'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels' Episode 9: Santa Muerte's magic might be channeled through those she touches
In episode 1, we saw Magda (Natalie Dormer) issue an open challenge to her sister Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo) for nothing less than the collective soul of humanity. Since then Magda disguised as Elsa, Alex, and Rio, and also in her true demonic 'Beast' form has been proactively manipulating events and people to take advantage of the worst instincts of men and women.
In comparison, Santa Muerte has been disappointingly passive. Even though Maria Vega (Adriana Barraza) has begged for her help repeatedly to protect her family against "her b***h of a sister", she has evaded her pleas. Santa Muerte proclaims to Maria her disinterest in anything besides her task of ferrying souls to peace after their difficult lives and sometimes painful deaths.
But 'Our Lady of Holy Death' has stirred out of her seeming apathy in two dramatic confrontations with Magda. Once, to fling Tiago Vega, who is just a young boy at the time, out of harm's way and away from the flames that are consuming his father. This leaves an imprint of her hand on his chest that Maria believes is the mark of special grace -- she believes Tiago has been 'touched' by Santa Muerte.
Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto), on the other hand, remembers seeing Santa Muerte carry his father away and blames her for his death, not knowing that Magda is behind the sudden fire that blazed on the farms that day. But Santa Muerte's touch might be what eventually leads him to seek the middle path in all he does, despite all the internal angst it stirs up. He hates taking sides like Santa Muerte. He also becomes a protector of the living just like she is a protector of the dead. As a cop, and now as Molly's lover, he is the bridge between worlds in conflict.
The second time that Santa Muerte moves is to protect Raul Vega (Adam Rodriguez) from Magda in his injured state. She brings him back from death's door, answering Maria's prayers. So Raul too has been 'touched' by Santa Muerte. Since the shooting and his recovery, Raul seems to have lost his fiery 'union leader' edge. Instead of raring for a fight, he sits on the couch and refuses to get drawn into fights even when his mother chides him for "doing nothing" when Josephina prepares to leave the house.
In all the mayhem of Episode 9 'Sing Sing Sing', there is a small throwaway dialogue that is extremely significant. Raul tells Maria that ever since he came back to life, he feels he has a purpose but he does not know what it is. Maria to distract him from his troubled, pensive thoughts asks him to take her out dancing because she is been battling the "German witch" all day, referring to Elsa.
What are the odds that Molly too asks Tiago that she wants to have a night out in town? They are both in hiding because Tiago is keeping out of sight to evade the Nazis and Molly, as always, is escaping her fame as the Temple priestess. When the Vega family members have their unexpected reunion at Crimson Cat, Maria is perceptive enough to say that maybe Molly will be the priest in her family that she has been waiting for -- the one she can pass on her legacy as Santa Muerte's priestess to.
Both Raul and Tiago, Santa Muerte's soldiers of peace, help broker a truce among the Vega family members and the factions they represent in the outer world. Significantly, Josephina comes back to the family fold after realizing that Sister Molly is just plain Molly too. She realizes that just like Molly, she does not have to abandon love and family for her devotion to God. Tiago also lets Mateo know how much he loves him, which is probably what young Mateo needs to hear the most right now as violence permeates his life.
Magda disguised as Rio looks highly displeased with all this. In a sense, Santa Muerte's priestess, Maria, and her soldiers, Tiago and Raul, have effectively stalled her plans. But unfortunately, men are often evil even without her help as we see the police officers lynch Diego, one of the Pachucos, and hang him from a tree while he is being transported to lock up. Will the fragile peace that the Vega family have brokered withstand the winds of war?
'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels' will air its next episode on June 28 on Showtime.