As the episode begins, Dracula (Claes Bang) invites Sister Agatha (Dolly Wells) into his castle and he has a story to share with her. He tells her that booked passage to England on the board of The Demeter after leaving the convent. After the intro, Captain Sokolov (Jonathan Aris) has a nightmare about Victor approaching him without a hand. Dr. Sharma (Sacha Dhawan) has sent his two men to dig up a grave and retrieve a coffin. It is the one the children have been complaining about. The lid is removed and inspected. The doctor believes the victim was buried alive since there are scratch marks on the underside of the lid. The coffin is over 70 years old yet the scratches are fresh.
The corpse begins moving in the grave. Seconds later, we see Piotr. The boy has passed away. Another boy watches and cleans. The mother is forced to drive a stake through her son’s chest. Piotr goes to the dock and signs up with Captain Sokolov. Victor is next. This time, the Captain promises that he’ll bring him back in one piece. Then, Lord and Lady Ruthven arrive with their servant. The servant is not thrilled to be there and he swats away a few flies. The portmann (Anthony Flanagan) notices Dorabella Ruthven (Lily Dodsworth-Evans) and is told to remember his place. Several coffins are loaded onto the ship before Sharma comes on board.
Count Dracula is one of the last passengers to board the ship. Agatha is surprised he was traveling openly with the passengers. Meanwhile, Piotr (Samuel Blenkin) nearly enters room 9 with the sick patients. He is stopped by the portmann and learns that the diseased individuals came on board last night. The captain is the only one allowed to see them. Dracula catches the man listening to the door. He speaks with him about his accent. After that, Piotr has a drink with Victor who seems to like him. Meanwhile, Dracula fills the air with smog so the ship has a tough time navigating the water. Ruthven’s servant, Adisa (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) causes a scene when he refuses to accept the lower quality wine.
We also find out that Sharma has brought his deaf and dumb relative onto the ship. Ruthven pleads with Adisa not to cause a scene. He also says the marriage was a necessary evil. Adisa tells him not to call him his man because it hurts. Dracula strikes up a conversation with Duchess Valeria (Catherine Schell). He tells Agatha that he enjoys talking to people and getting to know them. The Duchess finds out that Dracula’s German isn’t very good. Dracula steps outside and feeds on the portmann. He returns to Valeria with perfect German and their conversation continues. Agatha is surprised that Dracula would kill the portmann since nobody was controlling the wheel.
Dracula and Valeria continue chatting. The tell Dracula about the night her mother disappeared before he invites her to dance with him. They step back in time and dance while the captain tries to regain control of the ship. Dracula takes Valeria’s blood. Piotr and the others find out that the portmann is missing. They are also concerned that they haven’t been able to escape the fog. It seems to be following them. They learn about the disappearance of the grand duchess as well. Agatha suspects that Dracula was blocking out the sunlight with the fog. Dracula speaks with Piotr about Nelson the Britisher soul of Napoleon. He had one eye and one arm. He says they put the admiral into a barrel of rum to preserve him and some of the people on the boat drank that rum.
He checks the nearby rum barrel to make sure there isn’t a corpse inside. Dracula tells him that he met a Piotr once but only briefly. The Captain says that they’ll carry out an investigation regarding the missing passengers once they reach their destination. Dracula speaks to Lord Ruthven about Dorabella who happens to be sick. She has been hiding away in her room. Dracula sits down and gets flirty with Lord Ruthven. Piotr spends more time with Victor. When Piotr leaves, Valentin (Clive Russell) enters and asks Victor if Piotr is okay. Victor believes he is an okay lad. Dr. Sharma is haunted by the corpse in the casket. He recalls it feeding on his comrades.
He checks on Yamini and tells her that there are monsters in this world. Dorabella finally exits her room and finds out that they’re just off the coast of Greece. She walks around until Dracula approaches her. She tells him that she is going to have a lot of children with her husband. Dracula wants to talk about intimate matters. Then, she tells Dracula that they’re going to America to start a new life. In return, he says he is a vampire. He invites her to look into the mirror. He reminds her that she is a vampire. Meanwhile, we see Yamini sleeping near Sharma. Blood drips down on her cheek causing her to wake up. The blood is seeping down from the room above her. She goes up and finds Dracula feeding on Dorabella.
Dracula tells Agatha that he had to eat or he would’ve lost his social skills and he knew he could get by with a skeleton crew. The others find out about Dorabella moments later. The Captain says they’ll continue on to England. He is concerned that there is a murderer on board. Dracula asks Yamini if she saw something that alarmed her. She can’t speak so she can’t tell on him. Valentine complains about the fog. Adisa watches as Dracula gets close to Lord Ruthven. The group agrees to search the ship including cabin number 9. The Captain ends up going into the room alone. Victor and another man listen from outside. The Captain returns. He says the passenger remains very sick and there is no one else inside. During this time, Dracula, Adisa, and Sharma check elsewhere.
Valentine and Adisa get into an argument about black magic and such. Later that night, the captain speaks to the group. He tells them that one of them is the killer. A man falls down and hurts his leg. Dracula is forced to leave because he can barely control himself and Agatha knows it. The man is taken to Valentine who works to fix the leg. Dracula joins Adisa and Lord Ruthven who checks on him. Dracula manages to control himself while the others drink and eat. Later, Valentine tries to tell everyone that the ship is cursed. He wants to find everyone who feels the same. The injured man wakes up and finds Dorabella on top of him. Eventually, Dorabella turns into Dracula. He slices the man’s throat and sucks his blood.
The others find out about it moments later. Piotr lets the captain know that one of the lifeboats has gone missing. Everyone wants to know who is in cabin number 9. The chess game continues between Dracula and Agatha. They chat about number 9 before Agatha wonders how she got in Dracula’s castle. At the convent, Dracula let Mina go but not Agatha. He feeds on people and then makes them dream. The kiss of a vampire is similar to an opiate. He tells her that she is exquisite. She says she is in cabin number 9. When the others check cabin number 9, they find Dracula in there. He tells them he took matters into his own hands. The find items belonging to the victims. Dracula blames everyone on Agatha who is sick in bed.
The captain and Sharma try to convince the others that she wouldn’t have the strength to kill those men. Some want to hang and kill Agatha but others do not. She says they cannot hang her because she is a victim. She uses the opportunity to ridicule vampires and insult Dracula. She tries to scare them into letting her go. Dracula intends to kill her but she splits blood on him. He shows his true colors. She shows everyone that Dracula is the vampire. Dracula intends to return to his cabin but Yamini gets in his way. They create crosses with their hands and other objects. Dracula distracts them by trying to hang Agatha and makes a run for it. She tells everyone that she is Agatha Van Helsing. She relieves the captain of his command and takes over. After that, they check Dracula’s cabin.
She wants to know where he hides in his native soil. Meanwhile, Sharma is forced to tell Ruthven about his past experience with vampires. Ruthven believes Dracula put them all on the ship for a reason and he wants to know what Dracula sees in him. Agatha decides to set a trap for Dracula. It sounds like Ruthven is attracted to Dracula. Yamini tries to convince her father not to trust him. Ruthven closes the curtain and Dracula shows himself. Dracula wants to consume Sharma’s brilliance. Ruthven pulls a gun on the doctor in hopes of convincing him to put down the makeshift cross. Ruthven threatens to shoot Yamini. The doctor puts down the cross but Yamini grabs the potion and drinks it.
Sharma becomes worried about her as she drops to the ground. The Doctor goes after Ruthven but he is shot. Dracula is not happy with Ruthven. Dracula says he selected Ruthven for Dorabella. He inherited her money and Dracula will take it now. Dracula takes his blood as well. Piotr goes to room 10 and finds the mess there. He witnesses Dracula finish feeding. Agatha creates a barrier she hopes will keep Dracula out. Piotr arrives and tells the others about the things he saw. Piotr is awoken so he can tell them what he saw again. They want to be positive that he hasn’t been contaminated. They want to make him step out of the circle to see if he can enter it again. He steps out and directly back in before Dracula can get him.
Dracula knows that Agatha has set a trap for him. Adisa says he has an advantage over Dracula on the ship. Adisa wants to know what Dracula did to his lover. Agatha pleads with Adisa to stay inside of the circle. Dracula makes fun of him for being a servant and accepting so many commands. Adisa steps outside of the circle and tries to shoot Dracula. He shoots him several times but it doesn’t seem to matter. Adisa is killed seconds later. Piotr emerges and tries to stab Dracula and the others do too. A barrel is broken and it appears that blood is coming out of it. Dracula is held down and burned by Agatha. He runs and jumps into the water. The following day, the captain and Piotr believe they’ve won. Piotr finds a dead bird on the ship.
The Captain checks on Agatha who wants to be positive that Dracula did not survive. It has been a week but she is still concerned. Agatha suggests using the lifeboat because the ship will never reach England. Agatha is still suffering from the disease and her fingernail falls off. She cannot go to England with them. She intends to destroy the ship and go down with it. The others prepare the lifeboat. Agatha soon finds that someone else is on the ship. The captain finds her and says he learned it is the captain’s job to go down with the ship. He asks her if she wants one for the road. Agatha finds a bed with soil. She knows Dracula is alive but the captain is already dead nearby. Dracula confronts Agatha. She goes back up and finds Dracula using the wheel. The captain drags himself on the ground.
Dracula tells Agatha that he swam under the boat and climbed up the other side. He claims she came closer than anyone to killing him. The captain climbs to the gunpowder. The conversation between Agatha and Dracula continues. Dracula is convinced she is trying to distract him. The captain manages to set the ship alight. Dracula grabs Agatha by the throat and leaves her on the ground. Dracula drops down and finds the ship in disarray. Piotr and Victor are on the lifeboat. They agree to honor the others by telling their story. Piotr finally reveals that his real name is Marius. We see a coffin underwater. Dracula punches through the coffin and swims back to the water’s surface.
When he makes it to shore, he is surrounded by heavily armed officers and Agatha.
Dracula Review
I thought the first episode of Dracula was very good in the beginning but fell apart in the end. This episode was okay. I think Dracula is one of the least interesting characters in the show. In this episode, Piotr was the most interesting. In the previous one, I found that Jonathan Harker stole the show. The writers are introducing great characters and getting rid of them each episode. I really don’t have much of an interest in Dracula or Sister Agatha Van Helsing. I can’t be the only one.
The episodes didn’t connect together well at all. They felt like standalone episodes. I am beginning to think it would’ve been better to end the show after the first episode. The show is far too sexualized for no reason too. Again, I am disappointed that these two writers couldn’t come up with something better than this. This episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Dracula can be found on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
