Dracula “Goblin Merchant Men” 

Grayson has managed to take three members of the Order out so far. He killed Sir Clive, Lord Laurent’s life was taken by the Order for his betrayal and Daniel killed himself because he couldn’t go on without his lover. In addition, Grayson now has controlling interest of British Imperial Coolant. He’s well on his way to exacting his revenge on the Order. Van Helsing helps Grayson take care of the Seers and in order to keep Mina in his orbit, Grayson helps her and Harker reconcile. All and all, he’s getting a lot done in a very short amount of time. I’m impressed.

I can’t be the only one who feels like Grayson acts like a bit of a stalker towards Mina, right? I won’t say I hate it, because I don’t. I understand his need to observe from afar and I’ve enjoyed their interactions so far. I think that Mina also feels a connection to him, which perhaps makes it a bit less creepy. Either way, I do enjoy that Grayson is there to encourage Mina when she needs it and as a sounding board when she feels like she can’t talk to anyone else. I look forward to the progression of this relationship.

I’ve been wondering when we’d get a little more insight into Renfield and I was very pleased by what we saw in this episode. Renfield has seemed to be a sort of valet/right-hand-man to Grayson since we met him. Renfield knows Grayson’s secrets – or at least some of the big ones – but I wonder if he knows them all. More than that, we find out what kind of man Renfield is in this episode. When Harker tries to defend him, Renfield takes him to task. He doesn’t need or want anyone to speak on his behalf; he can do it himself.

Other highlights:

• We see the Order make Grayson into a vampire. They thought this punishment would lead to his eternal torment, which is does. But they didn’t realize just how physically powerful he’d become as well.

• Grayson finds a dungeon in Lady Jayne’s house where she’s keeping at least one vampire, who begs him to kill her. He can’t if he wants his cover to remain intact.

• Van Helsing is able to get his sunlight cure to work for just over three minutes. Grayson is not impressed.

• Although she accidentally sleeps through Van Helsing’s class after a night of indulging in absinthe with Lucy, he agrees to take her on as his teaching assistant.

Questions:

• Is Lucy gay? She had a very tender moment with Mina, who managed to sleep through it. Lucy seems interested in men – or at least in flirting with them.

• How and why did Renfield come to work for Grayson? In the lore, he’s a mentally disturbed individual who becomes a minion of Dracula. He’s very different here and I find that very intriguing.

• What will Lady Jayne and Browning do now that their Seers are dead? Lady Jayne thinks London is about to be infested with vampire vermin. I wonder if that’s Grayson’s plan.

• How will Lord Davenport try to revenge his son’s death? He blames Grayson – as he should – but does he realize just how powerful an enemy Grayson is?

Dracula airs Fridays at 10/9c on NBC.