Vanessa fought for her life and found herself a real hero on Penny Dreadful Season 1 Episode 7.

Oh, Penny Dreadful, how you like to tease me, so. How many times have we been taken right to the brink of finding out Ethan’s backstory, only to be pulled deeper into mystery?

At the end of Penny Dreadful Season 1 Episode 6, Vanessa became possessed and announced she had something to tell Sir Malcolm. And boy, did she have a lot to say. Only most of it wasn’t from her, it was from the Master (or Satan, or whatever you’d like to call him).

The creature that has been possessing Vanessa wants her because she is apparently the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess and no one else will do as his bride. All this time I’ve been thinking about Caliban and his search for a bride and Satan was looking for one, too.

Vanessa: Are you afraid?
Victor: Not of you.
Vanessa: You think you know a greater demon? Tell me of him.

• Permalink: You think you know a greater demon? Tell me of him.

I know it’s already been said countless times what an amazing actress Eva Green is, but this episode was an absolute tour de force for her. With just her facial expression, I could often tell the exact moment she went from being Vanessa to Satan. It was fantastic how quickly she could go back and forth from one to the next and also how well she conveyed Vanessa’s strength as she fought hard against the beast inside.

But getting back to Ethan, I was completely shocked when the Master chose to show himself with his form. It seemed he understood how much Vanessa trusted Ethan and knew he could get to her through the cowboy.

Vanessa: I might have fallen in love with you, if you don’t mind me saying that.
Ethan: You still might.

• Permalink: You still might.

Was I the only one who was fooled for a moment and wondered what Ethan was talking about when he said he was birthed from someplace other than Heaven? For one second, I wondered if they were finally throwing the werewolf theory out the window and were about to reveal his true identity. But of course that wasn’t to be.

In the end, Ethan once again revealed more about himself without giving away his secret. Even though I knew it probably wasn’t likely, I still found myself getting emotional when Vanessa asked him to kill her. I thought he might do it, but instead he blew my mind when he busted out some impressive Latin and performed an exorcism instead.

Now, more than ever, I cannot wait to find out who he really is, though a part of me fears that we won’t get that answer in next week’s finale.

Victor: Again?
Ethan: Go crazy, Dr. F!

• Permalink: Go crazy, Dr. F!

Though Vanessa and Ethan’s story seemed to take up much of the episode, I did also enjoy the bonding moments Ethan had with Victor. I loved the shooting lesson and I’ll be curious to see if Victor will have the guts to kill Caliban… for why else would he have asked how to shoot a gun?

So many questions still left unanswered and only one more episode to go in this first season. Something tells me we are all going to be left with some big mysteries to ponder before Season 2.

Freakiest bits…and a few awesome ones, too:

• Vanessa talking about what some men did with pictures of dead women.
• Vanessa talking with Mina’s voice and giggling about her poor “fat mother.”
• Vanessa’s voice when she started talking about Sir Malcolm and Peter screwing all the women on their voyage.
• Vanessa making all the furniture in the room fly about. Serious Poltergeist flashbacks.
• Victor remarking that he always forgot to warm up his stethoscope for the living.
• Spiders. Spiders. Spiders! I had to stop watching.
• Vanessa’s screams echoing through the house just as Ethan arrived.
• Seeing Vanesssa fighting so hard she could barely speak.
• Vanessa asking if Ethan screwed Dorian or if it was the other way around. Then telling him about what Dorian did to Brona. Whoa.
• Satan talking through Ethan’s southern drawl. So disconcerting.
• Vanessa scratching her arms till they bled.
• Victor being able to sense Caliban standing outside the window.
• Sir Malcolm asking Vanessa to reach out to Mina, while she was tied to the bed and barely alive.
• Ethan threatening to rip Sir Malcolm’s throat out if he manipulated Vanessa. Interesting that he didn’t say that he would shoot him.
• Victor growing a set of balls and telling the priest to give Vanessa Last Rites and get the fuck out of the house. That wasn’t so much creepy as awesome.
• Vanessa breaking her binds and going on a rampage that started with eating a chunk of the priest’s face.
• Ethan getting through to Vanessa and her asking… no begging for him to kill her.
• Ethan performing an exorcism on Vanessa. That is all.
• Vanessa announcing she knew where Mina was. They ended it there?

Will they find Mina in the finale?