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.
1. The Blackwater
'It's when we're most lost that the source of light is closest.' - Will Ransome (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
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.
George Spencer: We can all be skeptical about new ideas.
Martha: Oh, no. I’m all for progress.
Cora Seaborne: Martha’s a socialist.
Luke Garrett: A socialist and a naturalist?
Cora Seaborne: And what of it?
Luke Garrett: Nothing. It’s delightful.
Cora Seaborne: It’s delightful?
Cora Seaborne: Is your heart surgery delightful?
Luke Garrett: More of a vocation.
Cora Seaborne: Well, if we were welcomed into the professions, we might have vocations too.
Luke Garrett: Well, perhaps we were not welcomed either.
Cora Seaborne: We must all follow our passions.
Luke Garrett: I couldn’t agree more.
Luke Garrett: I brought you something.
Cora Seaborne: Wow, it’s beautiful. What is it?
Luke Garrett: A slice of human heart.
Cora Seaborne: From the operating theater?
Luke Garrett: No. No. I got it from the mortuary. Research cadaver.
Cora Seaborne: It’s the oddest present I’ve ever received. Thank you.
Cora Seaborne: [referring to Essex] A sea creature’s been spotted.
Luke Garrett: I read about that.
Cora Seaborne: I’ve done some research.
Luke Garrett: Into a mythical beast?
Cora Seaborne: Not mythical. Real. I think this serpent could be some sort of plesiosaur. As Darwin says in The Origin, there may well be species that have been insulated from the usual competitive pressures.
Luke Garrett: Essex. Don’t go.
Cora Seaborne: I thought I should follow my passions.
Luke Garrett: Yes, of course. But from a medical point of view, you’re grieving. Cora…
Cora Seaborne: I can do what I want now he’s dead.
Will Ransome: Where are you headed?
Cora Seaborne: Aldwinter.
Will Ransome: You’ve heard the stories. You want to go and have a look. There’s nothing to see. Go home.
Henry Banks: [referring to Naomi] She’s been listening to the rumors about the serpent.
Will Ransome: Now you know as well as I do, it’s a myth.
Cora Seaborne: Charles. What are you doing here?
Charles Ambrose: I heard you’d left London. I was worried about you.
Cora Seaborne: I’m here to research the sea dragon.
Charles Ambrose: Couldn’t you have found a hobby in town? Helped Martha with her campaigns? I promised Michael I’d look after you.
Cora Seaborne: Well, Martha looks after me.
Charles Ambrose: Will Ransome. We offered him a safe seat. Lost him to God. He’s got a parish near the coast. He could keep an eye on you.
Cora Seaborne: What, a vicar?
Luke Garrett: [reading Cora’s letter] “I have been digging down by the estuary, but no evidence of the plesiosaur yet.”
George Spencer: Very romantic.
Luke Garrett: “However, the countryside is beautiful, and the pub is charming. I still have your heart. Yours sincerely, Cora.” Spencer. What does that mean?
George Spencer: She still has your present?
Luke Garrett: No, I think she likes me. She does, doesn’t she?
Cora Seaborne: So, what are you really doing here?
Luke Garrett: I lost a patient on the table.
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry.
Luke Garrett: Ah, it happens when trying a new procedure. What about you? Any sign of the beast?
Cora Seaborne: Not yet. But I’m going to Aldwinter to find out more.
Luke Garrett: Who from?
Cora Seaborne: God knows. Some boring vicar.
Luke Garrett: Oh. How awful.
Cora Seaborne: I know.
Luke Garrett: He’ll make you say grace.
Cora Seaborne: I’ll refuse, and it’ll be painful.
Jo Ransome: Who’s coming to dinner?
Stella Ransome: A friend of Charles. A widow and her son, all the way from London.
Will Ransome: She’ll be old and wrinkled. And she’ll bore us all with the latest talk from society drawing rooms.
Stella Ransome: And her son?
Will Ransome: What do you think, Jo? A young student? Down from Oxford?
Jo Ransome: Yes. He’ll fall in love with me, and then propose. And I will refuse, and break his heart.
Naomi Banks: Can I ask you a question about the Scriptures, Father?
Will Ransome: Of course.
Naomi Banks: Why does the serpent tempt Eve?
Will Ransome: Well, it’s an allegory. The serpent is really the devil.
Naomi Banks: That’s what I thought.
Will Ransome: There is no serpent in Essex. I promise you, Naomi. There’s nothing here.
Stella Ransome: You’re too young to be a widow. And so beautiful.
Cora Seaborne: Well, I feel a little overdressed. I expected dinner at the vicarage to be more formal.
Cora Seaborne: You’re the vicar?
Will Ransome: Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Seaborne.
Will Ransome: John, do you remember the day I cut my face?
John Ransome: She’s the strange lady from the marshes.
Will Ransome: I’m sorry. I was rude. I don’t know what I would have done without you.
Cora Seaborne: You were a monster.
Will Ransome: I’m sure I was.
Stella Ransome: So you’re here to look for fossils?
Martha: Cora is obsessed with the serpent.
Will Ransome: Well, the only serpent here is on a pew in church. It’s been there for two hundred years.
Jo Ransome: And now it’s come back to life.
Will Ransome: The serpent is not real.
Cora Seaborne: But what if it is?
Cora Seaborne: [referring to Charles Lyell] He wrote about animals that escaped evolution. Perhaps your serpent’s one of them.
Will Ransome: No. No, the serpent is an invention. It’s a symptom of the times we live in.
Cora Seaborne: Well, exciting times.
Will Ransome: Of great change that bring real fears with them.
Cora Seaborne: So you’re against progress?
Will Ransome: You’re determined to see me in a very narrow light.
Cora Seaborne: Well, maybe I fear your judgment.
Cora Seaborne: Perhaps I’m an outcast. At least in the eyes of your church.
Will Ransome: Jesus was an outcast.
Cora Seaborne: Once upon a time. But these days, he’s very establishment.
Will Ransome: True.
Cora Seaborne: I’d rather believe in a creature people have actually seen than an invisible god. Is that blasphemy?
Stella Ransome: You won’t get Will to judge you. No matter how hard you try.
Will Ransome: But speak to my curate. He’d happily condemn you to hellfire.
Cora Seaborne: Well, none of you are as I expected.
Jo Ransome: Likewise.
Cora Seaborne: The Essex serpent here in the heart of your church.
Will Ransome: A myth carved in oak.
Cora Seaborne: I saw a bloodied sheep’s head on the marshes this morning. Killed by the creature?
Will Ransome: Carrion for an eel trap. One of the fishermen must have dropped it.
Cora Seaborne: How can you be so sure?
Will Ransome: If I were to let in any doubt, how would I look after my flock?
Will Ransome: Every one of us lives with doubt and fear. Even me. That is where God lives. In our uncertainty and in love. And now is the time for us to come together. For my part, I will listen to your fears, and try my hardest to understand them. Don’t be scared. It’s when we’re most lost that the source of light is closest.
Matthew Evansford: [as Gracie’s dead body is washed ashore from the river] The devil. The devil has come.
Will Ransome: Not now. Please, Matthew.
2. Matters of the Heart
'Sometimes you have to make trouble to get change.' - Martha (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
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) Share on X
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.
George Spencer: How did you become so radical?
Martha: I was born in Bethnal Green. When everything around you is broken, you look for new ideas.
Luke Garrett: So how does Cora cope with a raging socialist in her home?
Martha: We’re not so different, she and I.
Luke Garrett: In her grand town house.
Martha: That came with her husband.
Luke Garrett: Along with her jewels?
Martha: She’s given them all away.
George Spencer: Do you think she’ll stay in Essex long?
Martha: I don’t know. Cora does what Cora wants from now on.
Luke Garrett: Does she now?
Martha: As you do, I’m sure, Dr. Garrett.
Henry Banks: Have you heard what they’re saying?
Will Ransome: No.
Henry Banks: Gracie was taken for her sins.
Will Ransome: No, Henry. No. No, she drowned. Alright? It was an accident. A tragic accident. God will look after her now.
Will Ransome: Stella and I, we didn’t think you’d come back.
Cora Seaborne: Well, I thought I could help. Be a voice of reason.
Will Ransome: How?
Cora Seaborne: Well, I could explain things.
Will Ransome: No, you came for your serpent.
Cora Seaborne: I’m not here to make trouble, Will.
Will Ransome: But you want to look into things, ask questions.
Cora Seaborne: I’d like to.
Will Ransome: People are scared, you need to be careful.
Cora Seaborne: Yes, of course.
Cora Seaborne: I hope you don’t disapprove of my coming.
Will Ransome: Well, you’re trying to understand. Trying to find the truth. I approve of that.
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry if I intruded yesterday. I just wanted to offer my condolences. I’ve taken the cottage next door, so if there’s anything I could do to help. I’m so sorry for your loss. My own husband died recently, but to lose a daughter…
Henry Banks: You’re right. It’s not natural.
Cora Seaborne: Do you think there’s something out there?
Henry Banks: I think you should go.
Cracknell: Ah. The serpent-loving newcomers. And that’s my chicken.
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry. I hope you didn’t think it had been stolen.
Cracknell: By some beast?
Cora Seaborne: Do you believe there’s something out there?
Cracknell: It’s not a question of belief for me.
Cracknell: If you don’t believe in God, you can’t believe in the devil either.
Cora Seaborne: So what do you think happened to Gracie Banks?
Cracknell: Someone dies on the marshes every year. Gets caught out by the tide.
Cora Seaborne: Have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary? A sea creature?
Cracknell: Not yet. Eels, seals. But no monster.
Naomi Banks: Can I tell you something, Father?
Will Ransome: Of course you can.
Naomi Banks: I saw the serpent.
Will Ransome: Are you sure?
Naomi Banks: Now I see it at night too. In the shadows like it’s waiting for me.
Will Ransome: No, Naomi.
Naomi Banks: I do. I can feel it.
Will Ransome: It’s just at night that we let our fears take hold.
Cora Seaborne: What are you doing?
John Ransome: Science. It’s so dull.
Jo Ransome: At least you get to do it.
Cora Seaborne: Girls don’t do science? We all need science to help us understand the world.
Jo Ransome: Could you give us a lesson? Tell everyone why you’re here?
Cora Seaborne: I’d be very happy to. I could bring my fossils. If you think it’s a good idea?
Stella Ransome: I don’t see why not.
Cora Seaborne: I never thought a country vicar would be so well-read.
Will Ransome: Oh. What a shocking lack of imagination.
Cora Seaborne: What are you doing here, Will?
Will Ransome: What do you mean?
Cora Seaborne: Well, a man like you out here on the marshes.
Will Ransome: I might ask the same of you.
Will Ransome: [referring to the fossil] Look what I found on my morning walk.
Cora Seaborne: I didn’t have you down as a collector.
Will Ransome: Well, you inspired me to look down as well as up.
George Spencer: [referring to Nev] You’d think he’d be a bit more cheerful at the thought of going home.
Martha: When you give him a long list of medicine and insist he take a month off work?
George Spencer: Minimum.
Martha: So how will they pay their rent?
George Spencer: You think they’ll be evicted?
Martha: Of course not. He’ll be packing gunpowder again first thing Monday morning.
George Spencer: No. No, Martha. That’ll endanger his recovery. He needs to be told.
Martha: What? That he can’t win? Shall I tell him or will you?
Will Ransome: [to Cora] I suppose if I played my cards right, I could be sitting in a backbench, debating some minor point of law. But really, I’d rather spend my time guiding Cracknell back to the God who never left him. Or what I really wanted was purpose, not achievement. You see the difference? And besides, I have an equal in Stella.
Will Ransome: What are you hoping to find?
Cora Seaborne: A tangible link to our past. To the creatures that came before us.
Will Ransome: To what you think is out there.
Cora Seaborne: Maybe.
Will Ransome: But how can a dead fossil prove the existence of a living one?
Cora Seaborne: It can’t. But it might give us hints. Clues.
Will Ransome: You really believe that?
Cora Seaborne: I think I believe. I’m never sure of the difference between thinking and believing. Perhaps one day you can teach me.
Will Ransome: I thought you favored hard evidence over supposition.
Cora Seaborne: Science requires dreams just like your theology. To make a leap in the dark, from ignorance to understanding.
Will Ransome: Faith.
Frankie Seaborne: Do you believe in the serpent?
Stella Ransome: I don’t know, Frankie. I’m not sure we have all the answers yet. But don’t tell my husband.
Frankie Seaborne: I can keep secrets.
Stella Ransome: So can I.
Will Ransome: I thought you were a city girl.
Cora Seaborne: No, I lived on the coast until I was sixteen. My father brought me to London to meet my husband.
Will Ransome: I’m sorry. You must miss him.
Cora Seaborne: The first thing you’d see if you came to my house is a Japanese kintsugi vase. It’s pottery that’s been broken and put back together with gold. It’s beautiful. Michael gave it to me when we met. He told me he wanted to break me and mend me with gold.
Will Ransome: Did he hurt you?
Martha: Sometimes you have to make trouble to get change.
Cora Seaborne: The wonders of science.
Will Ransome: And yet, it bothers me.
Cora Seaborne: Why?
Will Ransome: I don’t know. You and I, we think we see a boat sailing in the sky. And Naomi thinks she sees a serpent in the water. I don’t know.
Will Ransome: Cora, do you think there’s something strange going on here?
Cora Seaborne: Of course not.
Will Ransome: What would you like me to do?
Matthew Evansford: Convene the parish council.
Will Ransome: Absolutely not. A meeting will only entrench people’s fears.
Matthew Evansford: Then do it your way. And let the devil in.
Will Ransome: “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
Stella Ransome: What are you afraid of?
Will Ransome: Nothing.
Cora Seaborne: Buried in the mud, all around us, are the remnants of ancient creatures.
Matthew Evansford: Creatures that God put on this earth thousands of years ago.
Cora Seaborne: Well, creatures, I believe, evolved over time.
Boy: Does that mean in thousands of years, people will find the remnants of the serpent?
Matthew Evansford: Stupid question. Be quiet.
Cora Seaborne: No, it’s a good question.
Girl: You mean it might be real?
Cora Seaborne: Yes. If it’s a living fossil.
Naomi Banks: Is there a serpent or not? Just tell me the truth.
Cora Seaborne: Well, that’s what I’m here to find out. The truth is I honestly don’t know.
Boy: The serpent’s coming for us. The serpent’s coming for us.
Cora Seaborne: No, that’s not what I mean.
[then the children start accusing Naomi as she suffers a seizure]
3. Falling
'You won't find the truth without a struggle.' - Luke Garrett (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
Cora Seaborne: I shouldn’t have gone in.
Martha: You were showing them fossils.
Cora Seaborne: I didn’t think they’d get so…
Martha: One of their classmates has died. Of course they’re upset.
Cora Seaborne: It was more than just upset. They were terrified. And it was my fault.
John Ransome: Jo, say something.
Stella Ransome: It’s alright, Jo. You’ll speak when you’re ready.
John Ransome: The serpent took her voice.
'Our inner thoughts and fears. We can't control them, but they can influence us and our behavior.' - Luke Garrett (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
Cora Seaborne: It was like a contagion. As if they were all possessed by a devil.
Luke Garrett: Except you don’t believe in the supernatural, Cora.
Cora Seaborne: Something happened. It wasn’t just children playing.
Luke Garrett: Perhaps there’s a rational explanation, eh?
Cora Seaborne: Such as?
Luke Garrett: We now think the girls in the Salem witch trials ate a poison that altered the chemistry of their brains. Claviceps purpurea. It’s a mold. It grows on rye and other cereals.
Cora Seaborne: Could this poison lead to hallucinations and convulsions?
Luke Garrett: Yes, absolutely. Although, it isn’t at all common in England.
Cora Seaborne: There’s nothing common about what happened here.
Matthew Evansford: [to Cora] All I can tell you is my class was fine until you came here with your heretical ideas.
'A man's conversations with God are no one's business but his own. But we should confide in each other. It can help.' - Will Ransome (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
Cora Seaborne: I’ve been so stupid.
Luke Garrett: No.
Cora Seaborne: I thought it would calm them down. So they could see that their serpent might have a rational explanation.
Luke Garrett: You really believe there’s a creature out there?
Cora Seaborne: Yes, I think so.
Cora Seaborne: You think it’s all in my mind?
Luke Garrett: I think you’re grieving.
Cora Seaborne: These are the theories of pioneers such as Darwin and Lyell. And the creature’s been seen by local people for over two hundred years.
Luke Garrett: Good. Yes! There it is!
Cora Seaborne: What?
Luke Garrett: Your passion.
Cora Seaborne: So you do believe me?
Luke Garrett: It doesn’t matter what I think. I do know you won’t find the truth without a struggle. You need to have faith in yourself and get back to work.
Cora Seaborne: Of course you want to understand what happened.
Will Ransome: It’s not that I’m trying to suggest…
Cora Seaborne: No, it was my mistake. I scared them.
Will Ransome: You didn’t start all this.
Cora Seaborne: I was up all night thinking I did.
Will Ransome: Sometimes the middle of the night lies to us.
Cora Seaborne: Yes.
Cora Seaborne: I might not be able to do it.
Luke Garrett: Well, that’s the beauty of hypnosis. You don’t have to try.
Cora Seaborne: There’ll be things here that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands, maybe millions of years.
Luke Garrett: You know, if it hasn’t got blood pumping around it, my interest wavers slightly.
Cora Seaborne: I used to have fossils sent to me in the post. Put them in a display case with a pretty label.
Luke Garrett: You certainly look different from the woman I met in that grand house.
Fisherman: My little girl’s been having nightmares since you came into her classroom.
Luke Garrett: Mrs. Seaborne was only tryn to help.
Cora Seaborne: Oh, I’m sorry if I scared them.
Fisherman: Scared them? What did you do to them?
Luke Garrett: We should go.
Aldwinter Woman: We don’t know why you’re here, and we don’t care. But if you’re doing something, whatever it is, please, stop it.
Fisherman: It’s the serpent. Doing the devil’s work. Pray for our souls, Father.
Matthew Evansford: We must do more than pray.
Luke Garrett: Have you heard of the unconscious?
Stella Ransome: No.
Luke Garrett: It’s our inner thoughts and fears. We can’t control them, but they can influence us and our behavior. It sounds alarming. It’s just the way the brain works, I assure you.
Martha: [referring to Luke wanting to hypnotizing Jo] Don’t you think we should wait for Will? If Jo was my daughter…
Cora Seaborne: You want to wait for a man’s permission?
Will Ransome: A man’s conversations with God are no one’s business but his own. But we should confide in each other. It can help.
Matthew Evansford: You’re so good at this.
Will Ransome: At what?
Matthew Evansford: This. The easy way you talk, making people feel like what they say is important, that you’ll take it seriously.
Matthew Evansford: I know what you think when I talk. You see someone who’s taken in by tall tales.
Will Ransome: No. No, that’s not what I think.
Matthew Evansford: You don’t understand. You’re not out on the water risking your life. Your children aren’t crying in their beds because they can feel something coming.
Matthew Evansford: [to Will] Go on. Explain it away to me again. Explain the scratches on Gracie Banks’s body. Explain the attack on the boats. Your daughter struck dumb! I can see it in your face that you feel it too. You’re supposed to show people how to stay in God’s protection. You’re supposed to keep people safe.
Will Ransome: “Therefore we will not fear, though the waters roar, and we troubled.”
Jo Ransome: It was supposed to be a secret.
Luke Garrett: What was a secret, Jo?
Jo Ransome: The spell. The spell we made.
Jo Ransome: It’s too late. Naomi let it in. I let it in. It’s in us.
Martha: What happened?
Cora Seaborne: Will came home and wasn’t pleased. Let’s put it that way.
Luke Garrett: He attacked me.
Martha: What?
Cora Seaborne: No one attacked anyone. He came in, saw Luke leaning over Jo, and overreacted.
Martha: He must’ve been scared for her. Did you explain it to him? Did you apologize?
Cora Seaborne: Well, Stella and I were right there.
Martha: I’ve seen people be mesmerized. It looks odd. It is odd.
Cora Seaborne: It was hypnosis. And it worked.
Luke Garrett: No good ever came from leaving London, Cora.
Cora Seaborne: Are you cross with me too?
Martha: Would you care if I was?
Cora Seaborne: You know I would.
Cora Seaborne: It’s so frustrating. I’m not trying to upset people.
Martha: You should apologize to Will.
Cora Seaborne: I can’t be expected to apologize every time I do something without the express permission of a man.
Martha: You only have to apologize when you do something wrong.
Cora Seaborne: If only that were true.
Martha: If you’re sure you’ve done nothing wrong, why are you so bothered?
Cora Seaborne: Martha told me I needed to apologize.
Will Ransome: And did you?
Cora Seaborne: No. I can’t apologize when I don’t think I did anything wrong.
Will Ransome: Well, I can’t wait to read it.
Cora Seaborne: Are you mocking me?
Will Ransome: No, it’s just entirely in keeping with what I would expect from you.
Cora Seaborne: You asked me to help.
Will Ransome: Not by experimenting on her.
Cora Seaborne: Stella gave her consent.
Will Ransome: What? To bring it all back and terrify her?
Cora Seaborne: You know nothing about it!
Will Ransome: I know enough.
Cora Seaborne: You’re furious because I didn’t ask your permission, defer to your judgment.
Will Ransome: Why would you when you’re with Dr. Garrett? You don’t struggle with deference to him.
Cora Seaborne: I don’t think you have a right to be this angry with me.
Will Ransome: That’s probably true.
Cora Seaborne: Then why are you?
[he pulls Cora close to him, Stella notices their intamcy as she watches them from the house]
4. Everything Is Blue
Stella Ransome: [after they arrive for Cora’s birthday party] Will. Say something. Doesn’t Cora look lovely?
Will Ransome: You certainly look clean.
Will Ransome: Dr. Garrett, I owe you an apology. I was rude when we met, and I’m sorry. You helped my daughter. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.
Luke Garrett: Don’t mention it. Cora and I, we didn’t see any harm, did we? I’d put her under hypnosis just the night before. She invited me to, of course.
Cora Seaborne: I did.
Will Ransome: I can’t imagine you doing anything you didn’t want to.
Luke Garrett: Tell me, have you any interest in medical science?
Will Ransome: Human beings gutted like hens.
Luke Garrett: It’s the future.
Will Ransome: Dr. Garrett, while I consider my faith an enlightened one…
Luke Garrett: You privilege belief over evidence.
Will Ransome: It’s not that simple.
Luke Garrett: Oh, no? I think the Essex Serpent has sunk its claws into you too. Imagine it, even now, crawling up onto the marsh.
Charles Ambrose: [referring to Martha] You know this woman’s a raving communist?
George Spencer: I wouldn’t say that.
Luke Garrett: I would. But a rather charming one.
Naomi Banks: Did the serpent take Gracie for her sins?
Henry Banks: She’s gone. And there’s nothing we can do now.
Naomi Banks: What if I’m a sinner too?
Henry Banks: Talk to Will. Ask for forgiveness.
Matthew Evansford: What have you done?
Naomi Banks: Nothing. I just need to talk to Will.
Matthew Evansford: Well, you can talk to me.
Naomi Banks: Where is he?
Matthew Evansford: Dancing with the devil, for all I know. If you’ve sinned, the serpent will take you.
Stella Ransome: Aquamarine is named for seawater. A stone to calm the waves and keep sailors safe. I feel I’m more blue than any other color.
Luke Garrett: [to Stella] Life’s for the living.
Charles Ambrose: You don’t see that in London. It’s called the night shining.
Jo Ransome: What causes it?
Charles Ambrose: Some say moisture. Some say it’s ash from Krakatoa.
Stella Ransome: It’s like the whole world is blue.
Luke Garrett: [referring to when Cora and Will danced during the party] Did you see Stella’s face? Well, it isn’t like I didn’t see it coming. I mean, every day his name comes up. Every bloody day.
Martha: Twice on Sundays.
Luke Garrett: A vicar. For God’s sake, Martha.
Martha: Stuck out in the marshes.
Luke Garrett: Terrified by change. Paralyzed by possibility.
Martha: And he’s no dancer.
Luke Garrett: Thank you.
Luke Garrett: [referring to Cora and Will] So what could she possibly see in him? What future can there be?
Martha: She’s collecting him. She wants to put him in a little glass jar, and then label his parts in Latin.
Luke Garrett: His parts? Very small jar, I suspect. Microscope. Oh. God, I’m beginning to think I don’t understand women at all.
Martha: [mockingly] Of course, I’m Cora Seaborne. I can have whoever I want. What’s so hard to understand about that?
Luke Garrett: Nothing.
Martha: [as she’s undressing him] Do you know how women work?
Luke Garrett: Of course, I’m a doctor.
Luke Garrett: [as they’re kissing] What?
Martha: You’re thinking of her, aren’t you?
Luke Garrett: No.
Martha: Don’t worry. So am I.
Frankie Seaborne: What are you doing? Why are you there, on the ground?
Cracknell: Am I? It smells like death. It’s out there. Crushing me. My heart. The water’s black.
Frankie Seaborne: But look, the sky is blue.
Cracknell: The whole universe. Alive. And me, a part of it.
[he then takes his last breath and dies]
Martha: I feel half dead.
Luke Garrett: You’ll want eggs with salt, and a glass of cold beer.
Martha: Is that your advice as a doctor?
Luke Garrett: As a drinker.
Luke Garrett: [referring to them spending the night together] I’ve misread a lot of things recently, but I think we understand each other.
Martha: Whatever I said last night, Cora’s my friend.
Luke Garrett: And Spencer, mine.
Cora Seaborne: You mustn’t go out at night by yourself. What if you got hurt?
Frankie Seaborne: I wasn’t by myself. Cracknell was there.
Cora Seaborne: And what happened?
Frankie Seaborne: Nothing. We were looking at the sky. The tide was coming in, and then he died.
Cora Seaborne: What did you say?
Frankie Seaborne: He died.
Cora Seaborne: How can you say that’s nothing?
Frankie Seaborne: After a while, it got cold, so I came home to bed. Was that wrong?
Cora Seaborne: For heaven’s sake, Frankie. Why didn’t you tell me?
Frankie Seaborne: How could I? You weren’t there.
Will Ransome: [referring to Cracknell] A friend of ours has died.
Matthew Evansford: Friend? Whose friend? Not mine. And what about the serpent?!
Will Ransome: There is no serpent!
Matthew Evansford: But it’s been here, right here, where you’re standing now. It’s attracted by our sin. It’s feeding off it.
Will Ransome: Matthew.
Matthew Evansford: First Gracie, now this godless man. Judgment is upon us. We must open up our eyes to the depths of our sins and repent.
Matthew Evansford: We must look to our scriptures. It was woman that was tempted by the serpent. It was woman that ate the fruit, tasted evil.
Will Ransome: No. No.
Matthew Evansford: Are you denying the Lord’s word, Father?
Will Ransome: I won’t use them for my own ends.
Matthew Evansford: You brought the serpent here. And you put a spell on him!
Will Ransome: Stop it. Enough!
Matthew Evansford: You did! You and that half-wit child!
Cora Seaborne: Shame on you!
Will Ransome: Cora. Cora, leave now.
Cora Seaborne: No! I won’t!
Cora Seaborne: You have no right to order me away!
Will Ransome: They were out of control. They’re frightened.
Cora Seaborne: You let them accuse me. You said nothing.
Will Ransome: I’m their pastor.
Cora Seaborne: So you can’t be my friend, and a man of God?
Will Ransome: I can’t think clearly when I’m around you. I lose my bearings.
Cora Seaborne: No. I won’t be blamed for their ignorance or your weakness.
Will Ransome: Love is not a weakness.
[they then start kissing make love on the marshes]
Martha: What are you doing?
Matthew Evansford: Protecting the village from sin. From your sin.
Martha: She’s done nothing wrong. If anybody’s sinned, it’s you. Scaring people, threatening them!
Cora Seaborne: Please, just take Frankie. We’re leaving. Isn’t that enough for you?
Matthew Evansford: May God’s judgment pass over you!
5. I Break Things
'You need to decide what you want. Stop dwelling on what you can't have.' - Martha (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
Will Ransome: [referring to Naomi] She will come home, Henry. I’m sure of it.
Henry Banks: You said the same thing about Gracie.
Stella Ransome: [after revealing she wants to go to London to see Luke] I’m weak. And I’m getting weaker. I’m trying to hide it.
Will Ransome: Stella, why? Why? I would have…
Stella Ransome: It’s alright.
Will Ransome: No, Stella.
Stella Ransome: I trust Dr. Garrett.
Will Ransome: Right. You want to see Dr. Garrett? In London?
Stella Ransome: We can take the children. Make an adventure of it.
Will Ransome: An adventure?
Stella Ransome: Why not? We could see Cora.
Will Ransome: No.
Cora Seaborne: [referring to Royal Geographical Society] They want to meet me. See my find, the plesiosaur.
Martha: You better get up then.
Cora Seaborne: But how did they…
Martha: I won’t see you broken by a village consumed by superstition.
Frankie Seaborne: [as they arrive at the Royal Geographical Society] Are there any serpents here?
Cora Seaborne: Not yet. Maybe one day, if I’ve found the remains of one.
Professor Marchand: [referring to her finding of a plesiosaur] And you just stumbled across it?
Cora Seaborne: No, I was digging on the Essex coast for some time.
Professor Marchand: I’m impressed. Do you have more?
Cora Seaborne: No, this is it at present.
Professor Marchand: That’s a shame. I can’t do anything with just this piece. You know what you’re doing. You should return and look for more.
Cora Seaborne: Thank you for your time.
Professor Marchand: Go back to Essex, Mrs. Seaborne.
Frankie Seaborne: We want to find the serpent.
Professor Marchand: Someone’s keen.
Cora Seaborne: The find is worthless.
Martha: What?
Cora Seaborne: Unless I go back to find more.
Martha: You can’t. No, definitely not.
Martha: You need to forget about Essex.
Cora Seaborne: You shouldn’t have sent me to meet the professor.
Martha: I was trying to help.
Cora Seaborne: Why?
Martha: I want you to come back.
Cora Seaborne: And I’m trying.
Martha: Are you? Lying in bed all day, refusing to eat? Brokenhearted over a married man?
Martha: We need to get back to normal. We need to make a proper home for Frankie.
Cora Seaborne: Do we?
Martha: Yes! We have to open up the house, and then we need to start thinking about his education. We have to try and…
Cora Seaborne: “We, we.” You speak about us like we’re a couple. What I mean is…
Martha: I’m merely your servant.
Cora Seaborne: No! My friend.
Martha: You can’t pay for friendship!
Martha: [referring to her argument with Cora] I’ll have to pretend I didn’t mean it. Make up with her.
George Spencer: Why?
Martha: I don’t have a choice.
George Spencer: There’s always a choice.
Martha: You wouldn’t understand, how it feels to have no power of your own.
George Spencer: I think you’re immensely powerful. She’s agreed to come with us. She must respect you.
Martha: But we used to spend every day together. Talking, sharing. I thought she felt the same.
George Spencer: Sounds like you’re in love with her.
Martha: Everyone else is.
John Ransome: There’s blood on the boats! Who did it?
Will Ransome: Evansford.
Jo Ransome: Why?
Will Ransome: He thinks it’ll protect us.
John Ransome: So are we in danger?
Will Ransome: No.
Luke Garrett: [referring to Stella] Unfortunately, it’s tuberculosis.
Will Ransome: No.
Luke Garrett: I’m so sorry.
Will Ransome: The doctor in Aldwinter said…
Luke Garrett: The doctor in Aldwinter is a fool.
Luke Garrett: I would operate to collapse the infected lung in order to give it the best chance of healing.
George Spencer: It’s never been done successfully before.
Will Ransome: Then, no. Absolutely not.
Luke Garrett: Don’t sacrifice her to your fears.
Will Ransome: You think I’d let you chop her up like a piece of offal in a butcher shop?
Will Ransome: She’s not one of your cadavers, Dr. Garrett. She’s my wife.
Stella Ransome: Stop! This is my disease. And I don’t want to be treated.
Luke Garrett: Then you must know what’s ahead, Mrs. Ransome. Some good days, but bad ones too. Weakness. Delirium.
Will Ransome: Is this my judgment? I keep thinking it must be.
Stella Ransome: For what?
Will Ransome: We’ve never had any secrets from each other, have we?
Stella Ransome: Never.
Will Ransome: There’s something I haven’t told you. There’s someone I…
Stella Ransome: Hush. You’re a good man, Will Ransome.
Cora Seaborne: Should we just forget about our row? I am trying.
Martha: You need to decide what you want. Stop dwelling on what you can’t have.
Luke Garrett: I thought you were still in Essex.
Cora Seaborne: No, I left some time ago.
Luke Garrett: Oh. Why didn’t you write?
Cora Seaborne: Why didn’t you?
Luke Garrett: I’m totally unreliable. I have an excuse.
Luke Garrett: So what happened?
Cora Seaborne: They all turned against me. Decided I was the devil.
Luke Garrett: What? Even the dear reverend?
Cora Seaborne: No, he…. No.
Luke Garrett: [referring to George and the night they spent together in Essex] You haven’t told him, have you? About…
Martha: Of course I haven’t.
Luke Garrett: Good. Because anyone can see how keen he is on you. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask. Did I, I mean, was I any good?
Martha: Forgotten about it already.
Luke Garrett: You women really know how to destroy a man.
Martha: I hope you’re not still pining for Cora. Luke, don’t waste your love on her. She won’t know what to do with it.
Martha: We need a social housing bill.
Charles Ambrose: The communist emerges.
Martha: People are dying, Ambrose! The only thing that survives here is disease!
Charles Ambrose: You survived.
Luke Garrett: [to Charles] Do you have any idea what it’s like to actually die from cholera? A pathogen is swilling in the sewers right under our feet. So, first, you lose control of your bowels, you vomit night and day, your eyes sink to the back of your skull, and your skin turns blue. It is a frightening, lonely death.
Martha: Clean water is a basic human right. If we’re not agreed on that, then you should be on your way.
Charles Ambrose: I’ll talk to colleagues. See if I can raise a bill.
Cora Seaborne: You were brilliant, Martha. You’re wasted here.
Martha: I do want to do more.
Cora Seaborne: You must.
Martha: I suppose you and Frankie won’t need me forever, will you?
Cora Seaborne: I needed this. Thank you.
Luke Garrett: Always available for wanton drinking.
Luke Garrett: What is this, Cora? What are we doing?
Cora Seaborne: Being quite badly behaved at your party.
Luke Garrett: I’m tired of being so coy and so polite.
Cora Seaborne: What are you talking about?
Luke Garrett: Let’s get married. I’m serious. Marry me. Be my wife.
Cora Seaborne: Luke, I can’t. I mean, you know I can’t.
Luke Garrett: Why not?
Cora Seaborne: Well, my husband’s only been dead a matter of months.
Luke Garrett: Bugger your husband. You didn’t love him.
Luke Garrett: I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you.
Cora Seaborne: Before you knew me?
Luke Garrett: I liked what I saw.
Cora Seaborne: And you wanted to put your mark on it?
Luke Garrett: What happened to carefree Cora?
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry. I…
Luke Garrett: Just think about it. We laugh. We argue. We’re like a married couple already.
Cora Seaborne: Can’t friendship be enough?
Luke Garrett: Crumbs, you mean.
Luke Garrett: What about him? Is he your friend too?
Cora Seaborne: Who?
Luke Garrett: You do realize he’s married? Although, perhaps not for much longer given the state of his wife’s lungs. Is that what you’re holding out for? I didn’t think even you were that cold, Cora.
Cora Seaborne: What are you talking about?
Luke Garrett: TB. I diagnosed her last week.
Cora Seaborne: You’re lying.
Luke Garrett: Ask Spencer if you don’t believe me. Don’t worry. She’ll be dead in a few months, and you can have him all to yourself.
Cora Seaborne: Leave me alone!
Luke Garrett: You’re drunk.
Cora Seaborne: You’re drunker!
Luke Garrett: Run away then, coward.
Cora Seaborne: You’re the coward!
Martha: What’s happened?
Cora Seaborne: Luke proposed.
Martha: What?
Cora Seaborne: I know.
Martha: You idiot.
Cora Seaborne: He’s the idiot.
Martha: He’s in love with you! Do you have any idea how painful it is to love you?
Cora Seaborne: I didn’t realize.
Martha: No, you never do.
Martha: What do you want, Cora?
Cora Seaborne: Want?
Martha: Yes. Because the longer you just blunder about not knowing, the more people are going to get hurt!
Cora Seaborne: It’s just, I’ve been trapped for so long…
Martha: Oh, yes. Go on, blame Michael again! You’re right. I am wasted here!
Luke Garrett: [to the thief] Not my hand. Please.
[the thief suddenly stabs him in his hand]
Will Ransome: Father. Hear my prayer. I renounce my sins. I renounce evil. Bring her back to me.
6. Surfacing
Cora Seaborne: Dear Stella, I’ve only just heard the terrible news from Luke. I’m so sorry. For once in my life, I’m at a loss for words. I came to Aldwinter to look for the serpent, and I didn’t expect to find friendship. Stella, what I really want is to see you, but I fear that coming back would just upset the village. You are my friend and I never meant…
Stella Ransome: He’s waiting for me. Don’t be sad. I’m ready. Help me.
Will Ransome: Anything.
Stella Ransome: I want to see Cora and Frankie. I want them to come back.
Will Ransome: Dear Cora, Shortly before we met in London, Stella received a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Perhaps that may explain my behavior at the museum. Tragically, her health is now fading fast. She’s been begging me for some days to write to you and ask you to visit. But I have to say, I don’t think it’s a good idea, for her, me, any of us. The truth is, I scarcely know how to get through the days. I am broken.
'People fear what they don't understand. Jump to the wrong conclusions.' - Cora Seaborne (The Essex Serpent) Share on X
Luke Garrett: I need to practice manipulating my fingers. I have to get back to work, Spencer.
George Spencer: One day at a time. Don’t think about operating yet.
Luke Garrett: You think that’s possible? I can just relax? Give up my work? Don’t you know me at all?
George Spencer: I’m sorry. There must be something I can do.
Luke Garrett: Leave me.
George Spencer: [after he’s told Cora about the injurt to Luke’s hand] I don’t think he’ll operate again.
Cora Seaborne: Oh, Luke!
George Spencer: If I could change things, change places…
Cora Seaborne: What can I do? Anything.
George Spencer: Visit him. Cheer him up.
Cora Seaborne: He asked for me?
George Spencer: He doesn’t know I’m here.
Cora Seaborne: Well, I’m here now. Whatever’s next, we can deal with it together.
Luke Garrett: Together?
Cora Seaborne: Just forget our stupid row. I’m going to look after you.
Luke Garrett: How?
Cora Seaborne: Come and live with me.
Luke Garrett: You sound like Spencer trying to nurse me through all of this.
Cora Seaborne: No. No. I mean move in with me. Forever.
Luke Garrett: What?
Cora Seaborne: As my friend and companion.
Luke Garrett: The parson’s retreated. The servants vanished.
Cora Seaborne: No, Luke.
Luke Garrett: I’m the last man standing.
Luke Garrett: It’s ridiculous. And you can’t even see it. But this mangled bloody mess has finally opened my eyes.
Cora Seaborne: I care about you, Luke.
Luke Garrett: You called me when you needed me. A doctor. A shoulder to cry on. A drinking partner.
Cora Seaborne: That’s not true. You’re my friend.
Luke Garrett: Well, as your friend, I have to be honest with you, Cora. I don’t want to live with you.
Cora Seaborne: Why not?
Luke Garrett: Because I’m in love with you, and you’re in love with somebody else.
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry, Martha.
Martha: For what?
Cora Seaborne: How I’ve treated you. Luke. For not looking after the people I love.
Cora Seaborne: [referring to Stella] She’s asked to see me, but I’m not sure I can go back. I’m…
Martha: Scared?
Cora Seaborne: Not of the villagers.
Martha: Of seeing Will?
Cora Seaborne: You know me. I break things.
Martha: You can fix them too. If you need to, you should. You’re not a coward, Cora Seaborne.
George Spencer: I have a proposal.
Martha: No. I’m sorry, I’m not the kind of woman who just strings a man along…
George Spencer: No, of course not.
Martha: Marriage, it enslaves women. Socially, financially.
George Spencer: What? No.
Martha: Yes, it’s one of the biggest obstacles to revolution.
George Spencer: It’s really not that kind of a proposal. I’ve decided to use my trust to set up a campaign for social housing, and I need someone to run it. I want us to work together. I’m offering you a job.
Stella Ransome: I was worried you wouldn’t come. I had to see you once more.
Cora Seaborne: How are you feeling?
Stella Ransome: I’m ready.
Cora Seaborne: No, don’t say that.
Stella Ransome: But I am.
Stella Ransome: Would you go and see Will?
Cora Seaborne: What? No.
Stella Ransome: He needs someone to talk to.
Cora Seaborne: But I’m here to see you.
Stella Ransome: He’ll be in the church.
Cora Seaborne: Well, then I shouldn’t disturb him.
Stella Ransome: I’m asking you, Cora. It’s what I want.
Will Ransome: I told you not to come.
Cora Seaborne: I had to see Stella. She asked me to come and find you. I’ll leave if you want me to.
Will Ransome: Shall we walk?
Cora Seaborne: Stella thinks you need somebody to talk to. Talk to me.
Will Ransome: She’s so brave. She’s faced it far better than I have.
Cora Seaborne: Well, perhaps she’s known for some time.
Will Ransome: Yes, she’s accepted it. At times, her mind roams. And then, she returns to me, my Stella. But even when she drifts away, I couldn’t love her more. I’ll always love her, Cora.
Cora Seaborne: I know. I know you will.
Cora Seaborne: I’m sorry, Will, if I’ve made things worse for you.
Will Ransome: No, Cora. I let you in, when I had everything I could ask for.
Cora Seaborne: It’s not that simple.
Will Ransome: Isn’t it?
Cora Seaborne: Love is not finite. It’s not confined to marriage. There are so many ways to love.
Will Ransome: You’ve never known a happy marriage.
Cora Seaborne: And yet I know how it feels to love someone.
Will Ransome: And to be loved in return.
Stella Ransome: [as Frankie is setting her afloat on the boat] I’m ready to meet him now.
Frankie Seaborne: The serpent?
Stella Ransome: My god and king.
Stella Ransome: [after Will rescues her from being drowned] We saw the serpent, Cora. We saw it.
Frankie Seaborne: Where is Stella going?
Cora Seaborne: Back home, with Will.
Frankie Seaborne: But before, she said she was ready to go.
Cora Seaborne: Stella isn’t very well.
Frankie Seaborne: Is she going to die?
Cora Seaborne: Well, we all die one day.
Frankie Seaborne: But before her time, like Father?
Cora Seaborne: Yes, I’m afraid she may.
Frankie Seaborne: I don’t want you to die.
Cora Seaborne: I have no intention of it. I’ve got far too much to do.
Frankie Seaborne: That’s good.
Naomi Banks: [to Henry, after she returns] It’s going to be alright, Father. I’ve seen the serpent. I think it’s dead. It’s over.
Frankie Seaborne: [referring to the giant dead creature] Why did it come here?
Cora Seaborne: Maybe its patterns were upset by the earthquake.
Frankie Seaborne: Why did everyone think it was a serpent?
Cora Seaborne: People fear what they don’t understand. Jump to the wrong conclusions.
Frankie Seaborne: I didn’t want it to die.
Luke Garrett: [six months after Stella’s death, Cora reads Luke’s letter] Cora, how are you? Deep in a trench, I imagine? I miss you. Although, obviously not as much as you miss me. I finally found people who appreciate me. I’ve been made head of the medical school. They want me to teach them the secrets of the heart. Talking of which, how is yours? You must have heard from Will by now?
Cora Seaborne: Dear Will, I still think of you every day, of what we shared, and what it means. I am torn, and I am mended. I love you, and I am content without you. Even so, please write back.
Cora Seaborne: You never wrote back.
Will Ransome: I had too much to say.
Cora Seaborne: [they embrace and kiss each other] Shall we walk?
[they walk off holding hands]
Trailer: