[Vanessa] Previously on Penny Dreadful...
[guns firing]
I annihilated a tribe. I betrayed my family.
And I will send my father to hell,
and laugh while I do it.
If we lose Ethan to evil, the night will never end.
[Rusk] Ethan Talbot is a scourge upon the earth.
If given the chance, I will shoot him in the back.
I don't know that I've ever been asked out by a woman.
I'll never forget your name again.
[Dr. Seward] Tell me about the Banning Clinic.
What do you remember? [Vanessa] Everything.
His name is Dracula.
But it's impossible.
Nothing's impossible.
Take it as a sign of something like love.
Goodbye.
She is mine! [screams]
We will have her.
Are you interested in taking the bloody flat or not?
I'm interested in finding
the people who lived here.
[grunting]
Well, what do you do when you've assembled an army?
You go to war.
[Dr. Jekyll] Will you be able to bring
your Lily to this place?
To insert the needle into her eye?
The prodigal son has returned.
What do you want to do with this one?
Let him die slow.
[Mr. Talbot] Time you see what it is you did, son.
You brought the devil to my door.
And you gave him the key.
[gun clicks]
[Mr. Talbot] You will repent.
[gun clicks]
Or I will send you to hell myself.
I'm done repenting...
And I belong in hell.
[Rance] Sir.
What do you want?
Someone's here to see you.
Mr. Talbot.
You're Ethan's father.
That's right.
Then under the joint authority
of Her Majesty the Queen of England
and the President of the United States,
I declare you all...
under arrest.
[chuckles]
♪
[blood dripping]
[all snarling]
What news of her guardian, Sir Malcolm?
Oh, on some mad hunt in America.
The only other she speaks of is an old love.
He too has abandoned her.
The Wolf.
Where is he?
She doesn't know.
What else?
Uh...
Speak. Now...
or I will feed you to them.
[shuddering]
She knows your name, Master.
She called you Dracula.
Then the time is upon us.
Soon she will come to me.
You will not pass me by, will you, Master,
when you distribute all the fat, juicy things?
[gasps] All the sweeties.
You are my chosen one, Renfield.
Feed. [gasps]
[indistinct conversations]
[bell tolling softly]
[Lyle humming]
Miss Ives!
What a transcendent surprise!
Come, come. Do have a seat.
[chuckles]
Do wait while I send someone for the seat.
Are you leaving, off on an expedition?
An expedition, heaven forfend!
Just a jaunt over to Cairo.
At least that's what I've been assured this will be.
If I see a tent, I shall faint.
Just a jaunt?
For appearance sake.
A trip to the tomb of Imhotep.
[inhales sharply] But strictly entre nous,
one has heard that Cairo is considerably more...
accepting of my particular way of life.
I imagine the expedition will be extended.
Indefinitely.
Oh, whatever will I do without you?
Oh, my dear, your life is far too glittering
for an old man like me.
Condemn me to the sand and dust.
Write often...
and think of me only when you dance.
Are you quite well?
Yes, and I shall leave you to it.
Was there something you needed?
No, no, just, um, in the neighborhood.
But should the need ever arise
that I require someone with expertise similar to yours,
do you know a man I may call on?
Are you in danger?
I'm quite safe.
[inhales sharply]
I think the two of you...
would make quite the formidable match.
If the need ever arose.
I trust you will take care of yourself, Miss Ives.
And you, my dear Mr. Lyle.
[sighs]
I shall have to dance more often.
Careful now, Victor. No deep breaths.
Are you sure this will be satisfactory?
There isn't a man alive who could withstand its potency.
She's considerably more powerful than any man...
and not entirely alive.
It could take down an elephant.
She will be unconscious within two breaths.
And then?
And then she'll be yours, old boy.
To do with as you will.
You do still have the nerve to bring Lily here.
Oh, you've not met her, old boy.
You'll be the one who needs the nerve.
[gate creaks open]
[gate locks]
[bell ringing]
Is this where she lives? The pale lady?
Her that makes men bleed?
[gasps] You cut them here.
If you do it right,
their blood will paint the walls.
They'll die quickly.
You'll have long enough to see it in their eyes...
the shock, the horror.
Push the blade in here.
When they try to scream,
blood will pour out of their mouths.
And if they force you to your knees...
There.
You must be quick, and you must be vicious.
We are not women who crawl.
We are not women who kneel.
And for this we will be branded radicals.
Revolutionists.
Women who are strong,
and refuse to be degraded,
and choose to protect themselves,
are called monsters.
[breathes deeply]
That is the world's crime,
not ours.
Who wishes to try?
I shan't go easy on you.
Then you'll play the part of a John well.
I suppose you've had a lot of practice?
How many women have you paid to debase?
Treat me as you did them.
Fuck me, you filth.
Beat me, you cunt.
Photograph me while you do it,
so you can pleasure yourself after.
[both gasp]
Well done, Justine.
Who's next?
You're pushing your luck, my dear.
Am I now?
Would you like to see him drown in his own blood?
Well then, who would the others practice on?
Who's next?
[wheezing]
[continues wheezing]
[gasping]
[coughing]
[continues wheezing]
[coughs]
[wheezing]
[coughing]
Drink.
[continues wheezing]
[whispers] Thank you.
Would that I could do more.
Father?
Are you there?
Yes.
Are you an angel?
[chuckles softly] No.
I heard a friend of Mother say
angels would come for me soon.
[straining] I hoped it would be you.
[coughing]
Shh.
[shushing]
[whispering] I will bring you medicine.
[whimpering]
Whatever you need.
This pain is fleeting, I promise you that.
You will be well, son.
[wheezing]
[shudders]
Father.
[gasping]
[screaming]
Shh! Shh! Shh! Please!
[screaming]
[sobbing]
[clanking]
[both grunting]
What the bloody hell was that?
My God!
I've never known such a reprehensible cheat.
What is your name?
I should have you struck from the league.
[indistinct murmuring]
Catriona Hartdegen.
Most likely not on the league table, I'm afraid.
Not for lack of trying.
And, strictly speaking,
I wouldn't categorize that as cheating,
more as creative improvisation
to assure a victory,
which is, as you know,
rather the point.
Good day, gentlemen.
[knocking on door]
Yes, yes. I'll be out of here soon enough.
Are they so afraid they've hired a woman to remove me?
I imagine so,
but I'm not here on their behalf.
Do you fence? Alas, no.
Oh, you should. It's wonderful for the mind.
Every decision reduced to back and forth.
Thrust or parry.
A clarity forms during it that the rest of the world
is sadly lacking in.
Life and death without the death.
Most of the time.
We have a mutual acquaintance...
Mr. Lyle. Ah!
The indomitable Mr. Lyle!
Well then, what can I do for you, Miss...
Vanessa Ives.
Miss Ives.
Are you an Egyptologist also?
Not quite,
though I have studied the Egyptians in depth.
I'm a Thanatologist, you see.
I study death.
Its every ritual, every guise.
The great hereafter.
If there is such a thing.
[Catriona chuckles]
Usually folks have run a mile by now.
Most people find that rather off-putting.
I'm not most people.
Are you familiar with the name Dracula?
There was a medieval warrior clan of sorts,
the Dracule.
The line can be traced back to antiquity.
Perhaps further.
Dracula was said to be their founder.
The name means "dragon" in Romanian.
It suits him. More than you know.
In the 13th century he provoked a war
between two great empires.
The Ottomans and the Holy Romans.
Why?
Because he wanted the world to be wet with blood.
The peasants believed that he fed upon it.
That he was...
well, a vampire.
[chuckles softly]
You don't blink at that.
I never blink.
[waiter] Miss, your brandies.
He was said to be the first vampire.
One of the few written accounts of him is Ottoman.
It tells of an ancient being, flushed with youth.
A strategist, changing his appearance and identity
from century to century.
It calls him a seducer,
but in the antiquated form of the word.
One who is able to lead men astray,
to corrupt.
Beyond that, there's not a lot.
I could look pre-Ottoman, search for earlier accounts.
I don't wish to find him in history.
I wish to find him now, in London.
If that is the case,
then I would advise caution.
Which would shock you if you knew me better.
I'm being hunted by him.
If Dracula wanted you dead, you would be.
He doesn't want my death.
He wants my submission.
You seem to be a woman who understands
why submission to another would be intolerable.
That I do.
Even if you have to cheat.
Every chance I get.
Then help me.
We'll cheat him together.
All right.
I can't promise anything, but I'll look into it.
But in the interim you must protect yourself.
He is a predator
and his power comes in isolating his prey.
You must surround yourself with people,
with those who care for you,
those who would defend you.
[scoffs] They are gone.
Have you no one?
I might.
Then go to them.
There is only one defense against isolation.
Be with those you love.
[breathing heavily]
[rattling]
[door clicks]
[ballroom music playing on phonograph]
May I cut in?
You can have the next one, darling.
[music stops]
Could we have a moment alone?
I fear Justine does not know her place.
She says the same of you.
My place is at your side.
We are equals.
Partners.
Immortals.
What has she to stand alongside me?
She has the soul of me.
The very heart of who I was before I was this.
She has the anger...
and the hate.
And the loss.
And are you no more than that?
Sometimes that is all I am.
I remember every man who ever used me.
Every filthy alley.
Every cruel bastard
who hurt me
and bent me to submission.
All of Brona's shame and debasement.
And everything she lost along the way.
That is something you cannot know, Dorian.
But they can.
It is who they are.
Then let us be someone else.
[chuckles]
Fantasy, is it?
It is our world to make. Then we shall.
But I'm committed to them now, you understand that?
[scoffs]
There's so little I understand, but...
I understand this.
And this.
If only this were true, Dorian.
If only this were all.
[Justine] Excuse the interruption...
but seems we have a visitor.
It was like a blow.
Realizing how much I relied on them,
how much I needed them.
Sir Malcolm and Mr. Chandler.
I have no family left, you see.
They're my family.
When I was first married, I thought I needed my husband.
He was a bastard, though.
The beatings started right after the honeymoon.
Then came the night
he would have killed me, but--
You killed him first.
With a cleaver from the kitchen.
Trust me, honey,
when you kill your husband with a cleaver
and then stand trial for it in New York City,
you know what it is to be alone.
I've tried not to rely on anyone since then.
I've done the same.
But how I wish my friends were here now.
I'm not the only friend you have.
And wouldn't you rather be having drinks
with that handsome doctor from the museum?
I'm being hunted.
I won't bring him into this.
Why don't you give him the choice?
He'll think I'm mad.
I'll give you a note.
You have to trust people, Vanessa.
They can surprise you.
They can also disappoint you.
You'll never know if you keep having drinks with me.
[breathing heavily]
[chuckling] This must be the worst kidnapping
in the annals of crime.
May I? No.
May I?
Not yet.
Did you really intend to kidnap her?
I intended to heal her.
But I'm not ill, Victor.
I am preternaturally healthy,
as well you know.
I have developed a serum, a medicine of sorts.
I can take all your anger and rage
and make it go away.
Make you whole,
and human.
Free from the burden of hate.
Unblemished by sadness.
My sadness is my own.
I would never give it up.
But I can make you who you were.
And you think that would be kindness?
[shudders] I have suffered long and hard
to be who I am.
I want my scars to show.
We were happy.
No, Victor, you were happy.
I was just waiting.
For all of this.
You seek to violate us and call it a kindness.
Don't!
I don't take orders from any man.
[scoffs] It's senseless to murder him.
For what, loving you?
Being foolish? Being a man.
Let me do it! [whimpers]
Lily...
no.
No.
[gasps in relief]
I suppose I'm sentimental about him.
Besides...
you never know when we might need his unique services.
Hear me, boy.
Mend your broken heart elsewhere.
Ease your conscience with another.
I am done with you.
The next time I see you...
I'll hold the razor myself.
What are you waiting on, my gratitude?
[scoffs]
You are in my debt, Victor.
I will call on it.
[owls screeching]
[Mr. Talbot] I'd like to welcome you all to my table.
Let it never be said that a Talbot man
was inhospitable.
This is something I hope you inherit, my son.
Treat the stranger who sojourns with you
as the natives among you,
and you shall love him as yourself.
I hope you gentlemen understand
I would've offered you a bribe
if I believed you could've been bought.
Well then, I'll consider it a compliment
that you didn't offer.
[horse neighs outside]
And might I add, my dear,
that you look particularly
ravishing this evening.
Well, come a little closer,
I'll give you a kiss.
Will someone see what's got into those horses?
Yes, sir.
Well, this looks superb.
I must say...
I'm as ravenous as a--
[Mr. Talbot] One moment, Inspector.
Before any of us eat,
I would like my son to say grace.
I'll do it.
[Mr. Talbot] I'm asking Ethan.
I'm offering on his behalf.
But see, that's the grace-saying chair.
Where your brother Paul was sitting.
[Sir Malcolm] Don't do this.
Whispering the Lord's Prayer--
[Sir Malcolm] Listen to me, please.
I used to speak to my son this way.
I tortured him with guilt.
And I tried to mold him into the man
I wanted him to be.
But if I could have a meal with him now...
Learn from my mistakes.
Your son is a good man.
I believe this.
Despite anything you may have done--
May have done?
I wonder, Malcolm,
if it had been your son and daughter he'd murdered...
[exhales]
Oh...
I see.
He didn't tell you?
This good man here...
slaughtered his siblings.
[Rusk] How?
How did you do it, Ethan?
[Mr. Talbot] Not like a man at all.
I would think not.
[Mr. Talbot] He didn't have the courage
to look his family in the eye.
[whispers] Tell me when.
Like a coward he ran away and hid.
[whispers] Say the word and I'll strike.
[Mr. Talbot] Like my son has always run
when things get bloody--
Enough!
[breathing deeply]
Our Father,
Who art in heaven,
Cursed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be spited, on earth as it is in hell.
That's enough.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us not our trespasses--
[Mr. Talbot] I said, that's enough--
As we never forgive those who trespass against us.
You will shut your mouth--
Lead us into temptation and deliver us to evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory.
For a few hours longer.
Amen. Amen.
[cutlery clanking]
You have been glaring at me throughout this entire meal.
If you have something to say...
The men you murdered aboard that train...
They were my men.
And before this night ends,
there will be a reckoning.
Fair enough.
[gunshot] [grunts]
[indistinct conversations]
[man] The museum is closing in 10 minutes, miss.
Oh, yes, thank you.
I'm looking for Dr. Sweet.
Ah. Up with his pets.
If we're to continue,
you must know how dangerous this is.
How dangerous I am.
Tell me.
You'll think me mad,
but I'll tell you the whole truth of it.
There's a creature hunting me.
He has been hunting me since the dawn of time.
He wants...
to feed on my blood,
and make me his bride.
And...
He will bring terror to everyone I love.
Does this creature have a name?
He's called Dracula.
Can you believe me?
[Dr. Sweet] May I show you something?
We're preparing an exhibit on nocturnal animals.
For two months
the Natural History Museum shall become
"The House of the Night Creatures."
Ah, here we are,
this is what I wanted to show you.
Desmodus rotundus.
It feeds entirely off the blood
of other living animals.
So, of course,
I believe what you said because I know
such monsters exist.
There are creatures whom God has cast into darkness
and cursed to the night.
This animal feeds off blood because it must.
Because it has been afforded no other food source.
Because if it does not, it will die.
Am I to feel sympathy
for this monster who hunts me?
I have come to love all the night creatures
you see around us.
They are so shunned...
And alone.
But I have not an ounce of sympathy
for any creature who means you harm.
And what defenses I can offer,
I stand at your side.
There was another.
He told me his only purpose in life was to protect me.
What happened to him?
He left.
I know what it is to be heartbroken, Vanessa.
To be rejected.
Your every instinct is to preserve and protect
such a heart as you have left.
But nothing you have said has scared me away.
And I will not leave your side.
[moans]
Every time I've given my heart,
it has led to catastrophe.
Then let catastrophe befall us both.
Vanessa, I love you for who you are,
not who the world wants you to be.
[grunts softly]
[breathing heavily]
[grunting]
[both breathing heavily]
[moaning]
[sobs softly]
[animal howling]
[cutlery clanking]
You're, of course, all welcome to eat.
[howling continues]
A bit of a gamble, wouldn't you say?
Giving your guests knives?
[Mr. Talbot] Mmm.
Somehow I prefer my odds.
[Rusk] That's because you don't understand
who's sitting at your table.
Back in the desert.
Was it you who summoned the snakes, or her?
Snakes? What are you talking about?
Your beloved son and his paramour
are perhaps more ingenious than even you know.
In the ways of mayhem and slaughter, that is.
Wouldn't you say?
I would indeed, Inspector.
[Mr. Talbot] What is this, Ethan?
Let me show you.
[growls] [grunts]
[yells]
[gunshots]
[groans]
[grunts]
[clicks]
What are you?
One more move and I fire.
[gunshot] [grunts]
[groans]
[glass shattering]
[gunshots continue]
What are you?
[Hecate] We are the death knell.
We are the end of days.
[gun clicks]
[gunshot] [groans]
[hisses] [gunshot]
[grunting]
[thuds]
I knew you were too mean to die.
[glass shattering] [Hecate coughing]
[gasping]
Ethan.
[gasping]
Hell awaits us both.
You know where to find me, boy!
So come and get me!
If I'm gonna die,
I'm gonna die where you murdered my family!
It's just me and Rance now.
Fair fight!
[Ethan] He'll put men on either side of the entrance,
and he'll have guards scattered
throughout the chapel.
You take everyone on the right side,
I'll take the left.
You two, flank the doorway.
Two of you there, other two, over there.
And him?
He knows what to do.
He's attacked this chapel before.
You want to face me?
Come and face me! Like a man.
[explosion]
[rapid gunshots]
[man grunts]
[grunts]
[groans]
[grunts]
[whimpers]
[breathes sharply]
[grunts]
[groans]
[grunts]
[exhales]
[softly] Oh.
You are truly my son.
Do it.
You wanna be the devil, hmm?
Then do the devil's work.
I'm unarmed.
Gun down your father in the house of God, my son.
That's the man you are, isn't it?
[gruffly] Isn't it?
[breathes shakily]
[clicks]
Oh, that's right.
Run away like you've always run all your life.
You don't think I'll send men to find you?
They'll hunt you, and they'll hunt you,
and they won't stop,
and when I die,
I'll haunt you from the grave.
My dying curse will be--
[gunshot] [grunts]
[gasps]
♪