Original Release Date (Netflix): Friday April 19, 2013
This episode of Hemlock Grove has things really coming to a head. It starts off with poor Christina, sitting on her bed in Hemlock Acres, curled up with white hair. Yup, her hair has gone completely white, not just a few streaks. She’s also non responsive when Norman comes in to check on her, and this disturbs him greatly. After failed attempts at getting her attention, he kisses her forehead like a father and leaves her alone.
And after the credits, we are brought back to Peter and Lynda’s trailer, where Lynda is worried sick for him. The scene changes abruptly and we see Norman at a bar visiting with Sheriff Sworn. Sworn is a mess, and shoos off his minions to have a minute with Norman. Norman sits at the bar, listening to Sworn reminisce about family. Norman tries to convince him to go home with him, but ends up just offending Sworn’s defensive buddies. Sworn talks about Clementine now, how she sat just a ways away from where they are sitting now, going on about her bug up her ass about the gypsy. He sounds like he’s starting to believe the rumors going around about Peter being a gypsy. Norman tries to reason with him, to talk some sense, but it’s hopeless at this point. Someone needs to be hated, and who better to hate than a gypsy?
Sworn mentions where they live, and it seems like his goonies take that as a sign. A bunch of assholes go down by the lake and decide to smash up the Rumancek’s trailer, and Lynda happens to be still inside. She gets a call from Destiny though, warning her just as they arrive. But she vanishes just in time.
The next scene is back at the Godfrey steel mill, and Dr. Pryce is meeting up with Olivia there. He’s wearing those long, strange white rubber gloves, almost like he’s going to handle something toxic. Olivia is putting that strange clear liquid in her eyes again and getting high. Dr. Pryce watches her with a little disdain, as she looks at him with blurry eyes, “Wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
He responds dryly, “Your dogcatcher has been taken care of. Will there be anything else?”
She tells him, “Not yet.” And touches the wound on her chest where she was shot. Oddly enough, there is very little blood there. Some, but not a lot, and it’s a wound that should have knocked her the hell out. But she’s standing. Can’t kill an Upir that easily it seems.
After suggesting she should change, Olivia removes her coat and watches Dr. Pryce look back, probably contemplating what he’s done for her. And it’s something special, I will tell you that much folks. Keep reading, it will be revealed.
Next we see Peter waking up in the same bed Roman was in for his coma. He looks fine, a bit groggy, and once he realizes where he is a bit startled how he got there. He’s also naked. Roman tells him it’s okay as he awakens, so Peter doesn’t freak out too much, and begins to explain what he knows about how he and Peter got back there. Roman tells him he watched Peter change back and it was beautiful. Peter shrugs it off, sore and tired.
“My head feels like a goddamn war dance is inside of it.” Peter says before asking if Roman dragged him back there. Roman says, “Last I saw you were down. Chasseur shot you with a dart. She was going to take you away. I tried to tell her how it wasn’t you but…”
Roman flips out and starts getting angry at himself for not being stronger. “I tried to stop her, but she had a gun. So I left, But then I circled back, but by then you were gone. Then my fucking mom calls, says to come back home and keep an eye on you.”
They are both surprised by this development.
“Two weeks in a fucking coma and she doesn’t even ask me how I felt. Weird huh?”
Roman then tells him about the twins being killed. Peter isn’t happy about the news but he’s worried about his mom. He asks if she’s called or anything and Roman tells him to relax and stay put. Roman offers to check on the trailer for him.
He drives up to the trailer and realizes how bad things are when he sees what was done to it. Windows busted, door smashed, the words, “Die Gypsy.” “ Gypsy Killers.” “Your Dead.” Spray painted all over the walls of the trailer…
Apparently grammar isn’t a strong point for angry mobs. *smirk*
Inside Roman finds it trashed, and calls out for Lynda, hoping she’s okay. Eventually she pops up from a trap door in the bottom of the trailer, and smiles up at him as he is surprised, “Gypsies need a way out.”
Roman asks her how she is and she asks how Peter is. He tells her he’s fine and she is grateful for that. She starts looking through the debris for stuff and finds things broken, stolen or hidden in secret areas. Lynda tells Roman she was warned by Destiny, and that she has her ways. Roman tells her that she can come up to the house, but she refuses and says, “The Rumancek’s and Godfrey’s are too close for my comfort.” Roman doesn’t understand that, but she doesn’t elaborate either.
She tells Roman though that if he really wants to help Peter, to keep him away from the animals that trashed the trailer. Then she tells him to give him his cat. “He loves that cat.” She says as she leaves with a sack of stuff on her shoulder.
Peter gets a call from Roman and is told what happened. He lets him know his mom is okay and asks how Peter is feeling. He says starving and Roman says alright before taking the cat with him.
Back at the Godfrey manor Peter is wandering around, hungry as hell. He finds a raw steak, get’s really excited about it, and starts to fry it up with his bare hands. He barely cooks it before tearing into it and giving me jealous drooling fits. (I love steak!) As he eats, Letha catches him. He drops it to the floor as she wraps him up in a deep embrace. She says to him, “How is it possible to miss someone so much after one day huh?” he teases her and says, “I think you’re supposed to be mad at me.” And she tells him, “Who says I’m not?” they rib each other a bit more about that and after calling him a jerk Letha kisses him. Letha breaks the kiss and tells him about the Sheriffs daughters and how her father told her and sounded really scared. She asks him what do they do now, and Peter holds her tightly and says, “I guess we just stand here like this until something else happens.”
And of course…something does happen.
The cops pull up, lights and sirens flashing, and Peter grabs Letha by the hand and starts running through the manor. The cops barge in as the kids run up the stairs and through the hall. A cop reports on his radio that they are inside, as someone else comes in through the front. Letha stops Peter on the staircase and grabs his arm asking, “Peter, they think you killed them?” and Peter replies. “Cops don’t think.” They get caught at the front door trying to escape, and then have to take a different route out. But they get stopped and have guns pointed at them. The cop handcuffs Peter and beats on him a little and Letha tries to stop them. The cop threatens to break Peter’s neck if she touches him again. Just then Shelley shows up, her face glowing. The other cop turns and points the gun on her as the one holding Peter grumbles, “That’s fucking perfect. “ He yells at her to get the hell out of here just as Roman finds them all. Roman tells her it’s okay and Roman gets that look in his eyes again. He stares down the cops and looks at the one not holding Peter and says, “Put the gun in your mouth.” He then turns to the other cop and tells him to uncuff Peter and that if he’s still handcuffed by the count of three, that the cop with the gun in his mouth should shoot himself.
The trick works, and the freaked out cop who cuffed Peter uncuffs him. The other cop still has a gun in his mouth. As the cop who uncuffs Peter approaches Roman, he does the eye trick on him too and then looks at both cops and says, “Get in your car and take the 79 to the West Virginia state line. When you get there You can take the gun out of your mouth. And you, will punch yourself in the face hard enough to break your nose. Bye now.”
And with that, the cops just leave. And Roman’s nose bleeds.
Letha has never seen this trick before and is stunned. She wants to know what he did. All Roman says is he “suggested” they relocate. Knowing his friends aren’t safe there they try to think up another plan.
The next scene is of Norman getting a visit from Olivia. Norman tells her it’s not a good time to “discuss” anything, but she insists. She asks him if he understands why she’s here and he responds with, “Your motives are never far from the surface.” He asks her if she heard about the twins who died, and she tells him it’s a tragedy. Norman says he feels useless, that he went to see Tom as a friend and even as a friend he couldn’t do a damn thing to relieve his pain. Then he says something interesting, “I wonder, is that how my brother felt the night outside the tower?”
Olivia shoots back with, “You’re nothing like JR.”
He agrees, but continues, “No. Since he was, for all his faults, a singularly decisive man.”
He tells her he needs 6 months to break it off with his wife, “..Because her only crime was giving the best years of her life to a man who fell out of love with her. Which happened the moment I first laid eyes on you.”He talks about how 6 months should be enough to tie up loose ends, to have Letha have her kid, to handle the financial arrangements. He then tells after all that is done he will marry her and then kisses her deeply. He’s interrupted by someone telling him it’s time for his meeting. He asks Olivia to stay but she says she has things to do and that there will be time for more later.
As she leaves Norman stops her and says, “ I mean it this time.” She looks at him and smiles, sadness on the corners of her face, and says, “What makes you think I don’t believe it?” But as she closes the door we see the look of resignation that shows she actually has heard this before, and doesn’t believe it.
Norman walks the halls of the hospital as he gets a call from Letha. She tells him Roman’s awake, and the next scene is of the boys and Letha in Roman’s car, driving up to the abandoned church that resides on Hemlock Acres. Kinda creepy to have a graveyard and a church on the grounds where a hospital rests don’t you think?
Norman comes to meet them at the church. Norman confronts them on not telling him right away about Roman being awake, but says he’s glad to see Peter is okay and that Letha told him everything. He takes the kids inside the abandoned church and inside everything is dusty and covered in wrappings. He explained after the new sanctuary was opened they closed this one and forgot to clean it up. He says Peter should be safe there as no one comes around here. Letha pulls Norman aside and says she didn’t know who else to ask and that she knew this could cause Norman trouble.
“Well making bad decisions is one of the perks of ownership. This town has lost its mind. Peter should stay here until this lunacy dies down.” Norman replies, and tries to make the best of it. But he is worried, it’s obvious. Worried for all three of the kids. He asks Roman to give him a hand as he leaves Letha and Peter in the church alone. Peter pulls a cover off a tub just sitting there and then hugs Letha to him.
As Roman and Norman go outside, Norman demands to know what is going on. Roman is about to say something but Norman tells him “You do not get to hold back, not when my daughter is involved!”
So Roman just says softly, “Sometimes a wolf goes crazy and doesn’t eat what it kills.”
Norman demands he clarify, and Roman says “I mean werewolf.” Norman doesn’t by it; he is a clinical psychiatrist and reminds Roman of this fact.
Roman says, “Assume just for a moment that what I am saying is true OK? Then what?” Norman asks if it’s Peter but Roman says no. He tells Norman Letha only sort of knows what’s going on and doesn’t really believe it herself. When Norman asks what they’ve been trying to do about it, Roman says they have been trying to find the Vargulf. He says it’s not a bad wolf, it’s just sick. They haven’t found it yet because he’s been in a coma. Norman sighs and says, “Supposing you just sum up for me what you’ve actually learned about this…vargulf.”
Of course Roman doesn’t know much, but that they have time before the next full moon. “ Norman says, “In the meanwhile we keep that one away from the torches and pitchforks, is that the idea?” As he says that, he points in Peters general direction inside the church.
“So is this were you decide to have us all committed?” Roman asks, as Norman sighs and says, “Actually I was just thinking that fatherhood is fucking overrated and that your friend is going to need some blankets.”
Before leaving Norman asks if Roman has spoken to his mother recently. Roman asks why, and he says dismissively, “No reason.” With that the two of them walk off through the tombstones. Norman tries to make conversation, and asks if Roman’s mother knows he’s OK, to which Roman grumbles and tells him she doesn’t give a shit. They walk into the hospital, being watched by white-haired Christina. As Roman collects blankets for Peter, he sees her in the hall, watching him. She stares at him intently as he snaps his fingers in front of her face. As he goes to walk away Christina says simply, “She’s not safe. She and the baby aren’t safe. You think that monster doesn’t want her too?” and then vanishes.
Back in the church Letha tries to convince Peter to let her stay. He of course tells her no, and says, “Your dad, he gave me the look. The look that says you’re not staying here tonight.” She tries to tease him about it and gives him a kiss. Peter takes her hand and finds the ring he gave her, and she teases saying she didn’t like it when he first gave it to her, but she likes it now. After talking a bit about the killings they joke about having sex in the church but are interrupted. Roman and Norman come back with food and blankets. Roman says he’s going home to Shelley and Letha goes home with her dad. Peter is left alone in the big dusty church, just him and his cat.
Norman and Letha spend half the car ride in silence until Letha sees Norman crying. She asks him if he’s alright. She apologizes for all the stress caused by today, and he tells her she’s fine. But maybe he’s just trying to convince himself of that. He tells his wife Marie as they get in the door that he came back as fast as he could and that they are ravenous. Marie says there is a casserole in the fridge.
Norman has a haunted look in his eyes, a look of a man weighed down by the world.
The next scene is back at the mansion, and Roman is cleaning up the mess Peter left behind. Shelley finds him and tells him that the cook and the maid were afraid of Peter. Roman tells her he will always be here for her. She makes him promise and he does, super pinkie swearing it. She asks him if he dreamed about her, and he tells her he did. She wants to know what he dreamed, and he says, “You were exactly like you’ve always been, more beautiful than this world deserves.” He hugs her and asks what’s wrong, and she tells him she wishes she could see herself there, in his mind. She tells him she’s afraid because mom is gone. Together, they clean up themes Peter left.
Suddenly we are back with Peter in the church, as Casper the cat meows at the thunder and lighting. Peter is trying to nap in the tub.
The scene right after is of Sworn looking for Christina, only to find her room empty and the windows opened. He freaks out, calling for nurses, and looking for her out the open window.
But she’s long gone.
The scene that follows is of another dead girl found on some jagged rocks. At least, some of her is found. Her head is missing.
This isn’t supposed to happen.
The next scene is Roman waking up Peter to share the news. He comforts Peter by telling him at least he knows it wasn’t Letha as he checked on her before coming to see him. But Roman tells him it’s the wrong moon, this shouldn’t be happening. Peter looks disturbed, but tells him maybe not. That sometimes, the rules can be broken…for a price.
Peter tells him to watch over Letha after sundown and goes to see Destiny. Roman tells him he shouldn’t be out right now and that he will go see Destiny and ask about the…protocols of these things.
So Roman drives out to Destiny’s place. Lynda is there as well and Roman tells her he is safe where he is. Destiny doesn’t agree but asks what he needs. Roman says there was a attack from the vargulf. He asks Destiny how this is happening, She explains she’s not an expert because she’s not like the people you see on TV. Magic only works if you obey it’s laws. They can be broken, but not easily. When he says how can I fight it, she corrects him. “You don’t.” He claims killing it is something he’s supposed to do. Destiny says, “There are dreams so real you can feel their teeth marks while you sleep, and then you wake up and there’s the smell of coffee. It’s time for you to admit that this isn’t your fight.” Roman doesn’t quite agree with her, but arguing isn’t going to help matters. Roman asks how Peter can fight it, and Destiny replies with, “The way wolves usually do.” Roman asks if he can also turn when the moon is wrong, and Destiny says, “Not for free. Nothing is for free.”
Then Lynda actually asks about the price. Sadly, Destiny doesn’t know. “The only person who can know the answer is Peter.”
Lynda says, “Not without some help he can’t.”
And she is right. Destiny gets together some things to help Peter figure it out. She hands the stuff to Roman to give to Peter. As Destiny collects those things Lynda tells Roman about Nicolae and the brother of the man he killed found them years later and Nicolae had to become a murderer twice in his life. “The fires go out, the coals stay hot. If this isn’t ended, this will be just around the corner for the rest of Peter’s life.” Roman claims he is still gonna help Peter.
As Destiny hands him the bag of good, she asks him to tell Peter she loves him. Roman agrees and she stops him again as he leaves. “Your Sahastrara, sometimes it glows.” He doesn’t know what to think of that, but leaves and gets the goods to Peter.
As Peter draws sigils on the ground and lights some candles, Roman sits in a chair petting Peter’s cat and watching. He asks Peter, “What if your cousin is talking bullshit? She says I can’t be a part of this.” Peter just tells him he wishes he could switch places as he lights the beeswax candles. Roman asks if it is important what kind of candle he uses, and Peter says, “Well, the way it was explained to me is that it’s the sum of all the parts. You can bake a cake without sugar, but it won’t taste as sweet.” Then Peter does the ritual, which is a sight you must see, because in the middle of it, Peter has to do something terrible. He ends up killing his beloved cat as a sacrifice.
Roman can’t watch and leaves before Peter does it. But once finished, Peter stumbles out as if in a trance. Roman watches him walk through the graveyard, hands covered in gore. He starts talking to spirits, to Nicolae, asking for help.
We then get a flashback of Nicolae talking to young Peter. They sit by a roaring fire as he tells him a story, “When I was a young man, such as yourself, our kind faced many dangers. I rode with an old woman, Magdalena. She could have been my grandmother, or great grandmother. No one knew for sure. We rode from place to place never settling. One day, we were stopped by some men who wanted us to go with them. Some of us ran and got away. I saw Magdalena was not so lucky. I was a foolish little boy then, I thought I could protect her. The uniforms were saying one thing, but the leader was upir.”
We see the Upir German soldier do the same trick Roman can do with his eyes, and tells the old woman to “Tear the beasts throat out.” She turns and grabs young Nicolae by the throat, cutting into it with her nails. He runs away, bleeding, and later on when he’s older, shows Peter the wound on his neck. “I ran and ran. I promise you I never looked back. In the end I survived while many others did not.”
Back in the real world Peter says out loud, “We run. It’s what we do.” Then he gets angry, and seems to respond to himself speaking, “Fuck you Nicolae.”
After coming back to his senses he wanders back to Roman, who hands him a smoke. Peter tells him he needs bacon grease. When Roman asks if that’s how he’s gonna fight the vargulf Peter just nods and says yes. Roman asks if there is a price and Peter says his human face. It’s not exactly the answer Roman was hoping for. Roman brings up the guy that Nicolae killed and what Lynda told him. Peter says it’s a story, and asks him why, but Roman just shrugs it off and says it’s not important.
Peter asks again for bacon grease, and a lot of it. Roman nods and gets on that task.
The next scene is Roman back at home making a ton of bacon. He has two and a half jars already in progress. Olivia walks into the kitchen and teases him about all the bacon grease. He snarks back about how she didn’t ask if he was feeling okay, and all she says in response is, “It’s quite obvious you’ve made a complete recovery.” Roman asks her where she’s been and she says at the institute, which isn’t entirely the truth. He tells her tonight they are killing the vargulf, and all she can say in response is, “Of course you are.”
She asks him if he can spare a moment with her before he leaves. He gives in, and she shows him something. She makes him stand in front of a mirror, with a wolf painted on it and a red spot over the heart area. He asks her if this is some kind of joke. Then she asks him to open the trunk under the mirror.
Inside is the axe from his coma dreams.
She tells him, “Precious boy, you were born with the caul. I’ve always known you were different. Better.”
He pets the axe and tells her, “Sometimes when I look at people I can make them do whatever I say.”
Olivia responds with, “I know. So much alike. Roman, do you see?” She cups his face and makes him look at them in the reflection of the mirror. Roman says, “I see us.” And she tells him to look closer. As he does, the red spot over the wolf’s heart in the mirror which happens to also be over his heart starts to throb. Roman says, “What is this?” And Olivia answers, “I finally understand what you’ve been feeling these last months. I tried to protect you like any mother would protect her son.” Roman yells at her, “What is this?” and she tells him, “What you must do to continue your journey. This is your kill.” Roman trembles but approaches the mirror, then strikes it with the axe hard. Right in the chest.
Olivia calmly takes the axe out and hands it back to her son, giving him a little advice, “Try not to lose it darling, it goes back a rather long way.” They share a smile and she leaves, letting him be alone with the axe and his emotions.
The final scene of the episode is a pretty good one. We slowly see a trail of blood leading to a cage, and as the camera pans upwards we see fingers inside of a bag pop up from the top and loosen the ties. Then we see a head, and we see Clementine, tied up almost the same way she did to Peter, and she’s now the one caged up!
And the twist, the cage is left in the same control room that Roman found in the old mill covered in blood!
DUN DUN DUN!
So that wraps up this episode! Two more to go gang and we are done!
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