Penny Dreadful (2014) s01e07 Episode Script

Previously on Penny Dreadful There are tremors around us.
Hidden music.
Some might be more attuned to them than others.
What do those people do, those who have been chosen? Amunet and Amun-Ra.
If they ever came together, Amunet would become the mother of evil.
You are not Sir Malcolm.
Serpent.
Deceiver, Prince of Darkness, Devil of the Pit? You've always been drawn to the dark whisper.
There are things within us all that can never be unleashed.
Where've you been all night? I went out with Mr.
Gray.
He's a devil, that one.
The medal around my neck.
Would you wear it for me? "No more let Life divide "what Death can join together.
" You're pretty goddamn sure you know what's going on all the time.
There are things you can't control.
At the end of the day, the only thing we have is the people we trust.
And you trust her? You better start doing the same, or get ready to lose a lot of battles.
Vanessa, I have a lot to tell you.
I haven't been honest with you about To be beautiful is to be almost dead, isn't it? Mmm The lassitude of the perfect woman, the languid ease, the obeisance, spirit-drained, anemic, pale as ivory and weak as a kitten.
There's a brisk trade for photographs of dead women, did you know that? In certain quarters.
The corpses are improved with cosmetics, then posed in postures of abject surrender and photographed.
The men circulate the pictures and pleasure themselves.
Mmm, such exquisiteness.
Vanessa? Do you hear me? Of course.
Last evening, you went into a a spell, or a fit of a kind, unlike previously.
Did I? How arresting.
It was unnatural.
Do you not remember? You've been asleep since.
Who dressed me? Oh.
Sembene and myself.
Did you make the tea then? What? No.
Sembene did.
And you dressed me? Yes.
Like when I was a girl? Oh, no.
You didn't dress me as a girl.
How silly of me.
You weren't there to dress me, were you? You were away on some trek or other.
Who could keep them straight? We tried to follow your progress on that map in the solarium with little red pins but you were in terra incognita.
That's where you said you were going.
What adventure in those words.
Do you feel you are there again Father? Mina? Somewhat.
Fat Mother wept, of course.
Is there anything more comical than a fat woman weeping? It never quite comes off.
You loathed her fatness.
Unlike those other women.
But fat Mother wept because she missed you, and feared for you.
Wept and wept and then she bit into her pillow so we wouldn't hear her, and then she turned to laudanum to sleep at all.
Poor fat thing.
Tell me about the other women.
Not Mrs.
Ives, I know all about her.
You might have attended the funeral at least.
For decency's sake! You stop this right now.
Ooh, it's that face, is it? The hard face for the niggers.
Scare them into obeying.
The porters and slaves.
But we were speaking of the women.
They were as follows The whores in Zanzibar when you landed, mostly North-African so almost white.
Then the native women along the way.
They enjoyed you pawing at them.
Or you convinced yourself they did.
You made Peter fuck them to prove he was a man.
He didn't enjoy it, but he would do anything for you.
Except make a proper off spin bowler like you wanted.
So on you went, tribe to tribe, father and son, fucking the Maasai, the Mamohela, the Bangweulu the Bantu, the Burundi! Honestly, I'm sorry they've troubled you.
I'm quite well again.
And where did you receive your medical degree, Dr.
Ives? Would you excuse us? Go on, Sir Malcolm.
He fears for my modesty I think.
May I make a discreet examination? Ah, discretion always.
What happened to your lip? Sembene thought it necessary to "sedate" me.
You've a steady pulse.
Yes, I believe I am still alive.
Would you come into the light for me? And look up to the left, to the right.
I fear I'm not looking my best.
Nonsense.
Your visual responses are perfectly adequate.
High praise.
No wonder you're not married.
May I listen to your heart? Such as it is.
- It's cold.
- I'm sorry.
I always forget that with the living.
Deep breaths.
What happened downstairs? I couldn't rightly say.
Then wrongly say.
I don't remember.
It's a shambles.
Is it? There was violence.
There usually is.
When's that? When I go away.
Where do you go? I don't know! Meaning you will soon bring in an alienist.
No.
I don't favor that.
Nor I.
You must eat something.
I'm not hungry for soup.
Well, I'm sure they will give you anything you like.
Cornish game hen, expertly carved by a beautiful boy in a restaurant.
You have very clean hands.
Yes, I suppose so.
Do you value cleanliness? I suppose I do.
That's why you're a virgin.
Or maybe not.
Who can tell about such things? Such hidden things.
Such secrets we all have, don't we, Doctor? There's a line from Shelley that haunts me.
A single line, from Adonais.
I can't seem to get it out of my head.
"No more let Life divide "what Death can join together.
" Your clean hands are trembling.
Are you afraid? Not of you.
You think you know a greater demon? Tell me of him, or shall I tell you? Is the examination over? It has not yet begun.
I've called Mr.
Chandler to assist us.
It has happened before, but never to this extent.
She fights it as best she can.
What brings on the fits? I don't know.
Emotion of some kind.
What brought on this one? I don't know.
I must ask you a difficult question.
Has she experienced sexual trauma in her life? I've no idea.
Is she intact? I wouldn't have thought so.
I place no judgment on that.
I have no interest in your judgment.
Miss Ives is manifesting a deep psychosexual responsiveness.
I would say the root of her condition lies there.
In guilt.
Something or someone has triggered it.
Well, last night she went out with a young man.
All right.
Let's imagine this.
She has an erotic encounter with this man.
Perhaps her first, we don't know.
And it evolves into some sort of sexual extremity or perversity that produces feelings of guilt or shame.
That might stimulate a psychological break or dissociation which Did you bring your weapons? - Yes.
- Come.
My God.
Mr.
Chandler.
Forgive me.
I am not myself.
My dear Miss Ives.
Can I help you in any way? You have no idea how I fight this thing, but it is adamantine.
What thing? This thing inside me.
No one has taken my hand so sweetly for many years.
May I ask you a question, Mr.
Chandler? Of course.
Did you fuck him or did he fuck you? The beautiful boy of our dreams.
The irresistible one.
You know who I mean.
He fucked you, didn't he? Goddamn, did you enjoy it? I think we'll tell Brona.
Yeah.
We'll tell Brona.
Of course, she already knows the boy.
Didn't she tell ya? Oh, I'm so sorry.
He fucked her while she bled.
I don't need to tell you how much she enjoyed it.
Ask her to show you the pictures.
The sedative, Doctor.
Ah.
Is the child killer back for more? No sons for you to kill here, Malcolm! Help me! Help me.
Keep your hands off me, virgin doctor! Restrain her! Leave her! You imbeciles! Leave her to me! You men, you men, you men! What's wrong with her? She's been possessed by the Devil.
Oh, fuck me.
Or a devil.
Who can say? There is a pantheon I believe.
Well, you're a doctor.
Do something! This is a bit beyond my usual practice.
There is, I believe, a larger plan at work here.
Something beyond even the monstrousness we have witnessed.
I spoke to an Egyptologist who suggested the creature we seek might believe Miss Ives to be an incarnation of the goddess Amunet.
Should that creature take hold of her it would unleash untold horrors.
For Christ's sake, we gotta get her a priest.
Don't be insulting.
Might as well call a witch doctor or an old gypsy woman.
Shut the fuck up.
No priest.
We cannot bring anyone else into this.
So what's the plan? We keep her alive while she fights this thing.
We show her she is not alone.
Remember what you said to me? "At the end of the day, the only thing we really have is the people we trust.
" She trusts us.
Will you stay and help us? You know I will.
Did you understand the words she said to me? It was Arabic.
She said, "Let me die.
" Mr.
Chandler.
Miss Ives.
You're awake.
So it would seem.
How long have I been asleep? A week more or less.
Though you do wake up and get feisty every now and then.
I can only imagine.
Is there water? I'm not going to hurt you.
It gets pretty rough sometimes.
Our friend, the doctor, thinks we might have to restrain you to keep you from hurting yourself.
He would, wouldn't he? You don't know what it's like having this thing inside me.
Always scratching.
That's an awful word, but that's what it feels like.
An animal scratching to get out.
Should we get you a priest? Someone to talk to? Would that help? I don't know, I've fallen from the faith.
But, yes.
Yes.
Then we will.
I don't remember what happens really, but some things I do.
You've been kind.
Everybody.
Not like you.
I might have fallen in love with you.
You don't mind me saying that? You still might.
Don't let me hurt anyone.
I won't.
They won't stop me.
They haven't the heart for it.
But you do.
When the moment comes, look into my eyes, and pull the trigger.
And send you to heaven? If you believe in that.
Oh, I do.
But I believe in the other place more.
'Course, I know that place pretty well.
You might say it's where I was flung when your fucking cunt of a God cast me out.
You don't recognize your old friend, Vanessa? So it's this game again? I thought you liked games.
You certainly did with Mr.
Gray.
Am I meant to give you a name again? Is it Satan now? Or do you fashion yourself Lucifer, the Fallen Angel? That's how you fashion me.
How pitiable you are! Forever hiding your face in the guise of others.
Are you afraid? Always.
But do you know what I fear most of all? A life thwarted.
Greatness promised, but never achieved.
If your goal is to have me surrender to you, that day will never come.
I could kill you.
Choke out your life.
Seize up the heart.
Then do it! You can't resist me forever, darlin'.
But I can now.
Say I kill them downstairs.
Do it! My soul remains my own.
Tell me what you want of me right now.
No more evasions.
I want you to be the mother of evil.
I want you to rule the darkness with me.
At my side.
Looking over a black, scorched, dead world.
Where there is no more pain, because there are no more hearts to feel.
We have eaten them all, thee and me.
And together we will conquer God.
Topple him from his bloody throne, and rule in his stead.
Everlasting.
Darkling, listen.
Have you thought about my offer? Coming to Africa? Don't need the glory.
Don't underestimate the value of prestige.
For Christ's sake! What are you trying to prove? That you're still young? That you're still relevant? Or are you just running away again? Something you know intimately.
- Don't.
- Getting angry? Fuck you! That mysterious past of yours.
How far can you run? You know what, I have a father! I don't need another one! And you had a son and you killed him.
Am I missing anything? Lord, are we ever getting out of this house? Do you know why I must go to Africa? I don't care.
Yes, you do.
I buried my son Peter on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
He was like a skeleton.
The insects had gotten to him.
I carried him to the grave and put him in.
He weighed practically nothing.
And then I left, because I still had to survey the northern end of the lake to ascertain if any of the outlets might be the source of the Nile.
It's a fever, this Nile quest, as I told you.
I am returning to bring my son's body home.
At least that's what you tell yourself.
Yes, that's what I tell myself.
You're not that good.
I know.
We must restrain her or she'll kill herself.
Don't let me hurt you! Please! Quickly! Morphine? Yep.
Is it an addiction? Yes.
Caused by what? Pain.
My turn upstairs.
How is she? Sleeping, I think.
Good.
The best thing.
And for you, too.
So what the hell do we do now? I'm going to try a transfusion in the morning, some vitamins, essential proteins.
That'll keep her alive to fight on anyway.
"Fight on.
" But for all our efforts, we may have to let her go.
Go where? Do you believe in God? No.
I wish I did.
I believe in everything but God.
I have to tell you something, I'm not sure Sir Malcolm is being honest with us.
- About what? - Miss Ives.
I know he doesn't want her to die, but I'm not quite sure why he wants her to live.
He cares for her.
She's like a daughter.
No.
She's not.
That's the problem.
You know the saddest thing I ever saw? When the army pacifies a native tribe, they take the children away.
They cut off their hair, which is a source of spiritual strength to them, you see.
They take away their medicine bags, they give them new names.
John Smith.
William Sherman.
Then they ship them East to boarding school.
Awful.
That's not the worst.
Sometimes a John Smith or William Sherman would escape and make it back to their home tribe.
Well, they've forgotten their language, their stories.
They are unwelcome.
So what do they do? They don't fit in either world.
Like Miss Ives? Like Miss Ives.
So what do they do? They roam and they die.
Oh, it's snowing.
Can I ask you a favor? It's heavier than you thought.
You'll get used to that.
The trick is not pulling the barrel up when you're aiming because of the weight.
Point the gun down, and carefully pull back the hammer with your other hand.
So lethal.
You'll get used to that too.
Now raise the gun and point it down there.
Now put your finger on the trigger very gently, like you're touching a lady's neck.
Well, like surgery, then.
Now this is going to be very loud.
When I tell you, I want you to take an easy breath out and then an inhale.
At the top of the inhale, I want you to gently squeeze the trigger.
Don't jerk it, just gently squeeze.
Easy exhale and inhale.
Fire.
All right! Again? Go crazy, Dr.
F.
Take it easy, Annie Oakley.
You do it.
- No, no, no, no, no, no.
- Go on.
Look, I was a professional sharpshooter.
You know you want to.
Whoo! What about a rifle? Do you have a rifle? Sir Malcolm is inquiring about the noise.
Uh-oh.
We're in trouble with Dad.
This is good.
I picked up the rudiments of cooking on the trail back home.
Always thought myself a dab hand at the spices.
In America, yes? New Mexico Territory mostly.
But all over really.
California, all the way to the Pacific.
When I first saw the ocean, I thought it must be a lake.
Nothing could be so large.
Not even the Mountains of the Moon.
So, what's your story? I have no story.
Is that so? Looking at you, here in London, I would think you have a story.
No.
I have a theory.
I think Sir Malcolm saved your life and you owe him.
That's why you're here.
Or I saved his and now he is my responsibility.
Guess it comes down to much the same thing.
We all owe each other in the end.
Like her.
Like her.
You should call a priest.
Do you believe in God? I believe in everything.
Vanessa, can you hear me? Vanessa Vanessa, can you hear me? Yes.
I know you're very tired and that you just want to sleep, but I think you can help us.
You're now in a very special place.
Between our world and another, perhaps between life and death itself.
As is our Mina.
You must be close to her.
Reach out to her.
Find her.
Don't You must.
We might never have this chance again.
All of this All of this You wanted it.
No.
You allowed it to continue.
Please, just try.
How cruel you are.
Find her.
Get the fuck away from her.
Whatever game you think you're playing I've had enough! We need to end this.
- Ethan, hold on.
- We have to get her a priest.
Tonight.
Right now! We can bring no one else into this.
What might she do to them? - Like that? - You know she is not always like that.
She is dying.
The battle's over.
We lost.
Or it won.
Who gives a fuck? It's time to do what she wants.
She wants to die.
Then let her.
You mean a priest for the last rites? Yes.
Or for the ritual of exorcism.
Stop it! She's a Catholic.
If she believes in it, it might help her! Have you not a single shred of decency left? You know nothing! Is that what happens when you murder your way across a continent? Stop it! Stop it! You've got a girl dying in there.
Not some monster with fangs.
You want a daughter? There she is.
Get the priest.
Sir Malcolm, I swear to Christ if she's right, if you let all this happen so that you could manipulate her, I'll rip your throat out.
Will you give me something? - What? - To stay awake.
This is a cocaine derivative.
They used to give it to me as a child.
I had asthma.
Did it work? Yes.
But it left a taste for narcotics.
The manipulation of the body through science.
In Africa I was famous for eschewing drugs.
Form of weakness, I thought.
My son died there because we lost our medicine, or the porters ran off with it, I don't remember.
God, I honestly don't remember.
I left him at base camp and went off.
When I returned, he was dead.
He had asked me to name a mountain after him.
The Murray Mountains in the Congo.
When the time came to claim the range, and affix a proper English name to it, I mean I wasn't thinking of him.
I named it for myself.
No, Doctor.
I haven't a shred of decency left.
Thank you.
Father Matthews, Dr.
Victor Frankenstein.
- Doctor.
- Father.
Thank you for coming.
It is a duty to which I am accustomed.
Um, where is the woman? Before we go up, there's more we should tell you.
Come this way, please.
Uh, Sir Malcolm, with respect, I need only know if she's been through the sacrament of baptism and is in good standing with the Holy Church of Rome.
And thereby hangs a tale.
Uh, it's rather more complicated than that.
We believe have cause to believe that she is being controlled by another force, a power beyond our understanding.
It's our hope that you might be able to make progress where we have failed.
You are talking about the ritual of exorcism? Yes.
It's forbidden by canon law without the express permission from the Church of Rome.
It will not be forthcoming.
Meet her at least.
I can deliver extreme unction, I can hear her confession and I can administer the last rites.
More than that is impossible.
Give her the last rites and get the fuck out of this house, you ridiculous man.
I will do my duty and nothing more.
Come this way.
Do what you're here for.
Get him a chair.
Do you understand my words? Are you a Roman Catholic? Do you follow the teachings of Mother Rome and her ministers on Earth? What's her name? Vanessa.
My name is Father Matthews.
Do you know why I'm here, Vanessa? You were baptized and confirmed in the Church of Rome? Are you prepared to take extreme unction and to make your confession? I knew.
I knew a Matthew.
Dr.
Christopher Matthew Banning.
He tortured me with water too.
I I knew another Matthew.
In the ancient days.
He was a tax collector.
He died near Hierapolis.
It was very hot and sunny.
I nailed him on the sticks upside down so he would come to me faster, so he would see it.
Get him out! Get him out! Get him out! Get him out! Vanessa I know you're still there.
I'm not gonna leave you.
Vanessa.
Vanessa, please! I beg you.
Now.
Please.
Please.
I beg you Do it.
There cannot be a happy end, for claw will slash and tooth will rend.
There cannot be a happy end for claw will slash and tooth will rend.
There cannot be a happy end, for claw will slash and tooth will rend.
There cannot be a happy end, for claw will slash and tooth will rend.
You should be in bed.
I know where Mina is.