It's no problem.  I'll try to remember to not use it since it bothers you.

 

For once, they didn't give away the surprise by having Lara Parker do the voiceover.  Oh, what a fabulous first meeting between Ang and Laura!!!

And it's GAME ON.  We now have Team Phoenix headed by Laura that includes Dirk, its weakest link, and Ra, who by now must surely be on his last nerve.  After its most valuable possession, an urn, was placed on the injured reserve list, a scarab was brought in as a replacement but was unfortunately fumbled away.

On the opposing side, Team Vampire is captained by Barnabas (but only at night) and includes a witch at the height of her powers, a "Madame Gypsy Witch Hag," and a dabbler, plus minor players Charity and Sandor who were drafted against their will.  Team V's most valuable possessions are a pocket edition of The Book of the Dead, a wax poppet, and the newly captured scarab.

But Laura scored big by getting the last word in this confrontation:  [while strolling past Angelique after placing a wall of flames in her path to prevent her from leaving first] "I must warn you that I am not without powers.  And it's good to see that you are not without fear."

One more quote--
Laura:  "The Collins house has always held unhappy women."
Word.

Ok, this is a new one, silver bullets for vampires.

Though not new for DS.  It has come up a handful of times already, with the first probably being the scene between Joshua and Barnabas near the end of 1795.  It's not new to 1897 because we did learn that Barnabas was vulnerable to silver during one of Quentin's rituals that included Jamison.

And why FIVE silver bullets?  Most revolvers have 6 chambers, not to mention whether it takes multiple bullets to do the deed.

Early Colt revolvers chambered 5 bullets.  (Kudos to Violet Welles for that and for the marvelous dialogue in this ep.)

Well, I know there was a Laura Murdoch Stockbridge and a Laura Murdoch Radcliffe. And there were some Laura Murdoch Collinses. All of these may or may not be the same person.

I do think there's enough evidence to indicate that 3 of the Lauras you mentioned were the same Phoenix.  LMS, LMR, and the LMC who was David's mother are the 3 who died in precise 100-year intervals.

And this is getting ahead a bit, but you'll [spoiler]soon hear indisputable evidence tying the other two Lauras-- LSC (whom you didn't mention but as I said, this is getting just a little ahead of where you are in the WP) and the 1897 LMC.[/spoiler]

So are there 2 Phoenixes, with David carrying the genes of both?  Or is there just one?  But unless there are more of them that we don't know about (perish the thought!), there doesn't seem to have been more than 2 and there definitely weren't 4 or 5 that.....

were all related, but not the same Phoenix.

Oops, I meant to say this before--

Laura and Dirk have no problem getting to the basement (and as little trouble as Jenny getting in what should have been a LOCKED basement).

Surveying the grounds has been mentioned as one of Dirk's duties as caretaker, so having that set of keys to the Old House in his possession makes sense.

Ah.

Happy Birthday, Birdie!