This week finally delivered on some action. Long alluded to visions were explained and it might be clearer what James Delaney’s end game is becoming clearer. There are two episodes left after this week, I hope the final hours of the season can match this installment’s pace.
The hour begins with James imagining his mother in the water. Brace explains to James that his mother wasn’t the sainted victim he remembers. The old servant tells him his mother tried to drown him when he was a newborn. The rest of this vision is revealed to James over and over in the episode, guiding his maniacal behavior. Why did his mother do this? Was she aware of the “devil” her son would become, was she trying to punish James’s father or was it post-partum depression? Of course, these questions can’t be easily answered.
After learning this dark family secret, James disappears for several days. His first stop is to visit the abandoned Bedlam Insane Asylum. There he sees the bed and chains which once held his mother. He notices a bird carving on the wall. Later, Delaney haunts the docks at night where he encounters Winter. She boasts that she is not scared of him. He mutters to her in his mother’s tongue, and his steady gaze makes her nervous. He orders her, “Go home to Helga, your mother loves you, you’re safe there.” She flees.
Meanwhile, Cumberly enlists the help of a dozen men to aid in the sped up production of gunpowder. He warns the men if they fail to continuously stir the mixture, a huge explosion will result. James’s son Robert participates in the first shift.
At the East Indian Company Pettifer and Wilton complain about having to meet with Mr. Chichister, the “Blackamoor” in regards to the sunken slave ship. Chichester appears and manages to charm the two Company men with tales of his travels to the pyramids. After breaking the ice, he discusses the results of his investigation. The ship, once known as the Cornwallis, changed names to the Influence in order to conceal its secret cargo of slaves which were bound for Sir Strange’s brother’s plantation in the Caribbean. The crew was sparse; to protect the secret, and the ship sank due to excess weight. The crew was instructed to let the captive men aboard drown to avoid anyone finding out about the incident. “Dead men tell no tales.” It seems that Chichester has the Company “dead to rights.”
James bathes in the river, re-enacting the memory of his near drowning. His son witnesses his bizarre behavior and runs away in fear.
Back in London, Mr. Chichister seeks out James Delaney at his dockside offices. He knows that James has information about the sinking of the Cornwallis. It has been hinted the ship that James purchased, allegedly a Spanish ship was actually another illicit slave ship given the chains and African beads found on board.
The East India Company’s African desk informs Sir Strange about Mr. Chichister’s revelations. Strange uses a chess analogy, “Chichester is their bishop, James is their horse, Prinny (The Prince Regent) is their queen, the King is safe. I think it’s time we start moving some pieces.”
Robert’s adoptive father is alarmed by the activities occurring on his property. The men are becoming fatigued with the continuous stirring of the mixtures. Cumberly calls out for a shift change as one man falls asleep. The farmer mutters, “May God have mercy on our souls!”
Lorna, concerned about James’s whereabouts makes an awkward visit to see Zilpha. She finds Thorne intoxicated and agitated. He taunts her about rumors that she enjoys “walking with a man with flesh in his teeth.” Lorna remains composed under his verbal attack. When Zilpha finally emerges with ample bruising on her face, Lorna senses the dysfunctional relationship between man and wife. Ultimately, Lorna is ordered to leave without any information about James. (And still unaware of the relationship between brother and sister.)
James pays a visit to Dr. Dumbarton at the hospital. Their plan includes a ruse about a cholera epidemic. Dumbarton muses that although invented, there are now six cases of the disease reported. James draws parallels between the hysteria of rumor to faith or patriotism. James promises to have the gunpowder ready for delivery by midnight the next day.
Zilpha takes a long bath but is interrupted by her husband. He informs her he has been given a new position in Australia, a position he applied for months ago without her knowledge. She coldly informs him, “Australia is too far.” She proceeds to kick him out of her bathing room. She seems unusually distant and resolved to free herself from this man.
The gunpowder is finished and loaded into coffins. Mr. Cumberly instructs the men to use the utmost caution, as the substance remains highly volatile. Delaney affixes the “Cholera” notification on the funeral carriage. Robert joins the men to deliver the product. They traverse the long road to London with the coffins. By nightfall, they reach the city walls and are stopped by guards. They inform them they have six bodies, victims of cholera. One guard insists on taking a look inside a coffin. While distracted, Robert manages to slip into the coffin on top of the gunpowder. The guard sees what he thinks is the corpse of a child and allows the party to continue onwards without further inspection. James whispers to his son, “Good boy.”
At the farm, Robert’s adoptive father looks at the place where the men worked on the gunpowder. He sees the bird carving on a wooden post and is struck with fear at the pagan image. He crosses himself.
The gunpowder has reached its destination, the morgue of the hospital. Dr. Dumbarton is pleased, “I’ll have to tell Mr. Madison I found a man in London I can rely on.” Delaney wants assurance his ship will have safe passage through the American blockade. He plans to sail soon.
James finally returns home to find Lorna. She continues to warn him about the dangerous game he’s playing. She informs him there are rumors he’s sold gunpowder to the “Republicans.” (The United States.) James looks weary and fatalistic about what may happen to him. He’s more interested in Lorna’s visit with Zilpha.
Zilpha spies on her sleeping husband, armed with a long thin needle. She wakes him, he momentarily thinks she’s about to become intimate before she stabs him through the heart with her weapon. He’s unable to utter a word before he dies.
Zilpha pounds on James’s door in the middle of the night. She seems possessed with fiendish glee. She declares, “He’s dead, we’re free.” James seems startled by her lack of forethought. He warns her she’ll hang for her crime. Zilpha seems shocked when James insists she returns home immediately. He promises he will see to the removal of Thorne’s body.
Dr. Dumbarton and a nun don plague masks and see to Thorne’s body. After a quick look at the body, Dumbarton pins the “cholera” notice on the body and instructs the nun to prepare the body for immediate burial.
Sir Strange enters the Company hall with triumphant news. A farmer confessed to a priest that gunpowder had been manufactured at his property. For this information, the farmer will receive twenty-five pounds. Godfrey pales, and quickly exits the meeting to go inform James. Godfrey reaches James at his home. James doesn’t seem surprised by the information but warns Godfrey to not be seen with him. In his usual stoic fashion, he says, “I’ll deal with it.”
James rides quickly out to the farm. There are fifty kegs of ingredients on the premise. Mr. Cumberly warns James that it is too unstable to moved. James is firm; “We will move it now because we have been betrayed. The time for talking is done.” James places a bloody mass of flesh into Cumberly’s hand. Instead of taking the roads, the kegs are loaded onto small boats to take the material away from the farm. Atticus and his crew assist with the risky removal.
At St. Mary’s the priest returns to the confessional upon being summoned by the bell. He sees Ibbott and asks, “You again, is there more to tell?” The priest then pales as he sees the old man is dead, his tongue removed.
The East India Company cavalry arrives too late to catch James. It seems James has a supernatural ability to stay one step ahead of the Company and the Crown.
At the Company, Wilton has the unenviable task of informing Sir Strange that the farm was empty of contraband. Strange is resolute, “Let him think he is one step ahead of us. We will attack what is undefended.”
Zilpha dresses for her husband’s funeral. She inserts her hat pin, the murder weapon into her tall black hat which resembles her brother's. It is a small gathering of some Company men and a priest. Zilpha’s veil helps hide her badly bruised face. Her expression is blank throughout the short burial service. It is assumed they were told he died of cholera. Looking on from a distance is James; he stares at his sister hungrily.
Upon returning home, James finds Zilpha in his bedroom. He orders her, “Take off your dress, now!” They make love with passion and abandon for several minutes. But in his sister’s embrace, James is haunted by the vision of his mother trying to drown him. He gasps for air as if he was drowning. Zilpha has no idea what demons are haunting her brother.
James heads down to the warehouse where the kegs of powder are being stored. He plays with flint starter. As usual, James seems to flirt with complete destruction.
During the day there is a lively crowd around the docks. A man with a model ship on his hat entertains some street urchins. A carriage carrying Wilton approaches and calls out to James, “Mr. Delaney, Sir Stuart just wants you to know the gloves are off! This is war!” Seconds later a powerful explosion occurs near the water line. The man with hat shepherds the children away. James watches as the mast of his ship is engulfed in flames.
James rushes off to the club where Godfrey works as drag entertainer. He wastes no time putting a knife to Godfrey’s neck, “My ship is in pieces!” The terrified man babbles he didn’t know about the pending attack. James warns Godfrey, “Know. Report. War has begun!” James leaves the club in haste.
Next, James finds Atticus whom expresses his condolences on the loss of the ship. James is out for revenge, and he suspects the man whose thumb he removed to be the source of his latest misfortune. Atticus confronts the man in a dark alley, “ You were meant to be guarding the ship!” James slips behind the man and slits his throat. However, this does not solve his transportation problem. As usual, James removes a part of the body, this time the heart. Atticus wonders if James has supernatural powers or simply uses reason to find his enemies. James doesn’t answer his associate but instructs him “Bury this body where it won’t be found, you can keep the heart.”
James goes to the brothel for comfort from a bottle. Helga is warned, “The devil is here.” She goes out to confront James. He wants her to find a ship captain, slit his throat and steal his ship. She refuses this suggestion and implores him to get some sleep. This makes James agitated and he flings cups and steals a patron’s bottle. His desperate state scares the patrons.
At the docks, James yells out in the darkness, “I need a ship, somebody give me an f-ing ship!” He wades in the water, perhaps again haunted by the story of his mother’s attempts to drown him. Winter calls out to him from the water line. She offers him another fresh bottle of liquor. He warns the girl to stay away from him, that he can’t be trusted in this state. James continues to drink, visions of his mother plaguing him before he blacks out.
In the morning James wakes with his face in the mud. After a few stunned seconds, he stands, retrieves his hat and looks around. Near the burned out spine of his ship lies Winter, deceased with an apparent wound to her abdomen. He looks at her in horror and disbelief. It is likely he killed her during the night.
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