On episode 2 of DRACULA called, “A Whiff of Sulfur,” two women giggle through the streets as Alexander plods by. He turns to watch them go with interest (and maybe hunger).
Romania 1881, Dracula’s crypt. We see him come awake in his crypt with a stake still in his chest. He is lifted out of his grave and prepares to do combat with the intruder. It’s Van Helsing! They tussle and then stop. Van Helsing introduces himself and then reveals he knows that he’s dealing with Vlad Tepes. Drac lays broken and VH says the sun will take him soon where he lays. VH tells him he needs his help destroying the Order of the Dragon. He tells Drac that the order murdered his children. He tells him that if Drac dies the Order will go unpunished. Drac tells him no man can change what the Order has done.
VH reminds him he’s no ordinary man. He tells him that the two of them together can destroy the order. VH tells him he has means. Drac orders him to remove the cursed blade before it kills him and he does. Drac feeds on the other man that came into the crypt with VH while his rescuer watches.
VH tells him that he shouldn’t have killed the huntsman in such an obvious way. He says they need help and he delivered mayhem. VH draws some of Drac’s blood and complains that it is like sludge. He tells VH that of all the things he’s dealt with – stakes and a century in a box – his needles are the most annoying. VH is working on a cure for Alexander’s sunlight problem but it’s been a decade and still no success.
At the fencing club, Lucy flirts with a man (Alistair) preparing to fight and offers him her favor before his fight. She ties on a scarf. Mina shows up late to the event with a wound – she had to sew herself up after a lab accident. Jonathon admires her technique but her other friends don’t want to see it. Alistair will be fencing with Daniel, the reigning champion.
Lady Jane and fellow Order member Browning discuss whether to call in reinforcements after Kruger was dispatched. Jane says she’d rather handle the situation herself. He applauds her choice. Jane says she would like to deploy the Seers (as in diviners) and her associate thinks they’re a bit too devilish but agrees.
The match ends and the check is delivered and Jonathon gulps at the moment but Lucy’s mom insists on picking up the tab.
At the Inquisitor, Jonathon’s friend asks if he got the raise and he says he was put off and that this means he can’t afford a wife – – yet. Lord Laurent comes to Alexander’s house but refuses to say. They’re on the board together now that Alex took on the debt of the dead partner. He offers to buy out Laurent and Renfield hands him an offer. Laurent says his interest is not for sale at any price. Alex tells Renfield he told him that – but says so mockingly to mollify Laurent.
Alexander and Laurent drive to the offices of the Inquisitor and Renfield says he doesn’t understand why he’s bringing Jonathon and Mina into his orbit when he can just take Mina. He says he can’t just take her and turn her into a monster like him would be an abomination. He says he can’t and won’t take her. Renfield asks why then he still seeks to draw her in and Alex has no answer. He says he can’t bear to lose her twice.
Renfield heads into the newspaper office while Alexander waits in the car. Renfield finds Jonathon and hands him a card. He follows Renfield out and hops in the car with him. Jonathon confirms that the interview was a success. Alex tells him he should have a feather in his cap and Jonathon says something more tangible would have been nice. He stops the car and tells him he’s got business to attend to. He introduces them to the estate agent they’re meeting with. They’re looking at a lovely four bedroom home with servant’s quarters.
Alex tells Jonathon that he was impressed with his information on Clive’s gambling habits and says it helped him obtain the interest in the coolant company. Alex tells him he needs a VP of Public Affairs. He tells him the duties are navigating his way through the local society and business community. The estate agent hands Alexander the keys to Clive’s old place and he holds out the key to Jonathon and says it’s his if he takes the job because his attaché can’t live in a hovel. Jonathon is taken aback and says he needs to think about it.
Alex tells him that the position also comes with a generous salary and he needs an answer by Monday morning. He tosses him the key and tells him to turn out the lights and lock up. Renfield and Alex drive away and leave him at the mansion.
Mina tells Jonathon she’s worried about her lack of surgical skills holding her back on her upcoming critical exam. He’s distracted and she wants to know why. He tells her he got an extraordinary offer from Alexander. She tells him he simply must take it. She asks him to tell her everything about it.
Jane sweeps into a Chinese shop and then through a series of back rooms until she reaches the duo that didn’t answer her summons. They were too high to get out but she tells them to get their act together before she reports them to Browning.
Jonathon asks Mina if the offer doesn’t seem dodgy. He tells her they can’t find much of a history on Alexander past the last 7-8 years. She says he made his fortune on the American frontier where records aren’t paramount. She tells him Alexander is at the forefront of a technical revolution and says she’ll kick him if he doesn’t take the offer.
Laurent shows Browning Alexander’s offer to buy him out at three times the worth of his shares. They agree they need to thwart Alexander and shut down his ridiculous free power notion. Browning tells him anyone in their organization that deals with Alex will be dealt with in the harshest of terms.
Jane eats dinner with Alexander and asks him about his lighting trick at the ball. She asks how he did it and says she must know because she adores magic. He tells her it was science, physics and technology – not magic. He says he has been known to dabble in the occult. He holds out a coin and spins it on a plate. He puts a hand on her shoulder and while she watches, he makes the coin disappear. She asks where it went and he whispers in her ear. She sends the butler out and he kisses her neck and cleavage.
He takes her to bed and gets a little rough with her which she likes. He pictures Mina there with him instead of Jane. She doesn’t know and is enjoying herself immensely!
Mina walks on a rainy morning when Jonathon offers her a ride in the carriage. She asks Renfield if it’s proper in America for a single woman to ride alone with a man in a carriage. Renfield says Alexander doesn’t give a damn about propriety and she agrees and hops in. Alex tells her he doesn’t want to compromise her reputation and she says only she can do that. The storm comes down and they enjoy a quiet ride together.
Jonathon’s buddy asks if he quit and he says he’s having second thoughts. His friend tells him he’s mad. Jonathon says – why him – he says it’s odd because there are thousands of people more qualified and Alex must have an agenda. His friend asks what he’ll tell Mina and he says he’ll tell her the truth – that it feels wrong.
Alex asks Mina if Jonathon told her about the job offer and what she thinks. She says she told him to take it. He asks what she’s studying and she says medicine – to be a doctor. She tells him most people don’t approve. He tells her – so what. She giggles and says – indeed. He tells her that two words will repel all mediocrity disguised as conventional wisdom – so what.
Mina tells him she has a very difficult exam that day and if it doesn’t go well, it will be the end of her dreams. Alex tells her that the only way to fail in your dreams it to abandon them. He hands her his umbrella as they pull up at the medical school.
Mina quotes Alex’s words to herself as she begins her exam – dissecting a corpse while a roster of people, including Van Helsing, watch. She diagnoses the man’s heart issues. Alex watches unseen from the shadows. The men in the room applaud her accurate diagnosis. She smiles. Alex sneaks out.
The Seers stare at the mirror in their room. They seem to be conducting some sort of seeing ritual. They see Alex’s back in their mirror and then he turns and they see his face. His face grows large and close and opens to reveal his fangs. They recoil in horror and their mirror breaks.
Jane tells Browning that the Seers found their vampire but that he detected them and used some sort of counter-measure. She says he must be very old to have that skill. He asks if she’s consulted her peers and no one has encountered this strength before. Jane promises to track and destroy him with or without the Seers assistance.
Jonathon gets a letter from his landlady raising his rent. He complains that she just raised it last month and she says if he doesn’t like it, he should move out. Lucy and Mina are waiting on him and she says she passed her test. They are headed to the Savoy to celebrate. He says he can’t go because he has a deadline. Lucy tells him not to worry because it’s her treat – she knew it was a money issue.
Next thing we see, he’s accepting Alexander’s job offer! Alex explains that it will be casual between them and says Renfield only calls him sir to vex him. Alex asks to know all about Laurent and says he needs to know all about his darker side. Jonathon says everything he needs to know he can find out at 10 pm at his club. Alex is pleased.
That night Alex knocks on a door and is told members only. He hands the man a paper and is admitted. He heads into the bowels of the private club and finds a drag star singing. Laurent teases him for going home early. Laurent bristles at Alex’s presence. Laurent is smooching with a dude – Daniel!
Alex introduces himself to Daniel and gives him a chaste kiss on the mouth. He tells Laurent that he could care less who he chooses to love but says that other people are less broad minded – including his wife, their families and the business community. Laurent asks what he wants.
Jonathon has bought Mina a ring and plans to propose that night. His friends cheer him on and toast him for becoming a proper English gentleman with a proper English wife. One of his buddies asks how her being a doctor fits in with being a proper English wife. Mina comes in but Jonathon hasn’t seen her yet. He tells his friend confidently that when he slips this ring on her finger, she’ll forget all the silliness of university. He sees the crushed look on Mina’s face and then chases her out as she stalks away.
Jonathon tells her he has never discouraged her and she says neither has he said a single word of support. She walks away while he calls her name.
Alex drinks alone at a table. He watches a woman handing out coat checks. When the last customer leaves, he approaches her and says he must know her name. She tells him Sinead and he says it’s a lovely name. Late she lies writhing in pain while he drinks heavily form her. Footsteps approach and he finally hears them. A knife is drawn. It’s Lady Jane in hot pursuit. She finds the girl and she’s still alive but Lady Jane lops her head off with her wicked blade!
THE END!
The synopsis and sneak peek video for Dracula season 1, episode 3 “Goblin Merchant Men” is:
“Grayson seeks to determine whether Lady Jayne is a vampire hunter for the Order of the Dragon. Lucy mends Mina’s broken heart with absinthe, romance and a whirlwind tour of Bohemian London. Grayson’s machinations claim the life of Lord Laurent and earn him a powerful new enemy.”