As the episode begins, Hermia Easterbrook uses an exercise machine while smoking a cigarette. When she finishes, she checks her husband’s suit and finds no blood on it. Inspector Stanley Lejeune (Sean Pertwee) looks through the evidence at the police station. Next, Mark (Rufus Sewell) pays a visit to Yvonne Tuckerton (Claire Skinner) and speaks to her about Thomasina and the witches. He is convinced that Yvonne went to the three women and they agreed to get rid of Thomasina for him but he wants to know how they did it. When he leaves, he meets with Zachariah Osborne (Bertie Carvel) and he learns that David (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) went to The Pale Horse.
Zachariah believes David had Clemency killed so he could inherit her money and he is worried that they’re going to be next. He points out the fact that their hair is falling out. Mark gets angry about it and tells Zachariah that he doesn’t want to hear it anymore. Mark heads inside and he imagines Delphine (Georgina Campbell) comforting him. He remembers speaking with Delphine in the bathroom on the day of her death. He asks her what she did that day and she says she went shopping but didn’t buy much. After that, Mark heads upstairs and Hermia questions him about his suit. Mark changes his story completely before Hermia gets angry.
She rips his pants and screams. Mark tells her about Clemency’s death before pretending Hermia is to blame for everything. Clemency is laid to rest after that. During the funeral ceremony, the three witches show up and watch everything from a distance. Mark suspects David might have had something to do with Clemency’s death. Hermia prepares food for everyone while Mark speaks to David about Clemency’s passing. Hermia gets angry at Poppy (Ellen Robertson) for flicking ashes everywhere and imagines killing her but doesn’t. Mark takes David to the basement and confronts him about the death. Eventually, David admits he went to the three women and they helped. He was angry that Clemency was giving away his inheritance so he had her killed.
Mark wants to know what they are since he doesn’t believe they’re witches. David explains that once you’re cursed, you’re cursed and they’re coming. He also says that you never have to say words like kill, murder, or dead. Mark talks about holding David at his Christening and renouncing the devil. David tells him that he needs to find out who wants him dead. We see another flashback of Georgina with the witched and Hermia lashing out at Mark. Next, Mark returns home and speaks with Hermia. She says she is surprised he came home at all so he calls her banal. Mark says his wife has a perfect face and nobody would ever guess what’s really underneath it. He tells her that she won’t get what she wants because he is going to win.
He goes to bed and invites her to join him. That night, Mark has a nightmare that the witches and some type of monster are after him. Hermia finds him screaming “wake up” over and over again. In the morning, Mark steps outside and finds a dead bunny in his vehicle. Hermia watches as he leaves. Mark takes the bunny to Zachariah and asks how to deal with the witches. Zachariah explains that you need to fight back with fire so Mark returns home and builds several Molotov Cocktails. Inspector Lejeune visits him seconds later and tells him he smells like petrol. It sounds like the inspector suspects Mark is to blame for the murder of his first wife. Investigators found a neighbor who heard footsteps and heard voices. Mark denies it since Delphine was alone.
Later that night, Mark drives through the night and remembers what everyone has said. He goes to The Pale Horse and sits down with the witches. They deny doing anything like that but Mark doesn’t believe them. He suspects they have unique skills and he wants them to save him from the curse his wife put on him. He gives them a handful of money and says he wants the obstacles removed. He gives the witches two names, Hermia Easterbrook and Stanley Lejeune. He says he wants to know their fortunes. One of the women takes the money and they tell him to be quiet. Mark closes his eyes and we see a flashback of Delphine’s death. She tells him she bought some Scotch. He looks in her wallet and finds the paper with Oscar’s name on it.
Mark believes she is having an affair so he gets angry and knocks the radio into the water with her. He goes outside and runs into Hermia. He tells her that Delphine is in the bath and she sent him out for fish and chips. They leave together before returning and finding Delphine’s body in the bathtub. Mark leaves The Pale Horse after the women tell him it has worked. The women say that is nearly done after he is gone. Mark returns home and finds Hermia on the floor. She is rushed to the hospital and Inspector Stanley shows up there a short time later. Both are in bad shape. Mark learns that his wife likely overdosed and her condition probably will not improve. Mark approaches a statue of Jesus and tells it to punish him.
That night, Mark goes out and parties with several women. He remembers the dead rat in Thomasina’s sink and Osborne telling him that they’re coming for them. Mark goes to Osborne’s shop with a crowbar and breaks inside but Zachariah is not there. He notices that Zachariah has a bunch of cases of rat poison and a key-cutting machine. He looks through a filing cabinet and finds one that says “Obstacle: Thomasina Tuckerton”. He finds another for Clemency and digs through it. On top of the cabinet, he finds a book about making corn dollies. Osborne emerges and tells Mark that he nearly gave on those dolls because they were fiddly. He says he is going to bill Mark for the repairs for his door. He confesses that he kills Tuckerton using Thallium.
He goes on to explain that you can’t see, taste, or smell it. It is untraceable too. He says people are wealthy and you can through the papers and see what wealthy old bag is giving her money to animals or what shameless daughter is making a show of herself. Then, you write a letter and people will write back. He explains that nobody ever sees him so he remains anonymous. He uses the witches to make people believe. Osborne says he watched Mark run away from Thomasina. When he saw Mark in the police station, he knew he could do anything to him. He was a guilty man who would believe anything. He tells Mark he’d be dead if he wanted him dead and Stanley was tough. Mark mentions his wife so Zachariah says he doesn’t like leaving her in a coma but he doesn’t think Mark cares about her anyway.
Zachariah blames everything on Jessie. He says he had a grand set-up and he brought Jessie in to help. Jessie found the three women and they became a pain in his side. People paid through the Pale Horse and Zachariah got the money. The three women eventually recognize some of the names from the newspaper but Jessie says she only wants to hear from her mother. The women tell Jessie that her mother hates her because she is wicked. They ask her how many there are. They want to know if Mark is paying her too. Jessie runs away before returning to Zachariah to tell her about them. He says they’re frauds and they want to upset her. She mentions Mark’s name and believes he might be doing jobs without her.
Jessie gets sick, writes the list, and Zachariah kills her that night. He tells Mark that he has lost count of his victims after the first 30. Mark grabs the crowbar and intends to protect himself. Mark admits he didn’t burn The Pale Horse so Zachariah says he’ll have to deal with them himself. He also says Mark will always have to question everything he eats and drinks. Mark gets upset and smashes him in the face with the crowbar. Mark burns the evidence and paperwork before leaving. Hermia wakes up at the hospital and gets a visit from the three women. She asks them what is going to happen to Mark next but they say nothing. Mark walks down the street and seems a bit paranoid.
He returns home and grabs the newspaper on the way in. In the newspaper, he finds a headline about the mysterious death of an antique dealer. It also says the Easterbrook tragedy strikes again. His picture is right there with it. Mark walks through the hallway and sees Delphine go into the bathroom with the radio. He says not again but it doesn’t seem he can stop it.
The Pale Horse Review
I enjoyed both episodes of The Pale Horse but I can see why people didn’t like the finale. I haven’t read any other explanations of the finale and I am not going to. I’ll just see it how I see it. I liked the finale and found it to be fairly realistic. Zachariah was killing people for money with help from Jessie. As for Mark, it seems that he was dead or died at some point. He killed Delphine and he is now stuck in a repeating cycle of her death.
That makes the most sense to be. I guess he was punished for his actions and will have to live with it for eternity. He paid the witches to get rid of his wife and Stanley. Zachariah took care of that for him but Mark wasn’t able to escape his devious deeds. I enjoyed the show and think many will. However, they will need to overlook the shaky finale. It wasn’t bad but a lot of people will want more. I am a bit busy and don’t have time to delve deeper into the ending so please forgive me.
The finale scores a 7 out of 10. The other recap for The Pale Horse is available 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.
