Penny Dreadful (TV Series)

Memento Mori (2015)

Helen McCrory: Madame Kali

Quotes 

• [Madame Kali talks to her daughter Hecate Poole about Sir Malcolm] 

  Madame Kali : A man's character is always his destiny. And now that Malcolm is himself again. He is full of anger... and will strike back. And so he will come... in all his manly rage.

• [Madame Kali asks Ferdinand Lyle if Ethan Chandler loves Vanessa Ives] 

  Madame Kali : Does Mr. Chandler love her?

  Ferdinand Lyle : Do you?

  Madame Kali : [Madame Kali scoffs]  Does she love him?

  Ferdinand Lyle : She's opaque.

• [Madame Kali suspects Sir Malcolm of being Vanessa Ives' father] 

  Madame Kali : You knew her when she was born, didn't you?

  Sir Malcolm Murray : Yes.

  Madame Kali : You saw her grow into the fine young woman she is?

  Sir Malcolm Murray : Yes.

  Madame Kali : Yeah. You watched her rather carefully, I'd say.

  Sir Malcolm Murray : Did I?

  Madame Kali : Of course you did. She was always your favorite. It's good we care for our daughters.

• [Madame Kali reveals her intentions to Sir Malcolm in wanting him for a companion] 

  Madame Kali : Eternal life, eternal beauty. Such shallow pursuits. What value do they hold if we walk always alone? I've been too much alone... and this house is... so cold. But with you, I've found a kind of elation. To feel the old touch of passion. To yearn. To be truly human.

  Sir Malcolm Murray : My humanity, such as it is, is colder than this house.

  Madame Kali : [Madame Kali starts to tear up]  No. No arrogance or pride. This is your chance to live, Malcolm. Let's bury the past together. Your wife... your son, your daughter, and all my sins as well, which surely match your own. Far exceed them. I don't want to live alone. Nor do you. So take my hand and love me. We have no one else. And together we will walk quietly. So quietly.

  Sir Malcolm Murray : You know, if I could, I would tear that beautiful head from your shoulders and laugh all the while. But if you will let Miss Ives live, I will walk with you to the end of time.

• [Ferdinand Lyle talks with Madame Kali as she gets a massage from the younger witches] 

  Ferdinand Lyle : I gave that up long ago. It was too embarrassing. Forever trying to remain fit with rubdowns and medicine balls and glandular injections, while always around me there were more handsome men who had the thrill of genuine youth. Guardsmen in shining uniforms and stable hands with thicker arms. Yes. I admit to vanity about my complexion and hair color. What harm there, really? So I render myself foolish? Well, hang a man for that and it'll be a very crowded gallows. But then there's you. Quite a different paean to youth we sing there.

  Madame Kali : Well, we will sing it, won't we?

  Ferdinand Lyle : Oh, yes. The sword you dangle over my head would cut deeply.

• [Madame Kali threatens Ferdinand Lyle to know where Miss Ives and Ethan Chandler are] 

  Madame Kali : And you've absolutely no idea where they've run off to?

  Ferdinand Lyle : None.

  Madame Kali : [Madame Kali holds the blades of her ring into Ferdinand's neck]  Are you telling me the truth?

  Ferdinand Lyle : Yes.

  Madame Kali : I can feel your blood pumping. The most minute pressure and the artery is open to me. Your blood would paint this room.

  Madame Kali : [Madame Kali smiles when releasing her hand away from Ferdinand]  I know you're not lying. You always bat your eyelashes most coquettishly when you lie.

• [Madame Kali forces herself on to Ferdinand Lyle, kissing him on the lips] 

  Madame Kali : You taste like a fat little man.

• [Madame Kali talks with Sir Malcolm after holding him hostage in her dungeon] 

  Madame Kali : Memory. It is such a potent force in our lives. All of these memento mori... for one sobering message... 'Remember that you will die.'

• [Madame Kali tells Sir Malcolm that she needs him to be bait for Vanessa Ives] 

  Sir Malcolm Murray : What do you want of me?

  Madame Kali : You see, darling, I understand hunting as well. Though I've never been to your beloved Africa. Sometimes you tie a lamb to lure a lion, don't you? So all I require of you is that you...

  [as Madame Kali mimics the sound of a sheep bleating]