The Nevers (2021) s01e11 Episode Script

1
You're gonna need it.
No.
Sorry. No.
No.
You're gonna need it.
Oh, what the fuck is this? A sim?
Some kind of test?
A dream sequence?
Listen, the Galanthi's out,
Maladie wants to kill it,
if she hasn't already.
I don't have time for a drink
with my dead selves right now.
There'll be a seam where
the code doesn't match up,
and that's my way out.
First stage of grief. Denial.
- Doesn't she know she's dead?
- I'm not dead.
You gotta consider it at least.
I mean, I killed myself.
Baker here killed herself.
It was only a matter of time
before you joined us.
Okay, how did I even get here?
I was in the water. I was
God makes his plans, so here we are.
When you say God,
you mean the big, shiny
space elephant, right?
Because that's where our faith belongs.
This isn't a sim, is it?
This is the Galanthi.
It's an escape room for multiple selves.
Unlock my inner battles
to see the truth or whatever.
Remember when we were sent
to combat shrinks for PiTSiD?
Early days, before
they started just dosing.
- Yeah 'cause that helped.
- That's what this is.
Alright. I know how this works.
Empathy.
Hey.
Wow.
You were doing your job.
Forgive yourself, and let it go.
I don't know anything about you.
I'm sorry that your life sucked, too.
Thanks for the body.
Fuck.
My father refused to allow me to hunt.
One summer,
I decided to become
an expert on the fox.
The gamekeepers taught me every
detail of their furtive lives.
I studied their prey and their range,
their habits and habitat.
I learned to track them in my own time
until I found every fox's earth
within 15 miles of the house.
I'd done all this,
so that when the morning came,
the horns blew.
The young men took to their
steeds to follow my father,
to follow the baying pack.
I already knew where the fox was going.
So, I waited there.
Ahead of the dogs. Ahead of the hunt.
Making the kill myself.
And when my father eventually arrived,
I held up that bloodied rag of an animal
and demanded his appreciation.
The art of the hunt, gentlemen,
is to be ahead of the prey!
Quiet!
You pushed me!
I was a child!
We all need to be relieved
of our burdens once in a while.
Help!
Help us, please!
Hello? Please!
Please. We need your help.
We have a Touched girl.
We rescued her! She's in my carriage.
It's alright. I know him. Lord Swann.
Please?
Yep.
- Where's Horatio?
- Where's Mrs. True?
So you're the toff
who runs the Ferryman's?
Lord Swann.
Always thought that was
a fake title, to be honest.
Look, I know what
you must think about me,
but I want her to be safe.
She deserves that at the very least.
- Uh, perhaps I could make a donation?
- Does it count as a donation
if you made it off the backs
of the Touched to start with?
Uh, no, we don't need money,
Lord Swann. We need advocacy.
We need somebody to actually
pay attention to us and listen.
No, honestly, I I am listening.
There is an amendment going through
the House of Lords today.
You could speak out against it.
Whose amendment, mind my asking?
Lord Massen's.
The father of the girl
you just kidnapped and
brought to our doorstep.
You didn't tell me that
- That's not gonna help things, is it?
- I think it might do.
I found this at Massen's.
He was looking for a cure
for his daughter,
using some doctor
to dig around in the Touched
for an answer.
This woman here was
the primary case study.
He took her from an asylum.
Doctor carved her up,
but she kept on living.
If I can find her,
we'll have something on Massen.
Have something real.
You might be right,
but it's not gonna stop the amendment.
We need somebody in the House of Lords
to speak out against it.
And we need them to do it today.
Look
The Lords is little more
than a pageant anyway.
Real decisions are made around
tables and smoke-filled cabals
as far from public eyes as possible.
Well, so you have a seat
at any of these tables?
The Swanns do tend to, yes.
Fine.
Tell me about this amendment.
Have we much further to go,
or will I be gettin'
the full opera tonight?
It's by Verdi.
It's a beautiful auto-da-fé,
an act of penance.
Do you often pay penance, Penance?
I have no shame in my faith
if you mean to imply that I should.
Ah
We needn't be enemies, Ms. Adair.
I was merely pointing out the
contradiction in being a, um
religious scientist.
No more contradictory than
a doctor who does only harm.
Well, science is about proof.
Religion is about, uh, I don't know,
kneeling? Prayer? Guilt?
Science can be like a prayer
if you ask the right questions.
He listens and he slowly reveals
the extraordinary plan of His universe.
It really is charming.
This wide-eyed, earnest thing.
But
there's no need to lie to me.
Soon, there will be
no secrets between
the three of us.
Three?
The Holy Ghost, of course.
Oh, don't frown!
We'll be there soon.
A communion that will
enrapture us all.
Alright!
Whoa!
And now.
Oh! You've already met my boys.
Yeah. Yes. Many times.
Oh, yes. I have you and your, uh,
your friend to thank
for all of those repairs.
You should know that I won't leave
my conscience at the door
just to satisfy curiosity.
Look
Eve is in the garden, right?
And the snake comes to her
with the apple.
All of that knowledge,
all of that power,
in exchange for just one mouthful.
And humanity bears the burden
of that sin forever after.
It's not the compelling argument
you think it is.
How's this for a compelling argument?
Your holy book says
Eve takes a bite of that apple,
gives some to her fella,
and paradise ends!
I say
Eve chomps down on that fruit,
and everything begins!
You keep acting like a beast,
and we will treat you as one.
Can you speak?
How do you do that?
What, this?
Practice.
Control.
Discipline.
All things you can learn here.
My father said I was the only one.
No, darling. You ain't special.
What was it like?
With your family, when they found out.
I had three sisters.
Younger ones. Annoying.
Stubborn. Bit scary.
You'd have liked them.
We were on our own. We didn't have much.
We did alright for a while. Then
there was one winter
where it was just
so cold.
I tried to keep them warm,
to keep them safe, but
They died.
Yeah.
I'd have given anything
to have had this gift back then.
I wish I could make fire.
I could burn down my house.
Burn down that prison.
And the past.
The past is where we learn.
And where we hurt.
I want it all in ashes.
What on Earth is that?
- I'll tell you what it isn't.
- I
No, I think I'd rather you
tell me what it is.
Yes.
Hugo, hey.
- Oh, fuck.
- You wear this earpiece,
and I'll wear the other one,
and that way, I can feed you
the arguments when you get lost.
You can't be serious.
This will never work.
These people loathe me.
Massen considers me
the scourge of his class.
He and his cronies won't listen
to anything I have to say,
no matter how convincing
your demagogy is.
Anyone can win an argument,
you just need to know
what the other person wants.
If you had any integrity
Integrity is a luxury of
the poor. I have none.
You have the wrong man for the task.
I'm sorry, but this
is a terrible mistake.
No! No, no, no, no, no.
This is your responsibility!
You're afraid.
Wha
Why did you save that little girl?
Because it seemed like
the humane thing to do!
- You took a risk.
- A risk?!
Do you not see what he was doing to her?
She adored him, and he put
her in a cage like an animal!
A monster!
My father was exactly the same.
My only regret about his death
is that I didn't actually
ever get to tell him
that he was the monster.
So
Carpe bloody diem.
Ow!
- Ow!
- Oh, shit. Sorry.
Ow! Really ow!
Please, we don't have much.
Take whatever you want.
Please don't hurt me.
Oh
You've come for tea you, haven't you?
Well,
we'll just have to make do
with bread and butter.
This is your house.
Yes. Oh, we've lived here for years.
Only, well, I've been away, you see.
So I'm all at sixes and sevens.
Won't you sit down?
Can you feel her?
Is she reaching out to you?
Huh? Telling you what she needs?
- She?
- Oh.
I cannot wait to finally introduce you.
My mother.
Right. Sorry.
Sit.
Sit!
Mother's only half there.
In the wires. You can feel
her. It's just her spirit.
It's just her-her-her trembling soul,
but you can finish this.
And then we can divert all
that energy into a new body,
and we can prise her
from the maw of death itself.
That's what you were trying
to do with your boys?
Yes! Exactly.
Early attempts. Crude.
I don't have your expertise, you see?
I'm just a doctor!
I could not get the transfer right,
and humans aren't strong enough
for the Grand Dame.
She roasted them
inside out within hours,
but I found uses for them.
I can't abide waste.
What of the souls
already in those bodies?
Oh, just a casualty of science, my dear.
Souls aren't the domain of science.
This is where our two beliefs meet.
- No
- God makes his plans,
- so here we are.
- So, here we are.
The problem is, if we fall back,
Freelife catches up before
we make it to the pods.
And if we don't,
they have twice the numbers,
so they just
just pick us off.
So, what did you do?
She left her husband and her wife
and 30 others
to hold the line while she
and two other high ranks
got out of Edinburgh.
Last surrender of that war
for us that wasn't just
losing.
It was just losing them.
I
I couldn't take them with me.
But you never quite managed
to leave them behind.
All that guilt.
All those ghosts.
Nothing that an ice-cold can of necro
couldn't fix.
It isn't funny. You killed yourself.
We killed ourselves.
You know,
when I was down there in the water,
sinking deeper and deeper,
I remember thinking
What?
Before it ended, I remember wishing
another chance.
Another breath.
One more
Is that how you felt?
- No.
- No.
I'm sorry we haven't any tea.
That was our only teapot.
Lester will be so disappointed.
Where is your husband?
- Missus
- Eason. We did say.
Of course, he did. I did know.
I simply can't remember.
Oh!
Oh. It's tough.
D-does Mr. Eason have any
concerns about your memory?
He says I haven't been
the same since the sanatorium.
I can't remember where he
Hm.
Does Strohman's Asylum ring any bells?
That was the first one. The nice one.
The other, I don't remember it so well.
Do you remember a Dr. Hague?
Was he the American gentleman?
Americans are very polite.
Do you like jam? I love it.
I once ate a whole pot.
But don't tell Lester.
Please, don't tell Lester.
Don't draw attention to it.
Mm, I draw enough attention as it is.
And do not let them bait
you or talk over you.
- Remember, you're one of them.
- Well
that's what worries me.
If we maintain a high alert
without panicking the populace,
we can bring this matter
under control swiftly.
However, the last thing we need
is any interruption from
gangs of the Touched.
They must know that there is
no strength in numbers.
Only punishment. We must ensure
this amendment is passed now.
This isn't about politics, man.
This situation is
completely unprecedented.
All the more reason
to trust in politics.
Even without unanimous consent,
it appears we have the votes.
Um,
not all the votes.
What are you doing, Swann?
Taking my father's seat
where he is unable to attend.
Your father is dead.
Well, then I may be here for some time.
He has the right.
And the Prince is absent.
Bettina's lumbago has
a curious tendency to flare
when our meetings concern the Touched.
I'm afraid you're a little late, Swann.
Our business here is all but concluded.
It is the will of this assembly
that the Touched amendment
to the Prosperity of London Bill
be passed tonight.
Hurry up.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
So, um, ahem
Gentlemen.
Gentlemen.
We have all seen the
unrest in the streets
following Maladie's hanging.
We all care about
the safety of our citizens.
We all care for the safety
of our citizens.
But the problems were
not caused by her death,
but rather by those
of us in power intent
on making a spectacle of the Touched.
It comes as no surprise that
you would attack your peers
to defend dissidents and terrorists.
Terrorists?
But, do you know how many
of the Touched are children?
Do you know how many of
the Touched are children?
Where are they to go?
Your new law makes their only safe haven
- in this city illegal.
- Oh, be quiet,
you bloody reprobate.
I've half a mind to show you
The fact that you have a mind at all
is the most debatable topic
at this table.
This is not vaudeville, Swann.
- Mm.
- Stop it.
You need to get them on your side, Hugo.
The beast itself is on the loose.
Yes, sorry. Sorry.
What's happening? What is it?
Sorry, w-what am I looking at?
A monster of unknown power and ferocity.
Are you sure? 'Cause this just
We do not have the luxury
of debating this further.
Those who are capable of finding
and eliminating this threat
must be allowed to do so
without intervention from
your verminous Touched.
Hm
Hang on.
You're no stranger to monsters,
though, are you?
Lord Massen?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
This isn't what we discussed.
This isn't what we're supposed
to be doing, Hugo.
You shame yourself and your
family name with this display.
Indeed, I know shame
What are you doing? Stop it!
Which of us here does not?
I know for a fact that
behind closed doors,
many of you have embraced the Touched
as intimately as you would any other.
No, not like this, Hugo!
What about you, Lord Massen?
Do you deign to drag
- your shame into the light?
- Get out!
Or does the veil of your
virtue conceal nothing
- but rank hypocrisy?
- You always were a fucking disgrace!
Stop!
Hugo!
Forgive me.
One of your courtesans, I suppose.
I know you think me immoral.
Hopeless.
Perhaps I am.
But somehow today,
it falls to me to remind you
that the decisions
made around this table
affect the lives of millions.
Will you please just listen.
So,
you see it now? He's
in league with them!
Oh dear
My, um
My Lords,
it is not my intention to offend you.
But as we are on trial
in the court of your good opinion,
I should like to make my case.
Hm.
Just last month, there was a fire
in an Islington boarding house.
It burned so suddenly,
so fiercely, that the place
would have been in cinders
before the fire brigade could reach it.
Yet, there was a young Touched man
walking by who had the ability
to generate water.
He put the fire out on his own.
Saved dozens of lives
because he was free to do so.
Imagine if your wife
had been in that house.
Your child.
You.
But you'd lock that young man
away for the crime
of nothing more than his existence.
You have the most uniquely
powerful group of people
humanity has ever recorded here, now,
in your city.
Why would you send us away?
A single Touched can save
a burning building.
Another can translate
languages of all nations
and facilitate trade,
end war, sow harmony.
There are others with
unmatched strength,
and some, as you know,
with sight into the future itself.
Imagine what future we might see
if we were to work together
rather than let fear keep us apart.
Mother, Mother, Mother, here she comes.
Mother, Mother, Mother, I can't wait.
I-I can always see
where energy wants to go.
This is different.
I can see what it wants to be.
The current's so strong,
I don't even know what could contain it.
Well, uncharacteristically
theatrical of me,
I know, but there is a reveal!
The perfect host.
Wah!
Oh, it can't be.
Where did you find it?
Only the best for Mother,
don't you agree?
I mean, we don't want her
to end up in a, mm, what?
A hay penny baker.
- What?
- Oh.
I nearly forgot your incentive!
- Amalia?!
- Ah, no, no, no, no, no, no
I knew the voice was off.
I was so annoyed with Mother
when I found out that
Mrs. True was a transplant,
ripped out of, uh, the afterlife
and stuffed into some dead girl.
Now, I might have been able
to get Mother out of the wires
without your help if I'd been able
to look into your friend's head.
Maybe
Maybe I still will,
if this doesn't work out.
I swear to God, if you hurt her
Well, she's in your hands now.
Fine. I'll do it.
I never doubted you.
Did Dr. Hague ever
bring anybody to see you?
They said I couldn't have visitors.
That's why I never saw Lester.
The doctor's work was
too important to share.
Well, that's what he said.
Though he did get
telephone calls sometimes.
Yeah? Who from?
Well, his mother, mostly.
She was a right old nag,
as Lester would say.
Said.
Says.
And there was a man, too,
with a big stern voice that boomed.
And he never said sorry,
and he never said please.
He just ordered the doctor about.
Always put him in a foul mood.
He'd get out his tray
with all the silver pieces
after the stern man called.
To cheer himself up.
Do you remember anything else
about the the stern man?
I remember the pain.
Did they find what they was lookin' for?
Nobody ever said.
I'm not sure that was fair.
No.
No, I don't think it was.
I like talking to you.
Bet you're nice to your wife.
You got children?
No.
Shame.
You'd be a good father.
Can see that. Sad eyes.
Kind, soft bit in the corner.
You look like someone who
wants to do the right thing.
It's hard to know that sometimes.
What?
The right thing.
Upstairs.
- No. I
- Now!
I Please. Please, sir.
I think we should wait for my husband.
I really, really think
we should wait for Lester.
- You said you didn't know where he was.
- No.
I said I didn't remember.
Up you go Maladie.
Good game though.
Eh? Lovely tea party.
Lester mentioned a Maladie at dinner.
He reads the papers to me sometimes.
She wasn't very nice, was she?
No.
She killed a lot of people. Go.
Go on!
Open the door.
Please
Open the fucking door.
Oh no!
No, no Jesus Christ!
No! What have you
- What have you fucking done?!
- Don't remember
Get on the fucking floor!
No, no, no.
No, I thought she killed me!
So, I kept quiet and stayed very still.
But then, God was reborn,
and she got close to him.
But he told her a beautiful secret.
Our curse. It wasn't
a curse. It was a gift.
And we didn't need to hide
from it. It was to protect us.
- So, I woke up and
- You ain't a fucking housewife!
I am not her either.
This ain't a fucking game no more!
No. No, it is not.
It's not a game.
This is another bad place.
It's another bright light
and tray of silver pieces,
just just pick,
picking through everything inside,
until it burns like rapture!
God gave Maladie power
because men gave Sarah pain,
and now, they're both here,
and I don't know!
Nobody ever told me
who I was supposed to be
after they ripped me in two!
But you won't understand.
Here. Here.
Listen to me.
Keep still.
Stay there.
I'm sitting here.
There.
Aren't you gonna arrest me?
The world can ask a lot from us.
Sometimes too much.
You forget who you are.
You're the soft, kind bit
in the corner, I think.
Even Maladie knew.
Mary told her.
I once heard you say
I should get justice.
Mm.
They died in Edinburgh,
watching us leave.
Their eyes on our back.
You don't know that they saw us.
No, her eyes on us.
Watching us.
Bullet bursting between
'em every night after
Between 'em every night after.
Do you remember Do you remember
Do you remember
the last thing he said?
Don't fucking say it,
- Don't fucking say it.
- You
- No.
- You are never,
never, never
getting outta here.
I cannot believe
you would waste our time
- with such petty, childish squabbling.
- Harriet
This might be just a laugh
to you, but it is my life,
- and the life of countless others
- Harriet.
that you have put in the balance!
Harriet!
The nays have it.
Wha
Thanks to you.
Tell the king of rats there
is to be no more waiting.
His army marches at dawn.
I've been a sinner,
and I've been a saint ♪
I've been to places
where our good Lord ain't ♪
I've been to France ♪
And to old Amsterdam ♪
But wherever I go ♪
There I am ♪
There I am ♪
There I am ♪
Whenever I go ♪
There I am ♪
Maladie ♪
You one of us now?
No, darlin'. You're one of me.
Is it working?
I have to gather the energy.
Oh, Jesus.
Oh Oh
You What?
Hello, dear.
You're from the future. Uh
From Amalia's time?
We only met the once,
when she was a soldier.
We fought on the same side.
What is she saying?
S-so y-your mission was
to protect the Galanthi?
It was, but
I've had a lot of time to think
it through, sweetheart.
The Galanthi were heralded as saviors.
But what did they actually achieve?
Everything only got worse
after they arrived.
People made it worse.
It wasn't the Galanthi's fault.
What about all the lives
in that orphanage of yours?
Have the Galanthi helped them?
And look.
Who knows what they've
done to your friend.
Or if she'll even wake up.
The Galanthi would never hurt Amalia.
It may not mean to hurt someone.
But that doesn't mean it didn't.
Doesn't mean it won't.
Are you willing to gamble
on good intentions?
I don't even know what
your intentions are.
You're not betting on me.
I'm betting on you.
It is no sin to consider
what a little thing like yourself
might do with such knowledge.
I'd love to see the good you could do,
Penance Adair,
with all the future's technology
at your fingertips.
More good than
any Galanthi has ever done.
Don't you think?
This is just like you.
Drunk off your ass!
Chasing a fucking mission that you knew,
deep in your heart, never even existed.
You had a chance at life
with love and music
dresses fit for a lady,
and you wasted it!
Left everyone behind. Again!
And what did you do
with this life that you were given?
- He's going to help.
- What did you do?!
Hm? What did you do?!
Where to then?
No way out but through.
I told someone our name.
I told someone our name.
You're not Mary.
This isn't about me.
And all this was
For you.
And
is there anything else?
Please, I am listening. Just
talk to me.
We've been through this before.
Talking isn't always telling.
We never really know
what we're living for
until we know what we'd die for.
Oh
All of her will need
to leave the circuit.
Otherwise, we'll risk losing
- bits.
- No, no, no!
Not one molecule of
Mother can go to waste.
Ah! We're losing power.
Ah!
Did you have a nice nap?
- Penance, you're in danger.
- Well, I know, hence the unstrapping.
- Get out of here now.
- I'm not leaving you. Not again.
I'm sorry I didn't give you
a proper break, Ms. Adair!
But now that you've had it,
back on the job!
No!
Finish what you started,
and I'll call them off.
What are you doing?!
Mother.
Ah!
It's time.
Ah!
Amalia! Into the light!
Oh!
Mother!
That is not your mother!
- Ms. Adair.
- Mrs. True.
You look very fine.
I think so, too.
What's wrong?
Door!
Gentlemen!
Virtue should not cower before evil.
It should look it straight in the eye
and take careful aim.