Our list of the best quotes from Apple TV+ period romantic drama TV series, The Essex Serpent (2022), based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Perry. Set in Victorian England, the story follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who moves to a small village in Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. She forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor, Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.
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1. The Blackwater
'It's when we're most lost that the source of light is closest.' - Will Ransome (The Essex Serpent) Click To Tweet
Michael Seaborne: I intend to leave the world as I entered it. Unscarred.
Cora Seaborne: Frankie. Your father’s died.
Frankie Seaborne: Are you sad?
Frankie Seaborne: [as Cora nods] But you’re not crying.
Cora Seaborne: I’m so sorry, Frankie.
Cora Seaborne: You know, we’re following the course of the river. It’s right beneath our feet. The eels used to swim upstream all the way from Sargasso Sea. They’d come here to breed. Now instead of mud and reeds, all they find is iron and concrete.
Luke Garrett: Nothing wrong with iron and concrete.
Cora Seaborne: How does it feel to cut into a living body? No, I’m curious, that’s all.
Luke Garrett: It’s exciting. Terrifying. Every operation, a leap of faith. It’s a high-wire act, Mrs. Seaborne.
Cora Seaborne: It sounds fascinating. I’d love to learn more about it.
Cora Seaborne: So what edge do you hope to cut into next, Luke?
Luke Garrett: The heart.
Cora Seaborne: How?
Luke Garrett: Well, the main challenge is keeping the patient alive once I open the chest cavity. Just need the right patient.
Martha: You’re an animal.
Luke Garrett: The hospital board agree with you. No idea why.
2. Matters of the Heart'Sometimes you have to make trouble to get change.' - Martha (The Essex Serpent) Click To Tweet
Martha: [as Cora wakes from a nightmare] It’s alright. Michael can’t hurt you anymore.
Martha: Cora, you saw a girl washed up in her sister’s arms. Why would you want to go back?
Cora Seaborne: I have to know what’s out there. And you want to stay in Essex, don’t you?
Frankie Seaborne: No, I hate fresh air.
'Science requires dreams just like your theology. To make a leap in the dark, from ignorance to understanding.' - Cora Seaborne (The Essex Serpent) Click To Tweet
Luke Garrett: Just come back to London.
Cora Seaborne: I’m really sorry, Luke. I can’t.
Luke Garrett: You’re in shock. Once we are back in London, you will start to feel yourself again.
Cora Seaborne: I’m myself now.
Luke Garrett: No. No. Trust me, I’ve seen this before.
Cora Seaborne: This?
Luke Garrett: Yes. Anxiety in a female. This compulsion to return to the scene of the trauma.
Cora Seaborne: I’m returning to help.
Luke Garrett: What do you mean?
Cora Seaborne: I can talk to people. Offer them a rational explanation.
Luke Garrett: You want to tell them your plesiosaur theory? Now? Cora, a young girl has died. I really think that…
Cora Seaborne: What? I should give up on my ideas? I don’t see you doing that.
Luke Garrett: I’m a qualified doctor.
Cora Seaborne: And I’m not your patient.
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