Season 1, Episode 5
Written by Melissa Iqbal
Directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: 9 May 2021
“The future of the world depends on the present.”
Penance
REGULAR CAST
- Laura Donnelly as Amalia True
- Ann Skelly as Penance Adair
- Olivia Williams as Lavinia Bidlow
- James Norton as Hugo Swann
- Tom Riley as Augustus Bidlow
- Pip Torrens as Gilbert Massen
- Denis O’Hare as Edmund Hague
- Rochelle Neil as Annie Carbey
- Amy Manson as Maladie
- Zackary Momoh as Horatio Cousens
- Nick Frost as Declan Orrun
- Ella Smith as Désirée Blodgett
- Kiran Sonia Sawar as Harriet Kaur
- Anna Devlin as Primrose Chattoway
- Viola Prettejohn as Myrtle Haplisch
- Vinnie Heaven as Nimble Jack
- Ben Chaplin as Frank Mundi
GUEST CAST
- Domenique Fragale as Beth Cassini
- Martyn Ford as Nicolas “Odium” Perbal
- Mark Benton as The Colonel
- Sylvie Briggs as Clara
- Pui Fan Lee as Su Ping Lim
- Lola Dubus as Dominique
- Matt Emery as Detective Birch
- Brett Curtis as George
- Andrew Havill as Douglas Broome
- Nicholas Farrell as Prince Albrecht
- Tim Steed as Lord Allaven-Tyne
- Rupert Vansittart as Lord Broughton
- Timothy Bentinck as General Pecking
- George Dawson as Hague’s Assistant
- Paul Bentley as Judge
- Heather Coombs as Anxious Mother
- Sam Lathem as Mean Cop
- Benny Ainsworth as Police Clerk
- Brett Allen as Tent Cop
- Grahame Fox as Crabby Cop
- Joe Reisig as Scarred Begger King Guard
- Bill Hurst as Male Diner
- Amanda Holt as Female Diner
- Frances Wilding as Hanging Watcher 1
- Simon Balcon as Hanging Watcher 2
- Jack Gouldbourne as Hanging Watcher 3
- Victoria Howell as Hanging Watcher 4
- Paul Hamilton as Hanging Watcher 5
- Zain Hussain as Aneel
SYNOPSIS
Maladie is finally put on trial for her crimes and sentenced to death by public hanging. Lord Massen is delighted by the spectacle; his fellow officials are considerably less enthusiastic about executing a Touched woman in front of a crowd.
Beneath London, the glowing orb — the mysterious object discovered in the cavern — has begun to crack, emitting pulses of light. Lavinia Bidlow panics and demands it be destroyed. Dr. Hague refuses, insisting the orb still holds answers they need.
At the orphanage, Amalia and Penance continue their search for the Galanthi — the aircraft that passed over London three years earlier and changed everything. Using a map of the city, they try to triangulate possible locations. Penance unveils a new drill meant to help them dig, but it promptly malfunctions.
Effie Boyle visits Inspector Mundi, hoping to secure an interview with Maladie for her newspaper. When he refuses, she runs into Hugo Swan and whispers a request into his ear — Hugo’s expression suggests mischief is imminent.
Lord Massen meets with the Beggar King and reveals he was the one who sent Odium to kill Amalia. He instructs the King to unleash chaos after Maladie’s execution.
Penance tells Amalia she intends to rescue Maladie. Despite Maladie’s history, Penance refuses to let another Touched woman die. Amalia disagrees but won’t stop her — she simply won’t help. She plans to continue searching for the Galanthi on the day of the execution.
During the hanging, Penance and several Touched infiltrate the building, ready to intercept Maladie at the podium. But Maladie knocks out her guards, pulls the lever herself, and hangs — apparently choosing her own death.
The Colonel activates an electrical barrier, electrocuting anyone touching it. Penance tries to shut it down, but the damage is done. People die, panic spreads, and public fear of the Touched skyrockets.
Back at the station, Mundi has a sudden epiphany: the corpse hanging from the gallows doesn’t match Maladie’s description. He realises he never caught Maladie at all — the executed woman was a decoy named Clara Stowe.
Later, alone, Effie removes her costume and reveals the truth: she is Maladie in disguise.
TRIVIA
Clara’s hanging scene is similar to the historical records for a Lavinia Fisher (1793–1820). Both she and her husband, Charles, were convicted of robbery and sentenced to death by hanging in 1820. At her execution, she yelled, “If any of you have a message for the devil, tell me now, for I shall be seeing him shortly,” then jumped to her death before the sentence could be carried out, similar to ‘Maladie’ here.
Production on the series was halted after this episode due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
CONTINUITY
Amalia makes a further hint at her true identity when she disagrees with Penance about the future of the world being reliant on the present.
FOLLOW THE PATH
EPISODE
Undertaking / True
