# data[].attributes.body
1. Creator of the Show
2. About the Show
3. Character Background
4. Interview with Famke Janssen
5. More from behind Olivia's character

# data[].attributes.body
“To rise, a victim of your own hand. It is the way of our kind.”

# data[].attributes.body
"But as he discovered history's truest and cruelest nature to repeat... I was there for him."-Olivia Godfrey
"You don't win" -Roman Godfrey
"Oh darling, I always win." -Olivia Godfrey

# data[].attributes.body
"But when she awoke, Dimitri, both horses, ad the rings on her fingers were gone. A gypsy is a gypsy is a gypsy. They will steal the  rings from your fingers and the love from your heart." -Olivia Godfrey

# data[].attributes.body
Hemlock Grove, a supernatural thriller drama is like no other. In season's one finale, episode 13 titled "Birth," Roman discovers the true manipulation nature of his mother Olivia.

**TV Literacy Project Below**

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The X-Men star discusses her new Netflix horror series and the model of releasing all the episodes at once.

Known for films like GoldenEye, X-Men and Taken and a memorable recurring run on Nip/Tuck, Famke Janssen takes on her first regular TV series role in Netflix's Hemlock Grove. Executive produced by Eli Roth, who also directed the first episode, Hemlock Grove is a murder mystery with a horror twist - taking place in a small town where there may be more than one werewolf among the residents.

Janssen plays Olivia Godfrey, an influential local woman whose son, Roman (Bill Skarsgard), begins investigating the murder with his new friend, Peter (Landon Liboiron). Olivia also has a daughter, Shelley (Nicole Boivin), whose name is a tip of the hat to her monstrous, Frankenstein Monster-type physique - just one of many oddities in Hemlock Grove.

I spoke to Janssen about her role in the series and what she thinks of Netflix's model, as all thirteen episodes of Hemlock Grove are released simultaneously on Friday.
IGN TV: I know you read the book Hemlock Grove is based on. How close would you say the series is to it?
Famke Janssen: I think with those things it's a whole new medium that you use. Any adaptation of any novel is never the same when it turns into a movie or a television show anyway, so it becomes its own thing. And this very much became its own thing.
IGN: Your character is described as a pretty powerful person in this town.
Janssen: She's kind of the matriarch of this town, a highly manipulative person who has her claws into every single family member or non-family member or gypsies in the area or the biomedical institute -- everything and everybody.
IGN: Olivia has quite a unique daughter, to say the last. What's that relationship like?
Janssen: Complicated. She's somewhat of a monster. She's very sweet, but she's deformed and seven feet tall, just a product of this biomedical institute where all sorts of bizarre things happen. Olivia has a lot of love for her children, but she doesn't always show it in the best possible way. You also find out in the show who is actually whose child. There are a lot of different things going on, for sure.
IGN: It sort of blends together soap opera and horror elements it sounds like?
Janssen: Yeah, but I think that's actually very much part of all television making. I think it has a soap opera-esque quality to it. You need to find some way to lure in an audience, and that is generally done in that traditional way of the soap opera, where they have relationships with people that all intertwine in various ways. So it certainly has that aspect. And then it's sort of a genre that's trying to redefine itself.
IGN: Was Netflix's model interesting for you - the whole idea that you were going to release 13 episodes at once and what that will be like for an audience to experience?
Janssen: Absolutely, because it's really the thing of the future. It's now the way that I watch things too. I think it enables people to watch it whenever and however they want to. Certainly my lifestyle has not been very conducive to watching television shows when they were aired. I would have missed every single thing just by the nature of what I do. At first we had traditional television shows where we'd gather around the TV at specific hours of the week to watch something. Then we had DVR and all different ways to do it, and now it's come to this point where it's all at the same time. But I found that before that even existed, when people would bring out a whole box set of Nip/Tuck, for example, I watched the entire first season before I did it, because I was only part of the second season. I watched the entire first season on DVD, and I really found that it became this thing where I was going to treat myself, like, "Oh, should I wait an hour, or should I watch it now?" And that's what you can do now.
IGN: You've done network TV, you've done cable like Nip/Tuck, and now you have sort of a whole new way with Netflix here. With this, they don't have to worry about commercial breaks or a hook for the next episode as much. Do you see those differences and find it interesting, that you can adapt that way?
Janssen: Oh yeah, absolutely. I've never been one for anything that's neatly wrapped up or formulaic by nature, and that's actually one of the things that scared me about doing television. You feel that your character is going to be defined by how this thing has to be created in terms of where the cliffhanger is and all that kind of stuff. Whereas now, we're in a 13-hour movie almost. It's a nice feel.
IGN: What's sort of the tone you guys were going for in Hemlock Grove? Is there some humor mixed in with the horror?
Janssen: You know, I'm always a big fan of giving things at least some humor, and I think there's some of that to Olivia. Could there have been more? I mean, yeah, for my personal taste, yes. But you want to do justice to the writing and the people who create these shows and how they see them. I think it has its own kind of voice. It's not all dark.
IGN: It sounds like she is a pretty tough character. Do you get to show us different facets as the story progresses?
Janssen: I do, yeah. It's not going to be a one-dimensional character, and that was the nice thing about playing her. We are definitely going to see some softer and different sides of her, but she's highly manipulative by nature.

IGN: And I assume she uses those manipulation skills to her advantage?
Janssen: Yes, of course! [Laughs] Definitely. And I played it with a different accent, so that was really fun to explore. To me, I found the character through the speech in this case. I found that, in the books, it's mentioned in passing that she was an actress previously, so I wanted to bring that element to it. I'm only dressed in white, all different eras of clothing and things that represented decades of clothing. I just thought there was something about that accent that, you know, mid-Atlantic kind of, in the way that women in the 1930s movies spoke. That to me is how I found the character. That was fun to play.
IGN: What's the interaction like between your character and Dougray Scott's character, Norman?
Janssen: We're lovers. My husband commits suicide pretty early on in the show. But it's a complicated relationship that we're not making very public.
IGN: I know that Lili Taylor's character is new in town.
Janssen: Yeah, she's the gypsy mother to my son's new best friend.
IGN: And what does Olivia make of her?
Janssen: Initially, Olivia wants nothing to do with the gypsies and does everything to try and keep her son away from them -- not successfully. But my son is part of me, Olivia, and he's rebellious by nature, in the way that she would have been rebellious to her parents. It's definitely a volatile relationship, at times.
IGN: Did you get to talk much with Eli Roth about making this project?
Janssen: Yeah, him and I had a creative conversation at first about the character and the look and the feel of the show. Twin Peaks was mentioned a lot, and that really hooked me in because it's my favorite TV show ever. That's like "You had me at hello." - "You had me at Twin Peaks!"

Hemlock Grove debuts Friday, April 19th on Netflix.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Famke Janssen Gets "Highly Manipulative" for Hemlock Grove - IGN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The X-Men star discusses her new Netflix horror series and the model of releasing all the episodes at once. Known for films like GoldenEye, X-Men and Taken and a memorable recurring run on Nip/Tuck, Famke Janssen takes on her first regular TV series role in Netflix's Hemlock Grove.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hemlock Grove - Season 1 Recap | Narrated by Eli Roth [HD] | Netflix

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get everything you need to know about Hemlock Grove from executive producer Eli Roth. Season 2 Now Streaming on Netflix. http://www.netflix.com The Netflix original series that garnered an Emmy nomination for special effects features returning stars Famke Janssen, Bill SkarsgÎrd, Landon Liboiron, Dougray Scott, Joel de la Fuente and Tiio Horn.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Norman & Olivia ~ Norlivia ~ Hemlock Grove

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hemlock Grove - Best Olivia Godfrey Moments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Uploaded by KingOfTheFrontier on 2013-07-19.

# data[].attributes.body
Reasons to Watch

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By

Hemlock Grove isn't good by any means, but it is great (just not if you watch earnestly). The Netflix original series is unfocused, over-dramatic, convoluted and stagnant all at once - which is exactly why you need to watch. Because Hemlock Grove doesn't even attempt coherence, it's impossible to predict what's coming, making every episode an exhilarating surprise. The mad scientist has super-strength? Weird. What's this secret Catholic werewolf hunter society? Bizarre. Are we ever going to find out why Roman has mind-control powers? Who cares!

Hemlock Grove and 23 other (not-so) guilty-pleasure showsis all about the journey, not the answers. Did I have the vaguest understanding of what happened in it? Not at all, but I loved every second (even if it was often hard to tell if something was funny-bad or just the result of idiot producers). If you're looking for a quality supernatural drama, for the love of God do not watch Hemlock Grove. However, if you're looking for an entertaining way to spend a weekend, go right ahead. Just make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

To help you prepare, here are 20 of the most absurd moments from Hemlock Grove's first season. If these don't convince you it's the greatest thing since , nothing will. [This is where I'd typically warn of spoilers, but since the show barely has a plot I wouldn't recommend caring.]

TV boyfriends who ruin your real-life relationships

1. The fact that you can't tell who Roman loves more: his friend Peter or his cousin Letha.

( Via)( Via)( Via)

2. When Peter transformed into a werewolf and his eyes fell out and he ate his own skin.

3. Roman's sister Shelley is some sort of cyborg-Frankenstein. Don't ask. This is never explained.

8. Letha is convinced she had gotten pregnant by an angel, but it turns out she was raped by her cousin Roman (who was under his mother's hypnotic spell and has no memory of committing the act).

11. Seriously though, I can't stress this one enough: Roman and Peter's sexual tension.

( Via)( Via)

13. When everyone acted as though Peter being super hairy proved he was a werewolf, when he's practically bald from the neck down.

( Via)

17. Famke Janssen' sterrible attempt at a British accent and the fact that her character became a vampire by cutting off her vestigial tail ... maybe? They weren't too clear about this point, but that's what I'm going with.

( Via)

Unfortunately, many of Hemlock Grove's most bizarre moments are highly inappropriate, so you'll have to watch the series if you hope to fully grasp the depths of its absurdity. It's worth it, I swear. Hemlock Grove's entire first season is available on Netflix. Watch now and have no regrets!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 20 Most Absurd Moments in Hemlock Grove (And Why You Need to Watch)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Hemlock Grove isn't good by any means, but it is great (just not if you watch earnestly). The Netflix original series is unfocused, over-dramatic, convoluted and stagnant all at once - which is exactly why you need to watch. Because Hemlock Grove doesn't even attempt coherence, it's impossible to predict what's coming, making every episode an exhilarating surprise.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Directed by Deran Sarafian. With Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgård, Landon Liboiron, Penelope Mitchell. Peter and Roman battle the vargulf. Sheriff Sworn, still acting irrationally, attacks Shelley. Letha goes into labor. Olivia's back story is given. Many secrets are revealed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The episode begins with a flashback of Christina venting about teenage drama to Peter. He tells her that she will get through her growing pains just like other girls have before her and that she will live a life much bigger than this. *roll opening credits*

Letha is unable to get through the locked doors and Roman is still fighting Christina. She jumps on him and he accidentally throws his axe off to the side. Just when it looks like Roman will be wolf-chow, wolf-Peter jumps in. They snarl at each other and fight viciously while Roman and Letha stand back and watch. Wolf-Christina wins the fight and snaps wolf-Peter's neck. She has her sight set on Letha but then Shelley shows up and snaps wolf-Christina's neck with ease. All is quiet until the sheriff shoots Shelley from an upper balcony. She runs off and both Roman and the sheriff chase after her but Roman compels the sheriff not to hurt her so he stays behind.

The sheriff heads inside and looks at the dead, now human and naked form of Christina, who has also returned to her original brunette state, the wolf near death, and a distraught Letha. He picks up Christina's body and carries her out. Letha approaches wolf-Peter, who is whining in pain, and she curls up behind him, crying. Outside, Roman discovers Shelley's wig and screams out her name, unable to find her. The next morning, Peter has returned to his human state and surprisingly, he seems okay. Roman returns home and fills Olivia in on what has transpired. She hugs him in an effort to console him as he cries.

At Destiny's place, Peter rests up. Letha speaks with Lynda about how she doesn't understand everything that has happened, from Peter's transformation to a wolf, his death, and then his waking up and being okay. Lynda tells her that love is the strongest magic in the world, even stronger than life. Norman hears the news on the car radio that Shelley is believed to be the murderer but he is certain this cannot be true. When Letha gets in the car, he explains that the town is treating Shelley as a scapegoat and Letha must not tell anyone that she was there. Meanwhile, Olivia is coaching Roman on what story to stick to and that it's best for the town so that they may move on from these events. However, they agree that they will protect Shelley if and when she returns because Godfreys protect their own.

Norman and his family attend Christina's funeral to keep up appearances. He sends Letha home after a respectable amount of time and Norman speaks with the sheriff. He is still agitated though he seems to have found some satisfaction by shooting who he believes to be the killer. But too much has happened, and the sheriff has quit his job, having lost faith in his ability to protect people.

Norman signs over his share to Lod with Olivia by his side. Surprisingly, the Lod representative is the same bishop we've seen speaking with Clementine throughout the series. Following the deal, the bishop and Dr. Pryce toast. Norman and Olivia get lovey-dovey in the limousine and are still planning to give their relationship a proper go once Norman leaves Marie.

Roman and Peter visit Destiny and Roman consults her regarding Shelley. She tells him to have faith. He says that Shelley needs him but Destiny questions him on who really needs who. A mysterious wind flips the pages of the book through which Peter is looking and he gets a call from Letha that she is going into labour. He is delighted enough to make you think it's his baby. Peter relays the news to Roman, who joins in the excitement. Right as they are about to leave, Destiny grabs Roman's hand, seemingly in some sort of trance and says, "To be still in the turning world is the warrior's greatest feat."

In the Godfrey Institute waiting room, Roman pulls out a pair of cigars for him and Peter. He then confesses that he's been using his compelling abilities on himself. We see him speaking to his reflection and telling himself to see her. Roman remembers Destiny's words spoken to him in private and how Roman is going to have to face the hardest choice of his life. Roman asks Peter how it was that he was not afraid in the chapel, but Peter replies that he had never been more afraid in this life and that he couldn't have done it if Roman hadn't been there.

Letha is having a difficult go of it in the throes of childbirth. A nurse gets Dr. Pryce and summons him. He enters the room and looks horrified by what he sees. Peter gets up, seeming to sense that something ins wrong and Roman looks at him, confused. Norman goes into the birth room and sees Letha's dead body with blood all over the floor, her legs still spread open.

Roman hears the announcement over the speakers that the patient is deceased and he becomes emotionally distraught. Norman carries Letha's body to Dr. Pryce and insists that he bring her back but Dr. Pryce says he cannot. Dr. Pryce has a guard carry Letha's body away and tells Norman he might have better luck with the baby but Norman snaps back, "Fuck the baby." Dr. Pryce apologises and says that he isn't God.

Lynda comforts Peter in the trailer. She tells him that Nicolae had a vision when she was pregnant with Peter that he would live a long life and how she was saddened by this, knowing that it would mean a life filled with sadness. But she reminds him that pain is necessary to appreciate the good times. He goes into the mirror and begins cutting his hair off. At the Godfrey Institute, Dr. Pryce cries before growing angry and punching through his glass desk.

Olivia comes to see Roman as he sits up in Shelley's old room. She asks him what he needs and he replies, "Peter." She drives him to the trailer, where he finds that Peter and Lynda are gone. Olivia narrates a story that plays out before our eyes. We learn that as a young girl, hundreds of years prior, she ran away with a gypsy boy but he abandoned her and stole what few possessions she had with her. She also had a tail as a young girl that she cut off. Her father and a search party found her the next day and she bore a child nine months later that she sent away to be a slave, as it had "slave blood" in it. Overlayed with this story, we see Roman cry in the trailer while Olivia smirks knowingly.

Norman leaves Marie and packs up his belongings. He has dinner with Olivia and Roman and it would seem that he's also staying with them now. Olivia sends Norman to bed and he obeys without resistance. Might she have compelled him minus the nosebleed? Olivia visits Roman as he sits in the empty pool and wishes him a happy birthday before asking him to join her in the attic. He asks why and she says she has something to show him.

In Shelley's old room is a cradle covered with black drapery surrounded by a circle of candles. He doesn't understand what's happening and she tells him to remember. Memories begin to play through Roman's head. First, Olivia speaks about all the others that came before Roman but none bore the mark. We even see her snap his sister Juliet's neck. Then Roman is born with that strange skin over his face. Olivia takes that skin and eats it. Olivia then mentions the truth of Roman's birthright. We see Letha's speech about the angel and the dream she had of it but this time, we see that Roman was the one who raped Letha and impregnated her.

Olivia pricks the baby with a needle and tells Roman that he knows what he must do. Roman is emotional and upset as he falls down to the floor. Olivia tells him that he cannot control the hunger as she licks the baby's blood from the needle. Roman continue to say no, goes to his reflection and begins chanting, "You must make your heart steel." He calms and approaches the crib with his razor blade and tells himself he is a warrior. He then tells his mother, "You won't win," and slices both of his inner arms from wrist to elbow.

He falls to the ground and begins to die from blood loss. The blood moves along the floor and up the walls, painting an unknown pattern. Olivia is calm and cradles Roman as she sings him a song. Flashback to young Olivia being found by her father. She was dead from blood loss after she cut off her own tail but wakes and her father welcomes her back. She smiles and bares her fangs. Olivia speaks in a voiceover, "To rise, a victim of your own hand. It is the way of our kind." Roman rises from the dead, his wounds healed into scars. He walks back over to the crib and Olivia follows behind him, saying that she always wins. She tells Roman that he is not a warrior, but a dragon. She tells him to do it. Roman pauses and then attacks Olivia, biting into her neck. He feeds from her and though she screams at first, she then begins to moan erotically. Did you forget that that's your son?

When Roman stops feeding, Olivia is still lying on the floor and she says that she is so proud of him. He then kisses her and rips out her tongue with his teeth. He spits it off to the side and says, "You talk too much. He then goes to look at the blood on the walls and raises his arms. From the viewer's point of view, they look like wings.

We then see Roman walk down the stairs, the blood is cleaned off, and he's looking dapper in an undoubtedly expensive suit. We hear Olivia's voice say, "The crown, like everything has it's price. I only hope you're ready for it."

Clementine's brother meets with the bishop, who tells him that he has a job for him regarding those that killed Clementine. He hands him a folder containing information on Hemlock Grove and Roman Godrey.

Sheriff Sworn is seen making explosives while listening to police scanners.

Dr. Pryce looks at Olivia's corpse in a body bag and says somewhat cheerfully, "Well, I suppose we could find room."

A bald Peter and Lynda are in a car, driving off to somewhere new. Peter briefly thinks he sees Shelley walking down the road but when they pass by, he sees her as the beautiful version that Roman saw in his dream state. He smiles to himself.

Inside the mysterious metal box that got Roman put into a coma by Dr. Pryce, we see a humanoid creature in a womb/cocoon-looking thing with wires and tubes hooked up to it. As the camera zooms in closer, the humanoid opens its eyes and takes a breath.

In a post-credits scene, we see Christina's gravestone and the sound of underground banging and thumping is heard along with Christina's scream.

There's more questions than answers with this season finale. Hopefully all of these will be answered in Season 2!

The entire first season of Hemlock Grove is available for viewing on Netflix.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The episode begins with a flashback of Christina venting about teenage drama to Peter. He tells her that she will get through her growing pains just like other girls have before her and that she will live a life much bigger than this.