Renegade Nell – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Devil’s Dung

Renegade Nell Episode 4 begins with Nell and Rasselas heading to look for a surgeon. She does find one but he’s an old and doddering man.

Meanwhile, Roxy worries about George and wishes she knew what to do. A mysterious golden light leads her to a book on a shelf. Inside, she finds a recipe for an ointment for wounds. Also mysteriously, the ingredients for the recipe are pushed into the house.

On the way back to the house, Nell chats with the doctor and learns that Devereaux was taken to prison. Devereaux, meanwhile, is taken to a nice, furnished room and told to stay there.

Sofia returns from London and, ironically, Thomas advises her to stay away from Poynton. But she has arranged for him to move in with them. Thomas admits it was Poynton who told him to kill his father but Sofia believes Poynton isn’t a threat.

Roxy puts the ointment for George and Nell soon arrives with the surgeon. He says he can try to save her life but it looks unlikely. While the surgeon is working, Roxy tells Nell she thinks she has some kind of magic.

It turns out to be a woman named Lady Eularia who has brought Devereaux out of prison. Apparently, she’s his fiancee and is very angry about his liaison with Nell. He tries to make up a story but she doesn’t believe him and leaves him to be sent back to prison.

After the surgery, the surgeon takes his leave. By now, he has realised that the woman hiring him is Nell. She tells him the truth and the surgeon suggests they meet his older brother who is a magistrate in Oxford – Jeremiah Tuplow. After he leaves, Nell tells the others she’s going to Oxford for a few days.

Meanwhile, Poynton moves into the Blancheford estate. Sofia asks Poynton to teach her about the dark arts. Poynton then admits he’s a Jacobite. In exchange for teaching Sofia, he wants her to do something for him. Poynton says the rightful heir to the throne, a James Francis Edward Stuart, is going to invade the country and take the queen’s place. He wants Sofia to help.

Sofia then confesses that it wasn’t Jackson but Thomas who killed her father. When she brings up Thomas’s accusation about Poynton, he dismisses it. Then, Sofia tries out a small spell and it works.

Nell makes her way to see Jeremiah Tuplow. She’s explaining the situation to him when he suddenly collapses on the table. A man enters to help and proclaims him dead. He then finds a paper on which Tuplow had written the words Nelly Jackson. Of course, Nell finds herself cornered and has to run off once again at the end of Renegade Nell Episode 4.

The Episode Review

Renegade Nell Episode 4 is, again, a tad slow. This series does seem at its best when it’s going at breakneck speed, tinged with chaos. There is a lot of waiting for this episode. Waiting to find a doctor, waiting for George to heal, waiting for Devereaux to be saved. It is definitely not as captivating as the thrill of the chase when Nell is running away, dodging bullets and whatnot. Even the twist ending is just prolonging Nell’s misfortune by a bit too much.

We do get a few interesting scenes. Roxy’s magic is certainly intriguing and I hope it’s not just Billy being kind. There should be something more going on there. Lady Eularia is also fascinating, more so when you realise she’s Devereaux’s fiancé! I wonder if she’ll play a bigger role. Meanwhile, Poynton’s schemes are pretty much expected. Things would definitely be more exciting if his villainy wasn’t so painfully conventional.