Jellyfish in the Sky

Jellyfish in the Sky is the first episode of the first season of Hemlock Grove and the first episode in the series as a whole.

Summary
A teenager is murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove. Evidence points to an animal attack but suspicions soon fall on Peter, the newly arrived gypsy.

Plot
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Without Commentary

 * Roman Godfrey sits in an ice cream palour, staring blankly, until a young woman approaches and looks at him through the shop door. He meets her and they have sex in his car. Mid-coitus, Roman takes a straight razor, cutting his thumb and smearing the blood on his lover. Afterwards, he pays her and reminds her that she "doesn't know his name".
 * Roman Godfrey sits in an ice cream palour, staring blankly, until a young woman approaches and looks at him through the shop door. He meets her and they have sex in his car. Mid-coitus, Roman takes a straight razor, cutting his thumb and smearing the blood on his lover. Afterwards, he pays her and reminds her that she "doesn't know his name".

At the school, Brooke Bluebell flirts with her teacher "Banksy", arranging a date for later that night. On route to her date, Brooke stops her car at a level crossing and is driven from her vehicle by an unseen creature, and runs into the woods. Finding a shed, she seeks refuge, dialling Banksy's number. The creature falls upon her as her lover listens to her screams over the phone.

Earlier that summer, Peter Rumancek and his mother, Lynda, have arrived in town to take up residence in the Rumancek Trailer they have inherited from Vince Rumancek, Lynda's brother. Lynda begins cleaning up, securing a small box containing a number of vials, while Peter goes into town, stealing a leather jacket and a necklace. Later, as Peter naps, he dreams of the Ouroboros - a snake consuming its own tail - and of glowing jellyfish floating int he night sky. He wakes to find he is being watched by Christina Wendall.

The pair converse, with Christina revealing that she is a writer. Noticing that Peter's index and middle fingers are the same length, she earnestly asks if he is a werewolf. Apparently amused, Peter admits that he is indeed a werewolf. The conversation comes to an end when the sheriff drives by, watching Peter suspiciously. Meanwhile, Roman is woken by his mother, Olivia Godfrey, who wants to take him clothes shopping ahead of the new school semester. He is unwilling, and cold towards her, but gladly accepts a pair of tickets to the local carnival. He takes his cousin, Letha Godfrey with him, and it's revealed that the entire carnival has been rented out for them.

The following day, Peter begins school. He sees Christina, but she rejects his greeting. A tall girl with bandaged hands and hair over her face enters, and Peter notices a blue glow emanating from her as she passes under a hall light. At home, he tells him mother that he believes Roman to be an "Upir", but that Roman appears unaware of the fact. He also expresses confusion over the "giantess" Shelley Godfrey. Lynda warns her son away from the Godfreys.

At the Godfrey estate, Olivia asks her son about his day at school, and he tells her of Peter and the rumor that he is a werewolf. Olivia displays disgust at the very mention of the Rumancek family. After dinner, Shelley takes an elevator to her bedroom in the attic where she removes her wig, revealing a deeply scarred scalp and disfigured eye.

In a flashback to thirteen years prior, J.R. Godfrey and his brother, Norman, stand in front of the Godfrey Institute at night in the rain. He emotionally disavows his daughter, Shelley, and his wife, whom he believes to be evil. He asks for Norman's help to destroy her, turning on his brother when he refuses, and reveals that he knows that they are having an affair.

At home, J.R. takes a revolver from his desk drawer and takes the elevator to Shelley's room. She stares at her in her crib for a time, then moves to Roman's room, kissing the boy's forehead. Finally, downstairs, he confronts Olivia, who is dismissive and derisive. J.R. turns the gun on himself and a young Roman enters the room where his mother reassures him.

Returning to the present day, Norman confronts Olivia over funding for Dr. Pryce's research at the Godfrey Institute, but she easily deflects him. Brooke's body is discovered and Peter is quickly detained when the police see him crossing the nearby field. The rumors of Peter being a werewolf, and that he is responsible for Brooke's death, begin to gain traction amongst the town's youth.

Norman takes Sheriff Sworn to meet Dr Pryce, apparently an animal expert, to consult on Brooke's attack. Pryce confirms their suspicions of an animal attack. At night, Peter visits the crime scene, searching the dirt for tracks, when he is confronted by Roman.


 * }

With Commentary
The first episode of the series opens with Roman Godfrey sitting in an ice cream parlor and staring blankly out the windows, until a girl walks up to the shop doors and gives him a sultry look. The two of them end up having sex in Roman’s car, and Roman shows off his bloodplay kink. When they’re done, he tosses her a fat wad of bills before she leaves, to encourage her to ‘forget’ his name. A pretty and intelligent cheerleader by the name of Brooke Bluebell, who may or may not be having an affair with one of her female teachers, known to her as Banksy. On her way to a date with said teacher, Brooke stops her car as she waits for a train to pass. As she’s idly texting her date, the car gets attacked by some unknown force and Brooke goes barreling out of the wreck, running full speed into the woods. Brooke eventually comes across a random shed in the middle of a field and hides inside it. The creature finds her, and she gets mauled. Before that happens, she manages to dial Banksy’s number – and her lover is forced to listen as Brooke dies a violent death.

Shifting to “Earlier This Summer,” when Peter Rumancek and his mother, Lynda, roll into town and start to settle into the dilapidated trailer they inherited from Vince, Lynda’s deceased brother. Off in the distance is the Godfrey mansion – illustrating the very different backgrounds from which the two main guys of the show come. As Lynda begins tidying up, Peter heads into town to steal a badass looking leather jacket for himself and a pretty pearl necklace for his mother. Later, while Peter is napping, he dreams of ouroboros – a snake eating its own tail – and of jellyfish in the sky… and then wakes up to find a girl named Christina watching him sleep. They strike up a conversation where Peter divulges a boatload of personal information considering he’s talking to someone he’s never met before. Eventually Christina notices that his index and middle fingers are the same length, which obviously means he’s a werewolf, right? Peter seems amused by her earnestness and how she basically blurts everything she’s thinking, so he confirms that he is, in fact, a very scary werewolf. He’s also a total snarky bitch about it. I like him already. Then the town Sheriff rolls by in a truck, staring at them suspiciously. Peter wants nothing to do with the police, so he and Christina part ways.

Meanwhile, Roman has a series of chilly conversations with his mother, Olivia Godfrey but he brightens up when he finds out she rented out an entire carnival for him as a gift. He invites his cousin, Letha Godfrey to hang out with him there for the day.

The next day is the first day of high school. Roman and Peter trade looks from across the courtyard as Peter walks up and into the school. When he sees Christina, he greets her warmly, but she shuts him down because she doesn’t want other people to see a social outcast talking to her. Soon after, a tall girl with bandaged up hands and her hair over her face walks in. A curious Peter watches her move past, noting the faint blue light coming out of her skin as she walks under a light. He finds out that she’s Roman’s sister, Shelley Godfrey. When he gets home, Peter tells his mom about the Godfreys. Apparently Roman is something called an “Upir” (vampire from Russian folklore), but he doubts that Roman knows that he is one. Peter also expresses confusion over what Shelley could be. His mom warns him to stay away from the Godfreys, but naturally that is not at all what he’s going to do. A similar conversation is happening up at the Godfrey estate. Olivia asks Roman how his first day of school went during dinner, and Roman immediately starts talking about Peter, the “gypsy” who’s rumored to be a werewolf. Olivia seems disgusted by the very mention of the Rumanceks. After their meal, Shelley goes up an elevator to her attic bedroom and takes off her wig, revealing a disfigured and distorted face – and we flash back to thirteen years ago, where her father, J.R. and her uncle Norman are arguing on the sidewalk in the middle of the rain. They talk about Shelley, whom J.R. emotionally disowns, and his wife, Olivia, whom he deems to be evil.

He asks for Norman’s help in destroying Olivia, but when his brother refuses, J.R. is enraged – and he hisses in his ear that he knows Norman has been sleeping with Olivia. J.R. goes home to grab a gun from a desk drawer, and rides the elevator up to Shelley’s attic. All he does is stand over her crib staring at her, though, and after a few moments he heads to Roman’s room and kisses his forehead. It’s clear by this point that he’s saying his last goodbyes. But what, oh what, is he going to do? Will he kill Olivia? Or will he kill himself? Yeah, it’s himself. Little Kid Roman walks in to see his father’s dead body pouring blood out onto the rug. Olivia comforts him, saying that everything would be alright because Roman is “so much stronger” than his father was.

In present day, Norman is confronting Olivia about the recent increases in funding for Dr. Pryce’s branch of research at the Godfrey Institute. Olivia dodges his lines of questioning expertly, but Norman isn’t easily deterred. And then finally, someone finds Brooke Bluebell’s body. Remember when that happened? The poor girl’s been rotting away in a shed while all this other drama-filled stuff happened. The cops quickly swarm the area, and when the Sheriff and his lackeys see Peter walking by on the way to school, they start to interrogate him. They let him go pretty quickly, but all is not well, because Christina has been spreading tales; everyone at Peter’s school is whispering about him being a werewolf. Norman, meanwhile, is tasked with introducing the Sheriff to the aforementioned Dr. Pryce so they can discuss details of Brooke’s case. Pryce tells them it’s definitely an animal attack, though he doesn’t know what kind. At night, Peter goes to the place where Brooke died to search in the dirt for clues – and finds Roman Godfrey instead, who introduces himself by saying, “So how did it feel when you killed that girl?”

Main Cast

 * Famke Janssen as Olivia Godfrey
 * Bill Skarsgård as Roman Godfrey
 * Landon Liboiron as Peter Rumancek
 * Penelope Mitchell as Letha Godfrey
 * Freya Tingley as Christina Wendall
 * Dougray Scott as Norman Godfrey

Supporting Cast

 * Lili Taylor as Lynda Rumancek
 * Joel de la Fuente as Dr. Johann Pryce
 * Laurie Fortier as Marie Godfrey
 * Aaron Douglas as Sheriff Tom Sworn
 * Nicole Boivin as Shelley Godfrey
 * Amazon Eve as the body of Shelley Godfrey

Guest Cast

 * Paul Popowich as J.R. Godfrey
 * Lorenza Izzo as Brooke Bluebell
 * Emilia McCarthy as Alyssa Sworn
 * Eliana Jones as Alexa Sworn
 * Dylan Trowbridge as Nose
 * Marty Adams as Neck
 * Don Francks as Nicolae Rumancek (credit only)
 * Jennifer Gibson as Mrs. Banks
 * Joe Bostick as Vice Principal
 * Shiva Negar as Brunette
 * Alexander Marsh as Young Roman
 * Alanis Peart as Mrs. Pisarro

Songs from the Show

 * Unidentified song (JR approaches Olivia with a gun)
 * Various compositions by Nathan Barr