Lasher continues to battle his desires and their fatal consequences for the Mayfair women. Ciprien makes a surprising choice and a surprising ally and Rowan and JoJo make a house call.

After the slightly clunky Teen Lasher last episode this feels a lot more assured. It also layers in some really fun choices. Thora Birch is always great and her cameo here as one of Lasher’s victims actually makes you feel for both of them which is a testament to her and Danny Huston’s skill. Combined with Rowan’s numb horror at what her ‘son’ is doing it also just about pulls the teeth of this season’s major plot to date being a pile of dead women. Given two more are added this week that’s especially impressive.

That shadow throws Rowan into some stark relief and gives her some surprising, and welcome, agency. Daddario has tremendous natural authority and we see that this episode as Rowan wakes up Uncle Cortland and handles his nonsense effortlessly. What makes it work is how willing Rowan is to bring people she trusts in, and JoJo Mayfair gets some welcome screen time this week. Jen Richards has been excellent throughout the show to date but she’s on great form here and her sudden, released venom at her dad gives Jojo some poignant context that instantly makes her one of the most interesting characters on the show.

Moira Mayfair also gets a taste of that this week as she and Ciprien team up. There’s a great extended B plot involving Ciprien getting but choosing not to use a magical means of forcing Moira’s trust that says a lot about him, the Talamasca and Lasher. Ciprien is principled in a world largely absent of that and it makes his job harder but the allies he does make all the stronger. Alyssa Jirrels is great this episode too and the pivotal moment where she finds her mother is played perfectly. Moira is a natural leader and one being put under tremendous strain. She’s holding, for now, but that strain isn’t going anywhere.

Finally, Harry Hamlin gets some excellent, nightmarish stuff to play as Cortland, trapped in his own mind with the ghost of his dad. There’s a scene at a family banquet which uses forced angles to make us feel like Cortland does, infantilised and viewed with contempt, that works brilliantly. It’s helped by both the way his father, Julien, is written and who’s playing him. Ted Levine is one of the best actors of his generation and the contempt he brings to bear is chilling. Especially when, as the episode closes, it becomes clear Julien was not a hallucination….

Verdict: An expansion from last episode and stronger for it, this feels like it’s becoming an ensemble show and I’m really happy to see that. Involving, dark and increasingly confident. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart