It’s execution day on The Nevers! Will this week’s episode, “Hanged,” force Maladie to take her last breath? Let’s find out!
May God Have Mercy | Following a lengthy trial, Maladie (Amy Manson) is sentenced to death and Lord Massen (Pip Torrens) orders her hanging to be public, also giving away to his council that they were behind Mary’s murder. Underneath London, Dr. Hague (Denis O’Hare) sees the giant glowing orb develop a crack and shows this to Lavinia (Olivia Williams), who believes that there is a creature inside the orb. Amalia (Laura Donnelly) orders Penance (Ann Skelly) to look into the tunnels underneath Massen’s estate, while the London police begin to register all the Touched with ribbons identifying them.
Creating Chaos | Swann (James Norton) has a lawsuit facing him after a Touched partygoer injures one of his guests and Mundi (Ben Chaplin) refuses to help him, but Swann makes friends with a nosy journalist named Effie Boyle, who asks him for a favor. As Augustus (Tom Riley) is briefed on Amalia and Penance’s plan, Massen meets with the Beggar King (Nick Frost) and tells him to create chaos. That night, Amalia and Penance see a row of nooses outside the front door of the orphanage.
The next morning, Penance tells Amalia that she plans on rescuing Maladie from her execution to prove that the Touched are not going to stand by and let their own die. Amalia strongly disagrees with the plan and informs Penance that she’ll be going to Massen’s estate with or without her and publicly announces the two plans to the orphans and forces them to pick a side. Most of them go with Amalia, including Bonfire (Rochelle Neil) and Augustus, but a few stick with Penance.
The Hanging | With Swann’s help, Effie publishes Maladie’s last words in the paper, much to Mundi’s fury. As Penance and her crew prepare to free Maladie, the men drag Maladie out to be hanged and she immediately leap off the balcony to her own death! But that’s not all: One of her men electrocutes the metal railings that the bystanders are holding onto, killing them and causing a panicked riot that results in Penance and others getting severely injured.
When Penance and company return to the orphanage, they find Amalia and her crew injured and the two women simply look at each other. As Mundi inspects Maladie’s corpse, he sees that her toes are missing and quickly realizes that the corpse is not Maladie- it’s one of her cronies, who took her place when Mundi arrested her! And for one last twist: Effie is actually the real Maladie and she reveals herself in the chaos, laughing at her own hanging!
The Nevers airs Sundays on HBO.