Freud Season 1, Episode 4 recap: Things get even weirder somehow

Fleur tries to make things right with Prince Rudolf in the Szápárys Palace, and Kiss discovers the truth about the kidnapping in the fourth episode of Freud.

Somehow Freud gets even weirder in its fourth episode, “Totem and Taboo,” heavy emphasis on both of those words. Freud discovers a creepy totem symbol drawn in blood in Clara’s bedroom while Fleur Salomé transforms into a wild, dangerous creature.

The episode begins with the follow-up to Freud’s “suicide,” from the last episode. Luckily for us, the good doctor is still alive. It seems that he took cocaine after Sophia’s visit. It is a little confusing, though, because the opening sequence is a mixture of reality and fantasy. Either way,  Freud does not appear to know that Sophia is behind everything.

A Totem Discovery

Upon further questioning of their child witness from the Vienna canal, Kiss and Poschacher get identification and confirmation that Leopold von Schönfeld was responsible for Clara’s kidnapping, although they still don’t know why.

At the Schönfeld residence, Kiss and Freud investigate and discover Leopold’s dead body. It looks like Sophia’s hocus-pocus may have worked after all. He slit his wrists and bled out in Clara’s bed while cuddling one of her dolls.

Now we’ve got three male victims that all fell prey to the Hungarian witchcraft deployed by the Countess. The only one still living is Mucha, although “living” might be a stretch since he’s strapped to a  chair with a mesh cage around his head in an underground dungeon, like Hannibal Lecter.

Freud finds another toe (or finger?) tucked into a small bed in Clara’s dollhouse. I’m guessing it was Leopold’s. He notices a trail of blood behind a painting and finds a bloody ritualistic totem drawing on the wall that Leopold used the severed body part to create.

He draws a version of the totem on a piece of paper and shows it to Mucha, who reacts violently to the image. Somehow, it all ties back to the Szápárys.

Fleur’s Transformation

Charming the Crown Prince Rudolf is of utmost importance to the Count and Countess. However, with Fleur rebelling against her foster parents, it becomes apparent that it won’t be easy to make her give in to their will. To put it succinctly, Rudolf wants to have sex with Fleur.

Sophia emotionally manipulates Fleur into doing their bidding. She promises Fleur that she will never touch her again or coax her into doing anything. Fleur offers to help them out by doing what Rudolf wants. She seems to think the evening will be a normal seancé, either for Rudolf or his family.

Once lured into a false sense of security, Sophia leaps at her opportunity to put Fleur under her mental coercion once again, forcing her to do anything Rudolf wants before forgetting the entire evening. But things don’t go as planned.

For starters, Rudolf is a freak. He is super gross and lecherous toward Fleur and has every desire to rape her, even going so far as to tell her to “fight back a little” so he can enjoy it more.

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He pins Fleur to the ground and just when you think things will go sideways, Fleur becomes possessed by something demonic (bullhead again!)  and crushes Rudolf against her.

She then headbutts him and flips them over before vomiting some weird green goo into his mouth. I DON’T KNOW it’s weird.

With Rudolf down for the count, Fleur hobbles out into the streets with her pupils all blown. She looks crazy. Fleur does not see the Szápárys again, at least, not yet. Instead, she heads for Freud’s place.

Along the way, she briefly toys with a man in an alleyway before casually making him commit suicide by brutally beating his head into a  brick wall over and over again.

Finally, she gets to Freud, and he thinks someone brutalized her. He offers to help mend her wounds, but Fleur has something else on her mind. The episode ends with the two of them having rough, animalistic sex on Freud’s floor. Freud looks stupefied throughout; I wonder whether this will make him realize something is off with the Szápárys or if he’ll blame Fleur.

Odds & Ends

• Sophia is a piece of work, but I do think at least some part of her cares about Fleur, not that it matters considering all the horrible stuff she does to her. Viktor, on the other hand…
• More information about Georg and Kiss:  Georg was somewhat responsible for the death of Kiss’s son, Otto. As a deserter, Otto would have been punished unless Kiss proved his loyalty by executing the prisoners. Otto asked his dad to let him kill them. Instead, he shot himself.

Season 1 of Freud is currently available to stream on Netflix.