Penny Dreadful (2014–2016): Season 3, Episode 4 - A Blade of Grass - full transcript

Previously on
Penny Dreadful...

Do you believe me?

What are you asking
me to believe?

That you were
hunted by vampires?

That you commune
with Satan?

I've lost the immortal
part of myself.

No matter how far you have
walked from God,

He is still waiting ahead.

Where is your master?

Soon you'll meet him again.

Again?



Don't you remember, my lady?

When was this?

In the white room.

Why do you think
he was talking

about the Banning Clinic?

This has to be the room where
I met the Master in the past!

I know what I'm asking.

I don't think you do.

Hypnotism can be
extremely traumatic.

Are you alone?

- Always.
- No one comes in?

An orderly with the food.

I've brought your food,
Miss Ives.

Tell me about him.



The orderly?

Yes.

We barely spoke.

When you did,
what did you talk about?

I don't remember.

Nothing.

How long were you
in that room?

Five months.

And he was the only person

who came into your room
all that time?

Yes.

Describe him,
the orderly.

Nondescript.

Look at his face now.

Let your eyes move over it.
What do you see?

Round sort of face.

Pleasant.

- Good complexion.
- Eyes?

Blue.

Go on. What else?

Let your eyes move.

He's tall.

Strong hands
without veins or age to them.

Very closely cropped hair.

Food, Miss Ives.

You have to eat, Miss.

Please eat.

Why didn't you eat?

Why are you here?

What... Why can I see you?

Your mind is between
both worlds now.

You're in my office,
and here in the cell.

Why didn't you eat?

I wanted to die.

You were trying
to starve yourself?

- Yes.
- Why did you want to die?

I had betrayed
my friend Mina.

I was ill.

No,

I was evil.

Satan had touched me.

- And...
- Yes?

There was another.

- Another demon? Who?
- Yes.

- I don't remember.
- Try.

If you don't eat...

there'll be consequences.

Bring it to me.

No.

It's three feet away.

I'm tired.

They tortured me today.

I'm not to engage
in conversation, Miss.

Are they listening?

No.

They didn't torture you.

You weren't there!

They're making you well.

Bring me the food.

No.

How are they making me well?

The injections never end.

And the questions.

You're to begin
other treatments tomorrow.

What are they?

Bring me the food.

No.

Is it day or night?

Sorry?

The light's never off
and there's no window!

Is it day or night?

Which would you prefer
it to be?

Night.

Then it's night.

Bring me the food.

No.

I'll collapse.

No, you won't.

Bring me the food.
Help me!

No.

You think I'm a spoiled bitch.

We're not to engage
in conversation, Miss.

What's the treatment tomorrow?

They call it hydrotherapy.

I need the blanket.

What?

Hand me the blanket, Miss.

Why?

You're not supposed
to have it.

Hand me the blanket, Miss.

No.

- Miss.
- I'll die.

You won't.
No one does.

Why can't I have the blanket?

You're not supposed
to have it

in case you hang yourself.

Please.

I'm sorry, Miss.

You're not sorry.

Not at all.

How long do I...
have to wear this?

Until Dr. Banning decides.

Decides what?

If you're dangerous.

I am.

Don't you think
I'm dangerous?

- I think you're ill.
- I'm not ill!

Then what are you?

I'm sorry about your face.

Well, we'll have
no more of that.

No more of that.

No fight left in me.

You'd all like to see that.

Yes, Miss.
Safer that way.

It's not torture
what they're doing.

It's science.

It's meant to
make you better.

It's meant to
make me normal.

Like all the other women
you know.

Compliant, obedient.

A cog in an intricate
social machine...

and no more.

I couldn't say, Miss.

Couldn't you?

Not all the women
I know are cogs.

Then they're freaks.

My wife's not a freak
and she's not a cog.

You should think
better of your sex.

God has forgotten me here.

He can't find me here.

That's not true.

I'm not Vanessa Ives here.

I am no one.

I have no name,
no purpose.

Do you want a purpose?

Don't you?

I'm doing it.

Is it day or night?

Which do you prefer now?

Day.

Then it's day.

What's your name?

Against regulations, Miss.

You know my name.

You just told me
you don't have a name.

Oh, I was being poetic.

Oh.

Don't you like poetry?

Uh, no.

All the men I grew up with
liked poetry.

I don't.

What do you like?

Not being attacked at work.

You must get better, Miss.

They don't get easier,
the treatments.

What do you mean?

They get worse.

How?

Just get better, eh?

If I'm not truly ill,

then how can I get better?

If you're not ill,
then what are you?

You wouldn't believe me.

Dr. Banning doesn't.
My parents don't.

And why should they?

I have been touched...

by Satan.

My weakness allowed it.

My faith was
not strong enough

and Lucifer came to me.

I didn't fight him
strongly enough.

I don't know that
I fought him at all.

I did this for my son
when he was a baby.

He's eight now.

He's not well.

Cough, he has.

We used a metal spoon at first
but it hurt his mouth

so we switched
to a wooden one.

I'm surprised they have
wooden spoons here.

Oh.

I brought this one
from home.

What's your son's name?

Um, that's...

Against regulations.

Yes, Miss.

You must get better.

Please.

And I do believe
what you say about Lucifer.

After all... I was there.

Oh, my dear.

We have so much to
catch up on, do we not?

What did you see?

His eyes...
The eyes of the Demon.

- Lucifer?
- Yes.

It was the orderly.

And not!

You're manifesting Lucifer
through the orderly.

The only person you saw.

Were there more episodes
like this?

- I don't remember.
- Try.

- I am!
- Try harder!

Stop this!
Take me out of this state!

I can't.

Doctor Seward,
stop this session now!

I can't, Vanessa!
I've been trying!

You won't come out.

You won't wake up.

I burned your hand
with a cigarette.

It didn't work.

You've apparently
gone into

something called
a fugue state.

Look at me, Vanessa.

I'm not going
to lie to you.

There's a lot
we don't understand.

It's a mental
and physical break,

a disassociation with
your bodily functions,

something like a coma.

When will it end?

I don't know.

Do people die like this?

Yes. But you won't.

How do you know that?

I just do.

That's ridiculous!
You just do!

I know you.

And from what you say,
I've known you a long time.

My ancestor,
the old woman,

Joan Clayton,

what would
she say to you?

"Be true."

Be true.

You will come out of it.

When you're at the heart
of your trauma,

when you've found
what you're here for.

I'm not leaving you
for anything in this world.

What do I do?

Keep going.

What happened next?

I don't remember.
I was drugged.

What do you see?

The same room.

Nothing changed.

The treatments continued.

Escalated.

I can't move my arms.

I can't speak.

Miss Ives?

Can you hear me?

I'm not good at this.

My wife's got short hair...

and I have no sisters.

I'm sick to see you
like this.

I can't stop
thinking about it.

It is torture.

I'll have to undo
it all before morning.

They can't know.

They'd sack me
if they knew.

And then who'd
attend to you?

It'll be our secret, eh?

Uh, this is my wife's.

She told me what to do.

I tell her about you.

That's against
regulations too.

She said to use
a light hand

and spare the heavy
for the lips.

She's got beautiful lips,
my wife.

Her name's Marjorie.

I would leave this place,
but I need the work.

Jobs are scarce and...

I've to feed the family,
you understand.

And I wouldn't leave you
in any case.

Not until you're better.

And maybe we'll walk out
of here together.

Wouldn't that be a day?

Will you take a look,
Miss Ives?

Go on.

Please.

This is who you are.

Please don't forget that.

I'm really
not very good at this.

Ah. It's the only one
we had.

Someone gave it to us
when our son was born.

"I have a little shadow

that goes in and out
with me.

And what can be
the use of him...

is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me

from the heels up
to the head.

And I see him
jump before me,

when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing
about him..."

"I never can get back
by day,

nor can remember
plain and clear,

the curious music
that I hear."

I've got to go, before the
day fellows get here.

I'm sorry.

One day soon,
no one will touch you

when you don't want
to be touched.

Or put makeup on you,
or take it off.

Ever, ever again.

If I'm honest, I don't really
believe in God, but...

I'll pray for you.

It's Christmas today.

I'm so lonely.

Your parents?

They stopped coming.

I'm never getting
out of here.

Of course you are.

What happened before is all
that will ever happen to me.

Every dance...

was my last dance.

Every flower I smelled
was my last flower.

Every kiss...

I've only been
with one man.

I should have died a virgin...

like Joan of Arc.

Be true. Be strong.

Sing on the funeral pyre.

Did you know she sang
as she burned?

No.

None of us are heroes.

I suppose not.

Miss Ives, if you don't show
signs of improvement,

he'll turn to surgery.

Let him.

You don't know
what you're saying.

I'll sing as he
cuts me open.

Listen to me!

They'll start by cutting your
hair off and shaving your head.

Then they'll sedate you.

Then they'll strap you
to a table.

Then he'll use a drill
to open your skull.

It's not a medical thing,
it's a drill for woodwork.

Then he'll put
a clamp on your skull...

and crack it open.

And then he'll start
cutting things out.

I see the results.

That's where
my job starts again.

You'll have lost your ability
to control your body.

You'll shit and piss
on yourself

and I'll clean it up.

If you're lucky,

that part will
come back to you.

But not much else,
if I'm honest.

It varies.

But they are never the same
when they come out.

Sometimes they can't walk.

Sometimes they can't speak.

Sometimes they can't
open their eyes or hear.

Do you know what they are?

All of them?

A broken thing.

Not a tiger.

Not a flower.

Not a clump of earth.

Not even a blade of grass.

Miss Ives,
you have to get better.

Then pretend to be cured!

Be like everyone else.

Do what he wants you to do!

I've tried.

Is it so important?

To be different?

To have such
specialness?

Would you want
your son to be

anything but what he is?

I want him to be happy.

But what if he's not?

Would you want
him to pretend?

No.

Then don't ask it of me.

Let me help you.

You're not ill,
so you tell me.

So... what are you?

I've told you.

And you don't
believe in God

so you don't believe
in Satan either.

I'm a stupid man.

Very bad at my lettering
and my figures,

no gift for words.

But I'm here now.

And I'll listen.

So.

Why would the Devil
be interested in you?

I don't know.

If you were Lucifer,

why would you be
interested in someone?

Oh, that's easy.

Because I love you.

Where you gonna go,
Vanessa?

Door's locked.

No day, no night,
just perpetual twilight

before they cut open
your skull

and try to let
the demons out.

That's where trephining
began, you know,

in the Dark Ages.

In an attempt to
release me

and send me
into the ether.

Didn't work then...

won't work now.

For too long
I have been afraid.

No longer.

I don't want you
to fear me.

I want you to
embrace me.

Of your own volition.

Give me your name.

Your favorite is Lucifer.

The Fallen Angel.

Defeated in that
mighty battle

with your Heavenly Father.

God have mercy.

Has He up to now?

Look at this sad old world.

Children begging for
a crust of rotting food

a mile from where we stand.

In the shadow of this,

the wealthiest city
on the globe.

Look at you.

Has His mercy
touched your life?

My God is merciful

and He will not
abandon me.

He already has.

You're not even
a blade of grass to Him.

Let us be as we were.

Before there was time,
there was thee and me.

Before the scorpion crawled
and the adder hissed.

Back to the time when
the Old Gods sang

and there was only thee
and there was only me.

Give yourself
to me freely.

Be what you are
and always were.

And then?

We stand at the fire
as it consumes

all men and all women

and all the beasts
of the Earth

until only we are left.

And then we shall
turn our eyes heavenward.

Yes.

And we shall smite
the Heavenly Father

from his bloody throne.

I've long dreamt
of this moment,

to stand at your side,
close enough to touch,

to smell, to feel.

Give me your name.

You can read it on my tomb.

Who are you?

Who do you want me to be?

Call him what he is.

The Father of Beasts,

king of the
maggot-crawling flesh.

So long it's been, brother.

Not long enough, brother.

And your existence in
the dark netherworld?

And yours
on this filthy earth?

Perpetual.

And the
eating of flesh,

and the drinking of blood?

More beast than spirit
you are.

Such a need you have
of the earthly powers.

And so I am made
strong and potent

by the spoils of my domain.

While you, anemic,

feed on dust and superstition.

The abject supplication of
the weak and the ignorant.

If they cease to believe
in you, do you even exist?

They won't believe
forever, brother.

We live in a mighty age of
science and faithlessness.

You're fading
to insignificance

even as I look at you.

I'm only concerned
with the faith of one.

But you're not a thing
of the spirit, Vanessa.

You are a thing of
the flesh... like me.

You're the wolf.

You are the scorpion.

You are all those things
that slip and soar

and stalk through the deep
forest and the dark night.

You are powerful.

You feel it coiling
within you.

Become the wolf...

and the bat
and the scorpion.

Be truly who you are.

He appeals to
your lust, your appetites.

You're more than that.

You're spirit and soul.

You want her soul.

I don't need it.

Give me your flesh.

Give me your blood.

Be my bride.

And then
all light will end

and the world
will live in darkness.

The very air will be
pestilence to mankind.

And then our brethren,

the Night Creatures,
will emerge and feed.

Such is our power...

such is our kingdom,

such is my kiss.

Yes.

One kiss and
you're free of all this.

In this mortal world
you'll always be shunned

for your uniqueness...

but not with me.

They will lock you away
in rooms like this.

They will brand you
a freak

and a sorceresses,
but I won't.

I love you for
who you are, Vanessa.

And what name do I
whisper to you, beloved?

I am the Demon.

I am the Dragon.

My name...

is Dracula.

So I see you clear now.

Two brothers
fallen from grace.

The spirit...

and the animal.

You seek my soul.

You my body.

But both are promised
to another.

He who vanquished you.

He who is my protector

and who stands with me
even now.

Child, you have
no sense of the terrors

I will bring unto you.

Then do it.

And no hint of the horrors
I can unleash unto you.

Unleash them.

No step you take
will be safe.

No dream untroubled.

Battles I shall plan.

Prophesies I shall unveil.

Who are you to defy me?

I am nothing.

I am no more than
a blade of grass.

But I am.

You think you know evil?

Here it stands.

Well?

Why would the Devil
be interested in you?

I'm...

May I sleep?
I'm very tired.

Oh, yes, of course.

You should sleep.

I wish I could
turn the light off.

What?

No, don't worry.
Good night.

Vanessa, look at me.

You can come out now.

Come back to me
gently now.

Listen to the sound
of the gramophone.

The stylus cutting
into the wax.

No.

No.

I'm not done here.

Miss Ives?

Will you look at me?

I'm so sorry.

I didn't counterfeit
normality well enough.

I tried.

I spoke lowly.

I bent my head.

I was a submissive dog.

I was the woman
he wanted me to be.

I almost succeeded.

But then... he asked me
to speak about my faith.

I told him the truth,

that God's immortal
glory lives in me

as in all of us.

How can that be
anything but lunacy

to a man like
Dr. Banning?

Will you eat?

Why bother?

You'll need your
strength tomorrow.

It's to be tomorrow?

Yes.

Will there be
anything left of me?

Will it take long?

A few hours.

Will I feel pain?

No, no,
you'll be sedated.

Does your wife
cook for you?

Yes.

Yeah, she's a good cook.

I'd make a horrible wife.

Well, that's not true.

And you're a horrible liar.

I'll miss your hair.

So will I.

No, I mean,
I'm leaving tomorrow.

What?

This job.

Oh.

You have another?

No.

It's no great matter.

I'll tell you
what happened.

I was at home,
yesterday night past.

And I was helping my son
with a wooden ship model.

That's something we do.

And he asked me
about the ship.

I said it was
the kind of ship

used for exploring
the seas.

And he said, "Where do
they explore, Father?"

And I told him,
"Everywhere.

The Orient, Peru,

and even the frozen North."

And he says,

"What's that, Father?"

And so I told him

it was the places
all covered with snow.

North of Scotland
and even beyond that.

And he said,
"Do people live there?"

And I said, um...

"No. It's too cold
and lonely all the time.

No one lives there."

And I started to cry.

And I couldn't stop.

My son took my hand.

I...

I couldn't stop crying.

Why?

Because I realized
I was wrong.

One person does live there,

where it's cold
and lonely all the time.

So I, uh, tendered
my resignation.

I'll stay on long enough
to see you tomorrow.

The last person you see
before the surgery

will be someone
who loves you.

Good-bye, Miss Ives.

I'll get you something
for that burn.

Sorry.

Ah.

What do you remember?

Everything.

Images.
Like a dream, yes?

- No.
- Everything.

You once said
we name things

so they don't frighten us.

I'm not frightened.

His name is Dracula.