EPIX’s Pennyworth introduces a key Batman character

Epix

Epix gave us a twofer this week with Pennyworth, and perhaps for good reason considering the introduction of a new, pivotal character in the DC Comics universe in the first … and a very shocking (well, only if you weren’t paying attention) conclusion to the second episode.

The first episode lets the cat out of the bag as to who the new character is right in the title: ‘Martha Kane’. Now I’m not one who is deep into comics but I do enjoy the movie adaptations, and even I know at this point — thanks to the goofy ‘bonding’ moment in Batman v Superman — that the mothers of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent share the same first name: Martha. And in the Batman mythos, his mother’s maiden name is Kane. So putting two and two together, we are to assume this Martha Kane of the title will indeed become Martha Wayne … considering she is a new employ of Thomas Wayne, working for the No Name League.

And it is Martha, on behalf of the League, who hires Alfred to be her driver for a mission: to get a brilliant scientist out of the hands of the law before the execute him for the ‘crime’ of homosexuality. The scientist, Ian Thurso, has invented a computer that can calculate Pi to some new decimal and the No Name League does not want it to fall into the hands of the Raven Society and the British government so Martha pretends to be a lawyer and throws around some important sounding names that the police apparently don’t want to chance that she’s bluffing. Of course there are hiccups along the way to getting Thurso (and his lover Sam) on a plane and out of Great Britain, but Alfred manages to save the day with more bluffing when more Raven Society henchmen show up. While this storyline and the introduction of Martha takes up the bulk of the episode, it’s really all the little bits of side business that are really important.

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We get our first look at Bet Sykes freshly out of prison and newly redheaded (and with much longer hair than when she left prison) and her relationship with her sister who, we learn, is a dominatrix. That will come in handy in the next episode. We also begin to realize that Bet is more than a little off her rocker, dreaming of returning to London and befriending Esme because they ‘had a connection’. It’s like reverse Stockholm Syndrome where the captor has identified with the prisoner. As I mentioned in last week’s recap, I sense great danger ahead for Esme.

In some pivotal family scenes, Alfred has a bit of a blow up with his father over the abuse both he and his mother suffered at his father’s hand, although Mum is trying to brush it all off as she seems to do with anything that could rile up her husband. Poor Mrs. P is obviously living in fear of her husband but Alfred has had enough, especially when dad tries to hammer into him that he’s not good enough for Esme. But Alfred persists in meeting her father, and it does not go well … just as Esme predicted. Her father also said that Alfred was not good enough for her and if she did marry him, she would be disowned. This is the first time Alfred (and we) have learned that Esme is actually an heiress, and her father says she only likes Alfred because he’s killed people. She likes that darkness in him, the perversions. When Esme learns of all that has happened, she dumps Alfie and gives him the engagement ring back. But never fear, Alfred persists and rents a spacious apartment for her that’s paid for two years. She’s absolutely charmed by how much he cares about her and the engagement is back on.

The series has been building a lot of Alfred’s character on his past military service, implying that his time there has informed the man he’s become. But this week it shows us that his mate ‘Dave Boy’ is the one suffering from PTSD, having terrifying flashbacks and using booze to soothe his nerves. But getting drunk at the Velvet Rope and interrupting a friendly game of after hours poker with ‘Bazza’ and some mates goes terribly pear-shaped as one of the players ends up dead from an accidental gun shot (the gun went off when Dave Boy tossed it to him). Dave Boy’s reaction: ‘Sorry.’ Bazza is about to give up on his friend but at the last minute has a change of heart and helps the guy home.

We also get a brief look at Lord Harwood after he revealed he was the head of the Raven Society. His visit to The Barbers did not end well and at the end of the episode we see him dumped in the street, missing a foot and the tip of his nose. Yikes!

The second episode, ‘Lady Penelope’, took us a little deeper into the psyche of the Sykes sisters. Bet is bored, blaring her radio while her sister is trying to work with a client in the next room. Bet refuses to turn the music down and the pair go at it, but Peg gets the upper hand with her dominatrix skills, about to choke Bet out but pulling back at the last minute. But it’s enough to convince Bet that she needs to be on her own and announces her return to London so she can find Esme and be BFFs … or more. Bet really seems to have more than friendship on her mind at this point. She thinks her ‘coming back from the dead’ would be so romantic for Esme and refuses to listen to any reason from her sister.

There are also some nice moments at the Pennyworth home. After encountering a fearful Esme at her flat, terrified of the silence lurking outside the door, Alfred decides to bring her to his family home which is a little awkward considering how he left in the previous episode, but there’s something about Esme that really charms his dad, sharing stories of the origin or marmalade with her (it’s from Portugal, not Scotland because oranges don’t grow in Scotland) and showing of his butlering skills or party planning and seating arrangement — just what she needs for the wedding. She asks him to help and he’s actually touched and overwhelmed by the gesture … but Mrs. P is a bit chuffed by not being asked first. Esme realizes her error and says of course she wants her future mother-in-law to help and all is right with the world. For the moment.

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Meanwhile, Martha Kane has hired Alfred for another job and a massive amount of money — they are to meet a Raven Society operative to get the name of the new leader. A simple task but of course the man is dead when they get there … well, not quite. He’s able to say ‘The darkness’ before expiring and Alfred finds three train tickets in his wallet, so he and Martha board the train, ending up an a small hamlet filled with ominous things like men dressed as ravens and a May pole that Alfred relates is used for sex orgies (shades of Midsommar and The Wicker Man). They find a tea room called The Darkness and assume that is where they are to go. It’s an odd name for a tea room, but that is the owner’s name. Martha is highly suspicious of the tea and crumpets, but Alfred assures her that no decent Brit would ever poison the tea, they’d be sending some gunmen to take care of them.

And Mrs. Darkness enters the room with a rifle but ends up accidentally shot herself (this is the second accidental gun death in two episodes … a pattern?). Alfred and Martha need to get out of town quickly but they are almost cornered at every turn. When the raven-clad men are giving Alfie a beating, Martha finally pulls out her gun (which she wasn’t supposed to have according to the deal she made with Alfred) and scares the men away. But while making their escape, Martha gashed her leg on a broken window and needed medical attention. Alfred remembered a hospital just on the outskirts of town so he sent her on her way while he came up with a plan — surrender to the Raven Society.

Martha finds herself sedated by the overly inquisitive doctor and when she awakes, her wound is stitched up, her clothes are allegedly in the wash, and the doctor asks her nurse to bring in Tanya. Tanya, it turns out, is a head in a jar, named Tanya because she looks Russian. The doctor wants to know if Martha knows the woman’s real identity. Of course she doesn’t and asks again if her clothes are dry. The doctor says she won’t need them because she’s going to be dead soon. The doctor is actually the person Martha and Alfred were looking for, the new head of the Raven Society, Frances Gaunt who was given the job because none of the other men wanted to step up after Harwood’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Alfred is being interrogated and says he has a message only for the head of the Ravens. They send in two different men but he knows neither are whom he seeks and even though they don’t know whether to trust him, Alfred again manages to bluff his way into the same room as Martha and Gaunt. Admitting he has no message and that the plan again has gone sideways, he says something that is obviously a code to Martha and the pair engage their captors. Alfred takes down the men who have been holding him, and Martha knocks Gaunt out with a brick. But they don’t kill anyone as Martha made it quite clear to Gaunt earlier that that is not how the No Names operate. It probably was not the best idea in the long run, but we shall see how that plays out. Returning to London, Alfred and Martha celebrate at her place with a few drinks and Alfred gets his money, but there is some obvious tension in the air and … the two kiss. Like really get into it. Alfred finally pulls away and leaves, but that was one of those yell at your screen moments, reminding him that he has a fiancée at home. And he can’t screw up the Thomas/Martha relationship!

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The disfigured Lord Harwood is now living on the street, and in a scene that perhaps signifies this is an alternate Batman universe, a well-dress couple and their son coming from an evening at the theatre pass by Harwood in a dark alley. This family makes it out of the alley unscathed, and Harwod is discovered by a friendly chap who says he wants to help. But in the end, Harwood is living in a box as the man’s pet. The trajectory of Harwood’s character has been rather shocking and we have to wonder if and how he will recover. You don’t hire Jason Flemyng to simply disfigure him and put him in a box.

At the Pennyworth’s, Esme has the sudden urge to go paint the new flat. When Alfred gets home he finds her note and heads over but he seems to have a sense of worry and urgency as he picks up the pace, possibly feaful that there more to the silence than he thought. While he’s running, Esme is painting and she hears someone at the door. Thinking it’s Alfie, she hides around the corner and awaits to surprise him. We see someone enter wearing black shoes and pants, and Esme pops out and realizes this is not Alfred. A pair of hands grab her around the throat choking the life out of her. When Alfred arrives, Esme is dead, lying in a puddle of blood (there must have been some head trauma as well). I told you she wasn’t long for this world.

Esme’s death will have a major impact in informing Alfred’s life moving forward but there’s someone else who is sure to come completely unglued with the news of this terrible event — Bet Sykes. The next six episodes are sure to be very interesting.

What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!