Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace: Hell Hath Fury (S1E02)

Plot Summary

The second episode of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace wastes no time escalating both the supernatural threat and the narrative confusion. This time, Darkplace Hospital faces an ancient evil unleashed through the emotions of a wronged woman, because in the logic of the show, emotional distress and demonic possession are basically the same thing.

A female patient arrives suffering from mysterious symptoms that are quickly linked to suppressed rage. Naturally, this rage manifests as a literal demon, one that feeds on fury and possesses hospital staff with little warning or explanation. Dr Rick Dagless takes the lead, delivering intense monologues that suggest deep psychological insight while providing almost no practical help.

The episode leans heavily into gender politics as filtered through 1980s horror clichés. Liz Asher’s emotional detachment is framed as both a strength and a threat, while male characters react to female anger with a mixture of fear, confusion, and pseudo-scientific nonsense. The demon itself appears sporadically, sometimes as a presence, sometimes as a full possession, with no clear rules governing its behaviour.

As the plot barrels towards its conclusion, solutions are proposed and abandoned at random. Dagless ultimately confronts the evil through sheer force of will and cryptic dialogue, resolving the crisis in a way that feels more accidental than heroic. The hospital is saved, lessons are not learned, and no one appears particularly changed by the experience.

Highlights

• The demon as a manifestation of rage, an absurd but fitting horror metaphor.
• Rick Dagless’ increasingly overwrought seriousness, played completely straight.
• Uncomfortable gender commentary that perfectly mimics outdated horror writing.
• Visual effects that are ambitious, cheap, and entirely unconvincing.

What Doesn’t Work:

• The rules of possession are inconsistent and often contradictory.
• Female characters are underwritten, even within the parody framework.
• The demon’s motivations are vague and shift without explanation.
• The resolution arrives suddenly and ignores most of the episode’s setup.

Final Thoughts

“Hell Hath Fury” doubles down on everything that makes Darkplace work. The plotting is incoherent, the themes are clumsy, and the performances are wildly uneven, all by design. It skewers horror television’s historic discomfort with female anger while simultaneously revelling in its own bad taste. As a follow-up episode, it confirms that the series is committed to pushing its parody as far as it will go, logic be damned.