Unexpected events hit the Touched hard, and Amalia wants to find out who is responsible. She does find out what Mary Brighton was singing about, and it might change everything.

SPOILERS BELOW

SPOILERS BELOW

SPOILERS BELOW

The death of Mary hits the Touched hard, and Amalia wants to find out who is responsible. She considers a lot of suspects, and is shocked by a traitor in their ranks. She does find out what Mary Brighton was singing about, and it might change everything.

The episode starts with two events happening at the same time: Mary’s funeral (which Amalia does not attend, but Mundi does) and a labor dispute at the docks that involves Lord Messen (Pip Torrens). They’re upset they’ve had to handle bombs that he considers the best weapon to protect Great Britain. Of course he tells them to keep working or he’ll replace them all with foreigners. Messen’s keeping his role as self-proclaimed defender of his idea of the world, while the underserving must be kept away from power he thinks they don’t deserve. Maybe losing his daughter when the Touched got their powers should be part of this, but strangely it doesn’t.
The Touched, meanwhile, get harassed by a new group called the Purists. It’s not certain who’s supporting them, but one of them has Swan’s card. He (James Norton) quickly says he’s got nothing to do with it. He may be rich and immoral but he’s no evidence dropper.

Meanwhile, Amalia and Penance argue about how to find who killed Mary but not with too much violence. Amalia complains that she was chosen for a mission but doesn’t know how to fulfill it. She’s as frustrated as anyone about why the Touched are here, but she knows they must be protected. She then gets a flash forward inside Messen’s house.
Some of the group have their doubts about Amalia’s leadership. Bonfire Annie (Rochelle Neil) tries Amalia’s desk for size, and admits she doesn’t see the difference of working for her or Maladie, who’s still at large and accused of killing Mary. Amalia actually says Annie has a point.
Annie also finds a new Touched named Nimble (Vinnie Heaven), who can make metal discs appear. He’s linked with the Beggar King, and suggests she leave Odium (the burly guy who almost killed Amalia last week) alone. We’ll see if his skill and fashion will make her listen.

Meanwhile, Primrose learns from Myrtle (the gal who speaks all languages) that she may have understood what Mary was singing. Thanks to a lot of translators, they were able to piece together something. More on that later.
Penance looks for suspects, and talks to her forbidden (to Lavinia) crush, Augie. He rambles so much, he’s almost the prime suspect. Too bad Penance invented “wearing a wire with a wax cylinder” (best part of the episode) and got his stumbling words. It’s not long before she figures he didn’t do it, but also that he’s Touched. She even asks if his sister may be behind Mary’s death, and he wonders if that’s possible. This will further complicate their relationship, and they look so cute together, too.

Amalia does meet with Messen, and their war of words is rather clever. It’s a good match, and he’s able to “prove” he had nothing to do with Mary’s death. His contempt for the Touched (and even unions) comes through very forcefully, as he considers it a war to protect his country (and probably acts as if he owns the country, too).  Some people may wonder why he thinks every word he speaks is the Royal Decree, but just think about arrogant politicians today (especially those who get TV time).

She decides to get rid of some of Messen’s bombs, but she finds they’ve been moved elsewhere. She also figures out Lucy Best has been working for Messen in exchange for a cure. It doesn’t matter that it won’t exist, but Best (Elizabeth Berrington) wants to get rid of her touch that breaks things. She confesses that her baby died from her touch, not from the bones breaking but from the pain. This leads Amalia to make a difficult decision: kill Lucy. After an interesting fight that tears up a lot of wood, Amalia spares Lucy but tells her to leave town. She also  finds out the bombs were moved elsewhere. Messen apparently predicted a major disaster, but doesn’t get it. He’ll try again, though.

What about Maladie (Amy Manson)? She almost killed Mundi’s boss because she’s mad people are lying about her, especially the press. She also says she didn’t kill Mary because “I only kill angels, mostly”. She even claims she was in the coffin with Mary at the funeral.
She tries to get away but Mundi (Ben Chaplin) grabs her. He insists she should get justice no matter what. It’s great that he is becoming an honest cop, but can he really break from Hugo Swann? They both have something to hide now.
As for Maladie, she still seems to be talking to some god, and wondering when it will “play her” like an instrument. Someone may be “playing her”, and it’s likely someone more earth-bound.

Finally, Primrose reads what seems to be Mary’s song. It seems to be a song for Amalia, telling her she’s not alone, It also seems Mary was channeling someone else, and whoever it is wants Amalia to find him.
Anyone suspect the source of the song is the glowing orb Lavina and Mr. Hague are trying to dig out? They also consider it a threat to mankind, after all. Whoever inspired Mary’s song also talks about a “darkness” and how he had to hide underground. It sounds like the Orb is the source of the song, but did it come from the ship that visited London three years before?

The story is advancing a bit, but Messen’s hostility and Amalia’s reluctance to admit what he really knows (was she Touched more than once?) are dragging things down. There’s still plenty of potential, like what if Lavinia learns her brother is Touched or may be the “owner” of the Ferryman Club, how far Messen will go to “save” England, and whether Amalia and Maladie will have a showdown.
There’s just two episodes left in the current arc, but it may be likely fans will wait quite a while to get the whole story.

New episodes of The Nevers air every Sunday on HBO.