Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - 'The Black Tower'

"A a little bit of this..."

Dr Greysteel: "Do you wish to be shot?"
Mr Drawlight: "No."
Dr Greysteel: "Then behave differently."

While Mr Norrell deploys magic to eliminate all copies of his rival's book, Strange has made his way to Venice to seek the madness that will circumvent the Gentleman's glamours of concealment. After assaying various chemical methods, he finally buys the madness of a crazy cat lady, allowing him to deal with the Gentleman and, in the latter's confusion, gain access to the token of his last bargain; Lady Pole's finger. Thus he is able to locate Lost Hope and learn of the fate of Lady Pole, Stephen Black and the enchanted Arabella. Thus the lines are drawn. The Gentleman traps Strange in a tower of eternal night, but Strange counters this by throwing open the doors which contain English magic.

Meanwhile, Stephen Black learns more of the prophecy from Vinculus, who bears the Raven King's book on his skin after his father rashly ate the tome after losing a bet, but is still unable to escape the hateful thrall of the Gentleman. Norrell and Lascelles send Drawlight to spy on Strange and his friendship with a disgraced adventuress, only for Drawlight to be recruited as Strange's messenger, while Childermass scores over Lascelles when the increasing magical presence makes him the more useful sounding board. Meanwhile, England is turning on magic as a result of Norrell's pettiness and the future of English magic is in crisis with the impending return not merely of the magic itself, but of the Raven King.

In many ways, this is the episode where shit gets real, as the Gentleman is drawn into direct conflict with Strange and shoots his bolt summoning the Black Tower, while Strange goes all out in response. With all this, the friendship between former Byron groupie Flora Greysteel and Strange is an oddity, rather low key, but one expects potentially important, especially when Strange offers to teach her magic, the ultimate defiance of Norrell's way of doing things. It also gives a perfect foil for Bertie Carvel's superb performance as the unravelling Strange, while the far more understated Eddie Marsan continues to impress as Norrell, quietly shedding a tear for the beauty of his erstwhile comrade's work, before setting out to destroy it.

'THe Black Tower' continues to build the pace of the series, which began so sedately in 'The Friends of English Magic', and one can only hope it manages to keep going through the finale next week.