Hi, friendos!

When life demands it, I can remember what is important. I can do the right things in the right order. I can have a purpose and work towards it. When life demands it, I can also take a break - even if that break lasts all weekend, or longer if necessary. But that's easy for me because I am healthy, gainfully and happily employed, and privileged in many other ways, any of which could be taken from me in an instant. I'm still reckoning with all the implications of this.

I just started it, but already have to pause and say: Big props to the composer for giving Mary, the middle sister, a theme played by the viola, the middle sister of the orchestra.

Lovely moment with Eliza and Clara before the cabaret gets raided. William makes Eliza spend the night in a cell, foreshadowing 2X04. That's two guys who think the only way to stop Eliza doing what she wants is to put her behind bars. (Patrick quickly learns better - does William?) "On the subject of my fee, it's gone up." Crazy that she upped her fee here but still has "the lowest rates in London" at the end of S2 - how low must her starting fee have been? Clara has sympathy for her evil husband because he told her he lost his first wife in the sinking of the SS Princess Alice. Devastating reveal of Joseph Simms! Eliza accidentally made things much, much worse for Clara. This could have convinced someone else to give up, but not our fearless Eliza! She has to make things right. First mention of Arabella. In a flashback, Eliza tells Henry that Arabella said she would "never be anything but a motherless pig," so they got in a fight. This is the drastic thing that completely changes Henry's mind? Hmm. Not sure I can believe that. William is mad at Eliza for not doing a background check on Simms?! Think it through, man. (To be fair, Patrick got mad at Eliza for not doing a thorough enough background check on the Carters in 4X04 - with the crucial differences that this time she actually had access to the Carters' file - AND they weren't using an alias, unlike Simms.) E and W's electric moment here makes me so tense and kind of angry, even though it's clearly a calculated move on her part. The show has managed to turn me irreversibly against him in record time. It's crazy that the show succeeds in nearly every other aspect while also making me feel the opposite of how I'm supposed to feel about William. My blood pressure returns to normal when he leaves. She feigns illness to get him to leave her alone in his office (just like in 2X04! So many parallels! I love it.) Catching Simms: scary, juicy scene. Bravo. First utterance of "A little laudanum never hurt anyone." Ooh, the look Simms gives her! He already wants vengeance. Now that Clara is free, and independently wealthy, she could come back in a later episode (or in fanfic...). I hope she does! I like her. Ivy says she's always been proud of Eliza, despite not approving of her choices. Oh, my heart! Really love the silly, awkward proposal scene with Rupert, too. "Rawr!" I know this has been pointed this out before, but in Eliza's office, William ignores a crooked photo that is right next to him. A few seasons later, Patrick helps her clean up her entire office when it has been ransacked. Come on now! The ghost of Henry: Supportive of her again, but only in her imagination. Sweet, yet so heartbreaking. End of the episode: She looks directly at the camera. It will be so beautiful if the last episode ends the same way.

First scene: everything is tinted so very blue. (Inception blue...) Eliza in blue dress emerging out of the blue fog. Striking silhouette of her with street kid in narrow doorway. First words: "Did you call the police?" He did not. She asked him not to because she knows William would only get in her way. Hanging, billowing cloths near indoor, open fires: She's already in danger. Eyeball, jump scare, disheveled hair. I am hooked on this show! Red front door. Blue sitting room. Parker's complaint: "general miasma of loose morality." Whatever, Mrs. Parker. Eliza, feigning poshness: "a lady should always act like a lady." Plop goes the eyeball. We are 6 minutes in. I love Eliza so much! (opening credits) Ivy tends to Eliza's injury. Eliza is trying to prove herself to her father. "He will never allow you to work with him." Ivy with the hard truths. (And Kitty! I'd forgotten about her!) First glimpse of the office of Mr. Henry Scarlet, Private Detective, No. 43. Conveniently located next to Hildegard Undertakers. William shaving. His first words are to tell his underling to lie to Eliza: "Tell her I'm in a meeting." He doesn't want to see her. She tries to report her father missing; William is dismissive. He opens the door hoping she'll leave; she sits at his desk. He refers to her detective work as her "little hobby." Gross. My blood pressure is up. We are 11 minutes in. I hate him so much. Henry Scarlet died of cardiac arrest. Found by Dr. Edwards. Funeral scene: Is William trying to comfort Eliza? Doesn't feel very comforting somehow. Wipes a tear from her cheek, which should make me feel something, but I don't. I think we're supposed to have sympathy for him now, but I'm still angry from "your little hobby" and his other offences. My poor opinion of him is rock solid. Now we meet the man who will come back to wreak havoc in 2X06. Wants Henry to find his missing niece, Clara. Wants to talk to Henry tomorrow at the Cavendish Hotel: we have a ticking clock. Flashback: Henry as a kind, encouraging teacher of poisons to his young, eager daughter and pupil, Eliza. Something drastic changed him from this supportive man to one who "will never allow you to work with him." Ivy and Kitty don't want Eliza to go out at night, but she says, "Trust me. I know what I'm doing." They do not think she knows what she is doing, and the person who has faith in her is not going to appear for a while yet. Hang in there, Eliza. Street kid introduces her to Padre, who says: "When I am in need, I turn to Moses." Interior, cabaret: all golden yellows and reds. Here is the woman who lost an eye (her name is Delilah). She says: "Ask Moses - he'll know." Now we get the best scene of the episode. Moses's first words to Eliza: "Go away!" Each threatens to kill the other. End of the scene: "I think I like you!" 😂 I like Moses too! I like everyone who likes Eliza.

“Can you break our hearts a little more there?”