Last
week’s episode of Dominion featured
numerous shootings, knifings, one mass poisoning, and somebody getting fed to a
lion. The city of Vega seems to have an
inexhaustible supply of both killing methods and victims. However, there was a definite uptick in the
amount of violence last night. By my
count, there were two dismemberments, (one involving decapitation), a roadside
massacre of a family, ritual scarring during a religious ceremony, one near
suicide, one mercy killing, three shootings, and at least two impalements on
swords.
No
one was thrown to the lion in last night’s episode, though its owner, David
Whele, the evil Secretary of Commerce, suggested this consequence to one of his
adversaries. His lion’s name is Samson,
so of course his mate is Delilah, and
Whele is breeding the lions—presumably to have more of them to throw the
innocents to. Shots of the streets of
Vega in last night’s show appropriately featured vaguely Roman statuary and
architecture.
The
mention of Samson and Delilah is one of a number of Biblical references
sprinkled throughout the show. Part of
the fun is spotting these, and appreciating the cleverness of Dominion’s creators in weaving them into
the plot and setting of the story.
The
excessive and at times confusing violence seems intended to help with
characterization, to “flesh out” the characters. Viewers will come to a deeper appreciation of
just how bad most of the players
are. And this is a challenge so far at the beginning of this show: nearly everyone in it is evil and manipulative in some
way. They are all villains, or at least
untrustworthy because of their hidden agendas.
So whose side do you take? Which
characters can you really care about?
A
deeper appreciation of angelology
seemed also to be the intent of the third episode. The reader is referred to the show’s website
(see http://www.syfy.com/dominion ) for explanations of the complex
hierarchy of angeldom. Suffice it to say
that the show succeeds in creating a medieval mindset about the organization of
both heaven and earth. The bureaucracy
of heaven’s minions is mirrored in Vega’s rigid caste system of citizens labeled
V1s, V2s, V3s and so forth. In taking
possession of human bodies, the angels are subject to the same sensual and
behavioral temptations as humans, only magnified because of their supernatural
nature.
This
may be their vulnerability, despite super human strength and speed. There are already numerous incidents of
commingling among human and angel characters—almost no one is staying on track
with the plan. The embodied angels are
also able to suffer, which further humanizes them. In one scene, even the great defender of
humanity, Michael the Archangel, is mortally, or rather immortally, wounded.
One interesting
detail about the angels in Dominion
stands out: ordinarily they do not
require light to see, but embodied in human form, they lose this ability and
only enjoy ordinary human sight. This
means they are unable to detect their own kind among the human population, who
may be concealing themselves for various purposes. As a result, viewers now know that the city
of Vega is infiltrated by numerous allies of both Michael, (probably good) and
Gabriel, (definitely bad). The origin of this notion of angel’s special
eyesight—related to being in close proximity to the Creator—has several
references in the Bible. Here is a
couple:
“If I
say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139: 11-12)
“There
will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of
the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” (Revelation 22: 5)
This
insight is echoed in the painful and perverse initiation ceremony of the
acolytes in the Church of the Savior.
Under William Whele’s leadership and the evil Gabriel’s tutelage, the
acolytes blindfold themselves and utter self-flagellant remarks about the
importance of pain in reaching enlightenment.
There
are of course hundreds of references to angels in both the Old and New
Testaments, as well as extensive use of the dichotomy between light and darkness
as a metaphor for good/evil, enlightenment/ignorance, God’s presence/absence,
and so forth. The world of Dominion is a pretty dark place.
Nietzsche
makes an appearance in the third episode, chiefly as a riff on the
philosopher’s famous quotation “Whatever does not destroy me makes me
stronger”, more popularly rendered as “What doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger”. Not only is it the theme of
the initiation ceremony for the Church of the Savior, it is also the fatherly
advice offered to William Whele by both his father, the Secretary of Commerce,
and the angel Gabriel, his spiritual guru.
William’s biological father wants him to be more like his pet lion Samson;
Gabriel wants him to get used to pain so that he can inflict it more
enthusiastically later on.
Aside
from the bloody human-angel war of attrition in the background, and lessons in
late 19th century philosophy as applied to angelology, the chief
focus of last night’s episode was updates on various soap opera romances in
progress. Couples’ relationship
counseling is strongly recommended
for all involved.
The
general is finding it harder and harder to please his sexually insatiable angel
mistress who also demands gourmet food.
Claire agrees to marry William, but only to bring about political reform
for the oppressed masses of Vega. High
ranking council member Becca Thorne is being blackmailed by David Whele: if she does not gather information about the
Archangel Michael’s vulnerabilities, he will inform the public of her affair
with the angel, making her a pariah.
Meanwhile,
David offers Arika amnesty in a deal that may benefit both Vega and the rival
city of Helena: David wants an air force
with which to attack Gabriel’s mountain headquarters; Arika wants nuclear power
for her city. In a touching moment—the two
have had an on-again off-again affair—David offers to provide a decent burial
at sea for Arika’s recently dismembered sister.
Sis had been disassembled and shipped to her in a crate as a warning.
These
two, David and Arika, are far and away my favorite characters on the show, so
hopefully Dominion’s creators will
not kill them off too early in the season.
SyFy excels in creating fascinating over the top villains you love to
hate. (I still have fond memories of the
awesomely evil Constance Sutton, the malevolent chief operating officer of the
Ilaria Corporation in last year’s Helix. I am hoping that in future Helix episodes her head will be
reattached so that she can resume uttering her noxious corporate-speak.)
Dominion is on SyFy Thursday nights at
9:00 E.S.T.
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