Salem (2014–2017): Season 1, Episode 1 - The Vow - full transcript

I, Isaac Walton...

Have gazed upon the
nakedness of Abigail Cook...

... And did kiss her.

And?

And...

And did commit
the sin of self-pollution.

And committed the
sin of self-pollution.

10 hard ones.

On this glorious day,

our brave boys muster to face
the devil's shock troops...

French and Indian savages



massing in the woods
right outside our doors.

And what are
you going off to defend?

Not Sodom, but Salem.

We cannot expect God to be on our side

if we tolerate abominations
or those who commit them.

You two will remain in
the stocks overnight.

And you, boy, will bear
the mark of your sins

the rest of your life.

No, please. Please!

For God's sakes, Sibley.

The stocks and the lashings
are punishment enough.

No!

Fornicator!

Judge not...



Lest ye be judged.

Who said that?

Jesus. You might have heard of him.

John Alden.

My respect for your father's memory

can only shield you so long.

It's a good thing
you're mustering out tonight.

Like it or not, Sibley's in charge.

He tolerated your father,

but he won't be happy
till he sees you swing.

- Hey!
- Oh!

Didn't you learn anything today?

Yes, yes, if I have
to spend one more night

under the same stars as
that bastard George Sibley,

I will gut him like the pig that he is.

If... talking like that
will land you in the stocks.

No day soon.

I'd rather die fighting
the French and the Indians

than get pissed on by
the good souls of Salem.

So, you're really leaving.

Mary, trust me.

I will come back for you.

Hey.

Look.

This is all that I have.

And I swear on my parents' grave.

This is my vow.

This war will not last a year.

Forward!

Stay in formation, gentlemen.

Isn't but a half-day's ride.

I can't make it.

I think I'm gonna be sick again.

Shh.

As soon as you sit down
inside, it will settle.

Wait your betters, girl.

Peace be upon you.

And upon you.

Peace be upon you.

And upon you.

Though there are things to be said for war.

Gives a certain kind of
man someplace to end up

other than the end of a brand...

Or a rope.

You'll thank me one day.

Stay strong.

After tonight, it will all be over.

Tituba, wait.

I've changed my mind. I want to go back.

There is no place
for that child in Salem.

George Sibley drove John
Alden off to die in the war.

What do you think he's gonna do to you

when he finds out you're
pregnant with John's baby?

Do not fear the woods.

The woods are gonna take
care of that little soul...

And you.

What is this place?

You want to live? Lie still.

Please.

It's all that I have left of him.

Hush.

No, wait. I-I-I
don't want to do this.

You don't have a choice, Mary.

Please.

- This is what you want.
- Please.

This is what you want.

- No... Please.
- Let him in.

No, please.

Stay there!

John. John. John, help me.

Help me!

Now tell him.

Say it. This is what you want.

Yes. Yes!

Yes!

Aah!

All the world
shall be yours in return.

All the world.

From heaven in flaming fire,

taking vengeance upon all
those who know not God,

who have disobeyed the gospel!

Read for yourself the truth.

The terrible truth...

witches among us, the devil in Salem.

For you, sir.

For you, sir.

No.

Easy.

This is the Alden house,

and there ain't any Aldens left.

So you are either a ghost,
or you're about to be one.

That's a harsh way
to say "welcome home."

Johnny?

Can't be.

I heard you was dead Killed in the war.

I wished I was a couple of times.

Ah, well, they
can't keep a good man down.

Saw three men strung
up on the way into town

and a new gallows being built
in the heart of the common.

What the hell is that?

Precious Salem caught
up in a stinking witch panic.

Witch panic?

Who did the bigwigs send
in to put out the fire,

the almighty Increase Mather?

No, his son... Cotton.

And not a chip off the old
block... barely a splinter.

I remember when we were kids

he used to dress like a girl.

Fought like one, too.

Well, he's all grown-up now.

A fine fool in fine silk clothes,

and not just any fool,
the most dangerous kind...

the kind that thinks he knows everything.

But you didn't come back
for all this horseshit.

You come back for one
thing and one thing only.

Truth told, she's finer than ever.

And she's the richest woman in Salem.

And why not?

She's Mary Sibley now.

Sibley?

George Sibley.

But his wife...

Died a few years ago.

You've been gone a long time, John.

Keep your powder in your bag.

One day,

your Mary will be the
richest widow in the country.

The driver's at the door

with some packages for you, ma'am.

Send him in.

And, Nathaniel, take Mr. Sibley with you.

Time for his bath.

Now, Isaac, tell me some news of the world.

Saw a dusty fella
walking into town today.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Why?

It was John Alden.

Welcome back, Reverend Mather.

Rum, gin, ale?

Yes.

I need three strong men.

I can pay.

For what?

To subdue a girl.

Reverend Lewis.

Please help my daughter.

And be careful.

Tie her down!

Tie her down!!

Please, I beg you,
sir. Please, make this stop.

I can do nothing,
mercy, unless you tell me...

Who is it torments you?

S-she's right there.

"She"?

Who is here?

Mercy, you must tell me!

Who is in this room with us?!

The hag! The old woman!

She's standing right there!

Please.

A simple physic.

To sleep.

Please. Please.

We call it a spectral attack...

the work of witches.

Pray for her.

I call bullshit.

She's clearly touched in the head.

She needs a doctor, not your prayers.

Don't dawdle, child.

I want you in the front row

where Cotton Mather can't help
but be dazzled by your charms.

For heaven's sake, mother,

why not just wrap me in silk and
parade me on the auction block?

Fear no man's war.

For only a war from
hell could destroy Salem.

The devil was never going to let

a promised land be built here

without a fight, without a battle!

And witches armed with deadly malice

are the most malignant
and insidious weapons

in that battle...

In that war.

Even a single witch in
Salem is enough to destroy

everything we have built
and ever hope to build here!

Now, we have already killed three of them,

and yet their malice continues unabated.

Why?

Because there are still
witches here among us!

Perhaps in this very hall!

Imagine a foe you can't see
armed with weapons unknown

and the ability to appear as any one of us!

Then how can you hope
to identify the correct culprit?

Have you seen the girl, sir?

Even now, mercy Lewis
bleeds from 100 wounds...

some impossible to self-inflict.

She is the one who will
tell us who does this.

I see.

The ravings of a poor, sick girl

will help you identify what
your reason fails to deliver.

My father...

Yes, of course. Your father.

Did your father, whom we all so respect,

offer you any advice when
he sent you in his stead

to our aid?

He... Advised caution.

Caution?

And are we to take three people hung

as the measure of Mather junior's caution?

There could be nothing worse for Salem,

for the country, than a witch hunt.

Witches.

Witches.

Indeed.

As my beloved husband, the head
of your selectmen, reminds me,

there is something worse
than a witch hunt...

a witch.

A witch?

Sure, that's bad.

But why not an ogre...

Or a goblin?

Why not a dragon, long as
we're talking about fairy tales?

John Alden.

We all welcome Captain
Alden home from his long,

long service in our defense.

Puritans know their sun is setting.

Nothing like a new enemy or a new old enemy

to get people behind you.

Captain Alden.

Mrs. Sibley.

Mr. Sibley and I

are hosting a small dinner tomorrow night.

We'd be honored if you'd join.

Why are you staring at me?

I don't even know you.

Isaac?

Isaac the fornicator.

Hide your wives.

Hide your daughters. Hell, your sheep!

All right, look.

So, what do you want from me?

Listen to me, John Alden.

Coming home to Salem to get out of the war

is like jumping in the
ocean to get out of the rain.

Truth hides.

They could be anyone.

Oh, they who? Who's they?

Witches!

Ain't no fairy tale.

They're real.

All these years,

your Mary's the only one
who's ever done me a good turn.

She's not my Mary now.

You left once before.

Look what happened.

Don't walk out on us again.

Is this really necessary?

A witches' familiars...

demons, usually in the form of an animal.

Cat, rat, a bird, or a toad...

they perform all sorts of useful tasks

as long as they're fed.

You heard what she told us.

She was forced to feed their familiars.

She must be searched for the marks...

teats where she suckled them.

Please help her.

"Woe to the inhabitants of
the earth and of the sea!

For the devil has come down
unto you with great wrath

because he knoweth that
he hath but a short time."

Revelations 12:12.

I see the end of the world

urges you onto greater efforts.

Mm, as it must us all.

Our granny used to scare us silly

with those witch stories.

But she'd really terrify my brothers.

She told them witches
could steal a man's...

Aah!

Would you like that, Gloriana,

without the bother of the man attached?

Not this man.

My darling.

See you next time, Governor.

Just attending to the poor.

No doubt... and the poor in spirit.

Captain Alden, right?

I haven't seen you since we were children.

I expected to see you up at Harvard.

Surprised to hear that you'd
run off to join the militia...

like a servant.

I would have
loved to spend four years

counting angels on the
heads of pins, but...

Hmm.

There was a war on.

Pity.

I owe everything to my education.

Taught you everything
about hunting witches?

No.

But my father burnt scores back in Essex,

and I've read every book
there is on the subject...

in eight languages.

So, you learned
your hunting from books.

Well, that's a bit like
learning the facts of life

from your maiden aunt.

But never mind.

You're here now, and you're
the expert on witches,

so let me ask you.

What do these awful witches want, huh?

The same thing we all want...

a country of their own.

And here I've been wasting
my time fighting mere Indians.

Good night, Harvard.

Time for your feeding.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Someone, help me!

Help me.

Yes.

No.

Help me! Help!

Help!

George, don't fight it.

You know it only hurts more.

You took away everything
I had, George Sibley...

Everything I loved.

Can you imagine how good it feels

to take everything you have,

destroy all you've built,

and devour your very soul?

All done.

I would like to make a toast
to our hostess Mary Sibley,

who has shown us that
true piety and true beauty

amount to the same worship.

Indeed.

Beauty is the last miracle
allowed in an ugly...

Fallen world.

Magistrate
Hale and I are concerned

about our daughter's inner
beauty, Reverend Mather.

Perhaps you could suggest a tutor for her,

a Harvard man like yourself?

I believe there is only
so much you can learn from books.

Experience is our true teacher.

Don't you agree, Captain Alden?

Well, that depends on the experience.

Yours must have been
fascinating... with the Indians.

They're so mysterious,

so... Natural.

Natural?

"Unnatural," I'd say.

Soulless savages.

I assure you, ma'am,
the Indians do have souls,

if any of us do.

"If"?

And what about witches?

Do they have souls, too?

They do.

But they have deeded
them to the devil himself

in exchange for powers
and all that they desire.

- A contract?
- Indeed.

Ironic,

as I believe, by law, a woman's
not allowed to enter a contract

but through the agency of their husband.

Nathaniel.

Yes, ma'am.

Not all witches are women.

And what do you think, captain Alden?

I don't know.

I think some things just beggar belief,

like an honest frenchman
or a faithful woman,

things that I'll believe
in if and when I see one.

I find I worry more

about the French and the Indian attacks

than I do witches.

What's your opinion, captain Alden?

Just how vulnerable are we?

Mm.

Are you all right, captain Alden?

I think this rich
food doesn't agree with me.

Some fresh air might help.

I was told you were killed.

Was that before or
after you married Sibley?

I remember being told once

that the war wouldn't last a year.

That wasn't up to me.

I waited for you.

Years and years without a word.

I couldn't write.

No, of course not.

Too busy saving the country.

Not exactly.

I was captured.

Their priest man told the others
not to take this away from me.

He said the universe
itself was made out of vows,

and breaking them carries consequences.

I know that this is
just half a silver coin,

and you have... no shortage of silver now.

Mary, come with me.

Now... Tonight.

I have money in a bank in New York.

It's different there.

There's not a puritan in
sight. It's not too late.

We can be together Anywhere.

Anywhere but here.

- New York?
- Yeah.

Is that before or
after you were captured?

You walk out of here one night,
and you come back years later.

A-and you think that...

Mary.

Come here.

No.

I can't.

It's impossible.

He'd never let me.

Now, now, Mrs. Sibley.

Even you have no right
to monopolize a guest

as fascinating as captain Alden,
for whom I have a rare gift,

a cigar of tobacco from
Guyana with some Brandy.

I'm afraid all this...

Civilized eating and drinking
has laid me out, Magistrate.

You told me he was dead!

It's not like
counting sheep, honey.

More like counting shadows.

But it don't change a thing.

What's John Alden compared
to all that lies before you?

Stop your weeping, woman.

That boy don't deserve those tears.

They're not for him.

They're for the girl I once was.

That girl belongs
to somebody else now.

Was it he that
left you to the wolves?

No, child.

It was he that saved you from the wolves

and raised you up to all of this.

You have a grand vision.

Don't lose sight of it.

Tomorrow, the moon is with
us. Tomorrow, it begins.

Leave your anger and your pain
for the Kenaima to feed on.

Has he not been true to his vow?

Are not your enemies now your slaves?

Do you not have everything
that you desire...

wealth, power?

Almost everything.

Pardon me, ma'am.
A gentleman to see you.

Mr. Corey.

To what do I owe the pleasure?

I was wondering if
I might talk to you, ma'am.

I had a small farm.

First, it broke my heart.
Then it broke my back.

As you and I both know, the heart heals.

The back never does.

I took up trapping.

It's a meager living Ruined the Indians.

Now it's ruining me.

Thing about trapping is you
get your good catch at night.

But by morning, it's someone else's meal.

Me, I stay with my traps.

Fascinating, Mr. Corey, but...

That's why I was there...

The night you did it...

You and your cinnamon girl.

You waited a long time.

Nobody's business till now.

But that was John Alden's
baby that you buried out there.

And the way he feels about
you, he has a right to know.

So, are you gonna tell him?

Or am I?

Oh, blast this wretched thing.

That's not bad.

Reverend Lewis
says drawing is idolatry,

like worshiping nature or something.

Well, there might
be worse things to worship.

I'd like to draw you sometime.

I'm not sure I'd like
to see a portrait of me.

Besides, I have no time to sit.

I'm on way out of town.

So soon?

Afraid of witches...

Or being taken for one?

It's a long way to New York.

Good day.

Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you.

Oh, I'm not frightened.

Just surprised.

Yes, of course...

a girl brave enough to
sketch in a graveyard.

I'm not afraid of the dead,

nor the living for that matter.

That's because
you know nothing of death

and less of life.

I could teach you...

about life...

And death...

And many things in between.

Do you know what killed
nearly every woman buried here?

Love.

Most died in childbirth.

So, love is to a woman
what war is to a man...

the most deadly thing they'll do.

Only a fool runs quickly to war or love.

You'd best watch yourself.

Thank you... Mrs. Sibley.

I can only aspire to your happy wisdom.

Where do the witches meet?

In the woods.

How many?

I don't know.

Who are they?

I ...

I can't see their faces.

Like there's these heads of animals

like a stag and a pig and a wolf.

But you know who they are?

Yes.

Yes.

Their names.

Why won't you tell me their names?

She won't let me.

"She"?

- Yes.
- Who?

Who is she?

Tell me.

I can't.

Tell me the names!

My God, mercy.

Though she cannot speak a name,

she will show us the witch.

Oh, no!

Sorry, captain. You
can't leave Salem just yet.

Something you've got to see.

Is this him, the witch?

I think so.

All the books say if the victim...

Never mind your books.

Is this the witch?

He won't plead either way.

Is that so?

Won't dignify the accusation.

If you can call a young
girl's spit an accusation.

What I have to say, I'll
say to captain John Alden.

You just find me captain Alden.

I'll have plenty to say.

I have sent men for captain Alden,

but I'm told he's left town.

Just obtain a plea.

And if he remains silent?

You've been granted power.

Use it. Press him for an answer.

Let the same devil that holds
his tongue hold the stones.

Hurry. The
sabbath is about to begin.

One, two, three, and four.

Raise the devil to our door.

Call the pig, the wolf, the ram.

Come to the circle, all who can.

Make him walk on floor to roof.

Drink to him with horn and hoof.

One, two, three, and four.

The devil is here. Now sleep no more.

And all the world shall be yours in return.

If your witches meet here,

they got better night eyes than I do.

They don't need night eyes.

The night is their eyes.

What the hell is this?

Gifts to the devil himself...

the unborn.

Cruour innocentia.

Maleficarium. Pestilentia.

Walpurgisnacht.

Consummatum est.

Now it begins.

The circle was broken.

By who?

Satan!

Please, sir.

I don't want to to do this.

Then don't.

Be reasonable, man.

I have the power to
press you for an answer.

All you have to do is say the
words "guilty" or "not guilty,"

and we can stop all of this.

If I say "guilty,"
you'll hang me before dawn.

And if I say not,

my fate is still in the
hands of you bastards.

I'll hold my peace and trust in the lord.

Lower the stones!

I ask you again.

Are you guilty...

Or not?

We're dead.

No, we are not.

Good as.

I thought you've seen them before.

You wanted me to see them, and I saw them.

And they saw us.

And I told you they could be anybody.

Okay, just... Calm down.

Have you something to say?

More stones.

Giles! Get the hell off of him!

Alden!

He's dead!

"Woe to the inhabitants...

"Of the earth and of the sea.

For the devil has come down unto you."

Son of a bitch. Son of a...

No! No!

Get!

My father's boots
were the very first in Salem.

And I'm warning every
goddamn one of you murdering,

hypocritical puritan bastards

that these boots will be the last!

I will ask you once again.

Who was there?

Who saw us?

I will tell you again.

I do not know.

It is difficult to see past a muzzle flash.

Then I suggest
you find out, Mr. Hale.

There's no turning back.

The witch hunt has begun, and
we will be running the trials.

You understand that, don't you, George?

You best of all.

We will use the trials to turn
the puritans against each other.

They will hunt and kill and
drown in their very own blood

till there's no puritans left standing...

And Salem... Is ours.