All language subtitles for Franklin.2024.S01E08.ATVP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.Atmos.H.264-FLUX.en[cc]

[chuckles]

[in French]

[Thérèse inhales sharply]

[in English]
We cannot agree to that.

We are not inclined to yield.

First, you wish to make
a meal of Canada.

- [John] We have relinquished
that demand.
- [Franklin] I have not.

[Strachey] Now you lay claim
to the banks of the Mississippi.

If you will not pay
reparations,

we are forced to seek
compensation elsewhere.

There is still the issue
of the Newfoundland waters.

The cod is ours, sir.
We will not surrender it.

It is not yours to surrender
but ours to grant.

Such tyranny was the cause
for war to begin with.

- Mr. Jay.
- Sir?

Might I ask you not to smoke.

I find it rather suffocating.

- Your territory...
- Country.

Indeed.

Your country runs the length
of the Atlantic coast

to the southern edge of Georgia.

Now, by what rate
do you double it

and lay claim to lands
none of us here have ever seen?

By the right of the nation
we will become.

All the more reason to limit
the scope that we agree to.

If you intend to trap us
between the ocean
and the Alleghenies,

how can we regard that as peace?

If you accept no limits
to your boundaries,

how can we be secure
in our North American interests?

That you will have
North American interests
is the grounds for our concern.

- I would like someone
to explain to me...
- Mr. Grenville...

...by what magic Newfoundland...

Are you so
majestically nitwitted?

...both is and is not
part of Canada.

Were you to possess
even the most rudimentary

- grasp of precedent, you would...
- Perhaps by arrangement on...

By God's wounds!

Dr. Franklin.

Mr. Oswald.

May we dispense with a nicety?

Of what nature?

Your friends at Versailles
have drawn a map

less generous than
what we have proposed.

Have they?

You know this. We know it too.

You've come to
this knowledge how?

By the game we are,
all of us, engaged in.

Huh, it's a pretty
thing to tell a man

you've picked his pocket
as proof of your honesty.

Mr. Adams, let him speak.

[Oswald] It is they who mean
to confine you
east of the mountains.

The rest will go to Spain
and the Red Indians, hmm?

To hold us both in check.

Can we not agree
that you will gain more

by settling with us now,
and in this room,

than by deferring to the French?

Will you give us Canada?

[sighs]

We cannot.

[Franklin] Will you forego
reparations for seized property?

If you do the same.

Will you cede all the land
to the eastern banks
of the Mississippi

and guarantee the rights of
navigation on the river itself?

- We will.
- [John clears throat]

Will you grant us fishing rights
off the Newfoundland coast?

- The coast is nonnego...
- Give us...

Give us your assent now
without further engagement
of Minister Vergennes,

and the answer is yes.

[sighs]

[sighs] I don't know.

What do you mean?

I mean I don't know.

You don't know if
you will say yes?

That is correct.

When might you know?

I can't say, but I know
that I do not know now.

[scoffs]

[clock chiming]

Well...

time for supper.

Mr. Adams. Mr. Jay
would like a word, sir.

Does he treat you well, Benoit?

Mr. Jay is a most sober master.

To be told not to smoke.
Of all the presumptions.

Is that what you
wish to convey to me?

He is not the man he was.
That is unfortunately clear.

And what do you wish
to do about it?

You have already decided that.

I simply give my consent.

[sighs]

I do not like you.

[groans] Really?

I do not like your arrogance.

I do not like your...
your pretense of humility.

I do not like your so-called wit

by which you work to disarm
those who would see
through your fraudulence.

I don't like your
libertine appetites.

Damning in
someone half your age,

but positively repellent
in a man of advanced years.

I do not like your lack of
scruples, your bastard progeny,

your personal habits,
your manner of dress.

I loathe your little almanac.

Well, I did start a company
of firemen in Philadelphia.

That must count for something.

All I have said

is but a preamble.

"...compels me to denounce
all who call themselves patriots

and abhor the rebellion
they unlawfully foment.

But Grandfather has
bid me keep silent

and do not imperil
his own prospects,

whichever side may
prove the victor.

For, in unsettled times,
it is prudent to seem
one thing and be another,

and thus profit either way,
or so he instructs me.

No one is wiser
in the art of deception."

May I?

[John] No clever retort?

What does it matter what I say?
You've already tried
and sentenced me.

An innocent man would protest.

So would a guilty one.

I could ruin you with this.

You have long wished to.

Here is your chance.

There is no sin
I consider beneath you...

except treason.

Thank you. I suppose.

What do you make of
the British proposal?

They are prepared to give up
more than we could have hoped.

Then why did you hesitate?

Because...

there is what I promised,
and what I must do.

What do you think the French
will say if we accept?

They will conclude
that my word means nothing...

and they will be right.

Which nation do
you intend to serve?

I'm here for America, sir.

I have never cared
for anything else.

[sighs]

Then shall you and I
make our peace?

We shall.

You did not ask me how that
letter came into my possession.

I would suspect that
Mr. Bancroft gave it to you.

He told you so?

Of course not, but he's in
the employ of the British.

You have known this?

For quite some time.

You have made him an intimate.

He has sat here and been privy
to the most sensitive matters.

He has sown discord,
and engaged in forgery,

and acted to undermine all that
we have committed ourselves to.

That's true, but as he is
otherwise a likable fellow...

[sighs] ...I can't
hold it against him.

[sighs]

I, uh... I am going back
to my lodgings now.

[pages chattering]

[in French]

- [speaking in French]
- [pages clamoring]

Plus vite!
Plus vite! Plus vite!

[pages shouting]

[cheering]

[receptionist]

[speaking in French]

[page]

[panting]

[person chewing]

[Temple sighs]

[panting]

[chattering in distance]

[chattering]

[Temple clears throat]

[courtier clears throat]

[all exclaim]

[all murmur, chuckle]

[all laugh]

[courtiers murmur]

[courtiers chuckling, murmuring]

[courtiers chattering]

Uh, non.

[Charles shushes]

[courtiers chattering]

[whispering indistinctly]

[all] Ah, bravo! Bravo!

[all laugh]

[courtier 2] Bien dit!

[all laughing]

[all laughing, exclaiming]

[Jay, in English]
How are you this day, Doctor?

As you see me, sir.

I fear these negotiations
may have taxed you beyond mercy.

What makes you say that?

I have no wish to offend.

I'm quite immune. Speak.

An offer was placed before us
in our last meeting.

One that we might
well have built upon.

And you met it

with befuddlement.

- You think me unsound of mind.
- Are you?

Perhaps, but I would be
the last to know.

You delight
in conundrum, sir. [sighs]

I prefer clarity.

Dr. Franklin was caught on a
point of order. Nothing more.

We have discussed it
to my satisfaction.

You and I also discussed
something, as I recall.

That has been resolved as well.

Where does this put us?

With four points to secure.

Our independence, our
boundaries, our reparations...

And the sacred cod, of course.

Yes. The cod.

It would be best if we at
last spoke in one voice.

[John] Whose?

I am content for it to be mine.

I think not.

[Jay] Pardon?

You are too cold, sir.

You earn us no goodwill.

And you imagine yourself to be?

I am too hot... or so I am told.

Well, that would
seem to leave me.

Your alleged charm
must be good for something.

- [chuckles]
- [horses approach in distance]

They're here.

Uh, could you gentlemen
set out a chair for me?

I prefer to do
this upright. [grunts]

[groans]

You're much improved, Doctor?

Never better, sir.

Then may we hope
that today brings
the concordance we all seek.

We approach
in the same spirit and hope.

- Where is Mr. Grenville?
- [Franklin sighs]

Gone fishing.

You acknowledge our independence
unconditionally?

We do so acknowledge.

The boundaries of our nation
will be as settled,

extending to the eastern banks
of the Mississippi.

Agreed.

And the rights to the cod

off the Newfoundland coast,

also retained by us.

Just so.

Then regarding these
particular matters...

[Strachey]
There is one sticking point.

[clicks tongue]
We are quite firm
on the question of reparations.

There must be compensation
for those loyal subjects
of the Crown

who do not wish to participate
in your experiment.

Then the losses of Americans
must be paid in kind.

That is not acceptable to us.

Mr. Oswald.

I am not my own man
in this, sir.

And there is much here
for you to celebrate.

That may be.

But we will not pay for
the privilege of our own abuse.

We're very close, Doctor.

Not, I fear, close enough.

May I propose a recess?

You did not say you would
be intractable on this point.

You did not ask.

I would rather yield in exchange
for further concessions.

That is placing
expediency over principle.

You are not generally deemed
a stickler in that regard.

What do you know of me, sir,
or my principles?

I know this is no time
to confuse person with country.

Meaning what?

Your dispute with your son
is your own affair.

Mr. Jay.

You think I seek
to punish him by treaty?

I think your judgment clouded.

I always thought dueling absurd,
but you are causing me
to reconsider.

- You cannot even stand.
- I will make the effort!

[John] Gentlemen!

I'd like to suggest
some language.

Might I ask you
to say that again?

[sighs]

"That Congress will recommend"...

- Earnestly recommend.
- "Earnestly recommend

to the States that they
recognize the loyalist owners

of all confiscated properties
and provide restitution."

If possible.

[whispering]
That is a collection
of words without input.

Would you give us
a moment, please?

[door opens]

[door closes]

[Strachey] They've no power
to compel the States
to do anything.

All that holds their country
together is truculence
and a dislike of taxes.

I'm aware
of their confederation.

Then you understand
that concession is meaningless.

No, it means
we thwart the French.

And that's what we're here for.

- At least we keep Florida.
- That's being handed off
to Spain.

Let's get this over with.

[door opens]

Bugger.

[Oswald] Dr. Franklin,
Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay.

We have considered your proposal
regarding reparations,
and we accept.

And we thank you
for this understanding.

Since we are in accord
on other matters,

may we say that we five, as of
this hour, have reached a peace?

We may indeed.

Then, gentlemen...

here is your America.

[sighs]

[cork pops]

[Jay] Will you
take another, Doctor?

[Franklin] I expect I will.

I thought you were meant
to have none at all.

If I cannot raise a glass
to the United States,

you might as well bury me now.

To Congress
not tossing us in jail.

Who will tell them
we ignored their instructions?

I seem to recall
that you were keen to do so.

I will inform them,
and happily too.

It is a glory to have broken
such an infamous order.

Were we to defile ourselves for
the pleasure of a French king?

Write that letter, Mr. Adams,
and do not spare your tongue,
I beg you.

All right, you have a dry,
undermining way about you, sir.

I will let it pass this once.

Oh, take a sip at least.

What have you got there?

It's a nice little port.

I would prefer some claret.

Well, then claret
it will be. Mr. Jay.

You might as well fill it.

Shall we have a toast?

The floor is yours.

To virtue, honesty,
education of the people

and the rule of law.

We can have
no country without them.

Nor be worthy of one.

- Amen, sir.
- Hear, hear.

Dr. Franklin, I was sharp
with you today
and beg your forgiveness.

Oh, I can simply grant it.

And yet I must ask,

do you mean to sign this,

without the further
advice of Versailles?

Well, Vergennes
must be told at least.

That would fall to you.

Well, I do have a man at court.

[in French]

[sighs]

[stammers]

Monsieur Temple.

- [in English]
What are you doing here?
- I have something for you.

Did you happen
to see a man from court?

- Me.
- What?

I'm the man from court.

[stammers] I don't
understand what's happening.

I attend le comte d'Artois.

- Since when?
- Fairly recently.

And he sent you?

No, my grandfather.

- He sent your grandfather?
- My grandfather sent me.

- How does your grandfather
know Artois?
- He doesn't.

- Then why is...
- He wanted you to have a copy
of this as soon as possible.

What is it?

[sighs] Grandfather
wishes you to know

that he regards the amity
between America and France
to be undiminished

and hopes that you
will feel the same way.

[sighs, speaks in French]

[Gérard]

[panting]

[Vergennes sighs]

[panting continues]

[sighs]

[coach driver] Whoa! Whoa, whoa.

[in English] Dr. Franklin,
Mr. Adams. Excuse my tardiness.

They're ready upstairs.

- Where's your man today?
- Who?

Benoit.

He has run off.

I told him I would free him,
but the damned Cuffy
just couldn't wait.

Which of you will go first?

Dr. Franklin will.

[sighing]

Free, sovereign...

and independent.

That is what it says.

- [door opens, closes]
- [Franklin groans]

[footsteps approaching]

She was unhappy with
the first version of her corpse.

[sighs] She thought
it made her look too...

Dead?

So she ordered another made.

This one is quite peaceful.

Just a little beauty sleep.

I would welcome that myself.

When you're royal,
you decide how you will be seen,

even after you're gone.

But the rest of us...

You chose
a melancholy spot to meet.

I cannot visit you at Passy.

Such things are not done.
And you, I think, will not
show yourself at Versailles.

Besides, I like it here.

A thousand years
of French kings.

Nobody remembered
their mistakes,

only that they ruled. [sighs]

But this will
mean nothing to you.

It is not my history.

The new world,
where all things are possible.

The same world, I'm afraid,
and the same sort of men in it.

Only the idea is different.

What is this idea?
I have never really understood.

That a free people
may govern themselves,

guided by common sense and
a belief in the greater good.

And if they lack common sense?

Then I suppose they
shall get what they deserve.

Mmm.

[sighs]

When we first met, I thought,

"This man is clever,
but not so clever as me."

Now I see how clever you are
to make me think that.

- You flatter me.
- [door closes]

It was at every step
an invention,

and no one could be
more surprised than myself

that any of it worked.

You looked me in the eye
and gave your word.

And you sent Gérard to England.

I did that, yes.

So the question is not really
who lied to whom...

But who lied better.

[grunts]

Do you know what my wife says?

Declare victory
and take the credit,

even if it is really failure.

- She sounds very wise.
- Mmm.

- She's not allowed
at court, you know.
- Mmm.

Her father was only a merchant.

We married without
the king's consent.

None of that would
matter in America, would it?

You should come see the country
that you helped create.

And what did we get
for our billion livres?

The eternal devotion
of a grateful country.

Please.

You will trade with the English
and leave us empty-handed.

That is the peace
they came to buy.

Monsieur le Comte,
I did not mean to wound you.

You have not wounded me.
You have outsmarted me.

That is far worse.

I plead forgiveness for the
inexperience in affairs of state

that led us to an indiscretion.

Our debt to you,
to your greathearted king,
to France itself is bottomless.

[Vergennes sighs]

And would it not be a pity

if this little misunderstanding
should come between us?

And let the English think
that they have succeeded
in dividing such a...

[laughing]

What? [laughs]

[both laughing]

- W-W-What are we laughing about?
- [chuckling]

You're going to ask me
for more money, aren't you?

Only another six million.

It would come in awfully handy.

[Vergennes] No doubt your
Congress will guarantee
this debt.

[Franklin] Of course.

Don't tell me
you're afraid to get in.

I see no need to spend
more time crossing water

than absolutely necessary.

When you're clutching the rail
of some miserable ship,

you will regret missing
this pleasant little paddle.

[groans]

[groans]

[Helvétius]
I have a nice bijou of a place.

[Franklin]
It has its modest charm.

[Helvétius] Thirty rooms
or 40. I can't remember.

Fields, stables...

You must live in the forest
in a house made from trees.

It is made of brick, in a city.

What it looks like now,
I can only guess.

The British have
had their way with it.

Well, you've gotten
your revenge.

You've beaten them all.

I suppose I have.

It's oddly unsatisfying.

What more did you want?

Just more.

No matter what it may be. Just...

Just more of it.

- Oh. We are feeling our age.
- [chuckles]

[sighs] I'm feeling...

There is a country that,
I dare say,
I've had some hand in making,

and yet I have hardly been there
in 20 years.

Then why bother to return?

[sighs]

I think I'm obliged to see
what this America might be.

And if you don't like
what you discover?

Madame.

[groans]

Would you marry me?

[chuckling]

You are a rascal.

- Hmm.
- You're serious?

Are you serious?

Am I?

What about your America?

I owe her my loyalty
but not my happiness.

Well, I suppose the abbé
could take care of it.

I hate all that fuss in church.

Are you saying yes?

[sighs]

[speaks French]

Oh, I'm so terribly fond of you.

But we both know you are the
most troublesome sort of cats.

What sort is that?

The sort
that always wanders off,

no matter
how much you pamper him.

[footsteps approaching]

[Thérèse, in French]

[sighs]

- [in English] Leaving these?
- They served their purpose.

Perhaps you can hand them out
to curious visitors

or use them to stuff
a crack in the wall.

Now, I do urge you
to follow my prescriptions.

Six weeks at sea and no sugar
or drink as consolation?

And a daily walk of the deck.
You... You'll thank me for it.

I'll curse you for it.

Well, fortunately
I won't be nearby to hear.

And, um, avail
yourself of this if needed.

But sparingly.

[groans]

The Ottoman dervishes claim
opium affords them
a vision of happiness to come.

Would that be so unwanted?

[sighs] Will there be
such happiness though?

For America? Hmm.

- That will be up to the people.
- [grumbles] For myself.

That has ever been
my chief concern.

Where would the country be
without you, hmm?

They'll lord you
as the essential man.

Will they? [sighs]

I wonder.

- And what fate shall befall you?
- Hmm?

Oh. [chuckles]

I'll, uh, amble about
in my usual way.

No returning home?

Well, I've been so long abroad,
I don't think I know
where home would be.

England perhaps?

Well, we are at peace
with them after all.

Is that not
what we have worked for?

We have.

Each in our own fashion.

A case of the most
excellent Madeira.
No sense letting it go to waste.

[horse whinnies in distance]

You're too generous.

Remember me by it.

I'll miss you, friend.

You have always been
a most amiable companion.

[horses whinnying]

Oh, you have a visitor.

This is for you.

Madame.

All is here.

[in French]

[in English] Every
instance of our hospitalité.

Isn't hospitality
by its nature given freely?

[chuckles]

[in French]

[in English] 23,654 livres.

Read it line by line.

- I do not doubt its accuracy.
- Then I wait here
while you get it.

I have no such amount at hand.

We lost millions.
Where did it go?

To the United States. Monsieur
Chaumont, he knows that.

You seduce him with talk of
freedom and profit, so he...

he cannot think right.

You ascribe me powers
that I do not possess.

[in French]

[in English]
But I give you my assurances

that I'll personally
see to it that Congress...

[in French]

Pardon?

[in English] Now.

[coins jingle]

[sighs, speaks in French]

[in English]
You might have intervened.

It seemed best
to stay out of it.

Is that yours?

Belongs to Artois.

What else belongs to him?

It's only a
means of advancement.

Towards what though?

You wished me
to find my station.

Mmm, this is not
what I had in mind.

But it's what I've chosen.

I will ride with you
tomorrow to Le Havre.

Oh, there's no need.

You shouldn't be
on the road alone.

Well, I wouldn't
worry about that.

Monsieur Lenoir has been
following me for years.

He won't let a trivial thing
like my leaving the country
stop him now.

Your father's living in London.

- I know.
- You do?

You can find out anything
at Versailles
if you ask the right person.

You might go see him?

Do you wish me to
convey something?

Nothing that has
not already been said.

[sighs] Must you be so hard?

You made peace with Britain.

Can't you do the same
with your own flesh and blood?

[sighs]

The heart is not negotiable.

"The best thing to give
your enemy is forgiveness."

[chuckling]

Whoever wrote
that is a damn fool.

You are sure that
this is what you want?

It is a game.

Like chess.

I enjoy playing it.

Then kiss me farewell, boy.

We will see each other again.

Perhaps.

But not, I think,
in these editions.

[crying] Dear grandfather.

[kisses]

[both breathing shakily]

Seek happiness.

But remember who we are.

[in French]

[playing "So Merry
As We Have Been"]

[music continues]

[speaking French indistinctly]

[applause]

[cheering]

[attendee] Bravo!

[music continues]

[no audible dialogue]

[applause]

[music continues]

- [breathing shakily]
- [music ends]

[chattering in French]

[baby babbling]

[Cunégonde whispers]
Très, très bien.

[whispers in French]

[sighs]

[Jacques, in English]
Dr. Franklin.

I am sorry to disturb you,
but I did not imagine,
after everything,

that we would be making
the same voyage.

[stammers]
I'm at a loss, sir. I...

Jacques Chaumont.

Jacques.

Jacques, of course.

You are...

On my way
to the United States, yes.

[Franklin grunts]

[sighs] You have spoken
to my parents?

Your mother and I
had a frank farewell.

Uh, they have banished me.

I'm sorry to hear it.

I cannot blame them.

In fact, I welcome it.

There was nothing
for me in France.

At least,
nothing I did not ruin.

How could I stay?

What will you do?

I do not know.

I have no money.

A few coins
and the clothes on my back.

I only know I wish my life
to be different.

In what fashion?

To make my own way in the world.

If I can.

By whatever wits I have.

To be free.

My apologies. I'm ridiculous.

You sound like a fellow
of my acquaintance.

He ran off from home
without a penny in his pocket.

What was his fate?

He's had some middling success

with those smallest of errors
to show for it.

He has not always been truthful,
or wise, or kind,

but he has labored to increase
the store of useful knowledge

and improve man's lot on earth.

He can only pray that providence
does not judge him too harshly.

Then perhaps
there's hope for me.

You will have your opportunity.

The rest will be up to you.

Sir, I thank you for your time,
and wish you safe passage.

Jacques.

I have a good brandy
sitting in my cabin
that I'm not supposed to drink.

Come by this evening.

We'll uncork it...

and talk of America.