The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Bless me, Father,
for I have sinned.
When was your last confession?
Fifteen years.
I fear I have forsaken God.
And have you?
I wish to avenge myself
for a grave injury that befell me.
What was done to you, my son?
I was robbed
of 15 years of my life.
The only woman I ever loved
was taken from me in that time.
And now I want revenge.
Depth?
Too many bumps!
The captain wants to talk to you,
Edmond!
I can't hear you!
The captain wants
to talk to you, Edmond. Now.
Jean, take the wheel.
Steady on course 270.
Look out!
How is he?
I doubt he'll make
it through the night.
You asked for me, sir.
Where are we?
We've just rounded Cape Corse.
- And the main mast?
- Repairs are almost complete, sir.
Listen to me, Edmond.
It is no longer a question
of days, more like hours.
I want you to take over command
of the Pharaon.
But, Captain, I am a senior.
The duty should fall on me.
Your duty, Danglars, is to buy cargo
and ensure its safety.
Mine is to this ship.
Edmond Dantes will be acting captain
from now until we reach Marseille.
Is that clear?
Aye, aye, sir.
Now leave us.
Stay, Edmond.
Unlock the box, dear.
There's a sealed letter inside.
Put it safely in your pocket.
You have to deliver it to someone
very important in Paris.
It is a matter of extreme
urgency, Edmond.
I will do it with as much haste
as I can muster, sir.
- To whom must it be delivered?
- Come closer
Go back up
and get us home to safety.
Yes, sir.
- Men, can you hear me?
- Yes, sir!
- Let's hoist the mainsail!
- Yes, sir!
The mast will never hold
in this wind, Edmond!
We have no option!
If we can't get through this storm,
we'll perish!
Unfold the mainsail!
- Aye, aye, Edmond!
- Yes, sir!
Stop it! Are you mad?
The sail is almost in shreds!
Go and help the men!
We need more speed as we can get!
Since when you give me orders?
I'm in charge now, Danglars!
Do as I say!
Go help the men now
and I'll get us through this!
Tie it up for now, make good.
We'll figure it out tomorrow.
- Jacques.
- Captain?
We need to unload.
Let's get this cargo
off-loaded for Mr. Morrel.
- Mr. Morrel!
- Edmond.
I saw you entering the harbor
from my balcony, but
I didn't see any sign
of Capt. Leclère.
I have grave news.
Capt. Leclère
is no longer with us.
We buried him at sea
three days ago.
You brought the Pharaoh back?
I did, sir. Yes.
God bless.
Mr. Morrel, could you please excuse me
from my duties for the rest of the morning?
I have loved ones I need
to reassure of my well-being.
Go! Go!
Thank you! Thank you!
- I shall see you later.
- Yes.
Mercedes!
Edmond?
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
When did you get back?
Just now, a moment ago.
My God!
We'd all but given up hope
on you ever returning.
I'm back, I'm back.
I'm back.
More than a month late.
What took you so long?
The storms we sailed through, Mercedes,
like nothing I've ever experienced.
But thinking of you is
what got me through.
You can't go away again
without us being husband and wife.
We can get married tomorrow,
if you wish.
We have to announce
our engagement first.
Of course, I forgot.
My cousin.
Fernand.
That's the military academy,
I see. And a lieutenant.
Congratulations.
You all right?
I'm just surprised to see you.
I thought perhaps
you had drowned out there.
Fortunately not.
Well, I just stopped by to see
if there was anything you needed.
I have everything I need.
Good.
I must go.
Report for duty
for the barracks.
Danglars.
My God, what's wrong with you?
I just came
from Mercedes's house.
Edmond was there.
- I can't let her go.
- Calm down, man.
No, you don't understand,
Danglars.
We are both Catalan.
It is our destiny to be married.
I have to stop it.
I'm meant to be her lover.
You could always
challenge him to a duel.
I can't.
If I kill him, she'll throw
herself off a cliff.
Danglars! I need you here!
Where are you?
I'm coming, Mr. Morrel!
I think he'd have at least given us
the day off after what we've been through.
I saw the ship.
It was like it took a beating.
You know, Capt. Leclère
died out there.
Yes, I heard.
Now Morrel has promoted
Edmond to be captain.
People are laughing at me.
I have other things
to worry about.
Fernand, wait, wait.
- I was wondering.
- What?
Before Leclère died,
he gave Edmond a letter.
- In secret.
- A letter?
Maybe we could use it.
What are you getting at,
Danglars?
We have a common cause.
Yes?
Yes. It seems so.
The Honorable King's Attorney
is hereby informed
that Edmond Dantes
was entrusted with a letter
from the usurper Napoleon
with instructions to deliver it
to a Bonapartist committee in Paris.
As proof, look for the letter.
On his person.
Or at his home.
Or in his home.
How shall we sign it?
Without using our names, of course.
How about, from a friend
of the throne and the altar?
I like that.
From a friend of the throne
and the altar.
There.
We now have nothing to worry about.
Why are you doing this?
Edmond is a fine young man.
Are you trying to get
him into trouble, or what?
Calm now, Caderousse.
We were just having some fun.
Fun?
This could ruin a man's life.
You're accusing You're accusing
him of being a Bonapartist.
Calm down.
You two are up to no good.
Are you satisfied?
For your sour wine.
Caderousse, come and help me.
Fernand!
Don't do anything stupid!
You hear me?
Fernand!
I just I
I have a few words I would like
to share with you all.
Firstly, Mr. Morrel,
Mercedes and I would like to thank
you from the bottom of our hearts
for sponsoring
our engagement celebration,
and I could not wish
for a better man to serve, sir.
And I feel immense honor
that you have bestowed upon me
the great responsibility of being
the new captain of the Pharaon.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for the kind words,
Edmond, dear.
Or should I call you
Capt. Dantes?
Ladies and gentlemen, let's raise
our glasses to the happy couple.
May their union be blessed
in every possible way.
To Edmond and Mercedes.
Danglars,
I noticed you didn't toast
to the happy couple.
You're not enjoying yourself?
Mr. Morrel, I will be frank with you.
When you appointed me head of cargo,
by the very on you said it was with a view
to giving me command of my own ship.
Now, it would have been
the perfect opportunity, sir.
You've been with us for only
one voyage, Danglars.
Edmond has sailed
for me since he was a boy.
Your turn will come.
There was one other thing
I wanted to tell you earlier.
What?
On our return voyage,
Capt. Leclère,
whilst with fever, demanded
we put in at the island of Elba.
I tried to convince him
otherwise.
Even asked young Dantes for his support,
although that was not forthcoming.
- Elba wasn't on the itinerary.
- Precisely.
And what was his business there?
Napoleon Bonaparte, it seems.
- He spoke with Bonaparte?
- The sailors who rode him ashore
said they saw the two of them
talking together like old friends.
Please, sir,
keep this to yourself.
Now that Napoleon's
been exiled to Elba,
it seems that everyone
has become a royalist overnight.
I propose a toast to our king,
who has finally rescued us
from the excesses of Napoleon.
Long may he reign.
To the King!
To the King!
And to your happiness, Renée.
Thank you, Gerard.
Well, as you know,
Mr. Villefort,
we are staunch royalists and detest
anything to do with Bonapartists
and never allow our daughter to marry
someone with those tendencies.
As Renée will tell you,
my loyalty to the crown is such that
it even led to me renouncing
my father's name.
Oh, so you no longer use
the name Noirtier de Villefort?
No, it is simply now Villefort.
In fact, I can hardly bring myself
to pronounce the name Noirtier.
My father's political
position is very far from mine
and frankly
an embarrassment to me.
- To the King.
- To the King.
Edmond
May I dance with my cousin?
Of course.
Catalans, Mercedes,
we don't marry outsiders,
we stick with our own.
It's the law.
It's not the law, it's a custom.
And I am not beholden to custom.
Congratulations, my son!
Thank you, father.
Thank you.
You know, Edmond, every day
for the past three weeks
Mercedes came to my office
asking after you.
It's still time
for you to change your mind.
About what?
You want to be
a captain's widow one day?
How can you say such a thing?
He'll never be
more than a captain.
Me, one day I'll be general.
With me you have a future.
Stop this.
- Are you alright?
- I'm fine.
He's drunk.
Caderousse told me he saw you leaving
the tavern with the letter in your hand.
What did you do with it?
What you hoped
I would do with it.
For your attention.
And for your trouble.
Without consequence,
it would seem.
We'll see.
How dare you disturb me here?
I think in my place you would
have done the same, sir.
This was found on the desk
of the charge office earlier.
No one knows how it got there.
You have this Dantes in custody?
Not yet. I thought
it'd best to inform you first.
Find him and arrest him.
And take him under guard to my office.
Edmond?
This is for you and Mercedes
to start your new life together.
Mr. Morrel, you've
already given us too much.
Open it.
- Sir
- You deserve it.
Father,
can you look after this for me?
Mercedes
I promised Capt. Lecrère
I would deliver a letter
to someone in Paris for him,
and I was wondering
if you'd like to come with me.
We could both go for a week,
even longer,
as our honeymoon.
To Paris?
- I've never been to Paris.
- Neither have I.
And, as we will be husband and wife,
we can travel together.
Is this where
Edmond Dantes lives?
But he's not here now.
He's at the Morrel's house.
- Edmond.
- Yeah?
Tomorrow, you will put a ring
on my finger that will never take off,
that will remind me of you
whenever you're away on travels.
So I, too,
have something for you
to remind you of me
whenever you're away.
It belonged to my father.
It's beautiful.
Look at the back.
It keeps times perfectly.
And it will tell you the hours
I miss you by.
Thank you.
What did I tell you?
Who here is Edmond Dantes?
- I'm Edmond Dantes.
- You're under arrest.
- Sir, what for?
- You'll find out soon enough.
- What's the meaning of this?
- I'm just doing my duty, sir.
This is our engagement
celebration. What's going on?
On the orders of Mr. Villefort,
the deputy prosecutor.
Come along, Dantes,
and don't try anything foolish.
Sir.
Sir.
- What's going on?
- Just stay here.
I don't know what's going on.
I'll be back with him.
Everybody, please.
There's obviously
been a mistake.
Just carry on.
What is going on?
Stop him.
- What do you want, Caderousse?
- You did it, didn't you?
You gave that letter
to the police.
You two, you did it.
I'm going to go after them.
I'm going to tell them it was you two
who wrote that letter.
You do that, and I will cut out your heart
and show it to you while it's still pumping.
Go home, Caderousse.
And forget
any of this ever happened.
Is this the man?
Yes, sir.
I am Mr. Villefort,
Deputy Prosecutor of Marseilles.
Come on, step into my office.
You, stay here.
Stand there.
I believe you were at your engagement
celebration when arrested.
Yes, sir.
I am getting married tomorrow.
How lovely.
And you're a sailor?
I've just arrived back
from a four-month voyage, sir.
A voyage?
- To where?
- Egypt, Constantinople, and back.
I have information that your
political opinions are extreme.
I hardly have
any political opinions, sir.
- You love Napoleon?
- As almost everyone does.
And now you love your King?
Do you?
Of course.
- Any enemies?
- Why do you ask?
Answer me.
Not as far as I know, sir.
Yet someone is intent on getting you
into some serious trouble.
By what means?
Someone delivered
this letter to the police today.
In it, they claim that you
have been entrusted
with a letter
from the usurper Napoleon
with instructions to deliver it
to a Bonapartist committee in Paris.
- May I see that?
- Stay back.
Did the Pharaon stop
at the island of Elba
on its return voyage
from the east?
- It did, sir, yes.
- Why?
Well, our late captain wished
Speak.
He wished to pay respects
to Napoleon Bonaparte.
Capt. Lecrère was
in the Imperial Navy,
and I believe
they knew each other.
And did he pay
his respects to the usurper?
I assume so, sir.
I did not accompany him
onto the island, so I
And you obviously have
witnesses to this effect.
The crew of the Pharaon
will vouch for me on that, sir.
Each and every one of them.
I was I was on ship.
Were you or were you not
entrusted with a letter
with instructions to deliver it
to some other person or persons in Paris?
I was, sir.
And where is this letter now?
Well, I have it on me.
This is the usurper's seal.
I wouldn't know.
And you've not read this?
As you can see,
the seal is unbroken, sir.
What does it say?
If this had fallen
into the wrong hands,
it would have caused immeasurable
damage to King and country.
Sir, I had no idea.
Thank God it didn't.
Indeed.
Well, I guess this concludes it.
You're free to go.
- Thank you, sir.
- No, I'm sorry for inconveniencing you.
Tonight of all nights.
Yes.
Thank you.
One more question.
To whom were you supposed
to deliver this letter?
A Mr. Noirtier, Paris.
Come back.
Yes, sir?
I need to check on this
Noirtier before you leave.
Inspector!
You take Mr. Dantes outside and wait
with him there for further instructions.
Sorry, sir.
I don't understand.
Off you go.
In fact, I can hardly bring myself
to pronounce the name Noirtier.
My father's political position
is very far from mine.
Why is it taking so long?
I know the police
commissioner personally.
I'm going to see him right now
and put an end to this nonsense.
I wait here for Edmond.
Capt. Dantes, Mr. Villefort
would like to apologize
for having kept you detained
so unnecessarily
and has asked me
to escort you in my carriage
back to the house of Mr. Morrel.
- Excellent.
- Follow me.
Can I remove these now?
When we get there.
In you get, Dantes.
Edmond!
Mercedes, they're taking
me to Mr. Morrel's house.
- I'll, uh
- Sit down.
I'll see you there.
Edmond
Edmond!
- Where's the Marquis?
- It's getting ready for bed, sir.
Tell him I need to speak to him.
It's urgent.
Where are you taking me?
Out, Dantes.
I'm not going anywhere
until you explain yourself, Inspector.
- Why am I here?
- Edmond!
Take this off me.
- Edmond, what's going on?
- Hold her.
Mercedes
- What's going on?
- Hold her!
- Edmond, where are they taking you?
- I don't know!
- I don't know what's happening.
- Where are they taking you?
This is a mistake.
- Edmond! Let me go!
- Hold her.
Edmond!
- Mercedes, I'll come back for you!
- I'll be waiting, Edmond.
Row.
Mr. Villefort, what brings you here
at such a late hour?
I apologize, sir.
The affair which took me away earlier
has revealed one of Napoleon's spies.
The king is in grave danger.
I have to leave immediately for Paris
to speak with him face to face,
but for that,
I need a letter of introduction.
- Where is my son?
- They took him away.
Is Mr. Morrel back?
Not yet.
- Mercedes, where did they take him?
- Out to sea.
I'll go to my commanding officer
and get him to find out what's going on.
Thank you, Fernand.
Come on, Mr. Dantès,
it's getting late.
Let's get home.
What did Edmond do?
I don't understand.
- What did my son do?
- I don't know.
- We're almost there, sir.
- Not the Castle d'If.
Morning, Governor.
One of those, eh?
Sir, I've not been charged
with any crime.
I've not been put on trial.
I'm not a criminal.
That's not
what your admittance form says.
What does it say?
It says you're a spy
working for Napoleon.
Well, that's a lie.
You have to believe me.
You've no idea how many times I've heard
that phrase uttered by the likes of you.
Political prisoners
go straight to the dungeons.
Take him there.
Remove the prisoner's handcuffs.
In you go.
You're up early, Father.
What brings you to Paris?
What happened to your hand?
There's blood on it, Father.
Indeed.
No, I cut myself last night
on a rusty railing.
Some coffee?
No, no.
I'm here in urgent business,
but I needed to speak to you first.
What business?
I've come to warn the King
of a conspiracy against him.
An incriminating letter from Napoleon
addressed to you, Father,
came into my hands.
Fortunately,
I've destroyed the letter,
I've silenced the bearer,
or your neck might have been
under the blade of the guillotine now.
What did this letter say?
I think it's better
you don't know the contents.
I can imagine it.
Napoleon is planning
an escape from Elba, not so?
Who told you?
I have people everywhere,
Gerard.
- So it is true?
- He has already made his escape.
Three days ago he landed
in the south of France with 700 men.
- Impossible.
- He's marching north as we speak.
Garrison commanders are turning
allegiance to him one after the other.
His army has already swollen
to over 6,000 fighting men.
My God.
Soon, he will make
his grand entrance into Paris.
So I suggest you run along
to your little king
and tell him about
this letter immediately.
But know this, Gerard.
You are not doing it
to safeguard the king.
You're doing it only
to advance your own career.
I've been watching you
from afar, son.
All those men you've sent to their deaths
for so-called political reasons.
How does it make you feel?
Why are you so ruthless?
It's ambition, isn't it?
No, what I do,
I do according to the law.
You do it for the sake
of ambition.
It's why you changed your name.
Dropped the Noirtier,
isn't it, Mr. Villefort?
Go.
Tell your king to flee France
while he can.
I will make no mention of who
the letter was addressed to.
Of course you won't.
If you did,
it would destroy your career.
You will become a blemish
on the landscape of law,
all because of my name,
the name Noirtier,
of which I am immensely proud.
What did he say,
the commanding officer?
He's going to find out.
I told him it was
very important to me.
You look like you haven't slept.
How am I to sleep without knowing
where they have taken Edmond?
- Where are you going?
- I'm going to make a sense of it.
And?
Mr. Villefort has gone to Paris
on some business or other
and won't be back for some time.
Did you speak to the inspector?
I asked him about the boat,
and he says he knows nothing about it.
They rode him out to sea,
Mr. Morrel. I was there.
What if they had taken him
to the prison of Castle d'If?
Well, surely not.
Come in.
Did you find him?
No.
He must be somewhere.
Can't have just disappeared.
He'll be back soon.
You'll see.
He'll walk through that door.
He always does.
Hand number 34 his uniform.
Take your clothes off
and put those on.
I shouldn't even be here.
This is a mistake.
Don't raise your voice at me.
Ever.
Do as you're told, number 34.
Now, I've made it a rule that no one interned
in the dungeons ever makes it out alive.
I've been here six years, and in that time,
that rule has never been broken.
I expect you to adhere to it.
Now, hurry up.
We don't have all day.
No food and water
for the next two days.
Mercedes
My commanding officer finally found out
what happened to Edmond.
Tell me.
He was charged with treason
and taken to the Castle d'If.
They've been holding him there
ever since.
Oh, my God.
And you know no one ever
comes out of there alive.
He could be dead already.
No.
Not Edmond.
He knows I'm waiting for him.
He'll come back to me, you'll see.
Is he sure, your commanding officer,
that they took him there?
He's very sure.
Why, Lord?
Why?