Hemlock Grove - The Price

Another body is found torn asunder on the rocks near the shore just outside the town of Hemlock Grove with her head missing. Sheriff Sworn considers the Rumanceks to blame [someone has to be blamed, right?], and so he sends out his deputies to find Peter while locals truck over to the trailer with Lydia having to hide in a crawlspace until necessary. Roman’s ability to telepathically control the minds of others comes in handy when two deputies holds guns on and arrest Peter at Olivia’s manor. The blood from the nose seems to run from one series to another as Eleven also endures such effects when using her own mind-capable abilities in Stranger Things. As Roman is given a sword to hunt the vargulf by Olivia, shattering a heart painted in the outline of a werewolf on a mirror in their home, his mission is understood. Allowed the opportunity to remain hidden from local law enforcement thanks to Norman providing refuge in an abandoned church on Godfrey property, Peter awaits instruction on how to deal with the vargulf without aid of the full moon to turn him into a werewolf. Destiny has her ways and realizes that Peter will have to make a great sacrifice in order to turn into a werewolf without the full moon…his “face”. Destiny and Peter had conversation about what Roman “doesn’t realize he is”. When Roman and Lydia are visiting Destiny after the locals ransack the Romancek trailer, once again he’s told that he doesn’t realize what he is. The series, during the first season, was still ambiguous on that. As the first season builds towards the finale, what Roman is most certainly will have greater context.

Christina seems so far gone, when Norman visits her for a quick evaluation, her hair albino white and she doesn’t respond to his voice. Later she sees Roman as he’s passing through a hall with blanket and pillow for Peter. She understands what lies ahead and Roman can only look at her quizzically. I am so far uncertain of what Christina is supposed to be in the overall story arc, but I can only assume it is of some importance considering the effects the finding of the dead body seems to have had on her. That her best friends were torn apart by the vargulf does sort of shoehorn her into the overall arc but how far involved she is I have no idea.

Catlovers might wish to avoid this episode. The ritual of gaining the ability to turn into a werewolf requires a sacrifice and so an unlucky cat happens across Peter, all friendly and affectionate, only to have its poor neck snapped! Oh, and Peter needs bacon grease along with the “care package” sent by Roman, as courier, from Destiny.

Peter and Letha’s romance is certainly given a fair amount of coverage in the first season as they have only been away a day and yet when they embrace the feeling of relief is there. One more day the vargulf hasn’t killed Letha and Peter does indeed need to kill the damn beast before it could get another chance.

It is quite clear that Clementine is toast. Inside the abandoned Godfrey mills awaits Olivia with word from a less-than-pleased Dr. Pryce telling her the “dogcatcher” was dealt with. Still Olivia suffers a bullet wound needing attention, Pryce clearly suffers for the fancy toys and lab digs she provides him for his research and experiments. Speaking of Pryce, he was responsible for saving Shelley and I have realized over the last couple episodes that when she blushes her face goes blue. So it seems instead of red, she blushes blue. Perhaps if angered she might also shade blue. That would be interesting to see. Roman and Shelley hugging was a nice moment as brother and sister once again are reunited and everything is still okay. Still Shelley worries about him because he just recovered from a coma and now goes to face off with the vargulf.

As far as the affair goes, Norman has promised (again it seems) Olivia that in six months he’d get a divorce. But returning home later, Marie tells him a casserole is in the fridge and he can only once again question if he would really want to leave his wife. That dichotomy is obvious…the scandal of leaving his wife for his brother’s wife could not fare too well in the community, although being Godfreys would perhaps be expected by the locals who resent them anyway. Notice the resentment when Norman finds the sheriff in a bar. Those in attendance consider the sheriff one of them and when Norman asks him to come to spend some time at his place so he won’t be “alone”, the locals feel insulted. They are there for their sheriff, and when a Godfrey just strolls into their local establishments throwing his prestige around the sense of personal insult arises/surfaces.