Witchblade (2001–2002): Season 2, Episode 8 - Hierophant - full transcript

I have done business
all over this whole damned world.

I don't need you, your boss,
or his stinking enterprise.

Okay, just calm down, Mr. Sokolsky.

Nobody...

Not you, not your Mr. Mystery-Boss...

...nobody tells me what to do.

Look, his enterprise
puts us under one banner.

It will give us strength in numbers.

It gives us focus.

It gives us synergy.
It is not a bad business model.

I don't like the situation any better,
but I wanna live to make a profit.



FSPEAKING IN RUSSIAN]

FGUNS COCKING]

FGUNFIRE]

FMEN GRUNTING]

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

FSIRENS WAILING NEARBY]

FTIRES SCREECHING]

Who's this guy?

Aleksy Sokolsky. Russian Mafia.

This is...

Was his place.

Loan shark.

Arms dealer.

Murder for hire.



- Oh, and the importation of exotic species.
JAKE: Nice.

What's wrong with this picture, fellas?

Too much diversity, if you ask me.

Yeah. A regular U.N. General Assembly.

FSIGHS]

What, Asians, Latino maybe?

African-Americans, Anglo, Russians.

- Doesn't add up.
- Hmm.

War between crime families, you think?

Just as likely
as a peace summit gone bad.

Real bad.

JAKE:
That depends on your definition of bad.

These guys weren't exactly proponents
of the greater social good.

Yeah. Something's off, though.

Oh, one thing that bothers me,
we got the whole world here.

All except for Gallo.

- His side of the mob wasn't involved?
- Or he managed to walk out alive.

FGRUNTING]

Come in.

Make yourself at home.

Was it an ambush?
Something you set up?

And you're talking about what?

The Russians make a grab
for your market share. You for theirs.

Well, I have my game. They have theirs.

At least, they did.

They did until what?

Until you got them in a room
with the Colombians, the Triads?

- What's your problem with them, Gallo?
- Just the usual.

She's not gonna hurt me, guys.

And even if she was,
what would you do about it?

Leave us alone.

Can you keep me out of this?

Okay.

There is a new boss in town,
and he is forcing everyone to consolidate.

He is creating one
vertically integrated business...

...and he won't say for what.

Who's got that much muscle, Gallo?

He's just called V.

V? The... Like the letter?

Yeah.

And it seems that he can move
through shadows, through walls.

It seems that there is nothing
that can stop this guy.

And believe me, I've tried.

Pezzini.

This guy sent me
my nephew in a garbage bag.

An innocent teenaged kid.
And I had to break it to my sister.

Now, this guy...

...it's like he's Keyser frigging S?ze, okay?

It's like he's the devil's best friend.

FSPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

Do you know what I'm talking about?

Attached to the garbage bag was this.

What's this V look like?

I've never seen his face.

And frankly, I don't want to.

FKETTLE WHISTLING]

FDOOR OPENS]

FRINGS]

- Yeah, Pezzini.
GABRIEL: What up, kid?

You're calling me kid?

Well, let me rephrase that.
What up, kiddo?

SARA fO VER PHONE]: I'm just sitting here
pondering the meaning of life.

- What's going on?
- You know that guy who e-mails me...

...about you and the Witchblade?
SARA: Yeah, Cyberfaust?

Yeah, him.

What's he gotta say now?

Um, I'm not sure yet.

He sent me a whop
of an e-mail with JPEGs.

But I haven't been able to open it.

So I thought I'd let you know.

FCHUCKLES]

So I'll call.

Uh, yeah, yeah. Please do.

Thanks.

ANEAS:
This guy's gotta pay up.

Hey, boys.

Coffee break is over.

Paid you guys for, huh?

Jesse. Hakim.

V:
You ignored my call to unify.

I told you, your enterprise
has nothing to do with me.

Now, where are my boys?

V:
Resting comfortably.

Now I'm gonna ask you one last time.

ANEAS:
You killed my boys.

That's the last mistake
you're ever gonna make.

FGRUNTING]

FBONES CRACKING]

FANEAS YELPS]

The time has come
to finalize your decision.

Are you in or are you out?

FCOUGHING]

I'm in.

I came here for protection.
I'm a taxpayer.

- I doubt that.
ANEAS: Look, don't put me down.

I'm risking my life coming here, man,
to do my civic duty.

I want protection.

What this guy is doing is against the law.

- I mean, just look at me.
- Yeah.

So is pimping, prostitution
and selling narcotics.

I'm not talking about them laws.

I'm talking about the laws
against coercing a businessman.

FSTAMMERS] This guy is just turning
the whole city upside down.

Sounds like it's getting tough
to make a dishonest living.

So, okay, this guy...

What do you call him? V?

ANEAS:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. V.

You want us to take him down.

But you can't tell us how we can find him,
where he works, nothing.

Not even a description.

He's, uh... He's always...

Look, I don't know.
I don't know, all right?

There's just something evil
about this dude.

Ah.

So we're looking for someone
who's evil now. Write that one down.

- Where do we start?
DANNY: Ahem.

- Tall, thin, yellow...?
- White, white.

About 6 feet. He seemed taller.

His eyes, like...

These cold eyes. I can tell you that.

It's like they were lit up or something.

This dude is strong, very strong.
I mean that.

He's out of control.

None of us can do anything anymore.

You guys gotta handle it.

This V's calling card or something?

Some blood here.

Hey, take a look in the bags.

FGRO ANS]

You know, boys, they get 16 grand
for one of these in Peru.

They're even cheaper in India.

Now I know where
to do my Christmas shopping.

Hey, Po, can you check this out?

Pez already gave me one of those.

I ran it off to the lab for prints.

Yeah, I know. This is another.

So, what, you want a normal workup?

Yeah. Run a blood comp
against the DNA bank.

Any, um, prints you can lift
would be good.

What am I looking for?

Clues.

Hey, did you guys hear
about that guy in Vegas?

Meets this great-Iooking girl.

Goes to her room. Some wine, some sex.

Next thing,
wakes up in a bathtub filled with ice.

The girl's gone. So is one kidney.

Urban legend.

- It could happen.
- Hey, poodle in the microwave?

That I know for a fact is true.

Yeah. So is alligators in the sewer.

Oh, by the way, Vic,
you'll be getting what's left...

...of some guys in garbage bags.

VICKY:
I'll keep my eye out for that one.

What about spontaneous combustion?
That could happen.

FGRUNTING]

So, what happened?

FBREATHING HEAVILY]

Six?

You were supposed to meet me.

Oh, what time is it now?

- Way after.
- Oh, I'm sorry.

I got a lot on my mind.

You taking it out on the bag?

Yeah. The harder I hit, the clearer I think.

So, what do you got?

Those JPEGs that Cyberfaust sent me
are pretty interesting.

They're, uh...

They're scans of a tarot card.

The fifth card in the major arcana,
the hierophant.

What is this hierophant?

Uh, he's like this mystical priest figure
in the tarot deck.

The JPEGs that came with these card scans
have some sort of embedded data.

Can you please translate?

Well, it's not just this picture.

There's some sort of encrypted information
buried beneath the surface.

Yeah?

- Like what, more pictures?
- Yeah.

Or text, maybe.

Listen, it's gonna take me a while.
The encryption's pretty sophisticated.

How's this Cyberfaust so dialed in?

We've found that symbol
at a couple of homicide scenes.

GABRIEL:
I don't know.

What I can tell you is,
there's a fortune teller on Mott Street...

...who's an expert on tarot cards.

Madame Sesostris.

Madame Preposterous.

Sesostris.

- Have I ever steered you wrong before?
- No.

It takes all kinds to make the world, Sara.
Even "one of a kind" kinds.

That means what, exactly?

You'll know when you meet her.

Well, I guess if she's any good,
she'll know I'm coming.

GABRIEL:
Yeah.

SARA:
Hello?

Hello?

You've arrived.

Yes. Hi, I'm...

I know who you are, Miss McCormick.

Uh, Pezzini?

N.Y.P.D.?

Pezzini, of course.

I knew you were coming.

Right.

I understand that you know
everything there is about tarot.

No one knows everything.
It's an intuitive art.

The hierophant.

From an old deck.

FSNIFFS]

Mm, passed through many hands.

What can you tell me about it?
Its meaning?

Some say the hierophant
is the interpreter of occult knowledge.

Others believe
the hierophant is the patriarch.

He occupies the seat of authority
in matters of worldly knowledge.

For example,
the pope stands astride both worlds:

The esoteric and the exoteric.

He's your father.

Excuse me?

Ha, ha. A father figure.

Tell me, the relationship with your father.

Was it complicated?

Uh, he's been dead for a long time.

Death is not the end of our existence.

We pass to higher vibrational planes.

But you know that already.

I do?

It's obvious to me
that you walk in other dimensions.

You have a remarkable aura about you.

Let's do a reading.

This card is the significator.

It represents you.

Ah.

The high priestess.

In many ways, the holiest card
in the major arcana.

This covers her.

The father again.

This the context
through which all the other currents flow.

This crosses her.

The devil opposes you.

Um, I don't know much about tarot,
but this doesn't look particularly good.

So much deception and destruction.

Either total victory or total annihilation.

I have never seen a grouping so powerful.

Oh, I bet you tell everybody that.

No, I don't.

You have an unusual power.

Both gift and curse.

There are forces out to destroy you.

What kind of forces?

They are not of this...

They are of this world.

Tell me, was your father...?

Was he murdered?

Yes. Yes, he was.

What's that got to do with it?

Something is not quite right.

Ooh!

Ha, ha. That wind trick is getting old.

Look, lady, I got a few tricks set up
in this room, but wind ain't one of them.

Just who the hell are you?

You're really scared.

Detective, will you get out of here?

You give me the creeps.

Sure, l...

Sorry, l...

I can't explain what's going on, either.

Sorry.

FGROWLING]

FSIGHS]

FCHUCKLES]

FCELL PHONE RINGING]

Yeah, Pezzini.

Hey, it's Vicky.

Hey, Vic.

VICKY fO VER PHONE]: Listen, um,
I've got some pretty shocking news.

- I think you should get down here.
- Well, can't you just tell me?

Uh, the FBI made, uh, three matches...

...on the prints from the card
Gallo gave you.

Yeah?

So there's you and Gallo and...

There's one other.

Well, who, Vic?

James Pezzini.

VICKY fO VER PHONE]:
Your father.

Uh...

...my father's been dead almost 20 years.

Yeah. Well...

Yeah. I'll come... I'll come down.

Come on, Vic.

Those can't be my father's fingerprints.
It's impossible.

VICKY:
Weird? Yeah, very.

But impossible? Not at all.

Though, you know, the how and the why
are interesting opportunities for speculation.

But the backup lab confirmed it.

They're your dad's prints.

Uh...

If they are my dad's prints,
they'd have to be at least 20 years old.

And how did they get
on a card that Gallo had?

I don't know.

It seems like someone's really trying
to mess with your head, though.

Uh, yeah, yeah.
They're doing a hell of a job.

FSIGHS]

I understand, Father.

I understand.

MAN 1: Coming up.
MAN 2: Hurry up, guys.

So come down
to the club tomorrow night.

GALLO fO VER RADIO]:
Johnny will take care of you, yeah?

All this beer makes me thirsty. Ha, ha.

Yeah. Me too, Tommy.

You know, that beer's stolen.

Come on.
An upstanding citizen like Gallo? No.

FCELL PHONE RINGING]

Yeah?

GALLO fO VER RADIO]:
No, uh...

...tonight's not so good.

GALLO fO VER RADIO]:
Yeah.

Yeah, all right, everybody.
I got it, I got it. Uh...

Where and when?

11466 Trident Avenue.

GALLO:
On the yacht at 6.

I'll be there.

Gotcha.

MAN 2:
Okay, guys. Lock it up.

GALLO:
I worked my way up from soldier to capo...

...and now I'm taking orders from a guy
that's like Mussolini on meth.

What a nightmare.

FCAR STARTING]

JAKE:
What a piece of work that guy is.

What about this thing with Sara's dad?
His fingerprints on the tarot card.

How can that be?

- It was real old, right?
- Yeah.

An old card.

Maybe he had it
in his possession a long time ago.

Something he was investigating.

And now it just so happens
that case falls into his daughter's lap?

Listen, Pez gets some weird cases.

You can say that again.

JAKE:
Got a blue Porsche coming your way.

Silver Jag behind that.

FGASPS]

The answer you seek is hidden...

...in the Enochian Tablets.

Well, whatever. Get out.

JAKE:
Black Mercedes rolling in.

The Colombian delegates have arrived.

JAKE fO VER RADIO]:
White Lexus.

Everybody on their game.

A town car behind that.

Regular monster's ball.

Oh, yeah.

Heads up. Limo coming your way.

JAKE fO VER RADIO]:
Sara, V's the only one still to show.

That's him. That's V.

Oh, my God.

What's that, Sara? I didn't hear you.

Sara, get back inside.

Daddy?

What the hell is she doing?

DANNY fO VER RADIO]:
Sara, do you copy?

V is leaving. V is leaving.

What happened?

Something about his eyes.

They were cold, but they were on fire.

It was him. I'm sure of it.

Windows were tinted
and you were 25 feet away.

- I know what I saw, Danny.
- Look...

WAITRESS: Here you go.
- Thanks.

You've had this on your mind
ever since that fingerprint came up.

Maybe you just filled in the blanks,
saw what you expected.

What, you think I expected to see my
father? He's been dead 20 years, Jake.

- No...
- And dead is dead.

And when you are dead,
you don't come back to life.

SARA:
Dead.

- Hey, you okay?
- Huh?

Uh, yeah.

Yes. It's just that it's so weird.

I mean, even if your father
was somehow still alive...

...he'd be over 60 years old, right?

Right?
I mean, you said this guy was, like, 40.

Yeah, yeah.
My father was 40 when he was murdered.

FJAKE SIGHS]

It just doesn't make any sense.

No matter how you cut it,
your dad was a cop, not some maniac killer.

A million words aren't gonna
wash away what I know, what I saw.

Yeah. Hmm, maybe your dad had a twin,
and you didn't know about him.

I guess that's possible.
But, no, it's like you said.

My dad would be in his 60s now.

So would his twin brother.

- What about a clone?
- That's science fiction.

Not anymore.

Look, unless he was cloned 40 years ago,
he wouldn't had time to grow up.

FCELL PHONE RINGING]

Yeah, Pezzini.

Okay, are you ready
for something really weird...

...something even I can't explain?

No. Not particularly,
but go ahead, anyway.

The prints on the 2nd tarot card,
they match James Pezzini's.

VICKY fO VER PHONE]:
And they're fresh.

Thanks.

JAKE: Grilled cheese, you want some?
DANNY: That's nasty.

It's good for you.

I'm gonna go dig up my father's grave.
I'm gonna go see if he's in it.

Are you kidding?

I guess not.

All right, all right, fine.
But we need a court order.

It's my father, Jake. I don't need jack.

FALL GRUNTING]

DANNY: You got something?
SARA: Yeah.

Well, look at this.

It's been jimmied open.

- We got this.
SARA: No, no.

If it's empty, there's nothing to see.

If it isn't...

Come on, let's do it.

Yeah.

FDANNY GRUNTING]

DANNY:
Ready?

Something's wrong here.

I'm gonna be real upset
if this is the wrong grave.

His right hand, it's missing.
My father wasn't missing his right hand.

- Someone switched bodies?
SARA: Worse.

You know what the Westies do?
The Irish mob?

They keep frozen, chopped-off hands...

...so they can use the prints
at the crime scenes.

Throw the cops off their trail.

That means somebody chopped off
his hand a long time ago.

And kept it on ice.

I told you guys this was weird.

It's after 4.

I know. Sorry.

No, you're not.

Okay. It couldn't wait.

Anything on that card?

Uh, yeah.
I was actually gonna call you tomorrow.

I started decrypting the embedded data.

And I see you're covered in dirt.

Yeah. I was, uh, digging up a grave.

Mm. Right.

L...

- So, what did you decrypt?
- That's as far as I've gotten.

It's written in this obscure
ancient language called Enochian.

The answer you seek is hidden
in the Enochian Tablets.

- Enochian?
- Mm-hm.

It's, uh, some sort of incantation
for invoking spirits, resurrecting the dead.

SARA: Um...
- Hmm?

Go on. Sorry.

I checked with a Professor Falconer at NYU,
and he said that the Enochian lexicon...

...is the language of wizards,
of prophets, of, uh... Of hierophants.

Oh, and the, uh, original Enochian Tablets
are part of the Vorschlag art collection.

I bet they are.

I tried to trace the e-mails
back to their source...

...but they're from an anonymous server
somewhere offshore.

You know, this guy Cyberfaust
is pretty sly, Sara.

- I knew you'd come.
- What have you done?

Me?

You wear the Witchblade, Sara.

You know there are powers
beyond this world.

You've experienced them.

I'm talking about good old-fashioned
mind-banging.

You sent those e-mails to Gabriel.

I did not.

You know who chopped off
my father's hand.

FCHUCKLES]

I find it ironic
that you should complain to me...

...about mutilation.

This is my father's hand.

Who is Cyberfaust?

A newer version of a timeless tale.

A chump who made
a deal with the devil?

FECHOING] With the devil,
with the devil, with the devil.

FGROWLING]

NOTTINGHAM:
Let's just say...

...they are friends.

Is Irons behind all of this?

Is that who's walking around
in my father's body?

I am your father.

No. My father is dead.

Is that all you've got to say to me
after 20 years?

Stay there.

I've missed you so much.

My father was not a man like V.

A cold murderer.

I've killed, yes.

But they were all evil men.

- Doesn't that make me good?
- What?

Sara, I've organized an army
of ruthless men to do your bidding.

Sara, honey, I've watched you.

I've seen you suffer.

So you must decide.

Will you wield it with power?

Or will you stay trapped
in the weakness of common morality?

You are not an ordinary human.

The rules don't apply to you.

Who are you? What are you?

This new body
was produced out of my own DNA.

Fabricated out of the wisdom of the ages,
and reunited with my soul.

FSOBBING] You may walk around
in my father's body.

You're not my father.

Sara.

Nottingham,
can you help me out here?

This is your battle, Sara.

I cannot help you.

Sara, you have a choice.
Either you choose the path of power...

...or you make way for someone who will.

There is a third choice.

Sara, aren't you gonna find it difficult
to kill your own father?

You thought I'd be blind
to what you really are.

You're not my father.
I can see it in your eyes.

- Sara.
- You take one more step and I'll fire.

FV GRUNTS]

FGASPS]

Dad?

I see you've made your choice.

FGRUNTING]

FlN DEEP VOICE] Do you really think
that you're a match for me...

...Sara Pezzini?

FV GRUNTING]

FV SCREAMS]

FGRUNTS]

FSCREAMING]

FV GASPING]

NOTTINGHAM:
Don't be so sure you won.

He may have let you win to begin.

Every question has many answers, Sara.

FENGLISH SDH]