Crusoe Episode 1.02 Sacrifices

Friday dreams he's following a woman wearing native attire who is walking on the misty shore. He follows her but can't see her face. She stops, points toward the ocean and turns toward Friday, revealing that she has a skull for a face. Friday wakes Crusoe to tell him he saw a woman walking on shore. Thinking Friday's talking about real life, Crusoe runs down to the ocean to search for her, only to learn she was a dream. Frustrated, he walks back to the treehouse. Friday calls after him, saying there's a reason for all of this.

The next morning, Friday tries the pump but there's no water. They go down to clear a clog in the rock leading to the aqueduct and Crusoe gets his arm stuck in a crevice. When he pulls it out, his wedding ring is gone. Frantic to get it back, he rigs an explosion to widen the hole, but accidentally leaves the powder keg by the lit fuse. The huge blast creates a large opening in the rock face. Water rushes out and so does a weird box with an ominous skull carved on it. It frightens Friday, but Crusoe is curious and wants to see where it came from.

The blast uncovers a cave with primitive drawings on the walls. Crusoe tastes the water in an ancient aqueduct carved into the ground and spits it out, saying it's bitter. Friday studies the drawings and says it's a water shrine. Crusoe quips that he'll trade the water God his wedding ring for the odd box, but a very serious Friday says he shouldn't joke about it. The cave shakes and the two run out. Crusoe says they should make the opening safe. A shaken Friday clearly thinks there are more spiritual aspects to the occurrence.

Crusoe remembers his wedding day and looks at his naked ring finger. Friday says he wasn't scared until he saw the woman's face, which looked like the skull on the box. Crusoe insists he had a nightmare, but Friday says she's a soul trying to tell him something. Crusoe brushes it off. Friday says, "I learn from you, why won't you learn from me?" Crusoe sees that wax is covering a hole on the box's corner. They melt it and a key falls out. However, they realize the box is a puzzle and must be opened a certain way. Friday figures it out and opens it. Inside is a skull with long black hair. "It's her," he says.

Friday wonders why every time he sleeps, the woman brings him to the beach. Crusoe insists it's a dream and tries to discourage Friday's superstitions, but he persists, saying the woman turned the water bitter and stole Crusoe's ring. Crusoe gets angry when Friday asks if he thinks Susanna is dreaming abut him when he dreams about her. Crusoe says it would comfort him to think that, but that doesn't make it so. Friday says if they don't help the mysterious woman, she'll turn more springs bitter.

At the treehouse, Crusoe, affected by Friday's ponderings, quietly asks Susanna if she can hear him. Friday puts the skull on a mantle with candles and asks it what it wants of him. Using a grate that washed up on shore, Crusoe sifts the streambed looking for his ring. Friday is confused why the ring is so important, since the wedding vows should suffice. Crusoe says since he doesn't have Susanna, he'd like to have the ring. Friday thinks the woman is tormenting him. Crusoe says he sees Susanna and his children but not as spirits. He doesn't think they're tormenting him unless it's for ignoring all the signs he was given in this world.

Flashback to England. Susanna's wealthy father, John Tuffley, tells Crusoe "you people" chose the wrong side of the civil war and the king won't forget it. Crusoe says that was 30 years ago, before he was born. Tuffley says it doesn't matter and wishes Susanna had chosen more wisely. He doesn't dislike Crusoe, but worries if King James gets the throne Susanna will be married to an enemy of the crown. Crusoe says he's just a merchant. Tuffley replies that merchants are a well known nest of republicans and warns, "I'll drop you the moment you dissenters fall out of favor." He tries to pay Crusoe to break from his family, but he won't do it.

Friday shows Crusoe what he's learned from the cave drawings. The woman and her people weren't from the island and she was a human sacrifice. Her body was given to the sun, her head to the earth, and her heart to the sea. She was sacrificed to water, imprisoning her spirit in the spring. Crusoe says to throw the skull in the sea where her heart is, but Friday says they need all her bones. Crusoe doubts they can find them. Friday thinks it's possible, if they can find the tomb. Then she'll stop tormenting him, the water will be sweet again and Crusoe might get his ring back. Crusoe is skeptical, but goes along.

As they go deeper in the cave, Crusoe realizes they are following a water course in some ancient ruins. Friday says it should lead to the holy place. Crusoe steps on a stone, triggering a giant sluice gate. It closes, separating them. Crusoe figures out how to open it and they continue. Crusoe comments that these people knew engineering. They hear a wolf howl, spooking them. Friday says that Crusoe shouldn't worry so much about Susanna and his children since they have a powerful godfather, Mr. Blackthorn. Flashback to Blackthorn thanking a priest for rushing Crusoe's marriage paperwork through, making it legal. He says he's doing it out of "concern for their souls."

They come to a precipice on the edge of a chasm where an old bridge leads to the other side. They cross the narrow crumbling bridge high above the chasm to another part of the ruins. Friday points out that the bridge is really old. They make it across and continue. Friday asks if they have human sacrifices in England. He says they executed King Charles the First, but doesn't know if that counts. And, that England didn't have a king for 11 years so they brought his sons back. Crusoe says he was brought up during the reign of Charles the Second.

Flashback to England where Blackthorn tells Crusoe that the King had a fit on Friday. Crusoe asks Blackthorn to extend his loan because he's not finding many business opportunities. Blackthorn is happy to do it. Crusoe thanks him for being so kind to him, especially because he fears he can't repay him. Blackthorn says he has no family and it pleases him to help. A bell tolls, the crowd stops and mourns. King Charles the First has been executed. Crusoe tells Friday that the day they executed Charles, the crown was passed to his brother James. "And that's the day my troubles started," Crusoe says.

Crusoe and Friday come to the end of the water trail and find an altar, which Friday believes is also the woman's tomb. They try to force it open, but it's sealed tight. Crusoe figures the tomb is much older than the skull, so they must have a way to open it. Like the box, it's a puzzle, with pictograms that match the box. They figure out that the sides of the box are keys, and fit into slots in the tomb. As they disassemble the box and insert all the keys, a growling animal watches them from the jungle.

Keys in place, the top of the tomb rises, revealing the bones, sans a skull. Hearing a howl, they hurry and pack up the bones. Just as they are about to leave, they are cut off by a viscous dog. Soon, more dogs join that one and the angry growling pack surrounds them. Crusoe thinks they are just dogs, but Friday thinks they are guarding the bones. Crusoe wants to give the bones to them, but Friday won't hear of it. That leaves them with one option; running for their lives.

They take off back from where they came with the dogs on their heels. They get to the precipice, but a big crack cuts through it. With no choice, they cross it. It cracks more behind them, deterring some of the dogs. However, many still chase them. They close the sluice gate, blocking more off, but still one makes it through. Crusoe knocks the supports down for the cave and it collapses. They think they are safe, but the dog digs through and they race toward the beach.

On the beach, Friday is preparing the bones. Crusoe turns around and sees the lone dog racing toward them. He screams at Friday, who hurls the sack of bones into the ocean. They sink and come to rest on the sandy floor, reunited with the woman's heart. The dog stands and growls at them, then without prompting, leaves.

Back at the treehouse, Friday tells Crusoe that he did a good thing. Crusoe says he was just helping a friend, but Friday says it was more than that and he'll be rewarded. Crusoe pumps the water and tastes it. It's back to being clean. He pumps more water and his coveted wedding ring falls out of the spigot.