#I am so happy to say I got to sing this in Grace Cathedral in San Francisco with my octet.

[guttersnarls]

Papal regalia, on-stage rituals and razzle-dazzle rock’n’roll: Why Ghost are the biggest Satanic band on the planet

 Independent 3/6/22

I ask if Forge identifies as a Satanist and without hesitation he opens up. “You know, Christianity is to blame for so much evil. And you have Isis, you know. That’s all in the name of God, right?” He goes on to say that modern Satanism is probably closest to his own belief system. “Pop cultural Satanism is all about humanity. It’s all about being able to express yourself and having the ability to. We’re f***ing humanists.” He goes on to say that he’s been invited onto TV debates with various religious leaders but always politely declines. “At the end of the day, I am an entertainer,” he reasons. “We’re here to make people happy, our goal is not to make [religious people] angry.

The wildly successful Swedish group are bringing fun and theatrics back to heavy metal. Jak Hutchcraft meets founder Tobias Forge to talk blasphemy, steampunk and their wild new album ‘Impera’ -

“What we’re trying to do is orchestrate a religious event, with all the bombastic nature of a mass, but without the guilt,” explains Tobias Forge, the enigmatic frontman of Swedish metal band Ghost, of a typical gig. “We want you to make you feel good about yourself when you leave.”

For well over a decade, Ghost have been doing a pretty good job of that. Spreading their joyous gospel far and wide, they’re currently in the middle of a massive global arena tour and have just graced the covers of heavy metal bibles Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. In a few days, they release Impera, their extravagant fifth album. They are both very big and very weird – fans of ultra-gothic face paint, expensive-looking masks and dressing up like The Pope. A recipe for cult success maybe, but how did Ghost get so popular?

Let’s go back to the start. This eight-piece metal band began in 2006 in the small, lakeside cathedral city of Linkoping in southern Sweden. Theatre enthusiast and songwriter Tobias Forge had been cutting his teeth in local glam and death metal bands since the mid Nineties, but had long dreamt of being part of something bigger.

What he came up with was the airtight concept of anonymous musicians dressed in papal regalia, flamboyant stage shows in the style of Iron Maiden, and classic rock-edged, AOR-inspired gothic metal. Forge’s aim was to bring the razzle-dazzle of Alice Cooper and Kiss to the 21st century, with softly sung lyrics gunning for organised religion and political corruption. In 2008, he posted three songs on MySpace. Within a year they were signed.

Since then Ghost (originally known as Ghost BC in the US) have released four critically acclaimed albums, won two Grammys and toured the world with Guns N’ Roses and Alice In Chains. They’ve even sold out the Royal Albert Hall. They’ve got plenty of rock star fans – including Dave Grohl, who produced a 2013 EP – but their most important achievement is the dedicated on-the-ground following they’ve cultivated, spanning hardcore kids, veteran rockers and emo teens.

It would be hard to pinpoint a typical Ghost devotee, due to the impressively broad range of fans they attract. You could say it’s a broad church. “Style-wise you have the metal heads and the not-so-metal heads, and the pop girls,” says Forge. “They like Star Wars, they like comic books, they like horror films. They like rock music with a slight nostalgia touch of the Seventies and Eighties.”

Ghost’s frontman and master of ceremonies is currently between gigs. The band played a sold-out show in Cincinnati last night and Forge is gearing up for Milwaukie in a few hours. After their epic American crusade, there’s a run of shows across the UK and Europe – including the 20,000 capacity O2 Arena – to further share the lavish sounds of Impera.

Its 12 tracks don’t stray too far from the extravagant metal of their previous records, full of dark sing-alongs and vintage songwriting that sounds as if rock never entered the Nineties. When it comes to inspiration, Forge name-checks artists as diverse as US punk trailblazers Bad Religion, singer-songwriter Tori Amos and Danish heavy metallers King Diamond. It’s a combination that makes Ghost truly unlike any of their contemporaries and Impera is the sound of a band at their musical peak. Try the gothic groove of single “Call Me Little Sunshine” – a highlight on an album that’s full of them. Not only will it make old fans rejoice, it’s the perfect starting place for the curious and uninitiated.

“On this record, we are in a kind of Victorian industrialism,” Forge explains of the concept behind the new LP. “It’s the late 1800s and there’s no city that fully embodies that more than London, so it’s set there.”

In January the band projected huge, eerie images onto landmarks in the capital, including St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, to promote the record. Forge cites Tim Burton’s Batman and Bram Stoker’s Dracula as inspirations for the semi-fantasy world of Impera, while closing track “Respite on the Spitalfields” is a story of companionship and fear in the time of Jack the Ripper.

“Not only is it a visually pleasing and interesting era, but it’s similar to today in the sense that the world was also going through a big industrial revolution,” explains Forge, channeling this historian within. “People were made redundant, but back then there were a lot of other jobs. Nowadays, for every invention, for every app that some asshole comes up with, there are so many people who are made completely superfluous. That is not good for humanity.”

Speaking of redundancies, Ghost have gone through four incarnations of Forge’s frontman character over the years. First he was Papa Emeritus I, dressed as a wicked Pope with skeletal black and white makeup, then he became Papa Emeritus II, before Papa Emeritus III and Papa Nihil. Each character is dramatically killed off or replaced at the end of each album campaign, with the new character foreshadowing and teasing the theme of the next record. Impera is the first to see Forge performing as Cardinal Copia aka Papa Emeritus IV, complete with bejeweled robes and immaculate corpse paint.

For the first 11 years of the band’s career, Forge was an anonymous and unnamed frontman, further adding to the mystery of Ghost. But his anonymity was brought to an abrupt end in 2017 when four ex-Ghost bandmates tried to sue him for allegedly cheating them out of their share of profits. Forge maintains that they had “no legal contract” and were paid as session musicians. He won the case but in the process lost the mystique he’d meticulously maintained for over a decade. In 2019 he was quoted as having “slightly mixed emotions” about being unmasked. Now he barely gives it a second thought. The unexpected big reveal made little impact on the hold Ghost have on the imaginations of their fans – if anything, it seems to have brought them even more attention.

The fans – who are known as “Ghuleh” if women and “Ghouls” if men – can often be seen dressed in homemade Ghost-inspired attire at gigs; flowing robes, painted faces and ceremonial masks. I ask Forge about his vision and intentions for the live shows, known within the community as “Rituals”.

“Well, it’s theatrical. We are sort of the opposite of Pearl Jam, in that way,” he laughs. The dark side of divinity drives Forge’s creativity. “I’ve always had an intense relationship with organised, linear religion, let’s put it that way. I’m very fascinated with the art and the history of it, but maybe not so much with the rules and the blame and the guilt.”

Ghost’s flirtations with religion have caused some bumps in the road. In 2018, a Christian group prayed outside a gig in Texas, accusing Ghost of “bringing glory to Satan”, and their second album Infestissumam was delayed because manufacturers refused to print its “blasphemous” artwork. I ask Forge whether this kind of reaction is an issue as they continue to ascend into the rock mainstream. “A lot of that [Christian backlash] sort of disappeared after the Eighties,” he shrugs. “You had the crazies or the pastors on TV who came out and said ‘Don’t go and see Ozzy Osbourne! He’s the devil’s advocate!’ But all that did was sell out the show and maybe sell 500,000 more records. They learned their lesson after that.”

I ask if Forge identifies as a Satanist and without hesitation he opens up. “You know, Christianity is to blame for so much evil. And you have Isis, you know. That’s all in the name of God, right?” He goes on to say that modern Satanism is probably closest to his own belief system. “Pop cultural Satanism is all about humanity. It’s all about being able to express yourself and having the ability to. We’re f***ing humanists.” He goes on to say that he’s been invited onto TV debates with various religious leaders but always politely declines. “At the end of the day, I am an entertainer,” he reasons. “We’re here to make people happy, our goal is not to make [religious people] angry.”

It’s true that the world of Ghost is a fun one. There’s a playfulness in their on-stage theatrics, catchy choruses and shock ‘n’ roll celebration. As pop’s major players endlessly share personal content on social media, mystery and myth seem hard to come by. But Ghost have resurrected rock’s arcane and exciting distant past; the epitome of a creative vision well-executed, a cult-following captivated, and the longevity and success that comes with both.

Impera is released 11 March

[longeyelashedtragedy]

first impressions of hozier’s wasteland baby! (my first impressions are usually harsh FYI)

it’s REAL hard for me to listen to an entire album of anything through all at once without hating the album, but i’ll give it my best because this is special and i’ve been really excited for this to come out for a lot of reasons

nina cried power: grows on me a little every time. definitely was a smart start to the album. also fits way better on the album than on the EP

almost (sweet music): wow, such a great transition from ncp to this song. i still think this is real Mehhhhhhh lyrically and it will always sound like a paul simon song to me.  musically really strong which saves it and makes it super listenable!!! what’s going on with the rhythm in the chorus? he syncopates it in an interesting way i think, it keeps it fresh. i do love the line “be still my foolish heart” a lot

movement: y’all know how i feel about this song. nfwmb is still the winner, but movement is...WOW.  a fuckin gay anthem, the song that made Verb a word.  if i think about the significance of these lyrics to me i might cry!  the way he slides his voice so seamlessly through the verses, and then we get that Explosion, just damn. even if you can sing in this guy’s range, you still can’t come close to singing how he does. the a cappella at the end!  i always forget about it and then i have a religious experience for real. like suddenly being drop-kicked into burgos cathedral or something. moving on!

no plan: ok, this is the first new to me song on the album so i’ll just fire off first impressions from here on out. bold, catchy instrumental beginning. too bold?  this sounds weird. too like “adult” and the heaviness of it doesn’t match how graceful his voice is.  this sounds like it’d be playing really loud in a forever 21. jfc i’m gonna have to look up lyrics to read along because i can’t ever pay attention to lyrics when there’s Arrangement and Production Happening. 

Sit here and watch the sunlight fade Honey, enjoy, it's gettin' late

has a gorgeous melody and i’d come back to listen again just for that lol

nobody: a lot of heavy drum intros on this album huh?  omg it’s got that 90s lesbian music organ sound in it.  “It's gin o'clock where I wake up, I don't know” okay edgelord! are you gonna brush your teeth with a bottle of jack? (i say this with love)  this is also sort of too Adult--

But I've had no love like your love, ooh, I'm nobody I'd be appalled if I saw you ever try to be a saint I wouldn't fall for someone I thought couldn't misbehave

FUCK!!! ABORT!!!!  Wh...that’s so shades of “he is the disobedience that holds us together,” a Ghost line that I love, and it is IMPORTANT.  Wow i loved this so much that the song is already over lol

to noise making (sing): this album is so American. this sounds like a mariah carey song to me lmao. “Your awful heart” is a cool line though.  this is growing on me, but it sounds like such a mashup of 90s genres?  that’s interesting, huh

as it was: oh thank god, an acoustic guitar--that’s not something you’ll hear me say a lot.  i’m 100% here for this traditional, softer sound of his. give me some swampy irish blues shit.  ooh i love when he scoops into his lower register. foxgloved as an adjective. who is this “my baby?” the one nobody fucks with?  oh, i love when he starts low and then suddenly sings the next verse high--it’s like a burst of starlight to the ear!  “Make your good love known to me” is a very pleasing line.  

shrike: i don’t have a lot to say about this song...it’s just really, really good and melty-yellow and reminds me of lying in the sun in central park in the fall. 10/10. also it is so strongly associated with my bffff that it makes me really happy.  listening through again, it’s so perfectly crafted. how can you not get shivers at these instrumental bits? hozier at his best is effortless grace. this song sounds like what his hair looks like. oh, also this sounds really good back to back with as it was

talk: ooooh, intriguing beginning.  bateman brain went “this is related to lady gaga’s ‘teeth.’’  OOOH, these vocals.  HOLY SHIT this just got Adult. 

I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee That made him turn around

*

I won't deny I've got in my mind now (Hey, yeah) All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear that you find out (Hey, yeah) How I'm imaginin' you

oh my lordt!  Meu Deus!  i had to pause this shit!  this is just dirty, and that bass line ain’t helping!  also, i am SO IMPRESSED that after literally just 2 seconds my brain was like this is in teeth’s family because it totally is.  INSTANT BEST NEW SONG ON THE ALBUM. whomst the fucc is on bass here?  also that outro sounded like it walked straight of of danzig’s unpopular album 6:66 satan’s child which is one of my favorites hahaha

be: damn i’d hate being the song after talk lol.  50 seconds in + reading the lyrics and i have no impressions.  that’s always weird.  i really want to skip this one and like, let it autoplay at some point when i can listen to it less consciously and see if it sinks in?  but i’m not going to skip it because i want to see how dinner & diatribes sounds after it. this brain is a chore friends

dinner & diatribes: another really well-placed transition. be was sort of a weak song in my opinion so this strong, strong song keeps the momentum going.  i made this observation already but i have a great love for when songs are in 3 but are not floofy and waltzy*.  they get such an urgency to them, the rhythm gets super like...Driven. imagine him really wanting to GTFO and Get It Done(TM). it wouldn’t work as well in a traditional 4.  lyrically i think this song is hilarious and indicative of our boy’s personality

*i also LOVE floofy waltzes lol

would that i: more traditional hozier sound. oh, this is is so good!!! like a sunset over a plains state.  let’s go with nebraska because i’ve been to that one and it made a good visual impression lol. wow these lyrics are...really good and relatable.  i think i’m tearing up. this is another song that sounds very “american” but in a very good way. he does american well lol.  ok so like “i’ve handled the wood” is giggle-worthy but i’m definitely tearing up here and i want to BLAST it in the car next time i drive somewhere

sunlight: dude i am not ready for the next song slow your roll here.  i’m not here for the clunky drum on “sunlight, sunlight, sunlight.”

I have been lost in sunlight Flew like a moth to you, sunlight, oh, sunlight All we love is sunlight All we love is sunlight But it is sunlight

yo that’s legit. occasionally there’s something about this that makes me think of a mid-late beatles song, huh.

Each day, you rise with me Know that I would gladly be The Icarus to your certainty Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight You strap the weight of me A death trap clad happily With wax melted, I need to see Under sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

shit i need to like...Ruminate on these here lyrics.  so this is a rarity in that i will def listen to this explicitly for the lyrics?

the end is growing on me, it’s pretty. possibly too intensely orchestrated for me though lol 

wasteland, baby!: i love anytime a song starts like this.  he did the thing a lot of artists do where they put a very softe song at the end of an album. what the fuck is this effect on his voice? my synesthesia is really bothered by it. i can’t wait to hear this live and more stripped down.  what a sweet melody, possibly i could pull off singing this one.  the melody makes certain references to shrike, it’s another very melty-yellow song, and i think this is very cool and even cooler if intentional.  it ties the album together well because of that.  so i started out not sure about this song and ended up with goosebumps and loving it, though i don’t usually listen to soft music so i probably wouldn’t listen to it as frequently as a few of these others, if you feel me

to sum up my first impressions:

-nina cried power still just ain’t that gr8 to me, though i respect it 

-i liked this so much better than i thought i would, which is relieving 

-i can’t wait to relisten to these in various ways and get to know them better

-nfwmb reigns supreme as a song still, how did he DO that 

-my first re-listen is gonna be Talk feat. alex ryan’s Dirty Bass Line hell ye

[thedaveandkimmershow]

So we had the chocolate Easter bunnies. At least that much was the same.

Otherwise, we kind of made it up as the day went along.

So of course, there was no reason to set an alarm, we simply entered the day when our eyes opened… thankfully in time for the livestream of Andrea Bocelli performing inside the Duomo Cathedral of Milan, Italy.

It’s as Easter service-y as it gets there right now. Just he and the organist, Emanuele Vianelli, performing selections of classical vocal works prefaced by a message to everyone sharing in this moment.

“On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I’m honored and happy to answer ‘Sì’ to the invitation of the City and the Duomo of Milan. I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone – whether they are believers or not – truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth’s pulsing heart, this wonderful international forge that is reason for Italian pride. The generous, courageous, proactive Milan and the whole of Italy will be again, and very soon, a winning model, engine of a renaissance that we all hope for. It will be a joy to witness it, in the Duomo, during the Easter celebration which evokes the mystery of birth and rebirth” Andrea Bocelli

I was especially struck by the scenes of deserted city streets, deserted cities it felt like… Milan, Paris, London, New York all contrasting with Bocelli’s vibrant tenor as he performed “Amazing Grace” ouside, in front of the cathedral.

It was a moving experience… but maybe it was really more an unsettling we’ve-never-been-here-before experience. Uncharted waters, as it were, at scale.

Bocelli’s voice, of course, soared with strength. But the images of absent neighbors and shopkeepers and travelers, absent congregants flocking to the altar, struck a note of deep unease. Something immense and foreboding. Something well beyond our comprehension, our grasp.

And it sets us adrift from our present.

Perhaps, even, our future.

Still, we could’ve watched and listened all day, even as this experience ended just shy of a half-hour.

After Bocelli’s performance, Kimmer had some ideas about what to make for breakfast so she set about putting those plans in action with ingredients like bacon… and a loaf of challah thickly sliced for transformation into lovely French Toast.

For just the right Easter vibe, I fired up a Keith Green playlist on YouTube. He was her favorite Christian artist when she was in high school. His words and music had a great impact on her life.

As she cooked, then, we talked about that experience. Talked about high school and Keith Green and how young he was when he died, and how his wife continues his ministry to this day.

By the time breakfast was ready, Linzy’d come down and joined us.

A little after 12:30PM.

Still, and with Keith Green singing in the background, we had a relaxing and lovely Easter Breakfast in our living room with daylight streaming in from the downtown side of the hill. And I’ve gotta say… there really is something quite wonderful and peaceful about being off schedule, about peace-ing our path through this day.

Afterward, we had an impromptu family movie afternoon with Linzy’s laptop set up where a TV would normally and obviously be in our living room. First up: “Love, Wedding, Repeat”, a hysterically embarrassing movie to watch. Try it sometime and tell me that’s not so.

After that came “Molly’s Game”, a based-on-a-true-story masterpiece written and directed by Aaron Sorkin with unforgettable performances by Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, and Kevin Costner.

By the time credits were rolling on “Molly’s Game”, it was night outside and, for whatever reason, the discussion turned to matters of faith in general. It’s funny how that worked out organically ‘cause we weren’t actually talking about Easter. Just… everyday life and faith.

Now we’re running into 9:30PM and I just realized I hadn’t called my parents to wish them a Happy Easter. So I rolled the dice and made the call hoping my parents hadn’t already called it a day.

My dad answered almost immediately and I got to spend some time speaking with him on the phone. Then I handed the phone to Linzy who spoke with him a while. Then she handed the phone to Kimmer. And yeah I know we weren’t all together for Easter Sunday… but it was still sweet to be able to get on the phone to share some holiday love and warmth.

Afterward, I drove Linzy back to her place and returned to share a Good Friday service online with Kimmer to close out the day.

The Good Friday service, in case you’re wondering, is a video created by River Church Family in Raytown, Missouri, where we have friends. The experience is a combination of scripture readings and personal experiences as they relate to betrayal, loneliness, and other dark emotions that inevitably swirl around this holiday.

Why a Good Friday message on Easter Sunday?

To feel connected with the emotions still very much in the foreground of human experience.  Because to some degree… I’m not as inclined to lean into Jesus’s Victory as I am to His Commission. Toward grace. Toward compassion. Toward service. Toward mercy.

And finally.

The other day we started watching “Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day” and, with a little bit of time left in this day… we decided to pick up where we left off.

Which is the last thing we did on Sunday: we finished the movie.

The End

[nomdeguerreblogs]

You may have done this already, but can you give us your take on Tommy's speech to Grace in the back room of the Garrison in 1.06 (what they're thinking, feeling, what it means for them as characters...)? I know it was a long time ago, but I miss these two and your analyses are always so on point!

Hello anon! I’ve done bits and pieces about the scene but not really an analysis as such and because there’s nothing I like more than overthinking them in S1, I miss them too, and I am so disappointed by the direction SK decided to take with their story arc, I fully intend to go overboard with this.

I’m not sure how much attention you pay to my blog but I’m writing a fic rn (yes it’s still coming I promise) that fills in the time between the end of 1.05 and their Garrison scene of 1.06. It’s an interesting exercise particularly for Grace’s character because during that time she’s relieved that she’s made her choice; she knows it to be the right one for her; they’re in the very first flush of love and in a heady time where everything is magic. Running counter to that though she’s fallen for a guy she thinks is capable of killing her if she’s found out, and hence has to plan her departure. The day when Tommy will be distracted at the races is her best bet and her intention is to play her part through until the Small Heath Rifles head off; but Tommy’s uncharacteristic happiness, declarative gesture going behind the bar to pull beers with her and not-quite proposal break her. She has to confess she’s going and give him the gentlest goodbye she can.

The idea of confession ties in to their church scene of 1.04 and Tommy’s ‘I confess’ in the space traditionally used for admitting one’s faults before an entity bigger than any other. Tommy is twisting the idea because he doesn’t believe, but uses the space because it is beautiful and because it is unfamiliar to Grace and places him in a slightly stronger position in regard to what he plans to tell her. Grace’s (thwarted) confession (SK’s toying with the idea of her absolution in Tommy’s eyes here, I think, especially with the love your enemy notion that comes through the letter) takes place in The Garrison, the location in the series that truly is the church for the damned, a cathedral to alcohol and escapism full of light and shining surfaces in the midst of the Small Heath grime, a place for congregations to gather and sing reality away.

Tommy’s emotional proximity to Grace is reflected through the series by their relative physical positions in The Garrison. He might own the pub, but in S1 the space more truly belongs to Grace who (excepting the very early scene with Freddie and Danny Whizz-Bang before she’s even made that entrance in emerald-isle green) is always there when he turns up. Always. The only scenes where she isn’t present come after the scene you’ve asked about and then her absence is the whole point. Their relationship is so closely tied to The Garrison that it could be implied in 2.02 as Tommy, alone, looks out over the re-opening celebrations even before her letter comes out for a sorrowful torching. Honestly he’s never looked more isolated and I still break a little at that moment. Anyway, Tommy S1 initially spends a lot of time in the snug, his bit of The Garrison, and frequently early on his interactions with Grace are either side of the pass-through. Then he’s more frequently in the main bar, culminating in the telling moment at the end of 1.04 when he’s left his brothers in the snug to spend time with her. And 1.05 happens: we see Grace for the first time working out the back where Tommy comes to tell her about Black Star Day (she moves out to continue on the paperwork for the scene with Arthur, and as there’s no logical explanation for that I think it indicates relative levels of intimacy, as well as serving the purely practical purpose of bringing the cash register into the scene); then Tommy is behind the bar with her for the ‘here’s how to handle my gun’ (lmao) scene that leads into the murders; lastly they’re in the back room, alone, and he’s facing imminent danger to see her. So they start in a public space with almost a wall between them, and wind up in a private space with a wall between them and everyone else. Notably, following those scenes in the back room, their next together are both at Grace’s bedsit and more intimate still.

The scene in episode 6 reprises the back room scene from 1.05 in many ways, but turns the tables. They switch positions as who is making the disclosure changes; Grace is pulling a risky move to be there. But, where Tommy was going to ‘be back,’ Grace isn’t, so she attempts to tell him ‘some things’ because she’s not going to have another opportunity, or so she thinks. She loves him, she owes it to him, it’s a further step she’s taking to rectify what she had to do in her job (the first was hiding him that night). It’s utterly heartbreaking for her (and us) because he’s just made a fucking joke and semi-proposed, in front of everyone, while pouring pints to help her out. A jaw-dropping ‘who is that guy?’ moment (and designed somewhat for viewers to compare Tommy in love to Freddie in love…).

But now to Tommy’s lines, delivered with increasing desperation. Once Grace says she’s leaving and is clearly upset about it he reaches for why and finds his class insecurity; “I know you weren’t born to be with a man like me.” He then promises that he will make good of his circumstances, something he always intended; then, to shut down ‘some of that other stuff,’ something he possibly did in the moment to convince her he’s worthy and has ultimately good intentions, but when he says it he means it. He tries to impress her, another theme, by talking about opening a club in London. He changes gear when he reminds her she’s got a contract with a real ‘limited’ company (calling to her line ‘to be respectable you have to be limited’ from 1.04), an obligation she has to him and for just a second his gesture is slightly controlling as he grips her chin before thinking better of it. He promises he’s going to make a success of things, she believes him and tells him she knows, cradles his face. So then he thinks she might just be overwhelmed by the idea of marrying him (class issues again) and says he’s not talking about that, slightly loses his train of thought, and winds up holding her hands with the lines that unintentionally really twist the knife in: “We know each other. We can talk. We’re the same.” He’s right, and here the scene echoes the ‘you’ve seen me’ moment that is the most explicit portrayal of them as mirror images of one another. The camerawork frames her face, then his, then hers etc in a paean to blue eyes, bone structure and innate communication (the same approach is taken to the scene at the races in 2.06). All of it breaks any remaining resolve she had not to disclose her reasons for coming into his life; “Tommy, I’ve done something terrible to you.” Jeremiah Jesus bursts in with the news about Kimber and his men, they share a final, shocked look and Tommy leaves hastily to round up the men and weapons.

Thank you anon xx