Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: Journey into Madness
[All images by Matt Squire and courtesy BBC]
Episode 6: “The Black Tower”
Written by Peter Harness
Directed by Toby Haynes
As the saying goes: things are darkest before the dawn, and this episode reveals how obsessions can lead to some very dark places, both figuratively and literally. Intent on suppressing Strange’s new book, Norrell resorts to extreme measures to not only remove it from circulation, but to discredit him completely. Strange’s obsession to bring Arabella back from death drives him deeper into experimental magic. His goal is to become moderately insane in order to secure the help of a fairy. Fair warning, readers — he succeeds in an unexpected way, with some very dark consequences.
Norrell is clearly moved by Strange’s book; however, he is firmly set on keeping it from the public eye. Proclaiming his intent to save England from dangerous magic, he enchants all copies of Strange’s book to disappear. The widespread anger from those who have purchased it — sometimes twice — earns him the reputation of a thief, and he is admonished by Sir Walter Pole for invading people’s homes and removing their belongings by magic. Mr. Murray, the publisher, intends to make Norrell pay for all lost materials and other costs, including re-printing and advertising. It would seem that saving England from dangerous magic “at any cost” just took on a very literal meaning for Gilbert Norrell.
Having escaped from jail and now on the run, Strange travels to Venice where he makes the acquaintance of Dr. Greysteel (Clive Mantle) and his daughter, Flora (Lucinda Dryzek), who are vacationing there. Despite her father’s uneasiness about the subject, Flora, who is an independent and intelligent young woman, is taken with the idea of magic. She befriends Jonathan and engages him in an inspired conversation about his efforts to summon a fairy assistant. Strange is convinced that a person must be mad to see and hear fairies, and he spends most of his time concocting potions to that effect. Little does he know that he is being followed by Christopher Drawlight, who is tailing him on Mr. Norrell’s orders.
Meanwhile, at Starecross madhouse, Vinculus is under lock and key. He secures his escape by promising to release Stephen from his enchantment with the Gentleman. As they travel, Vinculus reveals to Stephen that he was born with the book of the Raven King imprinted on his skin; the writing covers most of his body in what looks like intricate tattoos. The Gentleman appears where they wait in the wilderness, and being affronted by Vinculus’ predictions (in particular, his own demise), he hangs Vinculus from the tree. Stephen is horrified, but helpless to stop the lynching. He is crestfallen, having lost his one hope of being freed from the fairy, whose appetite for killing has run amok. Vinculus did not seem concerned with the threat against his life, so dead or not, I suspect that we haven’t seen the last of this strange blue prophet.
Vinculus: “Try if you can do it, Fairy! You will discover that I am very hard to kill.”
Flip Webster gets my vote for this week’s best performance as Mrs. Delgado, an ancient and quite insane cat lady. In a scene that was well-performed and somewhat disturbing, Strange transforms her into a cat in exchange for the madness she has developed. Strange manages to capture her madness in the form of a dead mouse that would otherwise have been her dinner (yes, folks, the mouse was on the menu BEFORE she became a cat). When Strange decides to put the dead mouse (now enchanted) into his own mouth, I wondered if he hadn’t found a bit of “the madness within” even before his encounter with the old woman. The mouse proves to be too strong “straight up,” as it were, so Strange prepares a tincture from the mouse carcass and metes out a drop or two with some brandy, after which he is able to better control the madness and call forth the Gentleman.
Time and budget restrictions aside, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that Strange’s induced hallucinations were not incorporated into the scenes. In Susanna Clarke’s book, there is a description of Strange’s perception of the people he saw on the street after swallowing his potion:
“The backs of their heads were hollowed out; their faces were nothing but thin masks at the front. Within each hollow a candle was burning. This was so plain to him now, that he wondered he had never noticed it before. He imagined what would happen if he went down into the street and blew some of the candles out. It made him laugh to think of it.”
Having finally called forth the Gentleman, Strange is careful about any demand he makes of the fairy, knowing full well that most requests of fairies do not end well. During their guarded conversation, the Gentleman lets it slip that he knows Lady Pole, and Strange deduces that this is the same fairy who worked with Norrell to revive her from the dead. Strange makes his clever demand; requesting the prize that was won during the Gentleman’s last dealings with an English magician. Despite his outrage, the Gentleman is bound to honor the agreement. Strange has managed to trick the fairy out of his prize possession: Lady Pole’s finger in a lovely little box.
Strange then enters the Kings Roads and finds his way to Lost Hope, where he discovers Stephen, Lady Pole, and his own wife, Arabella, very much alive. He demands that she be returned; however, the Gentleman exacts his revenge on Strange by banishing him from Lost Hope and surrounding him in never-ending darkness. Strange is now shrouded by a vortex of dark clouds (the ‘black tower,’ as foretold by Childermass’ cards) that follow him wherever he goes. Flora Greysteel, the only person brave enough to enter the twisting darkness, offers to help; however, Strange sends her away to protect her, agreeing that she can help “when the time is right.” In a scene that’s reminiscent of a mix between Hicthcock’s The Birds and any notable suspense horror film, he uses his magic to drag Drawlight into the tower. There, he explains that he has opened all of the doors between England and Faery, and he needs help from all of the magicians of England (not just Norrell, but all of those who Norrell has oppressed from practicing or refused to teach). Drawlight’s assignment is to deliver three messages.
1) To Childermass: deliver the box (with the finger) and the instructions within
2) To Lady Pole: a letter
3) To Mr. Norrell: tell him “I am coming.”
Strange has a plan to free Arabella and the others who are enslaved by the fairy’s enchantment. In addition to these three messages, the plan involves a large mirror that he sends to the Greysteels for safekeeping. How this mirror fits into his grand scheme is not clear yet, but we can be sure that a great number of things must transpire quickly to wrap up this mini-series in the upcoming last episode titled “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.”
