In the third episode of Jekyll, EVERYTHING IS SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL AND SOME OF IT HURTS BUT IT’S THAT GOOD KIND OF HURT BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU’VE JUST WITNESSED PERFECTION. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Jekyll.
OH MY FUCKING GOD EVERYONE. IF YOU ARE NOT WATCHING JEKYLL, PLEASE GO DO THIS NOW. YOU SHOULD IGNORE ALL RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMMITMENTS, TOO. AND THEN JUST GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO WATCH THIS AS WELL BECAUSE THEN YOUR FRIENDS WILL THINK YOU ARE SOME SORT OF TELEVISION GOD, BESTOWING THEM WITH GIFTS FROM ON HIGH.
Wait, you still don’t believe me? I just used all-caps and bolded it! That’s like…double serious on the Internet! Hmmm. I’ll have to bust out my handy, trusty weapon of truth: the list
Reasons You Should Start Watching Jekyll
Solely Taken From Episode Three
- James Nesbitt. This man is able to create two distinct and horrifically different personalities and make them so believable that it’s almost like watching twins pull this off. He is a genius and this is one of the finest performances I’ve ever seen.
- GINA BELLMAN HOW IS THIS THE FIRST THING I’VE EVER SEEN YOU IN. (And before you recommend it: Yes, I’m already going to do Coupling for Mark Watches in the future.) Gina Bellman basically shows us in this episode that she will wipe the floor with anyone who tries to act better than her. YOU ARE NOT GINA BELLMAN, THEREFORE, YOU ARE INFERIOR.
- DEBBIE WISEMAN. The entire time I was watching this particular episode, it reminded me of the brilliance of Mark Snow’s music on The X-Files, and there are quite a few similarities to what she does here. She knows when to be whimsical, when to be curious, when to use strings to heighten tension, and when to keep things entirely silent so that you can suffer from the uncomfortable nature of what’s happening on the screen. A fantastic late-90s style soundtrack AND IT IS AWESOME.
- PETER SYME I DON’T GET YOU AND THAT IS WONDERFUL. I want to hate him because he seemingly betrayed Jackman, but…did he? Sort of? He does seem to want to help his friend, BUT THEN HE STUFFS HIM IN THAT BOX! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE BOX FOR I UNDERSTAND NOTHING.
- I don’t even know the name of the guy with the cellphone, but he made me laugh so hard and that is worth a mention on this list.
- Benjamin. BENJAMIN. You are so wonderfully flamboyant and dramatic and every word out of your mouth is a joy. WELL TOO BAD YOU WON’T SPEAK AGAIN who the hell saw that coming???!?!?!?!?!
- Benjamin’s “Don’t screw up” speech is FANTASTIC.
- Oh, more of Miranda and Min being the cutest and wittiest lesbian couple ever??? I adore their dynamic and I just want so much more of Meera Syal. MORE.
- It’s no secret on Mark Watches that any sort of storytelling that involves nonlinear narratives gives me fuzzy feelings in my heart. So how about like ten different scenes of in media res that all include different fake-outs and tricks to create a frantic sense of urgency that don’t feel like a gimmick? Yeah, that’s right, this episode is tense as hell. The execution of showing that end sequence multiple times could have been a complete disaster, but Steven Moffat pulls it off.
- Steven Moffat, this is some of the best dialogue I’ve ever seen. “You’re Tom Jackman.” “No. We just share a dick.” “Yeah. And it’s mine.” OH MY GOD CLAIRE JACKMAN, TAKE ME AWAY.
- I feel that I could use about ten separate numbers just to talk about Claire Jackman. She was sorely underused in the past, and now we get to see what we’ve been missing. To give a bit of context to my reaction to her being in this episode, my roommate had just gone to bed when Claire stepped out from behind Peter Syme to reveal that Tom had locked her into the basement as well. I literally just grabbed a pillow and shouted into it because it freaked out so much. I did not see that coming at all. (Thankfully, I also avoided the episode summary, so I didn’t even know she would appear.) Having her witness Tom’s conversion to Hyde seemed like something that would appear far later in the season, but Moffat has the guts to stick it before the halfway point, and it works.
- Whatever, using another one. TRY AND STOP ME. James Nesbitt was already blowing me away with his performance after changing in front of his wife, and then Gina Bellman stole the show. Impossibly so, and in just fifteen minutes, she becomes the absolute star of Jekyll. The writing Moffat provides her is smart, biting, and full of the venom she has for Hyde’s immoral persona. But I love that she refuses to see Hyde as a fully separate person, and it’s the only time so far in the show that he’s shown restraint or fear. That’s how big of a badass Claire Jackman is. She controlled the entire scene in the basement, and it was one of the most engrossing and entertaining things I’ve seen IN MY WHOLE LIFE. You ever watch something so tense and well-acted that you seem to hold your breath for ten minutes? That’s what this was like.
- CLAIRE JACKMAN.
- No, she just needs her own name as one single reason to watch this show.
- Oh, right, that whole scene where Jackman sees his wife in his head on the train? More proof that Gina Bellman is one of the best actresses ever.
- BENJAMIN’S DEATH. Okay, it’s probably the goriest thing this show’s had yet, but it’s such a HUGE moment because Hyde changes. He kills Benjamin because the man threatened Tom Jackman’s children. Shit, does he care? Does he not want to ruin Jackman’s life? THIS IS SO FASCINATING TO ME.
- THERE IS A ~mystery~ TO THIS SHOW WRITTEN BY MOFFAT THAT IS COMPLICATED BUT IS NOT A MESS AT ALL. IT IS, SO FAR, BRILLIANTLY EXECUTED OVER THE COURSE OF THESE EPISODES. I mean, seriously, it is so fun to try to figure this out. For the record, I have no idea what is going on, and that is so exciting to me!
- The fact that Claire Jackman is the first person to control Hyde at some point is an amazing character development and a sign of how many wonderful and awesome women there are on this show.
- It’s on Netflix!
- It’s also on Amazon Instant Video and is free if you have a Prime account!
- It’s only six episodes, so you can conquer it in just six hours without having to commit weeks to seeing it all!
- WHAT IS THAT BOX FOR WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HIM WHAT IS GOING ON.
- HOW THE FUCK IS TOM JACKMAN’S MOTHER DEAD
Oh, this is so good. I AM SO GLAD I AM WATCHING THIS.
"Fantastisch!" >:-D
Ahh, episode three. EPISODE THREE HOW I LOVE THEE. (Look, it even rhymes!)
First thing: the non-linear storytelling. BRILLIANTLY DONE. Always keeping the tension – did Hyde kill someone? Yes, it looks like it. Did he kill Syme? No, he didn't. OMG, he killed Claire! No, wait, he didn't. And so on, et cetera. You just love keeping your audience on the edge of their seats, don't you, Mr. Moffat? *shakes fist*
Second thing: Claire. OMG, Claire, you wonderful, amazing woman. <3 That scene between her and Hyde in the cellar is simply stunning. Here we see her grow, within a few minutes, from an unsure, rather passive housewife into a woman who gains dominance over Mr. Hyde, who is pretty much the ultimate alpha male. The bit where she repeatedly slaps him for having unrestrained sex with strangers – just the look on his face tells it all. Brilliant, fantastic acting from both Nesbitt and Bellman in that scene.
Third thing: Benjamin's dead! And there was much rejoicing. 😛 His annoying overconfidence and swagger was finally brought to an end when he made the cardinal mistake of threatening Tom Jackman's family. You just don't do that in front of Mr. Hyde. I love how calmly Hyde asks for the confirmation of the threat (and Benjamin still thinks he's safe, the idiot!) before casually killing Benjamin in a blink of an eye.
Fourth thing: Peter Syme's dry English humour. That exchange with Benjamin was sheer perfection.
Loosely paraphrased (I don't have the series with me at the moment):
Benjamin: "You're leaving? I was about to say a few words."
Peter: "The events are not unconnected…"
Benjamin: "I was thinking, you know, to inspire the troops."
Peter: "Well, make up your mind."
Benjamin: … "Ah, that's you making a joke. Yeah. I like people with a sense of humour."
Peter: "Yes, we enjoy you, too."
Brilliant! 😀
Fifth thing: Tom's hallucinations in which Hyde speaks out of Claire's mouth. FUCKING CREEPY AND DISTURBING.
And that ending. Oh, God, that ending… I'm not claustrophobic, but I couldn't bear being locked up in that futuristic coffin-like box! O.o
Benjamin: "You're leaving? I was about to say a few words."
Peter: "The events are not unconnected…"
Benjamin: "I was thinking, you know, to inspire the troops."
Peter: "Well, make up your mind."
Benjamin: … "Ah, that's you making a joke. Yeah. I like people with a sense of humour."
Peter: "Yes, we enjoy you, too."
This was so awesome.
Glad Benjamin is gone 1) because terrible American accent 2) I can only think of him as Roderick on Doctor Who.
I'm trying Mark. I really am. I am just not feeling this series. I'll hang in there because what else do I have to do:)
After BSG, this is a pretty radical tonal shift, so I can see why this show might not do it for you.
Also, I'm really glad someone else hated Benjamin and his atrocity of an accent as much as I did.
It's not even so much the tonal shift, because I can bounce from BSG to Walking Dead to Glee occasionally. I"m just not finding the story very compelling. I like Nesbitt as Tom but I don't like him as Hyde at bit too OTT for me to this point. But I don't hate it. It's only 3 more hours, so maybe I'll feel better by the end of it :).
Lennie James, Jamie Bamber, Hugh Laurie and Idris Elba need to give lessons to every other British actor on how to do a convincing American accent. It was soooo bad. The only worse one I've heard was a woman on Mi-5/Spooks. Hers was so bad, I literally laughed during all her scenes.
Which woman on MI-5/Spooks? You can Rot13 your answer here to avoid spoilers*
http://rot13.com/
I'm interested because a lot of the US characters in the series were played by Americans.
*it's much better unspoiled and I think Mark should watch it sometime, even if he doesn't do it for this site, because he'd never be prepared and because Neil Cross, who created Luther, is the main writer on series six and seven.
Talking of people from the British Isles in The Wire, what did you make of Dominic West and Aiden Gillan in the accent stakes?
West's could slip but was generally good. I had NO idea Gillan was not American. His was perfect to this Yank's ear. Along with Idris Elba.
V pna'g erzrzore juvpu punenpgre. V whfg erzrzore ure npprag qevsgrq hc naq qbja gur ragver Rnfgrea Frnobneq naq vagb gur zvqjrfg va gur fnzr fragrapr! Vg jnf whfg fb onq. V ernyyl qvq ynhtu jura fur jnf fcrnxvat. V gubhtug fheryl gurer zhfg or fbzr Nzrevpna npgbef va gur HX gurl pbhyq uver. Vg jnfa'g Puevfgvar Qnyr orpnhfr gung npgerff jnf Nzrevpna.
Hayrff V'z pbashfvat Fcbbxf jvgu nabgure fubj….:/
Aiden Gillan is Irish, you'll get to hear his native accent when Mark does Queer as Folk, assuming you watch along.
Gur jbzna jubfr npprag zbfg tengrf jvgu zr va Fcbbxf vf Znel Xnar, gur nobegvba greebevfg va gur irel svefg rcvfbqr. Fur'f cynlrq ol Yvfn Rvpubea, jub vf sebz gur HF, ohg frrzf gb or fgehttyvat gb trg gur fbhgurea npprag evtug – fur terj hc ba gur rnfg pbnfg naq genvarq va gur HX, jurer fur unf yvirq n ybg fvapr.
Gur bgure bar V pna guvax bs vf gur PVN yvnvfba jbzna gung gurl vagebqhprq va frevrf 8, Fnenu Pnhysvryq. Gur npgerff jub cynlrq ure jnf obea va Verynaq ohg terj hc va Nhfgenyvn.
I do think it's probably easier to do a native accent if you're living and working in the country concerned – you have so much more reference. Even Americans who live in the UK sometimes slip into a hybrid accent.
Gung'f gur bar! Fnenu Pnhysvryq
Yeah I heard Gillan in an interview and was as shocked to learn he wasn't American as I was Jamie Bamber. .
What do you think of Charlie Hunnam's accent in Sons of Anarchy?
I don't watch that regularly but he seems to mumble a lot :). It's okay I guess.
You are a far better man than I — I absolutely cannot do Glee.
GINA BELLMAN IS AMAZING IN COUPLING AND ALSO LEVERAGE.
ALSO THE SHIT IN THE BASEMENT WAS SUPER GODDAMN TENSE AND I WATCHED IT IN THE DARK AND IT WAS AWESOME. ALWAYS WATCH THIS SHOW IN THE DARK.
LEVERAGE YES YES. ACCENT OF THE WEEK.
I had a Jekyll marathon sunday (i bought the show last year just so i could watch it). it wasn't very good timing on my part… cause my daughters kept coming into my room to watch…..
Claire Jackman = HBIC of everything. I only knew Gina Bellman from "Coupling" where she is fabulous but COMPLETELY DIFFERENT and she absolutely blew me away. I think you'll watch "Coupling" with different eyes because you'll know how amazing she is. Moffat was apparently hesitant to cast her even though she was in his OWN SHOW before, but obvs he made the right choice.
If you can steal the spotlight from Hyde, you must be pretty amazing.
I just love how Gina Bellman can be completely different characters. So many comedic actors ONLY do comedy, but she does comedy and drama and drama-with-funny-bits (Leverage).
ILU MRS JACKMAN. She is the bamfiest bamf who ever was bamf.
Wait, episode 3? That means… AHHHHHHHHHHHH OMG.
Mark, your love and adoration and obsession with this fantastic series brings fuzzy feelings to my heart. 🙂 Especially since I was the first person to suggest it in your Suggestions thread. 😉 Mission accomplished: another Jekyll fanatic gained! 😀
Now, go and watch Fortysomething. 😉 It's in the Suggestions thread, too.
I'd like to thank you for this, because if Mark hadn't watched the show (at your suggestion!) I probably would never have watched it. And it is fabulous. It's so twisty and complicated, but still rooted in characters you really care about. So, again, thanks!!!
*bows* The pleasure is all mine. 😉 Every time I discover a really good TV series (such as Jekyll), I immediately try to "spread the word". 😀
FANTASTISCHE!! 😀
OH CLAIRE JACKMAN.
OH HYDE.
OH ALL OF THE THINGS.
This show went from “pretty cool” to “THE BEST THING EVER OMGWHAT” as soon as Claire Jackman stepped up. I was afraid that she was going to be timid, shocked, easily controlled. I WAS SO WRONG AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL AND UGH. I just rewatch this scene for funsies, because it is amazing.
I am SO GLAD Benjamin is dead. His American accent was the worst. Especially since I think maybe he was supposed to be somewhat Southern? But I dunno IT WAS KINDA HARD TO TELL.
God, this episode. It is so SO good. And that's all thanks to Gina Bellman. She pulls off everything Claire needs to pull off, and that is no easy feat. Fear, anger, love, betrayal, hope, and so much more.
I bought my Gina Bellman fan club card back when I first watched Coupling, but I laminated it after watching this episode.
It is only now that I realize that accent was supposed to be American. Was his character supposed to be American? I just thought he talked really funny.
I'm so sorry, but yes, he's supposed to be an American.
My God, is that what we sound like to them?
No, remember Jamie Bamber? Hugh Laurie? This guy just couldn't do an American accent. It couldn't even fly as a Southern accent either. So bad.
This.
I almost like Benjamin's awful American accent. I feel like turnabout is fair play. I will admit that it took me a few episodes to realize that it was supposed to be American and that it why it was sounding completely weird.
American accents on British TV crack me up. I suppose we mangle their accents just as often, though. Turnabout indeed.
I'm not sure I've ever heard an American do a decent British accent on an American TV show. They always sound abysmal. What's even worse is when they make a British actor change their British accent, because it "doesn't sound British enough" and they don't think the audience will recognise it. That's painful too!
They… they DO that? o_0
I remember being amused when I saw Gosford Park at how bad Ryan Philippe's Scottish accent was, and then they revealed that it was deliberately bad because he was playing a part. Good times.
This is the second thing I saw Gina Bellman in, because she is in Leverage and I've been a fan of the executive producer John Rogers since he made the current comic book incarnation of the Blue Beetle a 16 year old Mexican-American kid in Texas. And John said on his Twitter or blog or something that Gina got the role on Leverage based solely on her acting in Jekyll, so I had to watch this show.
And I really wish I could be watching along with you, but I'm in the kind of mental space where I need to spend my free time watching brightly colored, silly things. But I am enjoying your glee, oh yes I am!
I've been a fan of John Rogers since the Global Frequency pilot.
I NEED TO WATCH THIS SHOW
YES YOU DO
I still haven't caught up with this in re-watch. I think the opening episodes are quite hard to do when you know what's going to happen. Or maybe I'm not in the mood sufficiently. Instead I've re-watched all of the amazing Beiderbecke Trilogy* and, having downloaded season one of Buffy, I'm four episodes into re-watching that as well.
But I'll give Jekyll another go and see if I can come up with something more relevant. I think there is something to interesting to maybe be said about Moffat and twists and turns of plot (which is, I think, a better term than complexity, which people seem to assume necessitates sophistication and depth). The problem is that it means being quite precise about what happens in each episode, so I won't go into too much detail until I'm caught up. One thing I will say is that I'm not sure that Moffat always gets enough credit for how technically dazzling his work is and how, as in this, it gives actors and the other members of the team a chance to shine. I understand people's exasperation if things don't quite come off or if there are aspects of his drama that annoy them, but sometimes I get the feeling that they take what he has managed for granted, when there are very few writers who could even get close.
Anyway, maybe something more considered when I've caught up.
*I know it's wildly off topic but my re-watch has kindled my extreme enthusiasm for it. Someone has put the whole thing on YouTube so if anyone wants to sample it, it starts here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCJxlKbLPuU
I keep forgetting Moffat wrote this. It totally reminds me of the current Doctor Who of which I'm not a big fan. I find some of his storytelling to be overly complicated for no reason. But I'm going to stick this out.
Yes, I think there are interesting parallels – but we have to get to the end of this before we can properly talk about what it all amounts to.
I am finding that knowing all the twists in advance isn't helping my re-watch, but that may just be the mood I'm in at the moment.
CLAIRE FUCKING JACKMAN. FLAWLESS HUMAN BEING IS FLAWLESS. I already adored this fantastic show, but then she just kicked it up another fucking notch.
The writing's very…it's VERY Moffat, but it's so dark and gritty (and, in a sick way, hysterical). And sometimes Nesbitt and Bellman's performances are so excellent it doesn't even feel like they're acting from a script.
Not going to lie, Claire is a huge badass. She is fierce as fuck and holy crap when she just got all up in Hyde's personal space I had to pause it and walk away because shit was stressful. The Fuck Equilibrium is on her side and when I grow up and it turns out that the person I married has a superstrong manchild personality that happens to fight lions on the side, I hope I take it as awesomely as she does.
But, really? Out of all the things to go off on Hyde about, she chose the fact that he was out sleeping with other women? He was going to cut the key out of Syme's stomach, right in front of her. I, um, would be a bit more concerned about where that tendency came from and if he did it to other people.
I actually sent this to my Psychology teacher. I think this might convince him to watch it. Dear lord, this show is BEAUTIFUL. I think I've watched it twice since you started reviewing it.
Hello Mark, longtime lurker and fan here… just wanted to say just how much I enjoy reading your reviews AND…
"GINA BELLMAN HOW IS THIS THE FIRST THING I’VE EVER SEEN YOU IN. (And before you recommend it: Yes, I’m already going to do Coupling for Mark Watches in the future.)"
OMG Mark, you know what you should watch? Leverage! It is most delightful, and it has Gina Bellman in it. And I think you would very much enjoy its themes – it's a sort of modern Robin Hood/Hustle mix, with a lot of exploration of class and wealth.
""The rich and powerful take what they want – we steal it back for you."
I like Leverage a lot! It's sort of like White Collar in the whole "con man cons bad guys" deal, but with five people doing the con instead of one or two. And no FBI.
So I need to watch Leverage then, don't I?
ahahahaha YES. I love how this comment is just stuck in here out of nowhere.
I'm a big fan of basic-cable crime shows (I don't have cable anymore 🙁 but I used to watch USA and TNT all the time), and Leverage is one of my favorites. I started watching for Timothy Hutton because I've always been sad that he won an Oscar at like 18 years old and then dropped off the radar for the rest of time, but I stayed because every character on that show is awesome.
Iiiiiiiiii have a question, not sure who can answer it… I'm living in Spain, so I don't have access to Netflix, and not sure about Amazon Video. How can I watch this show? Should I just suck it up and download it (which I'm semi-willing to do, but I'd just like to know my options)?
I'm not even entirely sure what it's about, having only skimmed these reviews due to spoiler-phobia, but if Mark likes it, that's more than enough of an endorsement for me!
Yessssssssssssssssssssss. Episode 3 made this show for me. Like, I forgive it for some of the other ridiculous things solely because of that basement scene. It's well acted and dangerous. RIP Benjamin. I hated you, but no one deserves to get pwned by Hyde like that.
YOU SHOULD IGNORE ALL RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMMITMENTS, TOO. AND THEN JUST GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO WATCH THIS AS WELL BECAUSE THEN YOUR FRIENDS WILL THINK YOU ARE SOME SORT OF TELEVISION GOD, BESTOWING THEM WITH GIFTS FROM ON HIGH.
Mark, you realize this is how we all feel about YOU, right?
Yay, I'm so glad you're doing Coupling! You are going to laugh your butt off. You will have no butt.
My thoughts as I was watching:
I rather like how women are running things in this show. There's a woman behind this mysterious organization. There are two women in the detective agency. The mysterious mom got Katherine to spy on Jackman. And Claire breaks it the eff out in this episode, even if she does get captured later.
HOW CAN THE MOM BE DEAD
WHY IS SHE DEAD
HOW CAN SHE STILL BE ALIVE
WHAT
It's not that hard to fake a death, though. You just need a convenient natural disaster or war, and then you just get on the lists of the dead. Finding a new identity afterwards might be more difficult.
"I was fired?" "Mentally." LOL ILU John Jarndyce.
Tom has weird things in his head that Hyde isn't ready for? Whaaa. Is this just a "not emotionally mature enough" thing, or something else?
"Make up your mind." "We enjoy you too." ILU Snarky John Jarndyce. Those stupid Americans, amirite?
When the creepy music started at John Jarndyce's house, my roommate was like "no, don't kill Wedge Antilles, he was the only person present at the destruction of two Death Stars!"
"I thought we were friends." "Yes, that was the idea." COLD!
Just watching the forced-key-swallowing made me uncomfortable. UGH DON'T STICK THINGS DOWN PEOPLE'S THROATS. I had an endoscopy once and I came out of sedation right in the middle of it and I started freaking out and sobbing because THERE WAS A TUBE IN MY THROAT.
"Wine. A woman. A tied-up old guy. Don't know where you were going with that one." Hee.
Does Hyde have more of a cleft in his chin than Jackman? Or is it just more noticeable?
Ughhhh don't tell him where the key is, he WOULD CUT THE DUDE OPEN.
OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN JARNDYCE
OH NO DID HE KILL CLAIRE???? jadfsj;dfsjlkas;d
OH JESUS CHRIST HE KILLED BENJAMIN
this is my face right now
O_________O
Does Hyde have more of a cleft in his chin than Jackman? Or is it just more noticeable?
Yep, it's a small prosthetic piece – Hyde's chin is sharper and has a cleft. He also has a straighter nose and the "inverted Spock ears". And the black contact lenses and a different wig, obviously. 😀
I really like how they kept the physical difference between Tom and Hyde to only small, subtle changes, and instead relied more on James Nesbitt's fantastic performance to portray the difference in the two characters. And I think it worked much better than if Hyde was some hairy monster…
Inverted Spock ears? I'm having trouble picturing that. Or do you just mean they're rounder than Tom's?
And yeah, the transformation is really subtle and cool.
If you love Gina Bellman, I'm sure someone has said this, but you should watch TNT's Leverage. She stars on that!