Dangerous Liaisons (2022) s01e01 Episode Script

1
The queen and a horse.
Apparently the king commanded it.
Peasants' gossip.
It is scandalous the things
being said these days.
I know. But isn't it delicious?
How I ache for you
to feel your hands upon me,
your breath on my skin.
After what we have shared,
how could I ever bear
the touch of my husband again?
You are my glorious release.
Desire has made me fearless
and reckless with my reputation.
Keep these letters safe, my love.
Get down, get!
Come on.
Hey! Come back!
- Get up, I said!
- Hey, hey!
- God save the king!
- God save the king!
My husband sends another man
to the Heavens to find his god.
Would that he went
to such lengths to know me,
or his people.
If I could fly, I'd have
gone far from here,
and I would have taken
every star I could reach.
You want the stars now?
I've always wanted them.
Shh.
So I cannot give you the stars,
not yet.
But I can give you Paris.
So, my mapmaker,
take me away from here?
Where do you want to go?
Somewhere we can always be together.
Our bridge, where we first kissed?
Before you knew how.
I had to show you, remember?
I pretended so you'd kiss me more.
Liar.
I taught you everything you know.
Besides, our bridge is in the slums.
Take me somewhere where we're not poor.
We'll start
at the Church of Saint-Sulpice,
pray to the Blessed Mother,
then to Saint-Germain
or the Tuileries.
And all the way to the mansions
of Saint-Honoré.
Where the wolves are,
in their disguise of
fine clothes,
grand houses.
Mm.
I have a plan for us
for how we can be together.
Everything's a map, isn't it?
Every line, every scar
the things we've done
the things we will do.
We're all just maps.
And somehow, we find our way
to the things we want.
Marry me, Camille.
Forsake all others.
I cannot be without you.
Have you forgotten my debt?
I'll find the money.
How?
Mm.
I love you.
You can't afford me, Pascal.
- Go on, then.
- What?
I know he's all you want to talk about.
Who?
Who?
He asked me to marry him.
Tell me you said no.
Why do you hate him so?
'Cause he lets you do this.
Marry me.
- How much for you?
- No.
Ooh, like to play hard to get, do you?
Come on, a whore from Jericho
should be grateful
to have a man like me.
I said no.
Monsieur.
Can't you see I'm busy?
No!
Come on.
Thank you.
It's my work to clear the streets
of immoral persons.
No, it is because you are kind, sir,
a gentleman.
Ah
Camille.
Creeping like a mouse.
I hope your pockets are full of coins.
Fuck some men, Camille. Make me money.
- I'll do better tomorrow.
- Oh, you will.
Or I will bring the men to you myself.
Good night, Madame Jericho.
Good night, gentlemen.
I can't do it anymore.
I can't have them touch me.
We'll manage. We will get out of here.
I'm going to marry him.
I want my life with Pascal.
Victoire, don't sulk.
No, no, this is wonderful.
I love miracles. So he has money now?
He'll pay your debt from Jericho,
and you'll run into his arms
as a free woman?
Bravo, Pascal.
You know he has no money.
Then how, Camille?
You can't trust him.
And love won't get you out of here.
Only this will.
Remind me, how many years
have you been here?
Because the story that I heard
was that Jericho plucked you
from a crab pot
on the banks of the river
when you were just a child.
So I hope you don't mind
if I put my faith in love.
Go.
I hope you'll be happy together.
- We will be.
- With no need of me.
I am glad.
I'll finally have a bed to myself.
And I was not in a pot.
I was mending them.
And they were lobsters, not crabs.
Of course.
So much more glamorous.
Now, will you stop sulking
and come here?
We are getting out of here.
We.
I know what it is to be abandoned.
I will never leave you.
To whom do we owe
tonight's apartment, Valmont?
The wife of a minister.
Your visit is quite above suspicion.
If she were here.
Well, then I couldn't do this.
Or this.
Valmont
tell me I am your only lover.
The only one.
Then give me back my letters.
You will not destroy me, Valmont.
Of course not, my love,
because I will have my title
and you will have your letters.
Give them to me.
The letters were not there,
Madame de Merteuil.
Clean up this place, Azolan.
Find us something
other than bread to eat.
I would be glad to,
sir, but we've no money.
That will soon change.
Didn't I promise you
the brightest future
when I took you on here?
You did
though it still remains
too bright to see
with the human eye.
Why do you fuss so much
about those wretched cats?
Because they were your mother's.
I know you love them, sir.
Well, they're the insult
of my inheritance.
They're there to remind me of
Everything I don't have.
It is depressing
to be so underestimated.
As if I'd keep her
letters here in this pit.
What will you do
now that madame will
not give you a title?
It was her first move
a bluff in a game that I must win.
Perhaps she needs reminding
of the words she's written.
Her husband has one
of the oldest titles in France
and all the power that comes with it.
I think when she sees her letters again,
she won't risk her marriage.
I liked her.
She used to give me oranges.
I think the days of oranges
may be behind us.
You have something for me?
And my money?
I find myself in somewhat
reduced circumstances, Emile.
That's not my concern.
A line of credit, between us, perhaps.
Until the end of the week.
You think it's easy
to get you these apartments
at a moment's notice?
What do you think would happen to me
if a client found I'd lent out
their place when they're away?
I think they'd be appalled, Emile.
It shows poor character
a desire for personal gain
over trust, tut-tut.
For the vault.
And the rent's double,
or find someone else.
They want you on the Ile.
They found your river tunnel.
Mm.
Why must we map these godforsaken slums?
All of Paris is to be mapped,
every inch and all the people
in it by orders of the king.
Don't you know we're
a city out of control?
Chaos is to be fit.
Now, if you excuse me, gentlemen.
I have a prior engagement.
- Need my light, sir?
- Oh, I know my way.
Ah
ah
A.
I could make you happy, sir.
Ah, back again, monsieur.
You should be careful.
My lady will think it means something.
Take a lover of your own,
Victoire, male or female.
I hope you have money. My lady costs.
Take a lover, Victoire.
My answer is yes.
Camille.
Camille.
Your timing, as ever, is wretched.
Camille, Jericho wants money.
Tell her I'll work tomorrow.
She knows he's with you.
She wants payment for the night.
I told you, my lady costs.
Children, may we not have one night
where you two don't squabble
amongst one another?
To friendship and love.
I know what it took to buy that wine.
It wasn't love.
- Where's the money?
- It's in my bag.
This night will clearly
cost me everything.
"I am obsessed with the memory of you".
Pascal, I don't understand.
Give it to me. Please, my love.
"To be made so alive by you, your kiss,
your touch, your body
means to be dead without you".
It's just a letter. It's just words.
Who is she?
Geneviève de Merteuil. I'm sorry.
- I'm
- Don't touch me.
Oh, for you to be so righteous.
I never lied about who I am.
You never told me who you are.
You give nothing of your life.
Everything I am is here!
For you to procure!
To be such a fool
to believe in you, to wait for you,
while all the time, she's waiting, too.
- It's not the same.
- Does she know that?
I have her secrets.
S-she will do anything to protect them.
She'll give me anything,
whatever I want.
Strange, I thought you wanted me.
This letter,
I drew it from her for us.
A wife can ruin her husband
with her actions.
So she's married.
You reveal yourself with every minute.
She will do or pay anything
to save her reputation,
her husband's name.
You would destroy a woman by blackmail.
Not my mapmaker after all.
Just another whore.
Then how do we live?
Hmm?
Oh, I have no fortune coming.
My stepmother's seen to that.
And you have nothing.
Do not be naive, Camille.
How else do you think
we will have our freedom
- our love?
- You don't know how to love.
My love for you is
the only thing I am sure of.
Beyond secrets, beyond money.
Beyond everything.
Then stop this.
You must stop this.
I won't be betrayed by you.
I won't be weak because of you.
Do you understand?
It's either love or war.
There is nothing in between, nothing.
It is love.
I will burn them all.
"All"?
She has written to me before.
I keep them only to execute this plan.
Where, by your bedside?
- There's no sentiment to them.
- But you read them?
No more than I look
at the plans of Versailles
they're stuffed beneath.
They are my security.
I don't seek to destroy her.
I want a better life for both of us.
Come away with me.
How? Words are easy.
Then let me prove it.
You think Jericho will simply let me go?
Jericho won't matter.
I'll come to our bridge
at ten tomorrow night,
and all you need to do is be there, too.
And we'll go far from here
and we'll start again.
All I want is you.
No more than I look
at the plans of Versailles
they're stuffed beneath.
Uh, what are you doing here?
Hey!
Stop that boy!
Stop him!
Imbecile!
A letter's come for you.
And it's not Madame
de Merteuil's hand, sir.
Where are you, my wicked pussycat?
Your Florence's thighs
are lonely without you.
No more bloody letters.
We're done with letters, Azolan.
Put it on the fire.
I must go and see my wretch
of a stepmother.
Are you not going to tell me
how little I've changed in
the years since last you came?
Grief slows the passing of time.
It keeps one a prisoner of sorts,
yet acts as a remarkable elixir.
Well, you're not such a
prisoner in the evenings, huh?
When you dance and dine your
way along the Champs Elysees,
well, you're not grieving then,
nor when you parade
through all the doors
my father opened for you.
So not quite bygones being bygones.
My request is small enough
a settlement, once and for all
enough for me to buy a piece
of land somewhere in the south.
I'll go from Paris.
I do believe you are in love.
What else could cause you
to lower your sights on my fortune?
My father's fortune.
Your mother was a spendthrift, too.
Do not speak of her.
Your father would tear out
what little hair he had left
as she gave to every pauper in town.
- Give me something.
- Some advice, then.
Give your soul to God.
Trust in the divine.
Let your faith be your sustenance.
You don't need to thank me.
All of this my father's
title, his fortune
should have been mine when he died,
but you poisoned him against me.
It's not my fault
he fell in love with me.
- Let's call it by its name.
- And I earned it
every piece of it.
He was a man of great appetite.
I have nothing, Ondine.
I am destitute but for
the pitiful wage that I earn.
- Give me what is mine.
- But I can't.
You see, all this
vast, vast fortune
it's for my son.
Your father loved him
as if he were his own.
More, perhaps.
You know your debt to Jericho.
I know, Victoire.
I count it in the sweat
of every man who comes to me.
But if I work every hour of every day,
I still won't clear it in my lifetime.
Eat some bread.
She'd rather see you dead
than let you go.
Which is why we cannot
make a mistake tonight.
Under the old bridge, ten o'clock.
You can't trust him.
I have to.
Send them away, Azolan.
We have to leave.
Sir.
I sent for you, pussycat,
but you have abandoned me.
I have a gift waiting for you.
Shall I put it on the fire, sir?
- Going somewhere?
- To the opera.
Save yourself a walk.
I have a gentleman for you.
Thank you.
What did you pay for?
You.
Shall I send for wine?
Some food, perhaps?
Where, against the wall, on the bed?
What do you want?
You've paid for me. Let's get it done.
No, you misunderstand me, Camille.
How do you know my name?
I've made it my business
to know all about you.
I know you've been in this
godforsaken place four years.
I know you are a prize here
not like the others.
And we have met before.
Do you not recall?
I have good prospects.
I'm an officer with
the Unit of Moral Discipline.
- Monsieur.
- Call me Gabriel.
What are you doing?
It's your money back, monsieur.
I have to go. I have to be somewhere.
I am not an insignificant
man, demoiselle.
I'm better than the filth
that comes to you,
yet you insult me.
I will not spend the night with you.
You will stay. I've paid for you.
Get away from her. Move, now, slow.
To the window.
I will cut your throat.
Outside.
- Camille?
- Rose, let us pass.
Where are you going?
- To Pascal Valmont?
- I'm sorry.
- What will you give me?
- I have nothing.
Rose, please.
Oi!
Something must
have happened, an accident.
- There's no accident.
- Victoire, enough!
You have to change
how you feel about him
if we're to live together.
You said you had something for me.
Something
very special.
A trinket
for my trinket.
There are more letters more women.
All to him, all from other women.
All write of love.
Read them, Camille.
You'll never cry for him again.
Aren't you tired of borrowed apartments?
We must have a place.
With two keys
one for me
and one for you, my pussycat.
Make it real.
Give me funds tonight,
and I will secure a nest
for us in the morning.
No more
talking.
Who is she?
Geneviève de Merteuil.
Come, we're going.
Where?
We wish to see Madame de Merteuil.
Madame helps the poor
through the church.
I suggest you try there.
Tell her I have news of Valmont.
What could you possibly know of Valmont?
Throw these creatures out, Majordome.
We have his letters.
Let us be done. How much
do you want for this letter?
I'm not a blackmailer, madame.
Liar.
I do not believe that women should fall
while men survive
the same indiscretions.
I'm here to offer you your freedom.
You, offer me my freedom, from what?
Giving your heart to a man
who does not know how to love.
Get out of my house.
"Your body against mine.
Your strong hands
lifting me, moving me".
Shall I go on?
There are other letters, madame.
Where?
In a place of safety.
Valmont has put you up to this.
I do nothing for Valmont.
I don't believe you.
I see the flush in your cheeks
when you speak his name.
If there is a flush, then it is anger
at having made myself
so vulnerable in loving him.
Valmont is dead to me.
Can you eat those, or
are they ornamental?
So
my rival is a girl from the slums.
We are only rivals
if we still desire him.
What do you want from me?
Valmont has put me at great risk.
I cannot go back to my old life.
I ask again, what do you want?
I don't want to be betrayed again.
Do not seek that counsel from me.
I have not always been
in the slums, madame.
I have been in a great house before.
I have seen wealth and power.
I have seen what it can do,
how it can protect.
I want to learn that privilege.
Privilege cannot be learned.
All things can be learned.
Teach me
and I will give you back
every one of your letters.
Your marriage will be saved.
You will be free.
You clearly know nothing of marriage.
Take this off. You will
catch your death.
Excuse me!
I need to see Camille.
I was to meet her. I was late.
She's gone, sir.
She ran out on all of us.
Jericho will find her.
She'll be done for then.
Poor cow.
There is news from a plantation.
Your husband, the marquis,
has left Saint-Domingue.
He will return before the month is out.
I find myself much burdened.
I I brought the cards.
I thought they might provide
a welcome distraction.
It's a miracle I need now.
Or a good friend.
Ah, you are from the slums,
and yet your hands are
not worn or calloused.
They encouraged me to keep them soft.
I will not ask why, though I can guess.
So
you, perhaps, I can
invent a history for.
The daughter of a friend
from the country, new to Paris.
But this creature
that's not possible.
One transformation
will be challenge enough.
- She must go.
- She's in my care. She stays.
There are other letters, madame.
Then she must be mute.
Your deaf and silent maid
from Marseille.
- I will not be silent.
- You will.
Then I will not be from Marseille
thieves and liars, all of them.
Thus your provenance.
There's work to do.
Marseille?
Read.
It will help your conversation
at the very least.
I've nothing with pictures, I'm afraid.
I read.
Though, in Paris,
it doesn't matter how well-read one is
if one is not appealing to the eye.
He made us love him
by anticipating our needs
and playing to them.
What did you need?
To forget.
To be lost in someone so full of fire,
it burned away everything
that went before.
How many lovers did he have?
You may tell me.
I will not break.
Um, I might.
Then we must pile up your hair
and bind you in silk
so your broken heart does not show.
Ah, Madame Berthe,
we will need a full wardrobe
for the season
for Camille
the daughter of a dear friend.
It is a pleasure always
to help you, madame.
What rags are these?
Fresh ribbons, madame.
Berthe, I will choose.
White
like the chameleon.
Ah! Bah-bah-bah.
He does not deserve your pain.
- I loved him.
- Love is lethal, Camille.
Explore your own heart,
but study the hearts of others.
Trust me when I tell you
your lover
is your future enemy.
Men think they pluck us, Camille,
when we are ripe and at our sweetest.
Our skill is in letting
them believe that.
That privilege you spoke of
wealth and power
I wanted it, too.
But marriage without love
is a prison.
I managed mine with painstaking effort.
I perfected a façade
never allowing the truth
of what I thought or felt to show.
And
piece by piece,
secret by secret
I escaped the confines
of my marriage
built a wall around my heart
for a life that was mine
completely
life where I could have
all that I wanted without consequence.
My one mistake was Valmont.
I allowed the truth of what
I thought and felt to show.
Worse, I wrote it down.
Your pain shows.
Good.
Then I'll always remember.
What?
What I would otherwise choose to forget.
No, you must learn to hide it,
because I believe you
can survive in this world
where men have all the power
and we have none.
Hide your pain
and close your heart to love
and the ruin it threatens.
With you, the tide might change.
And what I began
you may finish.
Are you ready?
Where have you been, my love?
I've been searching for your title.
But it is not vicomte.
It is not marquis,
nor duke.
Well, I can hardly bear
the anticipation,
though baron would feel
entirely underwhelming.
It is
blackmailer.
And I have only to call it out,
and it is you who will
be dead to this society.
And I have only to send
one letter to your husband.
One letter.
Then send it, Valmont
if you have it.
Hmm.
Welcome
to the opera, Camille.
She is Babel
the very danger
that it is my work to stop,
and here I am, bewitched.
Therefore, evil shall come upon thee.
Thou shalt not know
from whence it rises.
Do you mean evil shall come upon you
or upon her?
Perhaps us both.