I’m back with another recap of beautifully-shot Strange Angel. Aleister Crowley, in England, writes to Jack (Jack Reynor), who’s just quit his job. Susan (Bella Heathcote) and Jack are having sex for the first time since E01. This time at least it looks fun. Ernest (Rupert Friend) is behaving in a very self destructive manner. Out at the rocket lab, Jack’s experimenting with using tar/asphalt as the liquid/solid fuel – the roof fire gave him the idea since the tar melts in the heat. Rich (Peter Mark Kendall) and the team show up and Rich punches him. It’s about Marisol setting him up. Jack gives the solution to the team and walk away.
The Magus, Alfred (Greg Wise) tells him to stay focused on his goal. Rich needs to see that he needs Jack. Jack tries to ask about Susan, but Alfred won’t tell him anything. The Crowley letter arrives.
Susan is at work and Virgil’s looking over her shoulder, correcting her as usual. He takes her chin and asks her what’s wrong. Oooh, you guys, I do not like Virgil and not just because he attacked a boy in the orange grove. She has to excuse herself to throw up. Virgil confronts her but she won’t tell him what’s wrong.
At home, Jack and Susan review Crowley’s personal letter inviting him to ascend to the next degree. Jack doesn’t want to go any deeper unless it’s something they do together. It must be shared.
At the rocketry lab, the military is reviewing the progress on rocket-based jet engines. The test pilot is worried whether it’s safe. They test it on the plane for the first time and it blows. The pilot leaves. No way he’s flying that thing.
Susan runs into Ernest at the Temple. He’s who is mowing the lawn of the Agape Temple. He doesn’t speak to her, and she goes to see Alfred. Susan is concerned about going further into the Temple and the sex magic. Alfred says they are just ways to know God and the Goddess. Unless Susan confronts the source of her shame, she will remain a prisoner.
Richard Relents
Rich goes to see a movie alone. The RAF features on the newsreel attacking Germany. Rich is worried about the War. At home, it’s Easter. The new neighbors are moving in and Susan is going to Church. Ernest left some things behind and Jack promises to return them. He looks through the box after Susan leaves. The phone rings and it’s Rich – he needs Jack’s help. The War effort is really important to Rich. Their grudge is small in the face of something so big. Jack agrees, but says that what’s important is to be a part of what’s to come.
Richard explains that some of the rockets misfired. Jack guesses that the two that misfired were packed the day before the test rather than the same day. The cold nighttime temperatures would have caused cracks to form in the asphalt, leading to uneven combustion. Rich realizes that Jack withheld that bit of information (which Jack knew from his experiments). But the test pilot is already scared off. Does Jack have such a quick fix for that?
Jack goes to see Ernest at the temple, ostensibly to bring back his box. Jack says that Ernest’s words caught him off guard, but he was right. Ernest’s prophecy came true and his path is revealed. The demonstration is the next day and the team needs Jack – and Jack needs Ernest. Friend, compatriot, elemental opposite, whatever he is. He wants Ernest to fly the plane so the military funding will come through. The money can change everything. The passionate union of opposites is required by the magic of Horus.
At mass in the choir, Susan has a moment of losing focus. She recalls the problem after church. After attacking the boy in the orange grove, Virgil stuffed her mouth full of unpeeled orange and declared he was going to teach her about shame. Her memory is interrupted by the call to the table.
In a cut scene, Jack goes to see his Mother, promising her to buy back the big house. The military demonstration is the next day.
Susan Confronts Virgil
Back at lunch, Susan is disturbed. The parish priest is there. Virgil clearly thinks Susan is pregnant due to the vomiting. He tells everyone. But Susan’s not pregnant and she says it. Her sister laughs and laughs and Virgil starts to drag her off. Susan stops him. She wants him to confess. She confronts him with his own words – “I’m going to teach you about shame”. And then she confronts her mother for not stopping it and the priest – did Virgil confess his sins? Was he offered absolution? Patty cries and leaves the table. She confronts him. “How could he do it to her? Hus own flesh and blood?” Virgil slaps her. She leaves after refusing to take it back. Virgil screams after her and she goes home to sit in a bath.
Jack finds her in the cold bath, adding hot water. She’s ready to go forward with Thelema. Anywhere it takes her is better than where she’s been.
The Day Arrives
Early the day of the demonstration, the team carefully fills the rocket engines. It’s still dark and they work together so nothing blows. It’s dangerous to even smoke around it. Jack heads out to the plane to think about the test and smoke. He has a vision of his dad, Marvel, who asks what he’s doing. A vision of the Great Beast knocks him down and gets inside Jack and he falls asleep.
Earnest finds him there, arriving to pilot the plane. Rich is not very happy that Jack’s replacement pilot is Ernest. Rich worries that Ernest will be injured or worse, but Jack says Rich has no faith in anything, including himself. No excuses – they should go be a part of something bigger than themselves. The military arrives, and Professor Mesulam. Marisol also arrives. She tells him that how she feels is real. It started in a bad way, but she swears that she’s left Agape and no one sent her. She found what she was looking for, standing in front of her.
At the Temple Susan is initiated into the rituals by the Magus, Alfred, while wearing a see-through chiffon gown.
Jack gives Ernest instructions. He tells Jack to take it all in – his dreams are all about to come true. Ernest says he’d d anything for him, even go down in flames. The Agape is a magical place where people let their guards down and trust each other. Jack wants Ernest to tell him he’s not going to do anything crazy, but he won’t. He just starts the plane.
Back at the initiation, Susan drinks from a cup. There’s no law beyond “do what thou wilt”. In a cut scene, Patty arrives at Jack and Susan’s. She gets in with the spare key and climbs in bed. She’s been crying. Alfred ties Susan to a chair, and tells her to count down from 93. In another cut scene, Virgil and the Priest vow to get Susan away from Thelema, which has poisoned her mind. Susan visualizes her desires. In several cut scenes, the rocketry test goes forward. As Susan continues to count, the plane begins to take off, and Jack counts down. Susan has a solitary orgasm in the chair as the plane takes off. Everyone at the test is cheering. Jack and Rich are ecstatic and everyone is shaking hands and congratulating each other. Ernest points the plane at Jack on the ground and….
Season one ends!
- STRANGE ANGEL Recap: (S01E10) The Sacrificial Dance - August 16, 2018
- STRANGE ANGEL Recap: (S0109) Sacrament of the Ancestors - August 10, 2018
- STRANGE ANGEL Recap: (S0108) Evocation of the Elders - August 2, 2018
