As the episode begins, we see that it is 1960 and we’re in Much Deeping, Surrey. Delphine Easterbrook (Georgina Campbell) enters a home and sits down with several women. Thyrza Grey (Sheila Atim) watches at Delphine has the marks on her hands examined. Delphine is asked what she would like to know before saying she wants to know if she will make Mark (Rufus Sewell) happy. We see her walking into a bathroom and bathing in the tub. She carries an electrical item before the lights blink several times and shut off. Mark finds his wife dead in the bathtub moments later. Mark sits with his wife’s body which is laid in a coffin. He is told it is time to put the lid on.

Next, we see a woman walking to The Pale Horse. She arrives and introduces herself as Jessie Davis (Madeleine Bowyer). She says she has an appointment before being allowed inside. After the intro, we jump to London in 1961, a year after Delphine’s death. Jessie Davis struggles to get out of bed while someone outside calls her name. She pulls a clump of hair from her head before getting up and writing down a list of names. Meanwhile, Mark receives a package. He opens it up and finds a stuffed polar bear inside. Hermia Easterbrook (Kaya Scodelario) answers the phone nearby. After that, Mark goes out on the town. The nightlife is very busy but a few street preachers are there to tell everyone they’re sinning and will pay for it.

Then, we’re introduced to Thomasina Tuckerton (Poppy Gilbert) who is caught up in a scandal. She speaks with her friend about seeing her new lover. Before too long, she heads outside and runs into that new lover Mark. They kissing in the middle of the road while the preachers speak out against them. Jessie Davis leaves her apartment that night. Something scares her from behind before we jump over to the women Delphine visited earlier. In the morning, Mark finds out that Thomasina has passed away. He wipes down everything to remove his fingerprints before leaving. Moments later, two kids find the body of Jessie Davis. Mark returns home and showers. He is haunted by Tuckerton’s death and remembers pulling a patch of hair from her head.

Hermia catches him throwing his clothes away so he claims he hit a cat and it got blood all over his clothes. Jessie’s body is taken to Inspector Stanley Lejeune (Sean Pertwee). The list of names is found in her shoe. Meanwhile, Hermia prepares for guests. He receives a call from the inspector seconds later. Zachariah Osborne (Bertie Carvel) identifies Jessie’s body. As Osborne prepares to leave, Mark enters and introduces himself to the inspector. He pretends not to know Zachariah. Mark sits down with the investigator before learning about the list, Jessie’s workplace, and where she lived. He confirms that he knows someone by the name of Ardingly and that name is on the list. When he leaves, he goes to Jessie’s flat and pays her landlord to stay quiet.

He looks around and finds a Redslip Transportation pamphlet for Much Deeping. He returns home and finds a similar one in his safe. It belonged to his wife and it has the name Oscar and a phone number on it. He calls the number and Oscar Venables (James Fleet) answers. Mark says nothing until causing the man to hang up seconds later. Hermia continues preparing for the party and she takes a pill. Mark travels to Much Deeping and looks around but he finds nothing out of the ordinary. It seems to be a sleepy town. On his way out, he passed by Oscar but doesn’t know who he is. At the Tuckerton House in Berkshire, Yvonne (Claire Skinner) returns home.

She speaks to the butler about Thomasina and whether or not she has been around. She also receives an invoice that needs to be paid. The party begins and Hermia works to ensure everything is happy. David Ardingly (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) finds Mark and asks him if the police have seen him. Hermia speaks with Poppy (Ellen Robertson). She is asked about dealing with Delphine’s belongings after her death. The woman goes on and on Hermia, her relationship, and Delphine. She knocks ashes into the food Hermia prepared for the guests. She ends up throwing that food into the trash. Meanwhile, Mark tells David about the investigation, Much Deeping, and everything else.

David suspects the list had something to do with a scam or people begging for money. He imitates the poor people who often call Clemency (Sarah Woodward) and beg for money. Then, he bums money from Mark so he can take Poppy on vacation. David tries to convince Mark not to get obsessed with the list but he can’t since Delphine went to Much Deeping. David says it was nothing more than an accident. That night, Mark has a nightmare including Thomasina. When he heads outside, he finds a doll on his car but he throws it down and ignores it. He decides to visit Clemency. She talks to him about grieving the loss of his wife. Mark notices a clump of hair on his shoulder.

After that, Zachariah visits Mark because he wants to talk about the list. He tells Mark that most of the people on the list have passed away. Osborne believes the witches are coming for them and they’ll die next. He has a doll like the one Mark had earlier. Mark doesn’t want to listen to anything he has to say. Back at home, Hermia becomes suspicious of her husband and decides to check his clothing. When she does, she doesn’t find any blood on them. She goes nut and slashes a pillow to pieces. They share lunch after that and Hermia wants to know more about the cat. Yvonne visits Thomasina’s flat and finds her dead. After it is reported to police Inspector Lejeune asks Yvonne why Thomasina’s name would be on a list. She wonders what poor Tommy might’ve been involved in.

Mark and Hermia decide to go to a fair in Much Deeping. As they leave home, we see that a little girl has found the doll. The fair features witches and a weird ritual. Oscar Venables is asked to cut the head off of the king and he does so. Mark realizes that Oscar is the man he called earlier in the episode. Hermia is not happy with the fair and decides to find a drink while Mark follows Oscar. He turns around and confronts Mark who says he was trying to get away from the crowds. Mark heads in the opposite direction before several women ask him if he wants his fortunes told. He agrees to give them a donation before introducing himself. He asks the women about Jessie Davis but they deny knowing her. The conversation with Sybil (Kathy Kiera Clarke), Thyrza, and Bella (Rita Tushingham) continues. Mark is told that there is a woman next to him and she is carrying a red handbag.

Then, she is gone because she is shy. Hermia arrives seconds later and she has jam. They leave together. Mark believes Hermia said something to those three women but she denies it. He has another nightmare that night and we hear someone talking about their wondrous dream. Mark wakes up next to Delphine but that is a dream too. When he really wakes up, he is alone. Hermia learns about Tommy’s death and decides to tell Mark all about her body lying there for days. When she leaves, Mark checks the article and apologizes to Tommy. Yvonne says goodbye to her stepdaughter before noticing the three women in attendance. Clemency is the next to die. Mark heads outside and finds another doll of sorts on his car. He goes to the police station and identifies Clemency’s body.

The inspector tells Mark that she had a heart attack. Mark explains that David is abroad and that is why he couldn’t identify the body. Seconds later, they sit in the inspector’s office and Mark is asked why David didn’t come for a visit. Mark explains that David thought it was a scam to get money. Mark isn’t sure why his name would be on the list before he is shown all of the pictures of those on the list and they’re all dead. The inspector believes Mark is hiding something from him but Mark suggests otherwise. Before Mark leaves, he is asked about the death of his other wife. He leaves and meets up with Zachariah who has the two dolls too. Mark isn’t sure he believes Zachariah but it seems he is coming around. Zachariah admits he is not a dreaming man but he is afraid to close his eyes now.

Mark confides in Zachariah that he knew Tommy and liked her. Mark confesses that he left her there. Zachariah says that Jessie’s hair was coming out too. She also wanted to talk to her old mom so she was interested in seances. Zachariah suspects that Jessie was onto the witches but he knows nothing about Oscar. Mark is adamant that there is no magic and that it is all levels and other tricks. He is adamant that he’ll be able to find out what is going on. He leaves and rushes over to Much Deeping to see what he can discover. He runs into Oscar along the way and confronts him. Mark tells him about his wife and that he believes it has everything to do with Oscar since Delphine went there on the day of her death.

When told her name, Oscar confesses that he gave her a lift to the railway station. He gave her his number in case anything went wrong. She was upset because she was told her marriage wouldn’t last and that Mark would be married to someone else by Autumn. Mark believes his wife went to the witches and he admits he did marry someone else. He questions who they could know what was going to happen. Mark drives further up and climbs over a fence. He walks through the woods before we see Delphine sit down with the witches. She is told that her marriage won’t last and it’ll be over by autumn. Mark watches the witches from a distance. They turn in his direction and stare at him so he tries to hide. He rushes back to his car and finds out that his hair is falling out.

 

The Pale Horse Review

I am not familiar with The Pale Horse story so everything is new to me. I’ll say that the BBC did an excellent job with the cast since it is spectacular from top to bottom. Since we’re dealing with an Agatha Christie story, you know it is going to be interesting at the least. The first episode was just that. It was a tad bit slow at times but very enjoyable. The episode told us what was going on very well. We know that the people on Jessie’s list have died or are going to die. Their hair is falling out before passing away and it seems there is no way to stop it.

All of the victims have been connected to Mark in one way or another. Now that his hair is falling out, there is a good chance that he is next. Zachariah and David might be on the chopping block as well. So, what is going to happen? Why were these individuals selected to die? I know a lot of people have been very critical of the show’s ending so we’ll have to wait and see. The opening episode was very satisfying though. It scores a 7.5 out of 10.