Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell Recap: The Black Tower

On that note, it seems Strange’s book has been published in his absence, and is selling like hotcakes. Unfortunately, no one told him it was Banned Books Week for the rest of forever in England, and Norrell pulls out the full abracadabra to zap each and every copy out of existence. Norrell’s action is both rude and anti-capitalist, but for now, the secrets of English magic have been preserved.
On any other day, all this would probably upset Strange, but he’s rather focused on his mission: finding the right crazy-potion cocktail to catch a Faerie. The theory behind his quest: madness opens up a window to the Faerie, who can resurrect his dearly departed wife—whom he still does not know was actually a swamp-born replica of the original.
Strange has tried every acid trip known to man, to such a degree that his dealer cuts him off, right in front of—new character alert—Flora, former flame of Lord Byron, and all-around beacon of normalcy. Flora and her father are in Venice to visit a colleague’s relative, who turns out to be three sheets to the wind when it comes to his sanity. Flora is taken by the nutty professor vibe, and she, her father, and Strange partake in a delightful brunch conversation about the nature of Faeries and old ladies who eat birds.
Having tried everything else, Strange seizes this opportunity to try the last sure-fire path to madness: a crazy old cat lady. He follows Flora and her father to the old woman’s home, where he strikes a bargain: I’ll give you your heart’s desire if you give me your insanity. In the single weirdest bit of magic so far, he feeds her an enchanted mouse, which turns her into a cat. He then eats the same mouse—don’t ask—and animorphs into a lunatic.
Meanwhile, in non-mouse-eating news, Parliament is up in arms about Strange, the Raven King, Norrell’s book-stealing, and just about everything else that’s been going on. After getting scolded by Sir Walter Pole for being a Grade-A ninny, Norrell rallies the members of his small council around one need: finding Strange.
This desperate quest leads them to the slammer, where they spring Drawlight on the condition that he find Strange and report back. Despite his reputation as a bookish, toady recluse, Norrell manages a rather intimidating stance while promising to ruin Drawlight’s pitiful existence if he fails. Things will not get better for Drawlight over the next half-hour.
Things are improving, however, for Vinculus, who, like everyone else, promises Stephen freedom and power—this time from his Faerie overlord. Stephen falls for this line again and agrees to free Vinculus from Mssrs. Segundus and Honeyfoot’s Home for the Mentally Inconvenient. They set out on a roadtrip to a tree, a location at which Vinculus claims to have a prophesied meeting.
Speaking of prophesied meetings! Strange’s mousetrap has succeeded, and he finally gets his meeting with The Gentleman, who is so uncomfortable, you can almost see his hair move. The cause could be the web of lies he and Norrell have constructed. After all, Strange knows nothing about the following:

• Norrell and The Gentleman have met.
• The Gentleman keeps Lady Pole trapped in nightly balls.
• The Gentleman kidnapped Arabella and hypnotized her into happiness.
• The Gentleman replaced Arabella with a swamp creature, for whom Strange bargained her away.

That’s a lot to keep hidden as the looney magician attempts to forge “an alliance” with the Faerie. And, of course, it doesn’t stay hidden for long. In their tete-a-tete, Strange unravels the whole sordid affair after The Gentleman says he cannot bring back Arabella from the dead—probably because she is not dead—and offers to set him up on some blind dates.
The parting gift from this infuriating conversation: Lady Pole’s finger, which Strange uses to lead him to Lost-hope. Inside, he finds a ball in progress, and Arabella, who does not recognize him in the slightest. The Gentleman has no tolerance for party-crashers, and summons all his powers to magic the miscreant away.
In fact, the Faerie’s solving problems right and left. Up next is Vinculus: he and Stephen are still traveling. Vinculus reveals that The Raven King’s book he keeps talking about? Well, he’s it: He was born tattooed with the words of The Raven King. Here, he and Stephen pause to have a deep conversation about how their skins have defined their destinies.
This bonding moment does not last long. Once they reach the fabled tree, the pair is joined by The Gentleman, who is astonished this “little pig-person” can see him. He decides to kill everyone’s favorite vagrant for being ridiculous and ugly.
Despite the noose around his neck, I’m not convinced Vinculus is actually dead, but his fate is preferable to Strange’s. When The Gentleman disposed of Strange, he cursed the magician to life inside a tower of eternal night, displayed as swirling vortex of doom in the middle of Venice.
Because that is his luck, Drawlight gets pulled into this tower and threatened once again. “I brought you here to help me,” Strange tells him. “Oh, good,” Drawlight and the audience reply.
Drawlight leaves with some “to-dos”: bring Lady Pole’s finger and all the gory details of Norrell’s doings to Childermass, deliver a letter directly to Lady Pole, and finally, tell Norrell that Strange is coming for him. Not that it’s any surprise to Norrell, who’s packing up his belongings and heading for Hurtfew.
Only one more episode to tie up all the loose, insane ends. I can’t be alone in hoping next week’s finale ends with Childermass throwing up his hands, tracking down Flora, and forgoing the world of magic for the lives of reasonable, normal people.
What do you think of the adaptation so far?