Hemlock Grove - S1E2 "The Angel" Recap

Roman and Peter discuss the fact that neither of them is the murderer and that their being there at the same place at the same time was purely coincidence. Roman confesses that he knew the victim by being at the same parties and whatnot, and also knew Peter's uncle (the one whose house Peter and his mother live in). Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a squad car containing two police officers. When they try to bring the two of them in, Roman tells them one off with intense eye contact and it mysteriously causes him to lead the other officer away. Immediately after, he has a nosebleed. Peter asks him how he managed to "do that" and Roman coyly replies, "Do what?" *cue opening credits*

Letha lies in bed and a bright light wakes her. A mysterious figure stands in the distance and raises its arms to reveal a pair of massive white wings. Shelley writes an e-mail to her uncle sharing a story of how she stood up to her mother while at a country club. Shelley wanted to order a salad, but her mother kept insisting that she have her usual (a meat dish). During this encounter, Roman flirts with Jenny, their server. She also states that there is an increase in violence in the town towards various animals as a retaliation against the apparent animal attack. After reading the e-mail, Norman receives news from his wife that Letha is pregnant.

At school, Roman doodles in his notebook before noticing one of his female classmates has a tampon sticking out of her purse. When she raises her hand to excuse herself to the restroom, he immediately does the same. Cut to the two of them in a bathroom stall, where it is implied that he is performing cunnilingus on her, which is punctuated by his placing a bloody handprint on the bathroom floor. Outside the girls' restroom, Peter overhears the girl's cries of ecstasy and Letha catches him listening in.

Norman meets Olivia at a hotel bar and demands to know whether she played any role in Letha's pregnancy. She denies any involvement and after yet another one of their heated exchanges, they go upstairs and have sexual intercourse. Peter shows kindness to Shelley and Roman comes over and jokingly tells him off for flirting with his sister. Roman then offers Peter a ride home and they bond over stories of their past and fatherless childhoods. When they arrive at Peter's home, Roman notices a drawing of a snake eating its tail (as seen in Peter's dream in ep. 1), and confesses that he himself had a dream about it. He asks Peter if he can "feel it," referring to the feeling he sometimes gets that "something really important is about to happen." Peter thanks him for the ride and leaves without answering.

Christina is being pampered by her friends Alexa and Alyssa, the Sheriff's daughter, and they gossip incessantly. It's evident she's succumbing to peer pressure, wanting to become more sexually experienced so as to not be as much of an outsider. Roman and Letha attend the dance together, with Letha dressed as a flapper and Roman looking dashing in an expensive suit. In the woods, a man mumbles to himself before vomiting on the ground. At the dance, a girl name Ashley makes a pass at Roman, but he rejects her, leading to her insulting him. Christina and a boy named Tyler, whom Christina has a crush on exchange slightly awkward flirting. Roman and Letha leave right as a snake, apparently let loose by Roman, ruins the dance.

Olivia returns to the same hotel as earlier, and hooks up with the bartender in her car. It's all sexy fun until he mentions Norman, thinking that they are ex-husband and wife. She is surprisingly emotional and sends him away. It would seem that Olivia's feelings run deeper than she would ever admit, even to herself.

In his car, Roman offers Letha a drink which she refuses. He continues to pressure her but when she continually turns down a swig from his flask, he jokingly asks if she is pregnant. When he realises her condition, he slams down on the brakes and refuses to move until she gives up the name of the father. She tells him it was an angel and he makes an effort to understand her. They make up and head out on the road again. They stop when finding the mad mumbling man from earlier lying in the middles of the road. Roman calls the police and the man points to Roman saying, "It was you," before also rambling that he saw the cheerleader get killed. At Peter's house, he hears intruders outside. They run off when he comes out and Peter finds a costume werewolf head on a spike. Later, he flashbacks to his childhood during times spent with his gypsy uncle who tells him about upyrs.

At school, Roman approaches Peter and they chat briefly before Peter asks Roman, "Why do I get the feeling that half the reason you talk to me is because of how people look at you?" Roman chuckles, as it's clear he enjoys a bit of mischief.

At a grocery store, Peter's mother Lynda talks to Olivia about small stores and tells Olivia to call her. Though this might not make sense now, it will be re-visited later.

Back at school, Peter is reading in class when Roman tosses him a note that asks, "Can I watch?" (referring to his transformation into a werewolf). For some unknown reason, he decides to let him, despite strong protestation from his mother. When Roman comes over, he and Lynda chat for a bit. Peter becomes antsy and removes his various pieces of jewellery. They head outside, with Roman and Lynda standing at a safe distance from Peter as he stands naked and prepares to transform. Before long, we bear witness to one of the most gruesome werewolf transformations ever. His skin tears off, his teeth and eyes fall out, and once fully transformed, wolf-Peter ingests all of his human flesh before taking off into the woods. Roman closes the episode with the line, "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."