Crossbones (2014): Season 1, Episode 8 - Crossbones - full transcript

This instrument
would allow a ship to calculate

its precise location at sea.

Will you sell this
to William Jagger in Jamaica?

If it will make amends
for what happened here today.

This is not
the real chronometer.

It is a skilled facsimile.

Blackbeard
wants to send me home,

leaving him free to wreak havoc
upon the world.

Our future depends
on acquiring that map.

He deceived you.

To safeguard the island.



Both of you deceived me
for much less.

Mr. Lowe has given Kate
a spring in her step.

James...

He's my husband,
and this is my home.

Then leave them both.

I was something different
when I came here.

A spy.

Tom Lowe had me arrested.

Tom Lowe had me tortured.

It shatters,
triggering a detonation.

I must sail soon with these

to enact a great endeavor,
a Spanish fleet.

With luck,
he should soon be well.

He's luring the treasure fleet
into the open ocean.



We track down that armada,
we find Blackbeard.

Are you certain, Sir?

Mmhmm.

I am.

And the rest, please.

- I can't.
- Do it!

It'll prevent the wounds
from putrefying.

Oswald?

He sends his apologies,

but he asked me
to express to you

that he would very much
appreciate your companionship.

Right.

And how is the Doctor?

Passable.

To replace what was lost.

Thank you kindly.

It seemed the least
one could do.

There are no spiders in it,
no poison pins.

- Thank you.
- You seem to be recovering nicely.

When will you be ready to sail?

I'm sorry?

I need to be somewhere,
Mr. Lowe.

And I can't walk on water.

Well, I presume not.

Where do you need to be?

A certain distance
north-northeast of here.

In order to do what?

Sink a Spanish fleet.

With respect, Commodore,
the Reaver is a fine ship.

And in terms of ferocity,
her crew is second to none.

But she's still only one ship.

Are you suggesting
it can't be done?

This is a fine copy

of the map
you very kindly acquired for me.

The convoy's route from Cuba
to Spain is here, in red.

The second route,
in blue, that's ours.

Where the lines cross,
that's point of contact,

a narrowing through which
the convoy must pass

if it's to reach
the Archipelago here.

Across this bottleneck,

we distribute Lord Summerisle's
floating explosives.

Is this what it seems to be?

If it seems like gunpowder,
then yes.

I never saw so much.

What could the Commodore
want with it?

Sending the entire fleet

to the bottom of the ocean.

You sold Mr. Nightingale's
chronometer to the Spanish...

It's very beautiful,
Captain Kentish.

Thank you, Governor Portocarrero.

And now my money.

Expressly in order
to lead them here,

out into the middle of nowhere,
where no ship sails.

And thusly, no one shall ever
know what became of them.

Although legends
will surely accrue

of Blackbeard's ghost,
of cursed treasures,

of Spanish fleets that vanish
as if they never were.

You approve?

I doff my Cap to you, Sir.

But what good is a treasure

if it's at the bottom
of the ocean?

Oh, that's no difficulty.

So what is it, the thing?

A vessel of some kind,

except that it seems to travel
underwater.

On purpose?

So it would seem.

What's the point of that?

Legends don't birth easy,
though, Tom.

It is a perilous endeavor,
though a merry one.

And the men need a surgeon

rather than some
apprentice butcher.

They deserve that, I think.

Are you with me?

In truth...

How could I be otherwise?

You look very fine.

Well, a man should dress
for the occasion.

You should consider yourself
Commodore until my return.

Until your return?

Milady, you doubt me?

It's God and fate I don't trust.

God and fate are in my debt.

They'll come to heel like dogs.

They'll watch me sink
an entire fleet,

make a fortune, build a nation.

You are Caesar,
Alexander, Hannibal.

Alas, only Edward.

I know who you are.

Marry me.

How many times have you asked?

100,000?

Then ask again.

Marry me.

And once again.

Marry me.

I should be honored.

When did you know me?

I didn't, not for sure.

I had only ever seen a drawing
of the man who had me tortured.

- But you wondered.
- I wondered.

But you knew me.

And yet you showed me
great courtesy.

Not enough.

And for selfish reasons at that.

Selfish in which way?

I wanted to make amends
for my own sake,

for the sake of a sleep
unbroken by nightmares.

We make for strange enemies.

Stranger friends.

Oh, I don't know.

We share a great deal in common.

So what now between us?

An eye for an eye
and we'd all be blind.

There comes a moment
when you have to raise a hand

and say, "enough."

We owe each other nothing,

neither gratitude nor revenge.

Then the mistake was mine.

You are the man
she believes you to be.

No.

I never was.

But it's something
to strive for.

"In such white robes, heaven's
angels used to be revealed to men".

"And though ill spirits walk in
white, we easily know by this

these angels from
an evil sprite".

"Those set our hairs,
but these our flesh upright" .

"License my roving hands
and let them go

before, behind, between,
above, below."

Don't take Lowe.

Take Charles Rider.

Is that what you want?

It's what I need.

And desire?

If you want my hand.

Consider it yours, then.

Mr. Lowe,
I trust you are healing well.

Tolerably so, yes.

What would it take
to kill you, I wonder.

One day,
I'm sure we'll find out.

The Commodore wishes
to relieve you of your duties

on this voyage.

Forgive me, but the Commodore
insisted that he need a surgeon,

as he was sailing into battle.

The boy is to sail with him.

Flit?

Fletch.

Madam, I'm not ready.

But we have every confidence
in you.

Have you not learned
at the knee of the master?

You miss it, don't you?

The way it was...

Thievery and homicide
and dollies.

I do.

Tell me why I love you.

Because no man
ever walked the Earth

had a truer sense of himself.

What's this?

Captain's coat.

You deserve it.

So tell me,
are you coming or not?

But one minute,
they're telling you to go;

the next, to stay.

Why?

I don't know.

But it makes me wonder
if any apparent kindness

on his part comes without selfinterest.

I don't want to go.

Well, it's a direct order.

There's nothing I can do.

What are you looking for
in that coat?

I simply don't trust
the Commodore.

Do you think
they plan to kill me?

Why would they do that?

Because I know too much.

Well, that's an assertion with
which I very much beg to differ.

Mr. Fletch, you're not worth
damaging the edge of a sword for.

However, you are
a very capable surgeon.

It's not about you.

This concerns me.

Although in what way
it concerns me,

I'm afraid I can't guess.

Perhaps they plan
to kill you, then.

Probably.

I joke, Mr. Fletch.

I'll be perfectly safe.

One moment, please.

Use them well.

You know how.

I really don't want to go.

Then imagine how glad
you'll be to return.

I'd be grateful
if you'd protect him, Sir.

He's my very dear friend.

He's a member of my crew.

I'm proud to have him.

You have my word.

I'll bring him back.

Be careful.

I shall.

Go with God, Mr. Fletch.

Prepare to trim the windward!

Boy, check that spar! Ease away!

Make sail, Mr. Rider.

Bring in those lines!

Aye, aye, Sir.

Let go halyard, sheets,
and braces.

Let go the halyard!

Slacken braces and sheets.
Sheets and braces!

Haul halyard.
Slacken braces and sheets!

Sheet home the sail.

Sheet home the sail!

You heard the Captain.

Make sail!

The Commodore
has departed the island.

So I hear.

Leaving this in my care...

The logbook which contains
the schematics

for the chronometer...

The King's prize.

A King you despise
to your marrow.

No longer.

Everything I believed was wrong,
Kate.

Everyone's beliefs are wrong,

except the small ones.

And what are those?

That we should love
and hope to be loved.

With this in our possession,

we can return to England.

Yes, to be hung as traitors.

No, this buys us a royal pardon.

You'd hold the King of England
to ransom?

I would.

Making you what, the King's man?

Nobody's man but yours.

This takes you home
to your mother and father,

your sisters,
daffodils in spring,

frost on the grass in winter,

hunting dogs at your feet.

That's what this means...
What you've always wanted...

A way home.

You like what you see?

This?

Or you?

So you're the surgeon now.

Apparently.

If the time comes,

cut well...

And cut fast.

We have the fleet, Sir.

Good. Tuck in behind them.

Keep lookout, all posts.

Spaniards, ho.

There's so many.

It's a handsome sight,
all right.

Did we know there'd be so many?

Well, we hoped.

In our heart of hearts,
we had faith.

74 guns each, mind.

That's near on 1,000 guns
between them.

They're so far off
from the shipping lanes,

they imagine themselves
protected by their solitude.

But they're only as fast
as their slowest ship,

so the advantage is ours.

Keep them in sight, Mr. Rider.

Sir...

The moment's yours.

They call us pirates.

But the only difference
between them and us?

They rob the poor
under cover of law.

We rob the rich under cover
of nothing but our daring.

They demand honest serving
of us,

knowing honest serving
yields nothing

but miserable wage
for miserable labor.

But in this life, in our life,
there is abundance,

and there is satisfaction.

There is pleasure and ease.

And the only hazard
we run for it

is a sour look or two
when they hang us.

To a merry life and short one
and a rich one too.

Set all sails.

Brace about
and fetch their course!

1,000 guns...

Bring 'em on!

May I?

Of course.

Please.

To what do I owe the pleasure?

Well, I'm glad it's a pleasure
for one of us.

How's your back?

- Uncomfortable.
- So I'd imagine.

- I've endured worse.
- Really?

I thought it seemed
somewhat excessive.

If I'd endured a lash
for each death on my conscience,

a 40 wouldn't have begun
to cover it.

Do they haunt you,
the people you've killed?

It would be too kind to myself
to call it that.

So what would you call it?

I possess a cognizance
of my sins.

That's a very pious statement
for such a godless man.

Not at all.

I'd like to know
how the human head can reconcile

two such opposing concepts.

It's elementary.

Then I beg you, enlighten me.

If there is a God,
then our existence is a miracle.

And if there isn't,

then the immensity
of that miracle

can only be amplified.

Why the strange look?

I'm trying to infer
your purpose in coming here.

It's obligatory
that I should have a purpose?

Oh, yes, indeed.

I'm simply trying
to resolve your nature

as a function of curiosity.

Are you more physician,
do you think, or assassin?

Well, that depends
on the circumstances.

Which circumstances are these?

She was right.

It's him.

Sir, even if it were...

It's him.

Turn to intercept.

Set all sail handsomely,
three points starboard.

Man the guns.

All men at arms.

Let's have it.

I love my husband.

I know.

Does it embarrass you
to hear me say it?

To hear a person speak of love?

When the day arrives
that such a word is considered

illmannered in good company,

then we really will
have lost all hope.

You do believe in it, then.

In love?

I'm familiar
with the affliction, yes.

Did you ever marry?

The truth now.

I did not...

Although I came very close once.

But you know how it feels

to want to spend
the days of your life

with someone that you cherish?

I do.

Because you have to
understand I love James

in ways I'm not always able
to express.

I can't abide the thought
of him being hurt.

I don't mean physically.

He has no need
to endure further anguish,

since you and I are no longer...

No, but what we did, you and I,

it does have consequences.

Kate, James and I spoke today.

I don't mean
those sorts of consequences.

I mean...

Physically.

There are physical consequences.

You're...

I am.

- How long?
- Long enough.

And am I...

I believe you are, yes.

That's... that's...

Another public humiliation
to be endured

by the man I love,
further evidence

that he's a cuckold
and his wife a wanton.

Nobody thinks that.

Everybody thinks that,
and they're not wrong.

The child will be a daily
reminder of our betrayal.

That's not so.
James never saw it as such.

Whatever he claims,
his heart will be broken.

I believe he's a better man
than you take him for

and stronger.

Well, I believe he's had
more than his equitable share

of sacrificing himself

in the name
of someone else's welfare.

Then to be clear,
what are you saying?

I have to lay it out?

Yes, you do.

Very well, then.

I'm offering you the opportunity

to reconcile the two sides
of your nature,

to be Doctor
and killer simultaneously.

Is that clear enough, I wonder?

Damn it to hell.

Damn it.

Three points off the convoy,
out of the sun.

It's Jagger.

What are you doing here?

Come on, Edward.

Come and get me.

Bring her about
handsomely to port, Mr. Rider.

I'm sorry?

Turn us about.

Sir, the gold.

Turn us about.

Commodore, the plan...

Is null and void.

Port hard, Mr. Rider.

Port hard smartly.

Aye, aye, Sir.

Three points northwest,
full speed.

Aye, Sir!

Will you do it?

I can't.

The danger's too great.

- To whom?
- To you.

There's no safe way
to do as you ask.

Abortifacients are poisons.

And aren't you an expert
in poisons?

To kill, yes.

And isn't the difference
between a medicine and a poison

simply a matter of dose?

Using what's available to us,

there is no such thing
as a safe dose.

You'd suffer great pain
and anguish.

My husband
will suffer greater pain

and greater anguish.

The difference being
that he won't die from it.

You might.

And this is your final answer?

I think he'll rejoice
in the child.

I think he's a greater man
than you take him for.

By convincing himself
that it's his.

Would that be so terrible?

You really are a liar
to your core, aren't you?

It comes as naturally to you
as breath.

Kate...

Reconsider.

Please.

Bring in the mainsail!
Full speed!

Are we attacking that?

Oh, we'll be whizbang, boy.
Don't you worry.

We'll be top notch.

How much do I take?

Enough to dip your finger
to the first knuckle.

It's very bitter.

Take it with sugar
if you have some.

Have you ever?

No, and I'm glad for it.

But I know enough who have.

Is it safe?

No.

Forgive me saying.

Saying what?

In a matter such as this,

you should swallow your pride

and ask the physician for help...
Mr. Lowe.

I tried that.

I'll sit with you if you like.

I've been thinking about
the music room in the old house.

Do you remember?

I loved it at the time,
the life we led.

Or I believed I did.

When I think about
that woman now, that girl,

I'm embarrassed
that she was ever me.

This is my home.

Then we'll stay here.

You'd do that?

Whatever it takes.

Then take this
out of temptation's way,

the logbook.

Give it to Selima.

Commodore, we're losing the convoy.

Damn the convoy. We'll
find them again.

- They're at the horizon.
- Noted, rejected, dismissed.

We can return to the plan.

It's a good plan.

A good plan executed now

is better than a perfect plan
executed next week.

And it's a bad plan
that admits no modification.

Are you throwing my own words
back at me there, Charlie?

I'm recollecting them
for you, Sir.

That's all.

And that's your place now,
is it,

to recollect my words for me?

And why is that?

Am I losing my touch?

Is my judgment impaired?

Am I mad?

The sight of Jagger

has awakened something
inside of you.

And what has it awakened?

Your rage.

And your rage
is clouding your judgment.

Is this mutiny, then?

No, Sir, it's not.

Because it sounds like
mutiny to me.

Are you sure?

I am, Sir.

Then do as you're damn well bid.

No.

I beg your pardon.

Would you take my command
from me, then?

If I must.

Yet it's not mutiny.

No.

How can that be so?

Am I not your Captain?

We're pirates, not subjects.

You're elected by all men
on this crew by majority vote

and can be replaced by the same.

You're here at our choosing,
Commodore,

not God's, not the King's,
and not yours.

Ours!

And that is our money
that you are letting get away.

If you want to settle
old scores with those you hate,

you settle them
on your own time.

What else would you
take from me, Charlie?

What's next, after my ship,
after Selima?

Commodore. What's next?

We can settle this
back on shore.

We need to turn about
and hit that treasure fleet

before it's lost for good.

No.

Jagger's here for me.

Can you follow that,
or is the logic too complex?

He's here for me, and I will not
turn away from him.

Maintain course.

Is this your doing?

Did you lead him here somehow?

No.

But I knew he'd sniff us out.

Granted, I didn't reckon
on his being here so soon.

And what did you intend?

That he'd go seeking the fleet,

presuming me to be on his tail,

and then drive himself
to insanity,

wondering how I'd wiped it
from the face of the Earth.

And why would you do that?

Because I wanted to remind him
what I can do, Charlie.

Because I wanted him to know
what you've forgotten.

And what's that?

That I'm Blackbeard.

Charlie?

What's happening?

Would anyone here
like to stand with him?

Mr. Rider, don't move.

Hold on now.

Hold on.

I can save you.

You'll be good.

You'll be very fine.

Step back, Sir.

Step back, Sir.

I'm in earnest.

Good work, brave boy.

Come on, Charlie.

I'm sorry.

That's my boy.

Charlie.

Charlie, Charlie.

Charlie, you know I love you.

Why are you wearing
that red coat?

Because it's a reward
from daddy?

Because it's a token of love?

Or just because it's red?

Don't.

Good night, Judas.

Set course for the English ship.

Make ready!

Oy, to your positions!

Ease off!

Almost in range, Sir!

Sound general quarters.

Aye, Sir.

Come on, William.

Wait for the command!

All men at arms!

All hands, battle stations!

Fire!

Maintain course.

Come on then, William!

Come on!

- Fire!
- Fire!

Hold her steady!

Brace!

And, gentlemen,
if you would, please.

Now.

Port hard, smartly.

Port hard!

Hard starboard!

Hard starboard!

Kate!

What is it? What's wrong?

Oh, Kate.

What have you done?

Kate, where did you get this?

From Nelly.

Nelly?

The trollop?

Why?

There's a child.

I need salt and water
for a purgative

and a pail.

James.

James, they're both dying.

Quickly.

How much did you take?

- Can you save her?
- Perhaps.

If the purgative clears sufficient
poison from her system.

And the child?

James... can you do it?

I can make no promises.

That's not good enough.
Can you do it?

It's challenge enough
to save Kate.

-The child...
- Has harmed no one.

Can you save them both?

I don't know how.

If we bleed her?

If we tap enough blood,
she'll die.

She's dying now.

She is.

There must be something,
some treatment.

There must be something.

50 or 60 years ago,
two French physicians

developed a technique
known as transfusion.

They treated a 34 year old man,
Antoine Mauroy.

Transfusion.

Of blood, body to body.

With what result?

The first transfusion
saved Mauroy's life.

The second killed him.

But new blood might save her?

It might.
It might also kill her.

So without it,
she'll certainly die?

I believe so.

Then let's be quick.

Let's be quick.

Not you.

You're to be a father.

If we give her your blood
and she lives

only for you to perish,

then we've deprived Kate
of a husband

and the child of a fine father.

And for all the crimes
I've committed,

I will not commit that one.

We must hurry.

Thank God you're alive.

You will tell me
where Blackbeard is,

sooner or later, Charlie boy.