Not The Eternal

"**Not The Eternal**" is eighth and final episode of the first season of Netflix's *Lockwood & Co.* It, like the other episodes of the first season, was released on Netflix on 27 January, 2023.

## Synopsis

As Lockwood and Lucy uncover the nature of the bone glass, they come to understand that George's life is in danger -- and time's running out to save him.

## Plot

### An act of self-defence

Anthony Lockwood and Lucy Carlyle arrive home in their cab outside 35 Portland Row. Lockwood tells Lucy he can't stand it anymore, asking her to just say something to him. He tells her that they won, that they got the Bone Glass, that it's safe with Barnes at DEPRAC and George will be back any moment. He tells her that it's over but she tells him that it's not, that they nearly died because of his bet and every relic hunter in London is out to kill them. She says they could be watching them right now, asking what they're doing this for if they end up dead. She tells him it doesn't feel like winning. She heads inside.

Inside, Lucy considers the necklace that Lockwood gave her. She and Lockwood get dressed in clean clothes and get cleaned up. He goes to her room, telling her that he's sorry, that she was right and he got carried away, thoughtless and reckless. He tells her that he wanted to say not to give up on them. He says that what he really should say is "don't give up on me." He tells her that the bottom of the Thames used to be a far more appealing place and nobody would have cared. She holds up two eggcups. "Grenadier Guard or policeman?" she asks him. "Grenadier Guard," he tells her. She tells him if George comes in and sees him using his eggcup, she's not responsible for the consequences.

Later, as the two eat, Lockwood tells Lucy that he was mostly right about Mary Dulac's book, that it was mostly a lot of babble about forbidden knowledge and the mysteries of creation. Lucy points to something in the book, telling him there was more to it than that, that Dulca wrote that she killed Edmund Bickerstaff and sealed him with iron. Lockwood asks why she killed him and Lucy reads "I shall claim an act of self-defence. His cunning servant trapped me. The doctor held the glass before me. One glimpse and I felt my sanity shake loose." Lockwood says that she must have shot him before he could kill her with the mirror, but Lucy continues to read that it was not a mirror after all, but a window. Dulac continues that all she wants to see is more. She tells Lockwood to look at the illustration, that it shows a hypnotic spiral. They look at the thinking cloth, seeing that George has doodled the same thing. It's all over the place. "Where the hell is George?" wonders Lockwood.

### George and Joplin

George, as it turns out, is back at Kensal Green Cemetery. He meets with Pamela Joplin, telling her it's good to see her. She tells him she's glad he came, that she was worried he'd have second thoughts. He suggests they get on with it. She asks how it went, if Flo Bones gave him any trouble, but he says that it went fine and that Lockwood and Lucy left him to do the donkey work as usual. She tells him not to do himself down, that Lockwood and Lucy might have talent, but that he's going down is history. She says that DEPRAC only destroys things, but that they'll learn everything. She tells him that she needs him. Quill Kipps watches from a distance as they enter the structure on the grounds.

At 35 Portland Row, Lucy drags out the Skull in the jar. She demands to know what he's seen and where George has taken the Bone Glass. She tells Lucy that she and Lockwood were too busy playing the happy couple and it's no wonder that George has found another friend. Lockwood asks Lucy to tell him what the Skull's saying and she relays the information, the two realizing that the Skull is talking about Joplin. The Skull tells Lucy that death is coming and George has gone to meet it with Joplin. She demands it tell her where they are and he says she must take him to see his master, that it's all her fault. They go to get supplies, finding that it's all empty and that George didn't restock. Lockwood says it's all his fault, that he should have noticed. Lucy says it all started going wrong when she joined, that she screwed everything up. They find only one box of salt bombs and Lucy says it's a nightmare, but Lockwood says if any agent can beat this, it's her. He tells her they'll do it together, for George. As George and Joplin descend into the underground, Lockwood and Lucy speed to the cemetery in a taxi, Lockwood complaining that Joplin was right in front of them the whole time.

Lucy realizes that it must have been Joplin all along, that she hired Jack Carver to steal the Bone Glass, putting a knife in his back when he double-crossed her, taking it to Julius Winkman. Lockwood agrees that everything she did was an act. Lucy says they knew how much it got under George's skin, but they were too wrapped up in their own stuff. He says that he's sorry, but she says this won't save him. She tells him he wouldn't do it on his own, that it's something else's work.

### The truth about Kipps

At Kensal Green, George tells Joplin that her flat would have been a nicer place, but she tells him it had to be there. He asks if it was something in Bickersaff's papers, the way to look at it safely. She says this is exactly it. They see something in the distance and George goes to check it out, discovering Quill Kipps fighting ghosts. He takes out the remaining ghosts, then disarms him, asking him what he's doing there. Kipps tells him he could ask him the same thing, saying he knows he has the mirror. George tells him he just saved his life and he says he had it under control. George says that he couldn't see it, that he was all over the place. He realizes he is losing his talent and Kipps warns him not to tell anyone, saying he'll kill him if he does. Joplin arrives, putting a knife to his back. She tells him to calm down and let go of George. She cuffs him, then places a bag over his head. He shouts that they're criminals, telling George he'll be destroyed and never work again. George asks her why she brought handcuffs and a knife and she says she knew something like this might happen.

Lucy demands of the Skull where George is. She tells it to stop glowing so much, that it'll give them away, but it says it can't when its master is so close. Lucy tells it they'd better be here and it says they will, that George is lost to them now. It tells her that she would look too, that nobody can resist. She relates this to Lockwood, pleading with him not to look, saying that she needs him to be just the right amount of reckless. He suggests they draw their swords and kick in the doors like they're cool. They do, but don't hear or see anything. They find Bickerstaff's coffin, empty. They wonder why Joplin would take Bickerstaff's body and Lockwood says it's good, that they must still be there somewhere. They realize that they must be down in the catacombs and Lucy remembers that the catafalque is still working.

The two search around, looking for a way to operate it, but just then, Bobby Vernon and Kat Godwin of Kipps's team appear before them. They all draw their rapiers and Kat asks where Kipps is. Bobby tells him they know George has the mirror and they're both there. Lucy tells them they're both in serious trouble and they need each other's help. She suggests they all put down the swords and get on with things. She asks Bobby if he knows how to operate the catafalque and he tells her it's operated from above, as he and Kat put away their swords. Just then, however, the other member of their team, Ned Shaw, comes up, telling Kat that there are people outside. They all go to take a look and discover that it's Julius Winkman and his crew. Julius shouts for Lockwood to come up. Lucy asks for Lockwood's plan and he says that he's going to barricade himself inside and rescue George and Kipps while the others fight them off.

### The eternal

Lucy, however, tells Lockwood that she'll go. She tells him it has to be her, that she has a secret weapon. He tells her it's too dangerous, but she says he has to let her do this. He steps aside and she tells him to remember "just reckless enough." She enters, closing the doors, and Kat asks what the secret weapon is. "She is," he tells her, stepping forward as Julius shouts, asking where his mirror is. Ned complains that Lockwood is going to get them all killed, that they should have run. He tells them to pull themselves together, that they're elite Fittes agents and he's Lockwood, that any of them could see them off. Inside, Lucy proceeds onward as the battle begins outside. It quickly becomes a fierce melee, with both sides struggling to gain the upper hand. Inside, Lucy lowers the catafalque, as Ned Shaw and Bobby Vernon are forced to flee and Winkman's men corner Lockwood and Kat. He tells her that they have to get them away from the chapel and to run. They do, as Lucy arrives down in the catacombs.

Lucy concentrates, hearing the terrible sound of the flies. The Skull revels in it, calling it sweet ecstasy. She tells it that it doesn't sound like it to her and it says her petty mind can't comprehend. She asks it to help her comprehend, asking if it was there when it was made. It agrees it was and Lucy asks what see. "The eternal," it replies and she asks what this means, what it saw. It tells her it wasn't stupid enough to look, that it wasn't a fool, and that you look with the eyes of someone else, someone weak and vulnerable. "George," realizes Lucy.

As Kipps is bound to a chair, George tells him that they won't hurt him, that they're doing it for his own protection. He asks if George really believes that, saying that Joplin will kill them both and they need to get out. George tells him this isn't true, that this is a scientific experiment. He calls him as mad as Joplin and George, seeing Bickerstaff's body, asks Joplin what it's doing there. She tells him they couldn't do it without him, that this is all because of him. She tells him Bickerstaff is safe behind the chains and he asks what it is she's discovered, what the methodology is. He asks how they'll look at it safely and she says that Bickerstaff's followers were all adults, that he didn't know that only youth can see beyond. George asks if it would have been him sitting there if not for Kipps. She tells him he said he wanted to see more. He realizes the cuffs were for him if he had said no. She tells him he's missing the point, that they've been buried in books and that this is a chance to do something that will tell them what they want to know.

### The battle in the graveyard

Kipps protests that they can't use him, that he can't see, that he's lost his Talent. He demands George tell Joplin. Joplin pulls away George's rapier, coming to the realization herself, that George was saving him from a ghost. She pulls out a knife to release Kipps and George recognizes it as the pair of the one that killed Jack Carver. Joplin pushes Kipps away as George states that she killed Carver. He mutters that she planned all this, but she strokes his head, telling him it will all be fine. She holds the knife up to his neck, saying it will all be absolutely perfect.

Back outside, the fight continues. One of Winkman's thugs slams Lockwood to the ground, but Lockwood manages to get the upper hand, tossing him into an open coffin. Ghosts hiss and snarl around him and he screams in horror, Ghost-Touched. Kat gets the drop on her assailant as well, sealing her into a coffin. Bobby Vernon shoves his attacker into a crypt, where he too is assailed by ghosts. Julius Winkman himself then attacks Lockwood, telling him that after he gets done with him, he's going to find his girlfriend and kill her too. Kat, however, grabs an object and beans him in the head.

The group warns Lockwood that there are others coming, only for him to have see to have disappeared. He, however, is down below, releasing more ghosts. He asks them to keep the ghosts at bay until DEPRAC gets there. They ask if he really called DEPRAC and he says that one of the huts surely has to have a phone and he'll call them on the way. "On your way where?" Kat asks him and he tells her it's to save his friends. He starts to run off. "And Kipps," he tells her, turning back. Downstairs, George tells Joplin that she doesn't care about him, only about the mirror. He says she didn't need him, sobbing that it's just like how Lucy and Lockwood didn't need him, that he's the oddball and the third wheel, dispensable. He says it makes sense that this is how it ends. As Lucy watches from a distance, the Skull comments that its master has arisen. Lucy watches the terrifying, massive ghost of Bickerstaff appearing inside the iron chains. The Skull shouts at Lucy to set him free of the chains, that his greatness must not be constrained.

### A trap

George shouts at Lucy "Behind you!" but it is too late. Joplin is there, the knife to her, commenting that she may be the little listener, but she didn't hear her coming. Lucy tells her that she doesn't think she'll kill her and George shouts that she will, that she killed Jack Carver. He tells Lucy she shouldn't have come, but she says that she had to, that George isn't a third wheel or oddball, that he's the best of them. She tells him they're not losing him. Joplin tells it's all very noble and to bind her hands. Lucy tells her that she won't, that she'll be the one to look in the mirror. She tells Joplin it has to be her, that she needs the best talent in the room. She tells Joplin that she's the best since Marissa Fittes, that she talk with Type Three ghosts.

George shouts that he won't let Lucy, but Lucy says that he would be dead in an instant. She pleads with Joplin to let her do this for him. She warns Lucy that if she crosses her, she'll cut both their throats. Meanwhile, Lockwood enters the room with the catafalque, only to find the Golden Blade waiting for him. "Really?" he wonders, telling him there have been several developments and that he's working with Fittes now. He asks if they can call a truce, that he's working with Fittes now. The Blade tells him he's not Fittes, that he has no idea who he is. Lockwood replies that he's already dealt with eight thugs and a psychopath and one more fight won't kill him, especially someone he's beaten twice already. The Blade tells him he has no idea who he's dealing with, that the Bone Glass is an inconvenience, and he's insignificant, like his mother and father. Lockwood asks him what this is supposed to mean and the Blade tells him he'll never know, pulling out a gun and shooting him.

Down below, George pleads with Lucy not to look, that it'll kill her. She tells him to not dare look, that whatever happens, it's not his fault, that it was her choice. "Tell me what you see, what you feel, and what you hear," demands Joplin, removing the shroud from the Bone Glass. A stream of blue energy hurtles towards Lucy from it. She turns her head and Joplin shouts at her to look. Instead, Lucy grabs the jar containing the Skull and shoves it up against the stream of energy. It screams and Joplin demands that if Lucy can talk to it, she tell her what it says. Lucy tells the Skull take it all and tell its master what it sees. It wails, shouting at Lucy that this isn't right, that something has changed, that they're trapped. Joplin demands that Lucy explain what the Skull is saying and she relates its words as the Skull tells her that it's "not the eternal," that it's a trap and they have to destroy it.

### Set free

Lucy whimpers and goes limp and George rushes over, knocking down the tripod and sending the Bone Glass to the floor. He runs to Lucy, pleading to her to speak to him. She opens her eyes. Joplin runs over the Glass, which has a deep crack, whining that George broke it. She calls him a stupid little boy. The Glass seems to whoosh and she says that it's working, that something is happening. She calls it extraordinary. George, however, tells Lucy to look away as Joplin shouts that it's wonderful and the energy pours from the glass, consuming her. Her body explodes from the energy. Lucy tells George that it's okay as the seven spirits emerge from the Glass, freed at last, once and for all. They sigh and George wonders why they aren't coming for them. "You've set them free," Lucy tells him.

Just then, however, a much more frightening apparition appears, that of Edmund Bickerstaff. The blast has blown apart the chains that were binding him. George asks Lucy where her rapier is and she tells him that God only knows and that Bickerstaff is locking them, that they can't move. The ghost descends and George tells Lucy he's sorry about everything. She tells him she is too. The ghost snarls, extending massive jaws. Just then, Lockwood appears, shouting at the ghost to get away from Lucy and George, that they're his friends. He tosses his rapier straight through the apparition, shouting at Lucy and George to move. They do and he tosses salt-bombs at the ghost, holding it back. Lucy tosses a silver net over Bickerstaff's body, causing the ghost to vanish.

Lucy asks Lockwood what happened. He gives her the quick summary of events above, ending by saying that he got shot. He clutches his bleeding shoulder and collapses, George saying that they need an ambulance. Lockwood tells him that he needs to destroy Joplin's tape, keep Kipps quiet, or he'll be even more done than him. Lucy tells him that he isn't done, that this isn't how he dies. She tells him they won't let him. And so they all, Kipps included, ride the catafalque back up. As DEPRAC ambulances surround the scene, Kipps tells Lucy that he doesn't know what happened, but he knows it was her, that her talent saved them. She tells him they all did their bit. "Except for me," he tells her, saying that she doesn't know what it's like for your talent to fade, that you sense the ghosts, know that they're there, but can't do anything about it, that all that's left is terror. He tells her it will happen to her one day, that everything that makes her special will be gone. She tells him she didn't know and he's surprised, expecting that George would have told her. She shakes her head, promising they won't tell anyone.

### The end of the case

Montagu Barnes tells Lucy that it's okay for her to see Lockwood now. She and George go to one of the ambulances, where Lockwood is sitting, his arm in a sling. "Just reckless enough," he comments, smiling. Barnes tells Lucy and George that he was hoping they could help him, that they found the bullet, but no sign of a firearm. He asks if either them saw anyone with a gun. They say nothing and he asks Kipps, who suggests that Lockwood would know. Lockwood, however, says that it was dark and he couldn't see a thing. Barnes asks if there's nothing he's not telling him, but he says he isn't. Barnes tells him that the Bone Glass will go to the Fittes furnaces and that Julius Winkman is off to prison. He offers congratulations to Lockwood & Co. for solving the case.

"He awarded you the case," points out Kipps, telling Lockwood that he'll write the advert and hand in his notice. Lockwood tells him that this is all he needed to hear, that they should forget about it, that it was a stupid idea in the first place. He tells him that he told Barnes to split the commission. "50-50?" asks Kipps and Lockwood tells him that it was 70-30, that Lockwood & Co. is a small organization, after all. Kipps chuckles and they shake hands. Kipps tells him he's alright, 30% alright. George says that Lockwood had to outplay him on every level, but Lucy says it was the right thing to do. Lockwood asks who will help him get out there and the three of them set off, arm in arm. George asks Lucy if she feels like they've won. She says that once she's home with a cup of tea, she might.

The Golden Blade enters a car. He tells someone that DEPRAC has the Bone Glass, that it's damaged and will be going to the furnaces. He apologizes, telling the person with him that he thought he'd killed Lockwood. The woman with him is Penelope Fittes. She tells him that it's okay, just so long as the Glass is out of the public domain. She suggests that they nevertheless take extra precautions, telling him to drive on. Back at 35 Portland Row, Lucy narrates a recording to Norrie White, telling her that everything is dark and top-secret and she can't give her any details yet. She tells her that she'd hardly recognize her, that she's been through so much, but starting to heal. She tells her she hopes she is too.

### No more secrets

Downstairs, the three prepare for a meal, a fresh thinking cloth donning the table. George tells them it's his secret recipe. Lucy narrates that George did not actually hate her guts and turned out to be a bit of a hero. She says that Lockwood almost died so many times, but has decided he's better off alive. She tells Norrie that she herself feels stronger, less scared of her talent and of everything. She stares at the Skull jar. Lockwood asks if it still hasn't said anything. George asks what Lucy thinks it actually saw. She shrugs, saying she'd rather not think about it. Lockwood says they'll destroy the Skull if they want. Lucy, however, says that they should keep it and he agrees that it's good because it's incredibly rare, that she is too. She tells him that nobody can find out and he promises they won't.

Lockwood tells the two of them that he's been thinking and that they shouldn't have any more secrets between them. He tells them that he did see who shot him, that it was the Golden Blade, and that the Blade told him he was part of something else and told him that his parents' deaths were insignificant. George says they have to find out what this means, and Lockwood agrees they will, but not until after he's had a chance to heal. He starts up that he could do some background research, but Lucy playfully stuffs a pastry in his mouth. Lockwood tells them that there's something else they should know, that it's about the locked room upstairs. "No more secrets," he says again, taking them upstairs. As he reaches for the door handle, Lucy tells him he really doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. He tells her he does. He asks if they're ready. He turns the door handle.

## Notes

* This is the fifth of five episodes of the first season of *Lockwood & Co.* adapting events from the second novel of the book series, *The Whispering Skull*.
* The episode ends with the cliffhanger of Lockwood preparing to reveal what is behind the secret door at 35 Portland Row. The original *The Whispering Skull* novel ends with Lockwood revealing the essential point of what's behind the door, the details being left for the sequel, *The Hollow Boy*.
* The song played in the opening of the episode is "Homesick" by the Cure.

## Cast

### Starring

* Ruby Stokes as Lucy Carlyle
* Cameron Chapman as Anthony Lockwood
* Ali Hadji-Heshmati as George Casper Karim

### Other Cast In Order of Appearance

* Louise Brealey as Pamela Joplin
* Jack Bandeira as Quill Kipps
* Michael Clarke as Skull
* Rhianna Dorris as Kat Godwin
* Paddy Holland as Bobby Vernon
* Rico Vina as Ned Shaw
* Ben Crompton as Julius Winkman
* Luke Treadaway as Golden Blade
* Ivanna Jeremia as Inspector Barnes
* Morven Christie as Penelope Fittes