Hemlock Grove - S1E6 "The Crucible" Recap

Olivia pays a visit to an abandoned steel mill called Castle Godfrey. She takes a look around before throwing up the contents of her stomach. She then calls the Sheriff to report that people have been trespassing on the mill and asks that extra patrols be dispatched to keep an eye out on it.

Peter and Roman stake out Lisa Wiloughby's (the second victim) house. Roman grows impatient and decides to go in through the front door. Lisa's father answers the door and Peter uses his mysterious power of persuasion to compel him to let the two of them in and also has him go to sleep, causing Roman to have another nosebleed. They go upstairs to Lisa's room and begin rummaging through her things. Roman pockets a pair of her panties before he and Peter are caught by Lisa's sister. She doesn't seem all that bothered by their snooping nor does she seem to be upset by her sister's death. She correctly guesses that they were the ones to dig up her sister's body and shows them the invitation which they were searching for. They see that it is for a rave that took place at Castle Godfrey and they exit the house. They chat while eating on the hood of Roman's car and Peter receives a text from Letha, which he lies about to Roman, saying it is from Linda.

The twins and Christina are out shopping in preparation for a date she has that night. They are at the store that Jenny works in and she kindly gives Christina some words of wisdom. She encourages Christina to be her own person, instead of another copy of the twins, and that she is beautiful as she is. The twins are catty and displeased.

Olivia and Shelley visit a library and a group of children being read to are frightened by Shelley's intimidating appearance. She is hurt by their reaction and Olivia reminds her that "the cruelty of children is easily ignored." Olivia picks up a book on Romany studies and looks through it but doesn't seem to find what she's looking for.

Letha and Peter meet in an ice cream parlour and she says that she did a bit of digging for Peter and they being discussing Olivia. She tells him that she used to be Norman's patient and that she had some sort of problems before the "first" baby was born. Apparently, they had a child named Juliet before Roman and she died as an infant. Peter tries to learn more about this but Letha carries on and tells Peter that JR ended up going mental and highly suspicious of Olivia. He committed suicide and accused Olivia of things in his suicide note but she doesn't know what of. Peter asks where Olivia came from and Letha retorts that that's a question better suited for Roman. The two of them are spotted by Christina and the twins, who snidely gossip about the pairing. Christina gets upset and runs off to meet her grandmother.

Back at the library, Olivia looks over Shelley's selection of books. Christina and her grandmother arrive and Shelley smiles and waves at Christina, who returns the smile before Olivia's cold gaze makes her and her grandmother hurry off. Olivia hones in on a child's bouncing leg and their light-up shoe before passing out and being caught by Shelley before she can slam into the ground.

Norman is speaking with Francis in his office. Norman wants to release Francis, who seems to think it's a bad idea. He states, "Today I've seen the dragon," and continues on with cryptic ramblings about things he has seen. He claims that Norman cannot understand that which is wrong with the world. When Francis mentions a "needle" in his ramblings, Norman asks him if he is referring to some sort of drug use and Francis is angered by the accusation. The conversation continues and is difficult to follow, before Norman receives an urgent phone call and leaves shortly thereafter. He picks up Olivia and brings her and Shelley home. He appears to be genuinely concerned for Olivia's well-being and enquires about her being ill and whether she has been taking her pills. She snaps at him but then they're back to their little dance. She is playing games, both trying to coax him into staying and telling him he can leave at any point. But once Roman interrupts them, Olivia must wait till another day to continue. She tells Roman to drop Norman off wherever he needs to go. Upstairs, Shelley listens to music and throws a fit, tearing up books in the process. We might infer that she has reached a breaking point with her mother's controlling ways.

Roman drives Norman home and they discuss Olivia's well-being before Norman asks Roman if he has any idea who could have impregnated Letha. Roman assures him that if he did, that person would be at the bottom of a river by now and that if he knew who it was, he would tell Norman. Roman promises to look after Letha. After dropping Norman off, Roman drives to Peter's only to find that Letha is just dropping him off as well. Peter claims that they just ran into each other but Roman seems suspicious just the same.

Christina is on her date and they seem to be having a fun time. They enjoy banter and discuss the film they just saw.

Norman pours himself a drink in his office. He flashes back to a conversation he had with Dr. Pryce and then looks up "H. Varga" and finds an article entitled, "River Body Identified." He looks through it and finds that the body had a note on it that said, "today I have seen the Dragon," the same words that Francis has been repeating.

Christina's date steps out of the car to get her a cherry coke and she becomes paranoid whilst sitting alone. Her date returns and she tries to settle her nerves.

Roman and Peter pull up to Castle Godfrey and head inside to look for clues. Roman tells Peter that many workers died in the mill when it was open.

Christina and her date discuss the mill and she tells him that she went inside once. She describes it as being "big, empty, and gross." She talks about a Bessemer inside that had violently killed a man and how she saw it while inside. Her date compliments her bravery and predicts that she will be a great writer. She is flattered and they begin playing the mirror game.

Olivia visits Norman in his office and he asks what Pryce is up to. He says that Letha has expressed interest in receiving treatment at the Godfrey Institute and he is firmly against the idea. Olivia says that it is none of her business. Norman is drunk and accuses her of lying and she seductively removes her gloves. The tension is palpable between the two of them and he begins to undress her. They begin to hook up on his dress. Christina's date asks if "it is okay," and they begin to make out. The scene cuts back to Norman and Olivia having sex. Back in the car, Christina hallucinates Lisa's face on her date's and she become hysterical, scratching at his face while he screams at her to stop.

Norman and Olivia enjoy their post-coital bliss and share some laughs.

Roman and Peter are still looking for clues and discover the lower half of Lisa's remains. They hear police sirens and Roman promises to take care of it while Peter begins to panic. Roman picks this moment to question Peter about "running into" Letha and Peter is exasperated by his timing. Roman retorts that he doesn't like secrets. After Peter says, "please," Roman walks out and begins to talk to the officers. He tries to plays the "my name is on this institute" card but the police men are less than impressed. They cuff him and arrest him on behalf of Olivia Godfrey for trespassing. Inside, Peter is panicking. Olivia receives the call that Roman has been arrested and she is furious. Peter attempts to drive off in Roman's car but the keys are not there. He is angry about being left hanging and begins to walk away from the mill before changing his mind and turning around to head back inside the mill. He finds a room with blood splatter and claw marks. He looks unnerved by the brutality that the Vargulf seems to kill with.

The entire first season of Hemlock Grove is available for viewing on Netflix.