A Tale of Two Cities (2026) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[music playing]
HESTER: Do you know what it is
to dig a man out of a grave?
It's Lucie
your daughter.
I don't care about your secrets.
I don't care who you were.
We should rest.
- LUCIE: Why are we stopping?
- There's something I have to do.
LUCIE:
We barely escaped the city,
and then you're leaving us.
If I have to do this alone,
so be it.
MARQUIS ST EVREMONDE:
[speaking in French]
CHARLES: [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
LUCIE: My father back.
That's all I ever wanted.
[breathes heavily]
- THERESE: [shouts] Juliette!
- JULIETTE: [screams]
[speaking in French]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
HESTER: You have a visitor.
I told him you weren't
receiving any callers
[breathes heavily]
[takes short breaths]
I've ambushed you.
Again.
Your father
is he safe?
Inside,
sleeping.
CHARLES: Ha
I'm glad to hear that.
And to see you.
[sighs]
Is that it?
You've come all this way
just to ask after my father
and hold my hand?
[exhales]
A chance.
That's all I'm asking.
To show you who I really am.
These are just words.
Easy words.
You ran.
You put my father in danger.
Do you expect me to forget that?
- No. I um er
- LUCIE: You betrayed my trust.
After everything I told you,
- everything that we
- You're right. You're right.
I'm sorry.
More than I can say.
[exhales]
I'm going to stay.
Here, in London.
No more running.
Why make yourself a promise
you cannot keep?
[sighs]
[breathes deeply]
[sighs]
[suspenseful music playing]
SYDNEY: Mr. Darnay.
I've had a long journey.
Well, have a drink
with me, then.
If it's not too early for you.
[music continues playing]
[door opens]
- Tomorrow?
- No.
See my friend.
He'll pay.
How much do you owe?
Not enough to get barred.
At least not today.
- [bottle cork pops]
- Mother's ruin.
Might pack a little more punch
than you're
[swallows]
[exhales]
SYDNEY: [sighs]
Why'd you come back to London?
I had a reason.
I thought I did.
And now?
[breathes deeply] My turn.
[sighs]
What were you doing
outside her house?
She asked me to call on her.
Oh.
What does she need
with a lawyer?
She doesn't.
[softly] Huh.
You know,
you remind me of someone.
- An enemy?
- An uncle.
He wears the same armor.
Ennui. Apathy.
It's all a mask.
You know, I've faced
dozens like you in court.
Sleek.
Perfume-typed.
Chests out.
Noses in the air.
[chuckles]
You think you have
the measure of me?
I might surprise you.
You're about to tell me
you're a man of honor.
Well, it's not a dirty word,
Mr. Carton.
Then why did you abandon her?
I had a debt to pay.
[scoffs]
CHARLES: [exhales]
Perhaps we're not so different.
I have unpaid debts
all over town.
[chuckles]
Shall we get another?
[knocks at door]
[door opens]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[door closes]
[speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[wine pouring]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[music playing]
- [breathes]
- [breathes, exhales]
[sighs]
[sniffs]
[exhales]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[sighs]
GASPARD: [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
- [shouts in French]
- [speaking in French]
[breathing heavily]
[speaking in French]
[screams]
- [screams]
- [banging on table]
- SYDNEY: One, two, three!
- CHARLES: Un, deux, trois!
SYDNEY: Ah!
[laughs]
- [groans]
- One more, one more
- No, I won't
- Oh! No, no, no, no, no, no,
- no, no, no, no, no, no, no
- No more please.
- no, no, no, no, no.
- CHARLES: [laughs]
[breathes deeply]
Do you regret it?
Saving my life?
Ah
Hmm?
It's what she wanted.
[mumbles] I'm not sure. Yeah.
You might be right.
- [glasses clink]
- Not so different, you and I.
[swallows, clears throat]
[glass clanks]
What happened
between you in Paris?
[scoffs]
[sighs]
That's what this is
all being for?
You want a confession
lawyer?
Ask her
but I don't think you will.
Hmm?
[suspenseful music playing]
She deserves better.
[suspenseful music
continues playing]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[swallows]
[amusing music playing]
[breathes]
[exhales]
It's a pity
not to receive Mr. Carton
these last few weeks.
I wonder if he is unwell.
Papa?
Good morning.
So, some tea?
Tea
Jerry?
What plans do you have today?
[sniffing]
[door opens]
[speaking in French]
[sobbing softly]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
- THERESE: [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[music playing]
[sighs]
LUCIE: Willow bark
for inflammation
- [breathes deeply]
- and a turkey rhubarb
as a purgative
or to relieve the fever.
- [exhales]
- Artery forceps
and a metacarpal saw.
All steel, of course.
Have I forgotten something?
No.
But what is all this?
[hesitates] I thought
perhaps you and I could
I'm proficient,
a fast learner.
I, I-I've been studying
since I was a girl.
- Studying?
- I was always careful
and discreet.
I just wanted to know
what you knew.
There was a time--
in my imprisonment,
some nights
my desire for vengeance
was almost unbearable.
But then,
I'd imagine
your life in London.
My thoughts never rose
near the happiness
that I now know with you.
[takes deep breath]
ALEXANDRE: [exhales]
I've forgotten so much
[takes deep breath]
missed so much.
I will remind you.
[breathes]
[music playing]
[creaking]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[suspenseful music builds]
[breathes, speaking in French]
THEOPHILE: [speaking in French]
[exhales]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[takes sharp breath]
[speaking in French]
[breathing heavily]
[breathing heavily]
[music playing]
You never came to claim it.
SYDNEY: No
Looked better on you anyway.
My father--
he's recovering well.
I know, um.
You'd be surprised
how much can be learned
from the, er, the right servant
for the price of a cup of wine.
- Jerry?
- Yeah.
You could have called yourself.
Wanted to.
Then why didn't you?
Do you regret
what happened between us?
You imagine I do?
Everything that happened,
your or I, your father.
Paris,
You worry you acted improperly.
I don't remember it that way.
Even so
you owe me nothing.
[mumbles] I am
I'm not a suitor.
[swallows]
I say you are.
[exhales]
Come to dinner.
It's my father,
he wants to thank you
for everything
you've done for him.
There's no need.
I'm inviting you in, Sydney.
My life.
My family.
GASPARD: [speaking in French]
[mutters, speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- GASPARD: [grunts]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
JACQUES: [speaking in French]
[church bell tolling]
[laughter,
indistinct conversation]
- WOMAN: Yeah.
- WOMAN 1: Yeah, no Oh.
WOMAN: It's exactly what he did.
He fell right into my arms.
- No?
- BOTH: No.
You said you wanted
Doctor's rooms amongst them
who can't afford to pay.
I did say it weren't
going to be pretty.
ALEXANDRE:
The smell in the place.
No good for a doctor's
visiting rooms.
I will keep looking.
We'll find somewhere suitable.
No need.
You'll use the house.
Well, you said it to yourself,
this requires
the utmost discretion.
And since Lucie
will be involved,
gossip will be intolerable.
Thank you.
ALEXANDRE: Lucie
Who is that?
Papa. Uh,
this is Charles Darnay.
He helped us escape Paris.
Of course.
Monsieur Darnay,
I can't begin to thank you.
[hesitates]
It was my honor, Doctor.
How are you, Miss Manette?
What are you doing here?
I have a pupil,
across the park.
We must invite Mr. Darnay
to dinner.
- Papa, that's
- ALEXANDRE: Tonight, in fact.
We're already hosting
Mr. Carton.
I'm sure Mr. Darnay
already has plans this evening.
Er
No. [tuts]
No plans.
ALEXANDRE: Excellent.
We'll expect you for dinner.
Thank you.
[takes deep breaths]
[exhales]
[music playing]
[indistinct conversations]
Evening, Memory.
Not much boiling down
to do tonight.
SYDNEY: I see
you've had your bottle.
Where are you off to
all tarted up?
Dinner.
- STRYVER: With a client, I hope.
- [grunts] No.
Lucie Manette.
[laughing]
STRYVER: Well
Oh.
Oh, how do you plan to woo
the Titian-haired doll?
Gin house humor?
Tapping at a window
at five o'clock in the morning,
your brain frying
and sputtering in your head?
This from such a sensitive
and poetical spirit.
STRYVER: Yes, well,
I make no claim
to be the soul of romance.
And still, I am a tenderer
sort of fellow than you.
A luckier one, perhaps.
You were always shouldering
your way to the front rank.
I was always nowhere.
- Rust and repose.
- STRYVER: [laughs]
And whose fault is that?
Old seesaw Sydney,
up one minute, down the next.
You know, you are
and have always been
a problem of carelessness
and recklessness.
I make no apology
for being incorrigible.
You have no business
to be incorrigible.
I have no business to be at all.
Yet here I am--
invited to dinner.
Oh.
But, my dear old jackal,
you cannot be serious
about this mincing fool,
- the Manette girl.
- Now, careful.
Careful.
Well
From your most ancient chum,
one who has known you
since you were a schoolboy,
stealing communion wine
and altar donations,
you, Sydney Carton,
are not made
for the likes of Lucie Manette.
Because I do not possess
your gallantry.
Because you are a dissolute dog
who has never done any good,
or ever will.
You, you live hard.
You do not know
the value of money.
Look it in its face, old boy.
You'll knock out
one of these days,
- ill and poor.
- Hmm
Then find yourself
a landlady to marry.
Oh, better yet--
a nursemaid.
STRYVER: [laughing]
Mix us up a bowl of punch,
and I'll, er
I'll lay out your prospect.
[laughs]
Lucie Manette.
[laughs mockingly]
[music builds]
[clears throat]
[music playing]
[horse carriage approaching]
[music playing]
[breathes]
You're a little late
to the party, Mr. Carton.
[clears throat]
[sighs]
You don't like it?
I've no appetite.
[slurps]
- [speaking in French]
- SYDNEY: [sighs]
ALEXANDRE: [speaking in French]
- SYDNEY: Huh!
- ALEXANDRE: [speaking in French]
English, please, Papa.
SYDNEY: Ah, for the, um,
less educated among us.
Forgive me.
ALEXANDRE: My manners
are still locked away
in that miserable cell
in La Bastille.
[slurping]
ALEXANDRE:
You have been a true friend
to me and my daughter.
Mr. Darnay was just telling me
he plans to open a school
for London's poorest,
[chuckles] Of course he does.
[scoffs softly]
[swallows]
Sydney?
W Where are my manners?
No.
Thank you.
[sniffs]
HESTER: Oh, none for me.
Come now, Mrs. Lorry,
what is a poor widow to do
but drown her sorrows?
Forgive me. [sighs]
I'm unused to such, um
fine company.
Mr. Carton is a lawyer
of some renown here in London.
Without Mr. Carton,
I wouldn't be sat here today.
[scoffs]
Even now,
I don't know why I did it.
[chuckles]
ALEXANDRE: Where do you keep
your legal chambers, Mr. Carton,
- The Inns of Court?
- SYDNEY: Oh, Christ, no.
Can't move for stuffed shirts
and snobs. No
we're opposite a gin parlor
just above a knocking shop.
Knocking?
SYDNEY: We like to be within
easy reach of our clientele.
Men of honor,
like Mr. Darnay here.
[laughs]
I think perhaps some air.
- None for me.
- Why?
Why are you doing this?
This is what you wanted,
isn't it?
Bring us both here,
put on a show.
CHARLES: I should leave.
- No, sit down.
- Yeah, sit down.
LUCIE:
My father invited Charles.
I could hardly refuse.
- Was I an amusement to you?
- Don't.
An idle diversion
to pass the time?
Or a dress rehearsal
for him?
[exhales softly]
Explain yourself, Mr. Carton.
[breathes]
After dessert, perhaps.
Enough.
- [objects clattering]
- HESTER: Oh!
[glass shatters]
Mr. Carton
[breathes heavily]
[exhales]
[music playing]
[door closes]
HESTER: No. It's nothing.
[breathes heavily]
[knocking at door]
[door opens]
I apologize
if my presence tonight
Why didn't you just stay away?
I had to see you.
Even if it was to be
the last time.
[exhales]
These last weeks
I've been telling myself
I was happy,
that my life here was enough.
[breathes, cries]
CHARLES:
I owe you an explanation
and then I'll go.
After I left you,
outside Paris,
I went to my uncle.
He's a nobleman,
a Marquis.
It was the first time
we'd spoken since I was a boy.
As a child, he
He terrified me.
The peasants
who worked our land,
he would have them flayed.
To the bone.
Ten years ago,
when I left France,
it was to escape him.
The guilt. The
the shame of my bloodline.
But then I met you.
And you were so clear.
So unafraid.
I knew I had to confront him.
Reject my birthright
once and for all.
[chuckles] And now,
I'm finally free.
Thanks to you.
[exhales]
I am
sorry
for leaving you.
[chuckles]
I'll never forgive myself.
For throwing away
what
[exhales]
[exhales] No matter.
Say it.
Say it.
I have made many mistakes
in my life. [breathes]
But I only have one regret.
[breathes softly]
That night
In the wine shop
[exhales]
I should have kissed you.
[music playing]
[indistinct conversations
in French]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
- WOMEN: [mumble in agreement]
- [speaking in French]
WOMEN: [mumble in agreement]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
WOMEN: [mumble in agreement]
[speaking in French]
[objects clattering]
[door closes]
[speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[suspenseful music playing]
[speaking in French]
[suspenseful music continues]
[indistinct conversations]
[music playing]
[breathing heavily]
Lucie
I have no excuses.
Is that your apology?
No, leave with me tonight.
Europe, the Americas,
wherever you want.
- You're drunk.
- No, no, no.
I am not.
But I miss you and me.
Alone, together.
Nothing else matters.
[exhales]
Tell me you don't feel the same.
You know that I do.
[exhales]
There is more life in you.
More
more goodness
than you will admit.
[takes short breath]
There is a heart
hidden with deep wounds
within it.
I have seen it bleeding.
It is not enough.
I need there to be more
More than this.
I need it to be real.
Tell me that you understand.
[stutters] No, I've never
truly wanted anything,
- but I want this.
- No, you don't.
I want this, I want you.
I want you.
[breathing heavily]
I am like one who died young.
- All my life might have been.
- No.
SYDNEY: I shall never be better
than I am. I, I, I
I shall sink lower
and--and be worse.
- No, Sydney
- SYDNEY: And a flung away,
drunken, wasted
creature of misuse.
- [sobs] No, stop
- When you kissed me, here
[takes short breaths]
You kindled me.
Heap of ashes that I am.
Into a fire.
- I can be better.
- [whimpers]
I can be well, for you.
- You're all I need.
- LUCIE: [sobs softly]
The last dream of my soul.
LUCIE: [sobbing softly]
- [sniffles]
- I would give anything
Everything--
for you.
The life you love.
But I cannot be
all you live for.
You can't ask me
to save you, Sydney.
[sobs]
[exhales]
[music playing]
[music continues playing]
PEOPLE: [shouting, screaming]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
ALL: [all cheering]
THERESE: [speaking in French]
[speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
- [speaking in French]
PEOPLE: [shouting, screaming]
THERESE: [shouting in French]
[shouting in French]
PEOPLE: [shouting, screaming]
PEOPLE: [chanting in French]
- Aux armes!
- PEOPLE: [shouting, screaming]
Aux armes!
En garde!
[shouting in French]
- [shouting in French]
- [speaking in French]
[shouting in French]
- Gaspard!
- [guns fire]
GASPARD: [groans]
[gasps]
[breathing heavily]
- [shouting in French]
- PEOPLE: [shouting, screaming]
[groaning, screaming]
[high-pitched ringing]
[weapons clattering]
[dramatic music playing]
[breathes heavily]
[breathes heavily]
[indistinct screams,
weapons clanking]
[suspenseful music playing]
[indistinct screaming]
[speaking in French]
WARDER: [groans softly]
C'est la-bas.
[indistinct shouting, screaming]
[breathes heavily]
[breathing heavily]
[screams]
[suspenseful music playing]
[breathing heavily]
[screams]
[breathing heavily]
[suspenseful music builds]
[speaking in French]
[suspenseful music playing]
[breathing heavily]
[breathing heavily]
GUARD: [groaning softly]
[breathing weakly]
[speaking in French]
- Je vous en prie. Non.
- [breathing heavily]
GUARD: Non, pitie! [groans]
[suspenseful music playing]
THERESE: [gasps]
[gasping, breathing heavily]
[groans, breathes heavily]
- [music playing]
- [breathing heavily]
[clanking]
[breathing heavily]
[music playing]
[kisses]
[breathing heavily]
[speaking in French]
[breathing heavily]
[music playing]
[bell tolling]
[soft instrumental
music playing]
[giggles, exhales]
[chuckles]
It belonged to Charles' mother.
She would be very proud,
your mother.
Just as Jarvis would.
[whispers loudly] As I am.
No father could hope
for a better son.
I'm a Darnay,
and today,
a Manette.
Finally, I can bury
the name Evremonde
[breathes deeply]
once and for all.
[music builds]
The life ahead.
[suspenseful music continues]
Evremonde.
[suspenseful music continues]
[breathing heavily]
[suspenseful music continues]
[closing theme music playing]