This conversation between Noah Foster (John Karna) and Riley Marra (Brianne Tju) uses the word “musk”as a pun. Noah tells the girl about a possible internship at the space technology company SpaceX, founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. She perfectly knows who Musk is, but plays the dumb card commenting that she loves perfumes.
T-Bag (Robert Knepper) is one of the most wicked and creepiest characters of this tv show. He shows the unexpected ability of identifying the fragrance Jeanette Owens (Diana Scarwid) is wearing: it’s Thierry Mugler Angel, the mother of all gourmand oriental fragrances. Created by Olivier Cresp and Yves de Chirin and launched in 1992, Angel stays in T-Bag’s memory because an ex used it; as such, it brings back both good and bad memories.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter has a talent for identifying what perfumes people wear. The jailed version of the character in Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs detects Evyan White Shoulders body lotion and Nina Ricci L’air du temps on Clarice Starling, while his bon vivant version (Mads Mikkelsen) in the tv show by Bryan Fuller smells “something with a ship on the bottle” on Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). Smelling someone and commenting on his/her perfume is a very intimate action; when it comes from a jailed serial killer or from your psychiatrist, it becomes an intrusion into your privacy.
The after-shave Will wears is obviously the classic Old Spice, which Hannibal loathes (this opinion is reinforced in an episode from the second season). Hannibal says he should introduce Will to a “finer after-shave”, which makes me wonder what after-shave he wears and what he would suggest Will to wear. Any thoughts?
The protagonists of this scene are Maggie (Janine Turner) and Joanne (Cathryn De Prume). They have one thing in common – Rick Pederson, Maggie’s ex-boyfriend who cheated on her several times. Joanne travels to Cicely (Alaska) to see the unveiling of a statue commemorating Rick’s death. Later, they meet at a bar and have the following conversation.
“And I believe this is yours,” says Joanne, and gives Maggie a bottle of Yves Saint Laurent Opium (the original bottle, with glass stopper and black tassel).
“My Opium?”, asks Maggie.
“It’s a bit strong for my taste. I like something in the more delicate side.”
“Calèche.”
“Yes! He gave you my Calèche?”
“Last Christmas.”
Rick’s mistake – giving his girlfriends the wrong perfumes – makes his cheating habit perfectly clear.
Carol McCardy (Kate Norby) and Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) are getting dressed for a night out. Carol comments on Joan’s perfume: we learn that she wears a classic – Guerlain Shalimar, perfect for a seductress like Joan.
Created in 1925 by Jacques Guerlain, it’s undeniably one of the most famous perfumes of all times. According to Fragrantica, it opens on citrus notes (lemon, mandarin orange and bergamot), has floral middle notes (jasmine, may rose, iris) and balsamic base notes (sandalwood, opopanax, civet, musk, leather, incense and Tonka bean). It’s a perfume I could never wear (my skin doesn’t love it at all) but I can see why it’s so popular and beloved. Its Indian inspiration (Shalimar was the name of Mumtaz Mahal‘s favourite garden) and the fan-shaped bottle designed by Raymond Guerlain in collaboration with Baccarat have certainly contributed in creating an icon.
Shalimar advertising campaigns have always focused on the oriental inspiration of the perfume, as shown in the pictures above. From left to right: 1929 illustration by Lyse Darcy; 1959 illustration by Jean-Baptiste Charnotet; an illustration (possibly from the 1930s) with a veiled woman; a 1975 ad inspired to the Jazz Age.
Venetian Romance is a fictional fragrance which has an important role in this episode. It’s Penny’s signature scent, the one she wears when she meets her lover Paul (Mat Fraser).
Paul goes to a drugstore to buy it for Penny. Thanks to the screencap above we can see its bottle is actually the one of a historical and extremely popular fragrance, Evening in Paris by Bourjois. The cobalt blue bottle with the curved label began appearing in the late 1940s/early 1950s, so the choice to use it is historically accurate. A cobalt blue talcum powder bottle of the same scent can be seen on the drugstore shelf, too.
In the episode we also learn that Paul is Elsa Mars’s lover. She smells Venetian Romance on him and understands he’s having an affair with another woman.
As a revenge, she badly wounds Paul: she straps him to a bullseye wheel and stabs him on purpose. Penny arrives to the circus and finds Paul fighting for his life. Elsa immediately realizes she’s the one Paul is having an affair with. “Speaking of cheap perfume” conveys her contempt for Penny , but also her envy for the star-crossed lovers.
The dialogue going on between Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) and Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) takes place at Christmas time in 1964. He’s giving her a present [1] and she wonders what could it be. She wishes for Dana Tabu perfume, but thinks she will receive some “cheap toilet water from the Woolworth’s” or Yardley’s English Lavender.
There’s a contrast between the two fragrances she mentions, since the first appeals to her seductive side, while the second is more traditional.
No wonder the demon-possessed nun would like to get the “forbidden” perfume. Created in 1932 by Jean Carles, it’s a warm spicy/woody scent which starts with fresh citrus and spicy notes; according to Fragrantica, its warm oriental base includes amber, resins, civet and precious woods – sandal and patchouli. In Scent and Subversion Barbara Herman explains that “it’s said that Dana’s brief to Carles was along the lines of, ‘Make a perfume a prostitute would wear'”.
On the other hand, Fragrantica classifies English Lavender as an aromatic fougère for women. First launched in 1913, it includes notes of rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender and bergamot, with base notes of tonka bean, musk and oakmoss. Such a classic fragrance could not charm the wild side of Sister Mary Eunice.
[1] His present is a pair of ruby earrings he stole from a Jewish woman in concentration camp.
Bette Tattler (Sarah Paulson) pretends to remember her mother’s murderer, scent included – Williams Aqua Velva after-shave.
Tara (Maggie Siff) and Gemma (Katey Sagal) talk about Luann’s favourite perfume. Gemma’s description (“smelled like cum and patchouli”) makes me think of heady hippie scents from the 1970s.
Austin Langham (Teddy Sears) tries to make it up with his wife Elise (Elizabeth Bogush) by complimenting her on her perfume. Unfortunately, she’s not wearing Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps (probably her signature scent) but something more prosaic.
World Wide Aura 
