Dracula (2013–2014): Season 1, Episode 1 - The Blood Is the Life - full transcript

After all these long years...

how famished you must be.

Oh, sweet Jezebel.

Look!

We're rich!

Aah!

The blood is the life.

All the guests have arrived.

Photographed upon entry?

As arranged.

And the prototype?
Ready for the demonstration



as scheduled?

It is, sir.

As scheduled.

From this day forward,
you are an American industrialist.

As American as God, guns,
and bourbon...

- As scheduled.
- Very good, sir.

Good evening.

I'm Alexander Grayson.

It's breathtaking.

Well, isn't this exciting?

- I'm liking this Grayson already.
- Thank you.

This glass is worth
more than I earn in a week.

Don't be gauche, Jonathan.

Besides...it's worth more than
you make in a month.



Lucy!

I'm only having a bit of fun.

You're not cross with me, are you?
I'd be simply devastated.

Of course not.
You're far too charming.

I am, aren't I?

I'm off.

Now, you'll remember
your promise, won't you?

I'm your guest tonight,
not a journalist.

He's such a darling, isn't he?

Alastair! You beast.

Where have you been hiding?

Lucy, darling.

It's quite an eclectic group.

New money, old money,
no money left.

Which do you suppose
is Alexander Grayson?

I'm sure he'll announce himself
to great fanfare.

- They always do at these things.
- Hmm.

How I ever let you talk me
into this...

Seriously, somebody had
to pry you out of that laboratory.

The truth.

Who would you rather spend
your evening with me,

or a pickled toad?

Um, the toad...

Because at least there's a chance

my kiss might turn him into a prince.

Well, hasn't he tried hard?

Might as well have papered
the walls with pound notes.

How distressingly American.

Frankly, I'm amazed
so many of us turned up at all.

How can we properly mock him

if we haven't set eyes on the man?

Ladies and gentlemen,
it is my pleasure to introduce

the master of Carfax Manor,
your host,

Mister Alexander Grayson!

- It's him.
- It's him!

Welcome to my house.

May you come freely, go safely,

and please, leave some
of the happiness you bring.

Is everything all right?

- Yes.
- Are you sure?

Yes.

Someone walked over my grave,
I suppose.

Hmm.

That woman.
Blue satin, creme chiffon.

I want to know everything about her,

- and the man she's with.
- Of course, sir.

Ah, the mysterious Mister Grayson.
Finally we meet.

And you would be?

Well, I would be in a nice warm bath,

but I simply had to come and find out
what all the fuss was about.

- Jayne Wetherby.
- Hmm.

Lord Wetherby?

Oh, good God, no!

This is my, um,
companion for the night,

my very dear friend, Herr Kruger.

Gesundheit.

Huh.

Ah. Sir Clive Dawes.

Alexander Grayson.

Permit me to introduce my wife,
Lady Hope.

What an impressive ballroom,
Mister Grayson.

May I present Lord Davenport...

And Lady Laurent...

And Lord Laurent.

Lord Laurent.

Splendid.
Now, if I'm not mistaken,

you and Sir Clive co-chair the board
of British Imperial Coolant Company.

We sit on a number of boards,
Mister Grayson.

Indeed you do.

British Imperial holds patents,

patents to high-efficiency coolants

which would be most useful
in advancing one of

my technological projects.

I would very much like
to acquire those patents.

Mister Grayson,
the British Imperial Company

is in the business of selling
our products to British industry,

not our underlying patents
to interloping colonials.

Darling.

Perhaps next time you'll sway Sir Clive
through his bookmakers.

He's an inveterate gambler,
not a terribly good one

from what I gather.

Jonathan! Where did you run...

- Alexander Grayson.
- Jonathan Harker.

And this is my most lovely friend,
Miss Mina Murray.

Of course. Mina.

I'm sorry, it's just...

- I'd swear...
- We've met?

Yes.

- I was thinking the same thing.
- Pardon me, sir.

- It's time.
- Ah, yes.

Excuse me.

Tell me, Renfield.
Who is this Jonathan Harker?

He's a reporter for the Inquisitor.

Resourceful, tenacious,
and very, very ambitious.

Hmm. And the woman?

Mina Murray, medical student.

Father, Doctor William Murray,

director of Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Ladies and gentlemen,

please, gather in
the center of the ballroom.

Mister Harker. Arem Renfield.

You're aware that the invitation
explicitly forbade the press?

I can assure you,
I'm purely here on a social basis.

What a shame.

Mister Grayson will be disappointed

that you won't be writing
at least a word or two.

If you're interested,
he would like you

to come by tomorrow
for an interview.

An... An interview?

Of course, I'd be interested.

4:30, then.

And now, Mister Grayson
would like to share

a demonstration of his latest
technical marvel!

Honored guests...

When I was a boy,

my father told me stories of
the dark ages,

a time when culture and learning
were eclipsed

by barbaric ritual and war.

Over the years,
I have come to believe that

the dark ages never actually ended,
that the fear...

hatred, and brutality

that once plagued our ancestors

plagues us still.

Tonight, it is my sublime pleasure

to demonstrate a way out.

Out of the darkness.

What Thomas Edison dismissed
as mere fantasy,

what Nikola Tesla failed
to bring to fruition,

I give to you tonight.

Power drawn from the magnetosphere,

the same invisible source

that compels the needle on
this compass to point North.

Harnessed and amplified by
my scientists and technicians,

I give to you free...

safe, wireless power.

Now. Stage one.

Stand by!

Stage one!

Mark!

- Is such a thing possible?
- In theory, I suppose.

But if it were brought to the market,

what effect would it have on
our petroleum interests?

- Shattering, of course.
- Nothing we need worry about.

More power.

More power.

Stage two!

Mark!

Lucy.

Lucy, look.

Some sort of trick.
There must be a wire.

- Ah, shut that down, now!
- Aah!

Experiencing some
technical difficulties, sir.

Just a few more seconds.

Somebody help us!

I'm burning! I'm burning!

The coolant has evaporated!

I'm shutting down!

- It's a trick.
- It's a trick.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I thank you for your patience.

I trust our little demonstration was...

illuminating.

Lucy Westenra.

Miss Westenra.

Ravishing.

Miss Murray,
you look a little shaken.

I'm not sure what I've just witnessed.

The future, Miss Murray.

The beginning of a new era.

Mister Harker.

- Tomorrow, then.
- Yes.

Yes, of course.

He seems quite taken with you.

Ooh.

The green-eyed monster
rears his ugly head.

Mister Grayson is just being polite.

More than polite, I'd say.

Ooh! Cordials.

That was extraordinary.

Lady Jayne.

I didn't hear you approaching.

You say that as if it's an accomplishment,
Mr. Grayson.

Alexander, please.

You know, there's a touch of
the impresario about you, Alexander.

Your performance this evening
was no less than operatic.

As I'm an ardent patron of the opera,
I'll take that as a compliment,

although I'm certain it was
meant as quite the opposite.

Oh, you are?

So you love the opera?
Well, may I be the first

to invite you to
the opening of the season?

Tell me, Alexander,

will you join me?

- I've reserved my own box.
- Pity.

I feel you'd enjoy the performance
so much more in mine.

No doubt.

Hmm.

Thank you for coming.

May I?

- Mister Grayson.
- Ah.

If you think you fooled anyone

with that absurd stunt tonight,
you are sadly mistaken.

Am I?

You are a fraud, sir.

And I will see to it
that you never do business here.

She's not going to wait forever.

If you don't ask her
to marry you soon,

someone else is bound to.

- Who?
- Grayson?

Don't be absurd.

You must've noticed the way
he leered at you.

He did not.

At least he's not boring.

As much as I enjoy having you
spend the night at my house,

could we please, for once,
talk about something other than

how tedious you find Jonathan?

And besides, he's not boring.

What I'm saying is that
she could do better.

Do you see anything?

No.

What do you suppose it is?

- Good night, Mr. Clive.
- Good night.

Horse, move on.

Aah!

The man was a pig.

He insulted me under my own roof.

So you tear the man to pieces?

Perhaps we should mount
a warning sign

over the front door.

I told you, their corruption
and their hubris is unbridled.

That's always been the way
with the Order of the Dragon.

Still, it's one thing to hear it,

quite another to see it
with one's own eyes.

Readily identified by

their overtly grotesque sense
of entitlement.

Like this one, Lord Laurent.

Preening little peacock.

And the other one,
Lord what's-his-name?

- Davenport.
- Davenport.

These two stink of high council.

Put them on the short list.

Who do you suppose is the leader?

Could be any one of these.
Or none.

- How very innocuous.
- But you cross them, Renfield,

and they will strike you down
like vipers in a pit.

Murder, torture, rape,
wholesale slaughter.

That is the stock-in-trade
of the Order of the Dragon,

and has been for over 500 years.

In my past,

they asserted their will more directly

via the cross and the sword,

slaughtering entire villages,

branding men and women heretics.

Aah!

Burning them alive,

and watching them burn, screaming...

For a God who never came.

Now they do their dirty work

via private clubs and boardrooms.

They employ business, politics,
and oil.

And that last thing, Renfield,
will be their undoing.

They believe it will fuel
the next century.

And if they control it,
they control the future.

But from the moment we demonstrate

the viability of geomagnetic technology...

Poof!

No more money.

No more power.

No more Order of the Dragon.

He performed a full examination?

As instructed.

Any signs of vampiric feeding?

Too much damage to the neck
to make a positive determination.

So he severs the man's head

and dresses him up
like a roasted French hen.

Well, it had to be done.
You know why.

How long has it been since
a vampire stalked

the streets of this city?
Seven years?

Eight years.

Yes, the Whitechapel killings.

God, when I think of
the trouble we went to,

mutilating the victims
to hide the signs,

those absurd letters
we wrote to the press.

Huh. Jack the Ripper, indeed.

What do you suggest?

Well, unless proven otherwise,

I think we must assume that Clive
was targeted by our enemies,

whether natural or not.

I will put Kruger on patrol.

Have him keep an eye on the
high council members' houses.

- Indefinitely?
- No.

Just until time or events
proves us overcautious.

You won't even know he's there.

See to it that we don't.

This is strictly between you
and me for now.

We don't want to make the others
any more nervous

- than they already are.
- Hmm.

And if anyone asks...

He was killed by a dog.

Good girl.

And take that bloody thing with you.

The structure of the neuron
is absolutely distinct

from all other cells in the human body.

- Mister Campbell?
- Um...

Sorry, sir. We weren't, um...

- Professor Van Helsing?
- Yes, Miss Murray?

Mister Campbell was only
pointing out to his colleagues

how analogous certain aspects of
the front-page article regarding

the generation of electrical impulses

are to the subject
of your lecture today.

Mister Campbell?

Quite right, Mister Campbell.

Mister Grayson's new technology
is germane to the subject at hand.

However, I would suggest

that you discuss such observations
outside of class.

Mister Grayson will be right with you.

Mister Harker.

How good of you to come.

Please, have a seat.

Would you like some wine?

It's a, um, bit early for me,
thank you.

I prefer whiskey.

You should know my editor believes
you're after some sort of puffery.

- Puffery?
- Yes.

And why would he think that?

I don't field many interview requests
from those in your position.

- You mean the wealthy?
- No, I mean the privileged.

Usually, they run the other way.

That's because
you stand against the same

vested interests that would
prefer I return to America.

I didn't think anyone had noticed.

I did.

That's precisely why I invited you
for this interview.

Shall we begin?

Very well.

Why England?

This is the country of
my great-grandparents' birth.

In that regard, it's a homecoming.

And it has nothing to do with Edison
running you out of the States?

Hmm.

Europe speaks to me
in a way no other place does.

You know, we call it
"The Old World" for a reason.

And yet, her people seek the new
wherever they can.

I understand this struggle.

I, myself, am descended from
a very old family.

But my mind,
always fixed on the future.

I surround myself with things
that speak to both.

You're full of contradictions,
aren't you?

- So is the world.
- Hmm.

That is precisely why I wanted
to talk to you.

You see, we're on the precipice
of a great change.

We have it within ourselves
to redefine our species.

Wait, you... You say "species"
as though people are animals.

What do you mean by that?

Is that not what Mister Darwin
taught us?

That man evolves?

That is what I've come here
to accomplish.

To facilitate in that evolution.

Give nature a helping hand,
so to speak.

- Miss Murray.
- Professor.

Come in. Have a seat.

What is it?

Well, um, we will soon be undergoing
our final examination.

- Yes.
- And as you know,

the student who scores
the highest will be given

the opportunity to serve
as your research assistant.

I see.

You have consistently scored
the highest marks in class

for every written and oral exam.

- However...
- My surgical technique...

...leaves much to be desired, yes.

Professor, I can't tell you
how often I practice,

but the moment the scalpel
pierces the epidermis,

well...

my hands begin to tremble
and no matter what I do, they...

Mina...

I have always found that

the secret to a steady hand
is a steady heart.

- I-I don't understand.
- You must believe in yourself,

in your abilities to heal others.

It is that simple.

But I do.

If so, then you will succeed.

Until then, know this...

The heart never lies.

Thank you.

Yes, well, I-I agree.

- Well, good night.
- Good night.

Good night.

Hello.

Sorry to have kept you waiting here.

Aah!

It was very generous of Mister Grayson
to give you his box tonight.

Well, he obviously wants me

to write nice things about him,
doesn't he?

- Really?
- Mm-hmm.

A man such as Grayson is
so desperate

to court favor with you?

You'd think he'd be satisfied
with his beautiful home

and all those brilliant paintings
and the thrilling technology,

not to mention his good looks
and charisma.

Hmm.

Yes, it's very impressive.

But then you have something
that he will never have.

What's that?

Me.

The view is much better
from back here.

Is it?
I can't imagine that's possible.

Why don't you join me and see?

Why, yes, it is.
It is astonishing.

I trust you were unobserved?

Your invitation did request
my "discreet company."

Yes, it did.
Though I was concerned,

as an American,
that you might not understand

the meaning of the word "discreet."

I had to look it up.

Tell me, what other words
did you have to look up?

Insatiable.

Incorrigible.

Unquenchable.

Sir Clive not a day in the ground,

and Grayson descends on
his widow like a bird of prey.

Locked up Clive's entire block
of imperial coolant.

Why on earth
would she sell out to him?

He purchased the paper
on Clive's gambling debts,

and threatened to sue his estate.

- Good God!
- So you see, she had no choice

but to trade the stock in order
to avert a scandal.

Absolutely loathsome,
the whole damned business.

Hmm.

But you must admit, well played.

That's easy for you to say.

He's not your business partner.

Oh, he's hardly that, old man.

It's just a seat on the board.

Not as if he has a controlling interest.

Kruger.

Ah.

Ah!

Oh!

- Burn in hell!
- Aah!

"Thou died fair and well,
brother huntsman killed."

"Impaled the hearts of many beasts,

before thine own was stilled."

Before you die,

take heart.

You will soon be joined in hell...

by scores of your brethren.

I will destroy your Order...

and everything it stands for.

You are...

Dracula.

Ah!

Practice all you want.
It won't save you.

It speaks.

Save me from what?

The one that drew you to London?

No one drew me.

You're nothing.

An errant fly attracted by
the stench of rot.

Tell me your sire's name!

You know,
there's fates for your kind

a lot worse than death,
and I know them all.

How long do you think it's going
to take for this to rust

at the bottom of a lake?
Years? Decades?

Do what you will to me.

There will be another who follows,

and another, and another,
and soon...

Soon?

We will be legion.

I was wondering when
you'd make your entrance.

The plan was to leverage
Sir Clive's gambling debts

against his interests,
not his widow's.

I saw an opportunity...

and I seized it.

It was impetuous and careless.

It got the job done.

How many times must
I explain the difference

between a vendetta
and vengeance?

This cannot become a war of attrition.

The Order Draco is like the Hydra.

Cut off a head,
they grow two to replace it.

Funny.

That's not what happened
to Sir Clive's head.

Don't be a fool.

You know the only way
to crush them is to wipe out

the very source of their power,
their vast wealth.

For over a decade we've schemed
and built this empire of lies.

I will not have our work undone
by your lack of discipline!

Ah!

Give me one good reason
I should not peel you like a grape.

Because without me, you'd still
be rotting in that iron box.

Do you think
I am not immune to rage?

The Order of the Dragon
slaughtered my entire family!

We must not give in
to our base instincts.

We must practice control.

- We must follow the plan!
- True.

Our hatred was born in the same crucible.

You give it form.

But I give it strength!

We are not bound
by what we have lost,

but by who took it!

No!

They killed my wife!

My love.

For these crimes,
I will have my vengeance.