten years earlier. Mina gets distracted from this discovery when Lucy admits that she thinks that their friendship will fall apart once Mina is married and has a family. Mina assures her that it won’t happen.
Grayson goes to Lady Jayne’s residence and tells her that his absence was “inexcusable as much as it was unavoidable.” He hopes to rectify the situation by taking her out. She mocks his American optimism, pretending not to be bothered that she’d been stood up. He promises to show her something that she’ll never forget. She thinks he can find another dinner companion, but he insists that this diversion will only be enjoyable by someone of her taste. She relents, but threatens to never see him again if she isn’t interested by it.
The diversion is an underground women’s fighting league. As he suspected, she more than enjoys it. In fact, seeing the women fighting each other in the muddy pit and feeling the energy coming from the male spectators makes her incredibly lustful. This leads to a spontaneous romantic interlude with Grayson in a dark corner while they are still clothed.
Renfield shows Grayson the remains of Elsa from their kitchen staff. Naturally she had no family, but Renfield will certainly miss her apple crumb cakes.
Harker is investigating General Shaw, who had been a childhood hero for him. He even wrote a paper about him in school. His colleague at the paper, Zelba, doesn’t see why Harker is surprised to not be able to find out anything new about him. Harker can’t believe that Shaw doesn’t have any secrets.
Jayne has killed six vampires in the last week. She hardly thinks that Grayson is a concern, but Browning is siding with Davenport only in that Grayson’s power lies in his wallet. Davenport graciously offers to continue to develop a relationship with Harker, and he will watch over Grayson personally so that the Order doesn’t need to be bothered. Jayne notes this with interest. Browning glosses over it because their guests have arrived. It’s Generals Shaw and Ogilvee, who have promised control of the Persian oil fields by March. The problem, explains Ogilvee, that they haven’t been able to provoke any skirmishes with the borderlands, so unless they strike preemptively, there will be no transfer of power of the oil fields. Suddenly the man behind Ogilvee catches him with a garrote and chokes him to death. Shaw winces and Jayne watches impassively. When Ogilvee is dead, Browning offers his condolences to Shaw for the loss of his colleague who hanged himself. Of course, the evidence will point that way when they find his body. Now, the question at hand is when will they launch the attack? Shaw stammers that they can start in August.
Lord Davenport meets Ms. Clapps for lunch. He is soliciting her services to help him investigate Grayson. She wants him to clarify whether or not this investigation is sanctioned by the Order, and whether or not it’s a result of his son’s suicide after the death of his lover. Davenport’s eyes widen knowing that this woman knows what is going on, and he admits that it’s not totally sanctioned. Realizing the potential danger he is facing, he backs out of his request, but Ms. Clapps accepts the deal because she knows she can now get twice her fee, plus expenses. Davenport agrees, albeit hesitantly.
Harker is getting his shoes shined when a messenger boy delivers a message to him promising to reveal secrets about Shaw. Just show up tonight at 9pm.
Renfield tells Grayson that he is concerned about Josef, whose lack of discretion is alarming. He has a growing list of concerns, really, but Grayson says that Josef saved him time and time again on the battlefield and they’re like brothers. Renfield knows better than to press the issue, but he reminds Grayson that it’s dangerous for Josef to know about Mina and her resemblance to Ilona.
Grayson confronts Lady Jayne when she calls him to her house to break up with him. He calls her “predictable,” which piques her interest. He’s “disappointed” that she’s breaking up with him because she has a habit of dominating men, and then growing bored with them. This is true, she says. But he says that her failure to dominate him is leading to an attraction that she can’t deny. This attraction is shaking her sensibility, and that’s why she is breaking off their relationship. She plays it off, but her reaction makes it apparent that he’s correct. Jenkins announces that her new boy toy has arrived, which is part of the game for three that they’re playing. “Someday, madam, you’ll realize I was never playing,” he says as he leaves, which seems to shock her to the core and make her all the more infatuated.
Josef tells Grayson that the huntress made a fool of him, but Grayson says he doesn’t understand. He’s mad that Josef followed him, and he insists that taking out their huntress is part of the plan. But Josef won’t hear of it, saying that they shouldn’t let her live. He begs his sire to be allowed to kill her. “Make her scream,” Grayson says.
Harker meets the informant. He is former Corporal Lang, and he needs payment before he can talk. He gives Harker a name and promises that he will learn a lot about Shaw by investigating the person on the piece of paper. Harker goes to an apartment and finds a woman named Vera Marken.
Josef is about to kill Lady Jayne as she sleeps. Suddenly Grayson appears behind him and stabs him. They fight, and Josef tosses Grayson into a table, where he lays motionless. It all seems like a carefully devised plan until Jayne wakes up. Josef turns and his expression makes it clear that he was only a pawn. Jayne kills him and then rushes to check on Grayson, who she credits with saving her life. She hugs him and he stares blankly. He just killed his brother-friend to move his revenge plot forward.
Later on, Grayson and Jayne share a bath together. He explains that he suffers from insomnia and takes nightly walks. Lately he has been drawn to her street. She embraces him and he smiles.
Browning thinks that Jayne was foolish to lure the vampire to her house. She is convinced that they have killed the vampire who murdered the Seers. She says there was never any danger to her. Everything was under control.
Grayson is happy to report that he has “sheared the tiger’s claws” by luring Jayne into his trap. Renfield says that he knew Grayson would win. Grayson managed to remove the Order’s most powerful tool and take out Josef at the same time. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice a knight to capture a queen.” He offers a toast to his fallen comrade and then tells Renfield that they need to start work on the resonator the next day.
Renfield goes to the Metallurgy building and helps a woman pulling a baby buggy up the stairs. It’s Ms. Clapps. Suddenly men attack Renfield and knock him unconscious. They drag him to a waiting carriage. This doesn’t look good at all.
So ends tonight’s episode. The plot is starting to twist and turn in a number of directions, and it’s getting more and more exciting to see the tension build.
What did you think? What will become of Renfield? What will happen next? Leave your thoughts below!
Comments are closed.