Creator: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly, James Norton, Tom Riley, Pip Torrens, Denis O’Hare, Amy Manson, Olivia Williams and Ben Chaplin
The penultimate episode of this half of the season really packs a punch. Here is our review of The Nevers Season 1 pisode 5.
Surprises that I honestly didn’t see coming, which shows that The Nevers can actually be clever with its storyline. As a result, I am extremely looking forward to the final episode next week. However back to this episode and this week, cracks are forming in the orb that is being mined under London while cracks are also forming in Penance (Ann Skelly) and Amalia True’s (Laura Donnelly) friendship.
THE TOUCHED ARE BEING MADE TO FEEL LIKE REAL OUTSIDERS
Credit: HBO Max
Read more:The Nevers Season 1 Episode 2 Spoiler Review
In ‘Hanged’ Maladie (Amy Manson) is being punished for her crimes which happens to be a public hanging. The Lords are split over these decisions as some like Lord Massen (Pip Torrens) believe it is a good thing for the public to watch, while another Lord is questioning their actions towards the touched of late. It’s good to see that this subject is split and we get to see both sides arguing their cause. This hanging is crucial to pushing the touched out further from normal society as one of their own is getting hanged. Alongside this they must register that they are touched and wear a blue ribbon, if you don’t you are arrested. The touched are being backed more and more into a corner and showing them that they don’t fit in anymore in society. This is adding pressure and anxiety as to what may happen in the next episode.
LAVINIA BIDLOW IS HOPING TO FIND A CURE
Credit: HBO Max
Read more: The Nevers Season 1 Episode 1 Spoiler Review
We finally get to see Lavinia Bidlow (Olivia Williams) and Dr. Hague (Denis O’Hare) in this episode and their work on the orb. I am still unsure who Lavinia sides with. She was hoping that by mining this orb she could get some clarity on the touched and possibly a cure. It feels like that maybe she does care and sides with the touched, but considers them ill and needing a cure. Now the orb begins to crack, she is losing hope for a cure. What is inside that orb? We have been told it isn’t an egg but there is something inside slowly escaping through the cracks. We can assume that a large part of the next episode will be explaining this unknown thing and hopefully where it comes from. Lavinia and Hague have had very limited screen time since the orb was revealed so we have been left wondering what is happening. Well, we got a small scene at the start of the episode which didn’t really answer anything. Except for the fact that possibly there could be an unexpected romantic connection between these two characters.
For a while we have been wondering who is the real villain in this story and I think we can now say it is Lord Massen. As each episode has progressed Massen has been doing more to hurt the touched in some way and to make society hate them more. In this episode Massen goes to extreme lengths to make the public turn on the touched. This involves meeting with the Beggar King (Nick Frost). The meeting of two powerful men in different social circles; this scene had a lot of power and intensity. I just wish Frost to give more in scenes, I feel let down by this character at times.
AMALIA AND PENANCE SPLIT THE ORPHANAGE
Credit: HBO Max
Read more: The Nevers Season 1 Episode 3 Spoiler Review
Amalia and Penance have a plan to drill into the city to rescue the entity that contacted Amalia, which we are all assuming is the orb. However, as we grow closer to the execution Penance has a change of heart and can’t bear to stand by and let Maladie be hung. This causes a split between this power couple which also splits the orphanage as members of the touched to choose a side. Donnelly and Skelly do a really good job with their argument scene as we really believe we are watching two friends argue about a cause they are both extremely passionate about. It makes us wonder whose side would we choose if we were in their positions. However, this rift also feels like it comes from nowhere, a lot has been left unsaid between these characters since the last episode.
I feel like with this episode we have missed really important conversations that have happened off-screen. For example: Galanthe, this term is used to reference the orb which gave the touched their powers. Never before has this term been used and yet we are expected to accept as its causally dropped into conversation. I was utterly confused when first used, the name has been explained to all the characters but it hasn’t to the audience, which just doesn’t sit right when watching, we need to be included a bit more so we can follow the plot.
EPISODE 5 SHOWCASES HOW CLEVER THE PLOT HAS BEEN WHICH I DIDN’T EXPECT
Credit: HBO Max
Read more: The Nevers Season 1 Episode 4 Spoiler Review
Now Effie Boyle was introduced and I didn’t really think much of her, except she was a very good journalist. It never crossed my mind once that Effie had a much larger role to play and I thoroughly enjoyed this revelation. Maladie never wanted to be saved, she wanted an audience to watch her die.
Now this is where the great storytelling comes in, all of this has been linked since the first episode! We are led to believe that it is Maladie who is hung, but the person who Mundi (Ben Chaplin) caught was actually a decoy. The woman they hung was a girl called Clara from Maladie’s gang, dressed as Maladie to deceive everyone. While Clara has been locked up Maladie has been fooling us all as she has been right in plain sight; she has been impersonating Effie this whole time. Credit must be given to Amy Manson who has done a wonderful job in fooling us all. Now you may wonder where is the real Effie, well she was murdered in the first episode. This is all very complex but it was so well executed that I completely fooled and gobsmacked when it was all revealed. I love that this has been happening right in front of us and we had no idea. Such clever writing that we never suspected that the murder scene in the first episode would be linked to all of this.
‘Hanged’ is very fasted-paced and is all over the place at times as it tries to fit so much in. Lord Massen is really taking on a role in this episode as villain, he is going to every length possible to make society see the world the way he does. However, this is a character-driven show yet it feels like we are missing out on all the important conversations to actually understand these characters. ‘Hanged’ has done a good job in building up anticipation for the mid-season finale as we see the fate the touched after the execution and finally get to know what Amalia True is.
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