This week, Penny Dreadful takes a step back from the main storyline to finally give us what we’ve all been waiting for – a proper explanation of the tangled relationships between Sir Malcolm, Vanessa and Mina (guest star Olivia Llewellyn). Sadly for viewers, that means no further development of the bizarre, romantic web being spun between Dorian, Ethan, Vanessa and Brona – for now. Still, Penny Dreadful doesn’t sag despite turning its focus back in time, which is a credit to John Logan’s writing and the strength of the performances.

On paper, it would be a somewhat risky move for a show as young as Penny Dreadful to drop all of its active plot threads for an entire episode to tell what amounts to an origin story. But then again, “Resurrection” did the same thing (to an admittedly lesser degree) while fleshing out the backstory for Caliban/Frankenstein’s Monster.