Synopsis of 1×07: Mad Sweeney’s story of coming to America is helped along by a familiar face and the road trip from hell faces a few roadblocks.
Essie, brilliantly cast as Emily Browning pulling acting double duty, tells the children around her the story of the leprechaun and later makes a quiet offering of food, a lock of hair, and gold. After that, she sleeps with the son of the house where she works as a servant. As a token of his affection, he gives her a necklace that belonged to his grandmother.
But when the other workers turn on her, the mistress of the house believes her to be a thief, in part because the boy denies giving her the gift. Rather than being hanged, she’s sent to America, but doesn’t manage to leave the boat. Instead, she takes up with the captain and returns to London. However, as soon as he’s off to journey across the sea once more, she’s off as well.
In the present times, Laura, Mad Sweeney, and Salim make a pit stop so that Salim can pray. They’ve made it to a roadside attraction featuring a large, white buffalo statue and Mad Sweeney finds himself arguing with one of Mr. Wednesday’s birds. Laura makes fun of him for it as she releases Salim from their road trip from hell.
The gods are meeting in House on the Rock in Wisconsin and Salim is fast to head in that direction without them. Laura makes to steal an ice cream truck and Mad Sweeney has to punch the poor worker in the face in order to convince his boss it was taken under duress.
Returning to Essie’s story, she’s stealing her way through a marketplace with skill and continuing to leave offerings for the leprechaun. However, as she gains more things through theft, she begins to forget about her offerings. Eventually, she’s caught once again and charged with hanging this time.
In jail, she finds Mad Sweeney in an adjacent cell and they swap stories. In the morning, the offering Essie remembered to leave is gone and so is her cellmate. When the warden comes to check on her, she concocts a new plan to avoid a hanging. Becoming pregnant commutes her sentence again to transportation to the Americas. She’s bought as a wet nurse and a maid, raising the children and telling them stories of the leprechaun.
Mad Sweeney is freezing in the ice cream truck as he explains a little bit about how he ended up in the standing he finds himself in (General Mills, anyone?). He tells Laura that he’s joining up with Mr. Wednesday on the offer of war and remembers the last war he was in. Sweeney is planning to die, but Laura is cavalier about it because of how dying turned out for her.
Unexpectedly, a white rabbit dashes out in front of the ice cream truck and Laura swerves to avoid it, causing the truck to roll. Like her last crash, she goes through the windshield – only this time her chest opens and the coin Sweeney is after rolls out onto the road.
Essie tells stories and soon the whole family is believing and participating in the traditions of the leprechaun. When the man of the house comes onto her, she explains to him what an awkward position they’re in and he immediately offers to end her servitude. They marry, have a son, and ten years into their relationship, he passes away.
Her life continues for many years after that, until she has grandchildren and realizes that they may be too frightened of her old-world stories to keep telling them. One night, she nods off and Mad Sweeney comes for her.
Meanwhile, in the present, Mad Sweeney wakes up from the crash and crawls from the ice cream truck. He spots Laura and his coin, picking it up and walking away from the scene only to stop. He’s remembering her first crash and gives the coin back to her – only to earn himself a punch in the face. She angrily flips the truck right-side up and yells at him to get in. They hit the road once more.
On the porch where Essie is meeting with Mad Sweeney, he tells her that she helped to bring him there with her beliefs and then offers his hand to her. Mr. Ibis ends the story with her family finding her body on the porch.
English