‘Pennyworth’ Season 1, Episode 6 ‘Cilla Black’ Review: Sorcery

Pennyworth almost lost his sanity, save for the sketchy job offered by a powerful friend. This time, however, he receives information, not cash. Whether or not the intel he knew is correct was up to him to find out. Meanwhile, the Raven Society and the No-Name League still feel the shock of the assassination. One can only have so much death, let alone a country practically drowning in thousands of them.

On Sunday’s episode of Pennyworth, Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon) seeks out a mysterious figure, Baroness Ortsey (Felicity Kendal). Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge) accompanies Undine Thwaite (Sarah Alexander) to broker a truce, if not assassinate, Frances Gaunt (Anna Chancellor). As this happens, Martha Kane (Emma Paetz) and Patricia Wayne (Salóme Gunnarsdótti) attend a dubious party.

Memory Recall

Because of the fights between the Raven Society and the No-Name League, the government needed to air announcements for public safety. Ginger/James Harwood (Jason Flemyng) felt terror surge through him when he sees the Prime Minister (Richard Clothier) release a public statement. However, the man may be afraid, but he soon remembered his name and purpose. It is strange to note how fast Harwood remembers, but then again, he is a man who lives despite the excruciating torture. Now, with Bet Sykes (Paloma Faith) and Peggy Sykes (Polly Walker) accompanying him, the Prime Minister may as well fear for his life.

Ready

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The show is slowly turning away from the pilot episode’s coward-like Thomas. Instead, his character is now leaning towards a more familiar version of him. Here, he admits his job as a spy to Alfred but insists that he is trustworthy. Also, Thomas has his (presumably) first armed mission, where he has orders to kill Gaunt if no truce happens. Thomas goes as far as taking care of Patricia, too, despite having much on his hands. However, what he does not expect is when both Patricia and Martha go missing for two days. Thomas seeks out Alfred’s help to no avail, so we are left to wonder about his next move.

Dark Magic Fuckery

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Patricia is your typical rich girl, having too many resources for her good. Seeing her remain in London upset Thomas since was he busy, and he knew that Patricia aimed lavish their wealth over nothing meaningful. In a last-minute move, Thomas had Martha watch over Patricia, promising to be back in a few hours.

Patricia happened to know occultist Aleister Crowley (Jonjo O’Neill) was hosting a party and invited Martha to join her. That point is where shit starts to hit the fan. Everything about the place felt wrong to Martha, plus the fact that Crowley tried to seduce her as well. With that, Martha grabs Patricia to escape the party. However, Martha soon realizes that she ran in a loop, trapped. Perhaps the creepiest moment of the episode is when Martha came face to face with Baphomet before she ended up alone and naked, somewhere outside the city. With the prevailing theme of witchcraft and the occult in the episode, it will not be surprising to have more examples of such in the later chapters.

Up and About

Alfred was active now, sure, but his family noticed how he seemed to have an anger about him. It was quite touching to watch Mr. Pennyworth (Ian Puleston-Davies) and Mrs. Pennyworth (Dorothy Atkinson) express their care and concern for Alfred. No matter how strong of a man and how skilled of a soldier he is, Alfred knew that he could be vulnerable around his folks. What no one expected, however, is the involvement of a witch to Alfred’s quest. Someone like John Ripper would recommend anyone other than a witch.

However, Baroness Ortsey was good, and in fact, helpful in solving Alfred’s case. Her witchcraft brought Alfred to a realm made of his dreams, both good and bad. Most of the part was admittedly confusing, but the trip did end at the direction pointing to the killer: Captain Curzon (Charlie Woodward). Finding out the truth was not only infuriating but also chilling. By the time Alfred reached Curzo’s residence, he had found a letter with his name. The frustrating part is that Curzon knew he was coming and therefore made preparations to leave. What a twisted coward. It could be that, or he wanted Alfred to chase him.

‘Pennyworth’ Season 1, Episode 6 ‘Cilla Black’ Final Verdict

Pennyworth decided to take a darker path for the show’s theme. A gloomy plot matched with an equal amount of gore usually goes well when executed properly. So far, the show does this with relative ease, coming up with something new in each episode. Although the show’s cheery intro sequence seems to have a little contrast to these new elements, the timing in which the intro plays fits well. With four episodes left, Alfred is yet to solve his fiancé’s death.

Pennyworth continues Sunday, September 8th, with ‘Julie Christie’ on Epix.