Dune: Prophecy leans on its supporting cast is slick, setup-heavy fifth episode

Believe it or not, we've arrived at the penultimate episode of the first season of Dune: Prophecy. Yep, there is only one more episode left in this six-episode season.

Some fans have written off the show as too short to be worth investing in, and there are points in this journey where I've thought that another episode or two could have helped. But I also want to applaud Dune: Prophecy for making the most of the time it's been alotted. A ton happened in each episode and continues to happen here.

I'll admit that I found this penultimate episode to be a little sleepy, which I attribute to it spending a lot of time with characters other than Valya (Emily Watson) and Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams). On the one hand, I commend Dune: Prophecy for committing to being an ensemble show, but I don't think it's taken the time to develop any of the characters like it has Valya and Tula. Still, there's a lot to chew on as the show winds its way toward what will hopefully be an epic finale.

Review: Dune: Prophecy Episode 5, "In Blood, Truth"

We open in the aftermath of the chaotic Landsraad meeting where Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) burned a bunch of criminals (and at least one Landsraad member) to death with his powers. Emperor Javicco (Mark Strong) is firmly in control of the Imperium and Desmond Hart his empowered attack dog. Princess Ynez (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina) is not pleased about this at all and stalks away from a military ceremony as soon as she's able.

Ynez and Constantine (Josh Heuston) have a heart-to-heart after he bailed on backing her up at the Landsraad meeting last week. She forgives him, and he says he won't let her down like that again, and I don't feel like I'm as moved as I should be. Remember: their relationship was forged in fire when Ynez was young and kidnapped by a group of her father's enemies, and Constantine came along with her rather than let her face the ordeal alone. But whereas we got to see Valya and Tula's painful pasts in flashback, we only heard about what happened to Ynez and Constantine. It's moments like this where I really wish the show had more episodes to play with, so we could explore and feel those dynamics more fully.

That said, "In Blood, Truth" is probably the episode where Constantine get the most character development he's gotten so far. His mother Francesca (Tabu), a Bene Gessert sister and quite possibly the great love of Emperor Corrino's life, arrives on Salusa Secundus in response to Constantine's summons...or at least that's what she thinks. Really Valya summoned her here to try and reestablish control over House Corrino. And it seems to work! By the end of the episode, Javicco is once again besotted with Francesca, much to the fury of his wife Natalya (Jodhi May), who kisses Desmond Hart full on the lips and makes a deal with him to rid the Imperium of these witches forever.

We'll see what comes of that soon enough. For now, I continue to enjoy how the show makes the Bene Gesserit out to be eveyr bit the careful long-term planners they are in Frank Herbert's Dune books. Even Javicco's love for Francesca is something that they planned and executed decades ago. Valya isn't in this episode much, but even with her limited screentime, she comes off as formidable.

Another example of Valya's aptitude: she sends Harrow Harkonnen (Edward Davis) into the Imperial Palace to make nice with Desmond Hart. He passs along some advice about where to find the rebels who tried to blow up the Landsraad, advice Desmond accepts because he thinks Harrow is trying to worm his way back into the emperor's good graces. But really he's leading Desmond into Valya's trap.

Desmond follows the bread crumbs to the bar where Kieran Atreides (Chris Mason) and Mikaela (Shalom Brune-Franklin) hatched their rebel schemes. Mikaela, let us remember, is a Bene Gesserit plant, so she's ready with explosive charges that blow up the bar in a fun action scene. Desmond survives by using his shield, but Valya says there's a contingency plan for him. After all this, I believe her. The rivalry between those two has been a great source of tension and I hope they share another scene in the finale.

A minute ago I said that Constantine gets some character development in this episode. Seeing him with his mother after a long absence adds a new dimension to him, and he asks her a hard question: if the Bene Gesserit do nothing without a purpose, what was her purpose in having him? She answers him honestly: his purpose is to protect his sister, whom the Bene Gesserit have pegged as the next leader of the Imperium. That's got to inspire a bit of an existential crisis, one that Constantine seems to resolve by embracing his role: after finding evidence that Kieran is a rebel, Constantine turns him in

Abomination, but in a fun way

All of this is decently entertaining, but most of it is about getting pieces into place before the finale. The same is true back on Wallach IX, but there's more sci-fi craziness in this part of the show, so I enjoyed it more.

Episode 4 ended with the reveal that Lila (Chloe Lea) is alive, revived with the help of thinking machines. But she's still in the same place she was at after she failed to emerge from the spice agony a few episodes ago: with her foremothers fighting for control of her body. Tula is confident that they will subside in time, and drafts Sister Jen (Chloe Lea) to stay by Lila's side and help her get back to herself. "I'm going to show you something," Tula tells Jen, "and you're going to have an opinion about it."

Things get really interesting when Lila is possessed by the consciousness of her great-grandmother Raquella, the original Mother Superior of the Sisterhood. This gives Chloe Lea a chance to show off her acting chops; I truly believed she was inhabited by the spirit of a different person, which is impressive considering how young she is.

In the modern Dune world, the Bene Gesserit call this kind of thing abomination, and it is strictly forbidden. Perhaps Dune: Prophecy will show us why. Anyway, Raquella helps Tula figure out what burned Kasha, and what's giving the acolytes nightmares: it's some kind of virus that the thinking machines used against people back during the Machine Wars. I've thought for a while that the show was teasing some kind of artificially intelligent enemy on the horizon, and this adds more fuel to the fire.

What does it all mean? Check back next week to find out. Much rides on the finale. This show has been solid but not spectacular enough to guarantee itself a second season, and it doesn't have much time left to prove itself. I think it has what it takes, so I'll be watching. Will enough people watch with me to ensure a return to the Dune universe on TV?

Dune: Bullet Points

• Adding in a new character like Francesca this late in the game may seem like the show is over-stuffing itself, but we already met her in Valya's flashbacks, when she was played as a Bene Gesserit acolyte by Charithra Chandran, so I think the show gets away with it.
• Harrow Harkonnen leaves Salusa Secundus to go bury his uncle Evgeny (Mark Addy) on the Harkonnen home world of Lankiveil. It's not clear if he knows that Valya was responsible for Evgeny's death, or if he does, whether he cares. This is another time when I wish we had another episode or two to flesh out the supporting cast.
• Kieran is present with Mikaela when she blows up the bar, and finds out that she's a Bene Gesserit plant. I don't know what import that will have in the finale, though. There are a lot of dangling strings and I imagine the final episode will only be able to tie up so many of them.
• Princess Ynez goes to visit Kieran after he gets found out and hung in suspensor jail. She uses truth sense on him to find out whether their time together meant anything, but because she isn't fully trained in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, the effects that usually accompany the use of truth sense are a bit janky and jumbled. A nice little touch.
• I need to shout out actor Barbara Marten, who has been doing a bang-up job of playing Sister Avila since the start of the show. She gives a great scandalized reaction shot when she learns that Lila is alive.

Episode Grade: B-

Dune: Prophecy reviews:

• Episode 1: "The Hidden Hand"
• Episode 2: "Two Wolves"
• Episode 3: "Sisterhood Above All"
• Episode 4: "Twice Born"

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