Penny Dreadful (2014–2016): Season 2, Episode 1 - Fresh Hell - full transcript

NARRATOR:
Last season on Penny Dreadful:

VANESSA:
Do you believe there is a demimonde?

A place in the shadows?

Rarely seen but deeply felt.

I believe in curses.

I believe in demons.

I believe in monsters.

- Do you?
- What might I do for you?

We have continued use
of a man of your skills.

Your kind of man. One of great
violence and hidden depths.

Dr. Frankenstein. You seem to be...



...a free thinker
who might imagine a world...

...where science and superstition
walk hand in hand.

Your first-born has returned.
Did you think I wouldn't find you?

- I'm Ethan Chandler.
- Brona Croft.

[COUGHING]

ETHAN:
She has consumption.

Best you didn't kiss me anymore.
Keep a safe distance.

May I present the renowned
Madame Kali.

There's another here.

[SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ETHAN: What's wrong with her?
- She's been possessed by the devil.

This is a spell foretelling the annihilation
of man and the coming of the beast.

- Why, it's Madame Kali, is it not?
- It's actually Evelyn Poole.

- Preferable.
- Ha, ha, ha!



So how's your friend, Miss Ives?

ETHAN:
Vanessa! Please!

You don't know what it's like
having this thing inside me.

An animal scratching to get out.

ETHAN:
There are things you can't control.

At the end of the day, the only thing
we have is the people we trust.

- Mina?
- Father.

[SHRIEKS]

- I am your daughter!
- I already have a daughter.

- What do you want from me?
- I think a companion.

You will make me an immortal mate.

VICTOR: No more let life
divide what death can join together.

[SCREAMS]

ETHAN:
There are such sins at my back...

...it would kill me to turn around.

Your daddy says come home,
so home you come.

You can't run forever, Ethan.

[ETHAN GROWLS
THEN ROPER GASPS]

There's a moment...
A moment you realise...

...you are no longer the hunter,
you are the prey.

If you have been touched
by the demon...

...it's like being touched
by the backhand of God.

It makes you sacred in a way.

VANESSA: There are things within
us all that can never be unleashed.

What do those people do?

Those who have been chosen?

[PEOPLE CHATTERING
AND CHILDREN LAUGHING]

[WOMAN CHANTING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[GASPING]

[♪♪♪]

[GRUNTS]

[♪♪♪]

[GASPS]

[GRUNTING]

[♪♪♪]

Thank you.

I need to talk to you. Not inside.

Take us on a tour,
anywhere you like.

I came to say goodbye.

You're leaving London.

I have to.

Why?

Miss Ives...

I'm not what you think I am.

Before I hurt you or anyone here,
I need to get away.

Where will you go?

Spain maybe. Or Russia.

Find a war somewhere, join a side.

Do what I'm good at.

And the war here?

Mina is dead. The creature is dead.
We lost.

That was only a battle.

Do you think the dark forces
that converge on our heads...

...can be vanquished so easily?

Do you honestly believe
you can escape them?

And the other ones?

The ones inside us?

Inside me, you mean?

No, that's not what I mean.

There are times that I have...

Well, like these blackouts.
Times I can't remember.

What happens?

I don't know.

But there's usually blood.

How can I help?

You can't change what you are.

No matter who you save.

Or who you love.

[COACHMAN YELLS
AND HORSES NEIGH]

[HORSEMAN SCREAMING
AND CHOKING]

[ETHAN PANTING]

[SCREAMING]

[ALL GRUNTING]

[CREATURE SCREECHES
AND VANESSA GASPS]

[BOTH PANTING]

Are you all right?

I think so.

[CREATURE SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[♪♪♪]

Will she remember?

I don't know.

I hope not.

Why?

Her life was benighted.

[WHISPERS]
We will seek...

...the shadows together then.

All right.

Lower her in.

Gently.

Now we wait on the weather.

[IN NORMAL VOICE]
May the gods bring us storms.

Goodnight, creator.

I need to be looking for work.

Not a simple thing
in this steel-hearted city of yours.

But have no doubt...

...that I will never be far from you.

Wait.

If this works...

...if I do as I promised you...

...give you this thing, living...

...will you leave me in peace?

You would do better
to ask your soul to leave you.

We are bound on a wheel of pain,
thee and me.

I ask you...

...what is Dr. Frankenstein
without his creature?

[♪♪♪]

Don't let her out of your sight.

What were they?

Women.

I don't know.

Like the others?
Those with the creature we killed.

Not by a long shot.

Miss Ives...

Vanessa...

...can you speak to me?

Mr. Chandler.

Can I do anything for you?

You knew them?

- Yes.
- What are they?

How can I help you
if you won't let me?

You can't help.

You were going to leave, so go.

For chrissake,
they were trying to kill you.

If they were trying to kill me,
they would have.

Goodbye, Mr. Chandler.

Sir Malcolm will be back
tomorrow.

I'll come back then.

[GASPS]

Do you believe the past can return?

More than that.

It never leaves us.

Ever?

It is who we are.

God help us, then.

[♪♪♪]

GLADYS:
A hollow thing, wasn't it?

Putting an empty coffin
in Peter's grave.

His body left in Africa.

Such a need we had
for the ceremony of it.

I don't know
which makes me sadder...

...Mina's full coffin...

...or Peter's empty one.

Gladys...

...we've been too much apart
these past years.

I think I should come home.

We don't need the London house.

And what would we do?

We were happy once, you and I.

No, Malcolm.

You were happy once.

Everything that was left between us
is buried here.

We shall remain married despite all.

That modicum of decency
I'll insist upon for myself.

But I'll live in the house here.

You stay in London...

...or go to Africa.

I don't care.

If only you knew
how hard I tried to save her.

We have no more children
for you to save.

Or to kill.

[♪♪♪]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

[♪♪♪]

[CHUCKLING]

[PUTNEY WHISTLING]

CREATURE: Excuse me.
- Uh! Heh.

Hello.

Sorry, don't like the customers
to see the magic at work.

Well...

Yes, I-- I saw your notice.

My notice?

For employment.

Gads, is that still up?
I'd forgotten about it.

No one wants to work here.

People find it unnerving.

But you don't?

I find it familiar.

I'll be honest with you, friend.

We're not the most financially sound
institution in London.

As you can tell, the patronage
is thin to nonexistent.

We can't pay you much.

What's the job?

In an effort to compete
with the dreaded Madame Tussauds...

...I'm instituting
a new bit of gimmickry.

Intended to send those
trumped-up French bastards...

...back to Paris.

This way.

My chambers of crime.

Homicide scenes
plucked from the headlines...

...and recreated here
in the most minute detail.

Here's old Jack himself.

The Annie Chapman murder.

What we couldn't discover,
we invented, of course.

No one will know the difference.

You tell the public a thing is real,
it is.

I'm preparing a series of them.

With all the ballyhoo I can muster.

I need help with the construction
and the tableaus...

...along with the usual custodial work
throughout the museum.

It's thankless work in dark rooms...

...but it's honest.

What do you think?

Yes. Heh.

Well, before we get you
all signed and sealed...

...you'll have to meet
the rest of the Putneys.

We're a family concern,
you understand...

...and I'm beholden on their approval.

You mean the way I look?

I meant more the way you are.

Can you come back this evening?
Say, 7?

Yes.

Very good.
We'll let them try you on for size.

Especially me good lady wife.

She who holds the pocketbook.

[PUTNEY CHUCKLES]

Here, look at this.

My newest crime.

Still under construction, of course.

Details are hard to come by
on this one.

It's so recent.

Though the newspapers have provided
some guidance.

But before long,
we'll have it all sorted out.

Our grisly murderer exposed
to the eyes of London...

...at two shillings a peep.

I give you
the Mariner's Inn massacre.

[♪♪♪]

MAN: Inspector Galsworthy said
we can get it back.

Inspector Galsworthy
has been replaced.

- I understand.
- This is a crime scene.

You get it back when I'm finished.

With respect, Inspector Rusk,
this is valuable commercial property.

The owners want to build
on the site.

What do they want to build?

Oh, um, tenement blocks.

RUSK:
That's a shame.

More brick.

There will be no wood left
in the city before long.

Brick lasts longer.

But without character.

Wood holds its history.

You'll forgive me for asking,
but, uh, this is like Spitalfields, eh?

The Ripper back again.

You think so?

Reckon it must be.

Why?

Can there be two monsters like that
in our city?

This one is different.

This time there was a survivor.

She didn't leave her room.

All day?

All day.

This is something
I never thought I'd see.

What?

Here's a woman who faced down
that creature in the theatre...

...without blinking...

...and held her ground
against Satan himself, but now...

I've never seen her frightened.

[METAL CLANGS]

What will you make of this life,
I wonder?

I'll miss talking to you.

It's good to have someone to talk to.

You'll learn that soon enough.

You'll learn everything.

Who will you be?

Will this hand ever know love?

[GASPING]

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

[WHISPERS]
I'll be back soon.

You are required.

- Let me fetch my bag.
- You will not need it.

- What will I need?
- Courage.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

He's told you about the work?

Yes, ma'am.

The hours are one hour
before opening...

...until two hours after we close,
which is midnight on weekends.

We take no holidays.
We observe no religious occasions.

The pay is 15 shillings
per week, flat.

Yes, ma'am.

What's your name?

John Clare.

John Clare, ma'am.

Sign.

Perhaps he should meet
our Lavinia.

OCTAVIA:
Lavinia, come in here.

Come and meet the new man
we've hired, Mr. Clare.

Miss Putney.

Mr. Clare.

May I touch your face?

It is not a face for touching.

Then I will never meet you.

Please.

If you must.

[♪♪♪]

It is good to meet you, Mr. Clare.

Would you show Mr. Clare out,
dear?

This way, sir.

That face.

What in God's name
are you thinking?

He'll scare away
the few customers we have.

Quiet, woman.

That face will make our fortune.

[♪♪♪]

[HORSE WHINNIES]

- Then what were they?
- Women.

But not your usual run.

And not the creatures of which
we've had recent experience?

EHTAN:
No.

They were branded
and deeply scarred.

The devil's mark.

Those in the service of the demon
are irrevocably marked.

His claws rake across them
to seal their obedience.

No, Sir Malcolm...

...these were not the creatures
we faced before.

Not as steady as I would like.

Thank you, doctor.

VICTOR:
Just rest.

You've been through a lot. Just rest.

And did you know
the language they spoke?

- It was Latin.
VANESSA: No.

It was the verbis diablo.

If I remember my
theological studies correctly...

...that's quite impossible.
- What is it?

A mythical language.

No, a dead language.

The word of the devil.

VICTOR:
According to biblical law...

...the verbis diablo
is a corruption of angelical speech.

What Adam spoke in paradise...

...before the serpent
made his memorable appearance.

ETHAN:
The story goes...

...Satan took God's language
and turned it inside out.

After the fall of man,
God spoke to Adam...

...but Adam could no longer
understand him.

"Why is my language
unclear to thee?"

"Because you now belong
to your father, the devil."

You do know this is all myth.

- Those women weren't.
- I don't know what you saw...

...but I doubt they're figments
conjured from Galilean fantasies...

...speaking a dead language.

Vanessa, did you know the words
she said to you?

No. I don't remember much.

The words came to me blindly,
like an animal instinct.

I don't even know what I said.

- Whatever it was scared them off.
- Then should we not begin...

...by finding a way
to understand the language?

Begin what?

Whatever is required
to protect Miss Ives.

VICTOR: And what are we
protecting her from?

You can't help me.

This is a battle I must fight
on my own.

- I'm not leaving you.
- Mr. Chandler...

Vanessa...

...I lost one daughter.
I'm not prepared to lose another-.

Not for anything in this world.

Altogether we've seen things
not of this world...

...and have proven ourselves
capable of defeating them.

What were they?

You knew their kind.

They are Nightcomers.

Witches.

[EVELYN SINGING]

♪ My breast is cold as clay ♪

♪ My breath is earthly strong ♪

♪ And if you kiss my cold grey lips ♪

♪ Your days, they won't be long ♪

♪ How oft on yonder grave,
Sweetheart ♪

♪ Where we were wont to walk ♪

♪ The fairest flower that ere I saw ♪

♪ Has withered to a stalk ♪

♪ When will we meet again,
Sweetheart ♪

♪ When will we meet again? ♪

♪ When the autumn leaves
That fall from trees ♪

♪ Are green
And spring up again ♪♪

[THUNDER CLAPS]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

Mother.

Darlings, I must confess
to a modicum of disappointment...

...about the events of last evening.

Disillusionment even.

I should have gone, Mother.

These three aren't equal
to our great task.

No, Hecate. The fault's mine.

I believed us to be more powerful
than we are.

But the man concerns me.

- She has a protector.
- Lupus Dei.

[♪♪♪]

And he is powerful.

So our task is made
yet more daunting.

Meaning we shall have to be
yet more ingenious.

We shall have to employ
stratagems.

He shall be your challenge,
daughter.

She, mine.

I shall begin
by enticing dear Sir Malcolm.

My old friend Miss Ives
won't escape me.

The master won't be denied
his prize.

Even now
he twitches for his beloved.

His great tail
wrapping around her ankle...

...and up and up and--
- Yes.

WITCH:
Give me another chance.

Please.

You failed once, pet.

WITCH:
But she knew the language.

- She spoke it?
- Yes.

- What did she say?
- It was unclear.

- Did she mumble?
- No. I--

I didn't hear it entirely, I mean.

Then the fault's yours.

Do you know what this room holds?

The old Romans called them
memento mori.

Tokens of death.

The story goes that a famous general
was returning from battle.

His chariot piled high
with the golden spoils of his victory.

He thrust out his chest to proclaim
his invincibility to the people.

Well, a slave saw this...

...and threw an old bone
at the general's feet saying:

“Remember, death comes for us all."

And from that day,
it became a custom in Rome...

...that a slave stand in the chariot...

...behind every general
returning in victory...

...holding a skull
and whispering into his ear.

[SPEAKING IN LATIN]

“Look behind you.

Remember that you are a man.

Remember that you will die."

[HISSING]

[GASPS]

Take that bitch away.

I've seen that look in her eyes.

After a battle.

She'll talk to us in her own time.

And until then?

I was intending to leave London.

I don't think I should.

I appreciate that.

- You have a guest room?
- Yes.

I will stay there.

You mean, stay with us?

That's what I mean.

I'll have Sembene prepare the room.

I can do it.

[BABY CRYING]

Hurry!

Quickly!

Connect those batteries.

That lever.

And now the next two.

[♪♪♪]

We must catch the storm.

[GRUNTING]

Help me!

When I say, raise the main conductor.
Not yet!

NOW!

I have to modulate the charge.

Release the pressure
on the conductors.

Take them down by half. More!

Start at a 10 percent charge.

Please, please, please.

Get back.

[GASPING]

Please, let her live.

Let her live now!

Let her live!

- Now!
- Let her live now!

- Now!
- Now!

- Now!
- Now!

- Now!
- Now!

[THUNDER ROARING]

[CREATURE GRUNTING]

[BOTH PANTING]

[GASPING]

[SHIVERING]

[♪♪♪]

[THUNDER CLAPS
AND VOICES WHISPERING]

[WHISPERING IN LATIN]

Master.

My beloved Lucifer.

I have found her for you,
and she shall be yours.

I shall assault her days
and her nights.

Her dreams and her prayers.

No corner of her soul shall be safe.

Every beat of her heart,
she shall know only suffering.

I will not fail you. I will not fail you.

I will not fail you.

[CHANTING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[GASPING]

[♪♪♪]