Spoiler warning: this blogpost contains references to episode three of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell on BBC1 in the UK.
To read the recap for episode three, click here.
It was perhaps the most plot-heavy episode so far, this week, and it was wonderfully rich from the off. Betrayal was rife, magical factions becoming more and more apparent following Strange’s experiences at war and Norrell’s cosseted life in London society. But first, to business …
‘Why were you performing Belasis’s Scopus?’ – Norrell
After the tumult of the attempted assassination of Norrell last week, there was one pressing matter that appeared to have stuck with Gilbert while his loyal (too loyal, if you ask me) manservant Childermass lay recovering from a potentially mortal wound. It looks like there are now three magicians in England; four, if you count Vinculus. Actually, maybe five, if you count Segundus. And do you count the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair? He’s sometimes in England. OK, there are quite a few, so it’s perhaps understandable that Norrell was feeling a bit embattled, but still, there was no excuse for his bedside manner.
I’ve been in the most desperate need of you, but you’ve been useless. You’ve been asleep for days. – Norrell
Let’s hope Childermass has second thoughts next time he jumps in front of a pistol for his employer, the ungrateful sod. After the intercepting of private letters from last week, and Norrell’s continued acceptance of the slimy Lascelles, one feels Childermass may be considering his position at Hanover Square.
‘I’ve seen statues of him in the north. Engravings in books … I never saw a painting before’ – Strange
Following the magicians’ initially fruitless meeting with mad King George, upon which Norrell became “Norrelle”, by his own pronunciation, Strange happened upon the painting of John Uskglass, the Raven King himself. It was an excellently creepy picture, the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair in one corner hiding in a bush like a guilty dogger and the freaky Maurice Sendak-esque wild things behind him. Uskglass, meanwhile, looked distinctly metal with his lank black hair and big sword. It was a bit like a Magnum album cover from the mid-1980s. Strange’s second encounter, in which he summoned Thistledown, but once more could not see him – and briefly lost the King to the bleak roads to the north – showed that madness and the realm of Faerie make for uniquely suitable bedfellows.
‘Forgive me Mrs Bullworth, but even the greatest magician that ever lived could not kill the same person three different ways’ – Strange
It was a pleasingly concise way to combine the uncovering of Drawlight’s deception – that he’d been accepting money on behalf of private individuals, claiming to be presiding over some kind of Jonathan Strange Open University course – and Strange’s discovering of Uskglass’s network of roads, hidden behind all the mirrors of the world (loved the billiards scene, too, by the way). MC Escher vibes were very much in the place. Obviously, Strange’s discovery went down like a fart in a spacesuit as far as Norrell is concerned. In fact, Strange’s wanderings on the King’s Roads proved to be the straw to break his tutor’s back. His withdrawal from Norrell’s salon was a pivotal moment, as was the moment he picked up a finished copy of Lascelle’s toadying tome on Norrellite magic. The two magicians are now officially at odds, Norrell damning the Raven King’s magic as “wild, cruel, medieval”, Strange refusing Norrell’s offer of equality, and delivering his withering review of Lascelles’s book.
[Norrell:] ‘We should go to Hurtfew. You and I. You shall have the keys to the library. I shall not even challenge that review. Let it stand.’
[Strange:] ‘I am honoured, sir … but I think I must follow my own course from now on.’
It was a heartbreaking moment and, for a second, one felt pity for the tragic, misguided figure of Norrell. It was pitched perfectly, as ever, by Eddie Marsan.
‘What is the magic that surrounds you and her ladyship? There is a rose at her mouth.’ – Segundus
Having taken delivery from Stephen Black of Lady Pole and her malady, Segundus and Honeyfoot are now back in the game, albeit the mad house game. Not quite the “hapless fools” I had them pegged as last week, then. Childermass, who turns up unannounced, clearly wants in. And he knows his magical onions. These could be great and unexpected allies against Thistledown, who thus far is acting unchecked.
I had in mind that you would become a justice of the peace, or a landscape gardener. I did not consider you might become one of the greatest men of the age. – Arabella.
The exchange between the weary Strange and Arabella was a touching one, particularly following their blazing row over Strange’s impulsive excursions in the realm of the Raven King. Apologetic, his future – it seems – has been decided, and it is back in Shropshire. Well, at least until war comes calling again.
‘The magician will bargain her life away. And the beauty of it is, Stephen, he will have no notion he has done so’ – The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair
And so to that final scene, wherein Thistledown revealed his bastardly plan to both destroy Strange and steal his wife, a bit like Papa Lazarou but with the silver mane of Max Clifford. Now there’s a singularly upsetting image for you. The plan ushered in the most nightmare-inducing image of the series so far. According to the lengthy appendices of Clarke’s book, moss-oak is the preserved wood of ancient trees. In creating a facsimile of Arabella using said ancient wood, Thistledown hopes to set in place this bargain that Strange will stumble into, using the tears from Arabella’s own hanky. Those eyes … good God, the eyes. Anyone not finding the dark magic creepy enough in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell can kindly pipe down from now on.
Other matters of note
Amadeus, Amadeus …
There was another lovely nod to Amadeus this week from director Toby Haynes, who used the movie as inspiration. The Mad King George’s harpsichord playing brought very much to mind that of Emperor Joseph II’s when he first meets Mozart in Vienna – in that they were both a bit rubbish.
Fingernails of the week
Last week it was Thistledown’s repulsive talons, all pink around the nails. Bowk. Fingernails of the week this time – an accolade frankly no one thought would go beyond its first week – goes to ... John Childermass. They were wretchedly grimy as he was clawing himself back from his “land of the dead” dream sequence after Lady Pole busted that cap in his ass. No wonder, perhaps.
Best excuse for being late because you were having a bunk-up with Arabella
This week, it goes to Jonathan Strange, with his sterlingly abstract: “I’m terribly sorry, my carriage was caught behind a man driving cows in Eton Wick.” Sounds like one of Lady Pole’s psychedelic streams of misdirection.
