WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Episode 8, "Hide and Seek."
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has found the demoness known as Magda (Natalie Dormer) at a disadvantage recently. While she recruited a champion in Mateo (Johnathan Nieves), she lost the last episode's battle against his mom, Maria (Adriana Barraza), which suggested there are still holes in the supernatural entity's plan to take over Los Angeles.
However, Magda quickly improvised, and knowing the city's best detectives are after her, she has unleashed her newest and most powerful form: a Jewish survivor known as Alexandra.
In the previous episode, Lewis (Nathan Lane) enlisted his partner, Tiago (Daniel Zovatto), in his Nazi-hunting crew, and after spotting Adelaide, the leader of the Joyful Voices Ministry at a Nazi dinner, Lewis sends Tiago to investigate the Christian cult. As for Lewis, he heads straight to Councilman Townsend's office to look into the deals being made with the Third Reich. While Townsend denies anything apart from funding, Lewis promises he'll be back with search warrants and everything necessary to implicate Townsend in a race war.
At this point, Magda/Alex Malone, Townsend's aide, goes after Lewis in the corridor, but instead of challenging him, she reveals some of Townsend's secrets and offers to switch sides. Lewis has been blessed by Maria so he's an unforeseen problem. As a result, she's gone for a more practical approach by offering to spy for him. She sells him a sob story about her real name being Alexandra Mahler, a Jew whose family was killed by Nazis in Austria, and who's now trying to get by, even if it means posing as an Irishwoman to work with the enemy.
She even speaks Yiddish to convince Lewis of her true loyalties and that she wants justice and what's best for LA. Lewis agrees to have her act as his informant. It's a big win for Magda. She's losing her grip on Peter Craft's Bund and the Nazis are lying low in the city, forcing her to monitor the cops much more. So while it's dangerous to be this close to Lewis, it's also smart because it keeps her in the know about what the police are up to, especially now that Lewis has taken their bomb-maker, Brian, in. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer is Magda's way of thinking, and as a bonus, it puts her near Tiago, who she wants to break. More so, she now appears as an ideal of survival, winning pity, compassion and empathy.
Since Tiago's having an affair with Adelaide's daughter, Molly, much to Lewis' disapproval, his trust in Magda could open up an opportunity for her to create tension and fracture the duo. She's been trying to work her way into Tiago's life but Maria and Santa Muerte, who's the Angel of Death and Magda's sister, have both blessed him. Now, though, the witch might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
Of course, Lewis might be smarter than we assume and could be playing Magda as it's hard to fathom a Jew making a career out of building infrastructure with the Nazis. But only time will tell who makes the first move on the chessboard. Lewis needs a power-play while Magda has to shore up her defenses, but right now, due to sheer numbers, Magda holds the upper-hand. To ensure the Third Reich's plans move as quickly as possible, Magda will have to make her next move pretty soon, and it seems she already has hitmen gunning for the cops while pretending to be their new ally.
Created, written and executive produced by John Logan, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels stars Daniel Zovatto, Natalie Dormer, Nathan Lane, Jessica Garza, Kerry Bishé, Ethan Peck, Adriana Barraza, Michael Gladis, Dominic Sherwood and Johnathan Nieves, as well as Piper Perabo, Amy Madigan, Brent Spiner, Lorenza Izzo, Lin Shaye and Adam Rodriguez in recurring roles. The series airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.