Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Season 1, Episode 4 recap: Josefina and the Holy Spirit

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ Episode 4 finally answers some questions.

Showtime‘s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’ last episode has us exploring deeper into the Nazi-conflict occurring in LA, along with the war between the police and Chicanos. We also see Magda, in her many forms, getting even more involved in the lives of others.

It seems we’re finally learning what the Nazis are up to and Sister Molly’s little secret. At this point, it seems that things can only go more downhill for the characters of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

What happened in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels?

Last week’s episode left us hanging with Lewis’s discovery of James Hazlett’s love nest, which appeared to have been frequented by Sister Molly. Tiago chose to not believe this, however, after taking note of the police’s treatment of Chicanos and being told that the interrogating will stop if Tiago learns anything that will point the finger elsewhere, Tiago decides to look more into the Hazlett case.

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With this new mission in mind, Tiago heads to the beach house where he makes a discovery of both men and women’s clothing and a box of condoms stored in the nightstand. On his way out, he’s greeted by Molly.

This reunion doesn’t go well for the relationship, but she does confess that she had, in fact, been sleeping with James Hazlett and that he wasn’t the only one.

She also makes sure to assure Tiago that this doesn’t mean she killed him. After a back-and-forth, Molly ends the conversation by saying, “I never want to see you again, detective.”

What happens to be the finality of the relationship doesn’t last long though. We end their episode arc by Tiago helping her with the dishes.

The battle between Townsend and Councilwoman Beck continues

During a meeting about Townsend’s motorway plan, Councilwoman Beck chimes in with the fact that she has spoken to some engineers, and they discovered another route the motorway can take without destroying any neighborhoods.

Of course, we already know that Townsend has a bit of a short fuse, especially when he doesn’t get his way, so after storming out he shouts at his secretary to cancel his speech. Alex starts to tell him that it’s not possible, but he cuts her off by shouting, “you do what I tell you, woman.”

As a way to relieve stress, Townsend spends his night with another male sex worker.  But when he opens up the door to leave, he’s greeted with none other than a gun-wielding Kurt. Kurt makes sure to shoot the sex worker, before dragging Townsend with him.

On their way to an unknown-to-Townsend-location, the Councilman attempts to beg for his life. But, it appears no begging is necessary, because the Nazi hitman, instead, kisses him and questions his sexual position preference. By the end of the episode, we learn that this encounter was entirely set up by Magda-as-Alex as she and Goss recorded the entire thing in case they need to use it.

Elsa Branson goes to a party at Doctor Craft’s home

Elsa Branson arrives at Doctor Craft’s house, alongside her “son” Frank, where she seems to win the hearts of everyone except the alcohol-loving Mrs. Craft. When Elsa asks Mrs. Craft where she can find the bathroom, Mrs. Craft lets her know that Doctor Craft is not who he pretends to be and to ask him about Essen and his family.

A seemingly upset Elsa enters the home only to be followed by Doctor Craft who happened to take notice of the conflict between her and his wife. After Elsa expresses that she wants a life like the Crafts, Doctor Craft embraces her.

While this is happening, the children are participating in a sleepover ritual: sharing ghost stories in the dark. It’s Frank’s turn up to bat and he lets them know that his story actually happened. He then shares a tale about Florence Moore, who was kidnapped and had her limbs removed. Frank’s story clearly freaked out Tommy, who later wakes up to see Florence in all of her bloody glory.

Lewis asks for help from Benny Berman

Detective Michener turns to a gangster, Benny Berman, for help with the Nazis. While visiting Anton’s grave a car pulls out to reveal Benny Berman who doesn’t seem pleased to have been summoned. Lewis informs Berman about Wernher Von Braun, sharing that he’s a rocket scientist from Berlin and that he’s working on a new rocket.

He also states that that’s the reason behind Nazis being in LA: students at Caltech are attempting to figure out the rocket and the Nazis want to steal it from them and take it back to Berlin.

Berman doesn’t seem to be buying it, but by the end of the episode, Lewis finds himself kidnapped by Berman’s men and taken to meet Leonard Schiff. Schiff recently hijacked a weapon shipment and sold it to the Nazis. Now, Berman wants Schiff dead, and in order to finalize him and Michener working together he wants Lewis to do the violent deed. Lewis rejects this proposal and hands the offered gun back to Berman before walking out.

The fight between cops and Pachucos

In one of the most uncomfortable scenes of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels so far, we have a run-in between Mateo and Josefina and the cops, led by Reilly. Mateo and Josefina are returning home after grocery shopping and are stopped by the cops. After searching through their groceries, Reilly forces Josefina against the fence and proceeds to sexually violate her. After the cops make their exit, Josefina tells Mateo to not tell anyone what happened.

When the two return home, Maria discovers the Pachuco mark on Mateo’s hand. This leads the family into an argument, especially between Tiago and Mateo. Mateo ends up shouting that he’s tired of being weak and storms out of the house. As Maria watches her son walk away, Josefina tells her that she has something to say but is brushed off with, “not now, Josefina.”

Clearly, this upsets Josefina and she ends up taking off as well. During her walk, she comes across a flyer for Sister Molly’s sermon, which she promptly heads to. As Molly speaks, it’s clear that Josefina is taking the words to heart and as soon as the audience is invited on stage, Josefina follows.

During Josefina’s spiritual breakthrough, Mateo and his Crimson Cat friends are getting revenge on Reilly. After breaking into his home, Rico orders Mateo to finish Reilly off, which he doesn’t seem to have any problem whatsoever doing. The crew then tosses the deceased body on the police department’s pavement.

What were your thoughts on this episode of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Catch Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels on Sundays at 10/11c.