Let's Play Lions: The Animal in BBC's Jekyll

Twice in the first episode of the BBC adaptation Jekyll, we see “Hyde”, Thomas Jackman’s other half, become even more monstrous, transforming into almost a kind of beast, complete with fangs, and he nearly “kills” two people, as well as leaves a threatening message that he had killed Jackman’s family. Of course each time, the audience is only led to believe that he would commit such an act, and nothing so sinister ever truly happens, but it is interesting that this aspect of Hyde is what the show has chosen to play up. 

Several times he mentions “playing lions”, first with the girl in the alleyway and then in his recording to Jackman, and in his behavior, he seems to toy with people, much like a lion or cat may toy with its prey, and when he is cornered, such as in the bar scene, he lashes out like trapped animal would. 

There seems then, to be a strong link between him and the animal world, which sort of drew me back to the Darwin discussion that we had in class a few sessions ago, as this Hyde, although his usual appearance doesn’t suggest it as much as Stevenson’s Hyde does, as he does not appear “dwarfish” or “ape-like”, retains this sense of the untamed beast that goes beyond the description of him being child-like that the show seems to give. He seems to me, to be something more primitive that rises up out of mankind, overtaking Jackman and dragging him kicking and screaming back down the ladder of evolution for periods of time.