"The Crimson Horror!"

[eve11]

I loved this one. Creepy, weird, strange, but also funny and a bit crack, with a stellar guest cast and some imaginative storytelling. Very much a gothic horror story, like the kind of thing you expect to unearth in the witch doctor's pawn shop or in the taxidermist's basement. It had a bit of the Sign of Four feeling to it, but instead of deconstructing the mystery of the paralyzing poison, well, it turned out to be essentially a "magic" thing, from the dawn of time. "Prehistoric leech venom".

I love the coroner guy who coins the name, and the speech that Mrs. Gillyflower gives from the pulpit; you can really see her as a crusading madwoman. I thought the actress was fantastic, both her and the daughter. I guess that Diana Rigg is famous for something else? Avengers? And It's a mother/daughter real life team that play mother/daughter in the show, right? well done, both.

The mill that is nothing but an empty room with huge victrolas making mill noises. (Also an aside, the Doctor's northern accent which--I think--is a bit rubbish, and "Didn't you hear? There's trouble at the mill.") Jenny being all adventurous. The woman in line who swoons for a guinea! Loved that bit! And I know I am going backward here, but you get the idea.

So, anyway, yes, there was something rather "Night Thoughts" about the episode in that respect. It made me think of why we think dolls are creepy. Monsters and dolls, dolls and monsters. People preserved in glass jars with bellows pumps in the background... it hits all the right buttons for me, I guess. Surreal, like the taxidermies in Year of the Pig. Like Alice in Wonderland (the Czech version that sallymn pointed out to me).

I think Ada was the most fascinating character. She was so messed up, so broken, and it wasn't her fault but holy hell, that scene where she's locking the Doctor up and there's nothing he can do about it... he can't talk to her and she can't see him... that was truly a body-horror kind of moment, no matter how much Ada doesn't know what she's doing. And later, he forgives her despite her flaws. And she's so wrecked, so wretched, and then the switch is flipped and she just goes after her mother (OH those Victorian insults! There is no way I would be eloquent enough to come up with "Perfidious Hag!" if I was in Ada's situation).

A few nitpicks: how did Ada get the Doctor up the steps? Why is there a jail cell room at the mill? How did she keep the Doctor a secret after the other guy burst through and died? Why did they not just go right after Mrs. Gillyflower after she took Ada hostage, aside from lame plot point? How did they not all burn to death when the rocket shot past?

There was a bit of sidelining of too many characters toward the end, and "Mrs. G" went juuuust a bit too over the top at the end, I think, but it was still enjoyable. I didn't get the Tom-Tom joke until it was mentioned elsewhere; I think Garmin is the bigger one in the states these days. And Strax finally gets to shoot at people. And Vastra and Jenny are awesome. Especially Jenny! She slaps the Doctor, ha! He totally deserved it.

Shallow note: I did like the Doctor's outfit when he finally got to change into it. Also, "Gillyflower Town! You can have roller coasters!"

Next week, we move from the Crimson Horror to Nightmare in Silver. And it looks like something out of a Bradbury story, goodness. Here's hoping Gaiman comes through again.

Comments

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, the Avengers. I adored that show when I was growing up.

Liked this episode very much as well. :)

[eve11]

Well regardless of her prior work, I really think she was brilliant in this episode. "Do you know what these are?.... The wrong hands!" But yeah, all of her scenes were fantastic, especially the pulpit scene and also, oddly enough, the dinner table scene, standing out for me.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the dining room scene was beautifully done. Made me meep! :)