Will Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes (Season 1 Episode 6)

There’s much more tragedy than comedy on Will Season 1 Episode 6, “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”

It starts off with gore and violence, continues with heartbreak, and doesn’t quit. Very few moments of levity make this a heavy episode.

Anne is trying to adapt to London life, which comprises of nagging Will and navigating the marketplace. While shopping, men stand on platforms in sync, and I think that a flash mob dance is about to break out.

Sadly, it is not that. But, fear not, something similar comes later in one of the only mirthful scenes of the episode.

Political unrest and more torture porn courtesy of the vile Topcliffe are just a few of the unpleasant exhibitions.

Perhaps the most awful is the storyline of brother and sister, Presto and Apelina. We have seen bits and pieces of their miserable life, and on Will Season 1 Episode 6, it gets worse.

Apelina sells her body so her brother doesn’t have to. Doll, the madam of the brothel, saw Presto in a dress on Will Season 1 Episode 5, and has decided to capitalize on it.

Thankfully, it doesn’t go the way she was hoping, but it doesn’t turn out any less tragic. Lukas Rolfe and Kristy Phillips are heartbreakingly good as these ill-fated siblings. The love they show for each other makes Apelina’s end and Presto’s response so agonizing.

There is brief relief with the mercy of Apelina’s death because now Presto will inevitably spiral down further—evident with his grief-rage that starts the fire and ends the episode.

Brutality and death aren’t the only things that bring down the mood of the episode: heartbreak abounds.

There is no shortage of victims in this department on Will Season 1 Episode 6.

Will breaks both Alice and Anne’s hearts, and in turn breaks his own. He turns a very cold shoulder to Alice at Ellen’s insistence which is chock-full of cliches.

Ellen: Expectation is the root of all heartbreak, Master Shakespeare. I do not wish my daughter to suffer, but you must be cruel to be kind. If you love her, let her go.

Alice is a smart woman. In order for this strategy to work, Will has to really sell it.

He does.

Will really puts the “cruel” in “cruel to be kind.” Not only do I feel terrible for Alice, but for Will, as well. It must be difficult to think that is the only option, and then to carry it out.

Meanwhile, Marlowe is dealing with both death and heartbreak.

I got it wrong on my interpretation of who Marlowe visited at the end of Will Season 1 Episode 5. I had guessed it was his father, but it turns out he is his lover.

What an interesting development, and what an interesting relationship.

Our time with this man is brief as he succumbs to his illness by the end of the episode, but the scenes with him and Marlowe are compelling. They are paralleled with the Will/Alice plot, which demonstrates that theirs is also a great and true love.

The inclusion of this story is valuable to the overall series and the character of Christopher Marlowe. Rather than portray a homosexual character as just a wild, orgy-loving heathen, he is given depth and dimension.

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though. The highlights for me are usually when modern music is mixed with dynamic action, and we get two scenes like that on this episode.

While at the pub, the rowdy group of players break into a rendition of “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown, complete with a choreographed dance. This fun spectacle is much too short.

The other is the staged battle scene in Will’s play. Set to “Black Math” by The White Stripes, the clever stunts and fervor of the punk rock crowd create a very entertaining presentation.

These are the moments that excite me most about Will, and they are too few and far between. They get lost in the dismal quagmire that is the bulk of the series.

Stray Observations:

• Also having a bad time this episode: Richard, James, Keenan, and Southwell.
• “How can I shine when I have nothing inside me but darkness?”
• Lovely introduction to Emilia Bassano played by Jasmin Savoy Brown.
• “Did anyone see the price of fish this week?” “Is that the new one at The Rose?”
• “Young Will truly Hathaway with words, yet you should hath your way with me.” Ah, I love a good pun.
• In this fictional version of 16th century London, Alice Burbage coins the term, “prequel.”
• Not only is Topcliffe despicable with his penchant for torture, but now we see he is a disgusting pedophile.

What did you think of this episode of Will? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Will airs Mondays at 9/8c on TNT.

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