469 - Vicki, Julia and Jeff enter the tomb. Vicki was right-the secret room is real, and so was her trip to the past. She asks Jeff if the coffin means anything to him. No, and he doesn't remember ever being in a room like this. He has no idea how he knew the way to open the panel--he just suddenly knew. Julia looks uncomfortable during this conversation, and Vicki turns to her--you knew the room was here even before tonight. Julia denies this, but Vicki insists the doctor did her best to discourage her coming here.
Julia again insists that she didn't know about the room. Vicki looks at her sharply. I had no reason to hide the knowledge from you, right? Julia reminds her. Vicki reluctantly agrees. Jeff wants to go, but Vicki, who is beginning to remember, wants to stick around. Julia looks really worried and asks if she remembers what the room's secret is. Vicki recalls a dream she had-Daniel, being strangled by Lt. Forbes. She awakened and Daniel came running in, fleeing from someone who'd kidnapped and tried to kill him. Peter and Vicki go into the main room, and Vicki's memories begin flooding back--this is where she killed Noah, not in this room, but outside the tomb--Daniel ran outside and she heard him scream because Noah was going to strangle him. She ran out with the gun Peter had given her. Warned Noah Gifford to let Daniel go, but he refused, so she aimed the gun and fired it--she didn't mean to kill him, but he wouldn't stop. She throws herself into Jeff's arms and he assures the upset young woman that it's only a dream. Julia, still in the secret room, looks panicky upon hearing Vicki deny it was a dream, and insists she knows he's Peter Bradford. It's impossible, Jeff protests. Going into the past was impossible, too, says Vicki, but he could have come from there to the present. Julia again asks Vicki about the room's secret, but Vicki doesn't remember. The coffin. . .it wasn't there when she and Peter were hiding in the room. She was here for 2 days and there was no coffin there. Jeff, smiling, opens the coffin, and finds it empty.
In his hospital bed, Barnabas sits up from sleep, his forehead creased. "Dr. Lang!" he screams over and over, terrified.
Barnabas bares his teeth, breathing heavily. Scared, still baring his teeth, he goes to the window, hears the howling dogs, pushes open the double doors and sees the rain. Quickly he closes the doors. Lang bursts in and Barnabas tells him he felt someone was watching him--he felt eyes looking at him while he was in bed, and even more frightening, he felt the urge for blood!
He wanted to get up, leave the hospital and go back to the Old House basement. The feeling has passed, says Barnabas, which Lang assures him is good--Lang doesn't know why it happened, he hasn't completed his tests. He doesn't know how often or severe these relapses will be. Barnabas is upset, he didn't know about these possibilities, he thought he was completely free of the curse. In time, says Lang, perhaps he'll be completely well. Barnabas accuses him of lying, but Lang he's not, and reminds him he can function in daylight now, a major step. Barn denies being an ordinary patient and demands Lang tell him everything. From time to time, you'll feel as if you're slipping back, explains Lang. Barnabas thought the transfusion had cured him, but Lang never used the word cured. What did you mean? asks Barnabas. Your condition was temporarily arrested by the transfusion, explains Lang. Barnabas is disappointed. "I see. Then I could revert to what I was almost any time." Lang admits this is true, but also says the chances are very great he won't, if he cooperates fully with him. Barnabas refuses to allow him to be used as a guinea pig; he's been there, done that, and with disastrous results. Lang tells him he can offer him something far greater--a permanent cure for his condition, one that will set him free forever. Barnabas gazes at him, mixed hope and disbelief on his face.
Julia goes to the hospital, umbrella held over her head. She visits Lang in what looks like Tony Peterson's office, and he greets her heartily. She calls him Eric. She sits down and says she has something important to discuss. Lang knew she was coming to see him. She'd seen Barnabas earlier and was disturbed by what he said. She asks Lang if he knows a permanent cure for Barn's problem. He does, but won't tell her what it is.
She thinks he should tell her, but he reminds her that HE is Barnabas' doctor, and Barnabas will remain his patient after he leaves the hospital, says Lang, because Barnabas knows only he can help him. Julia observes Lang's confidence in his plan. I want to help you, she says--Barnabas isn't sure he's ready to cooperate, he doesn't know Lang well enough; Julia could erase those doubts--he trusts me implicitly, adds Julia smugly. (since when?) If she thinks his plan a sound one, she can guarantee Barn's cooperation. Lang wants to know why the intense interest in Barn's welfare. He's been my patient, points out Julia. Is that the only reason? asks Lang. Yes, she replies defiantly. Sooner or later, she'll find out what he's up to, Julia swears, and if it's detrimental to Barnabas, I will do everything in my power to stop you. He thanks her for the warning and bids her good night. As she's leaving, Jeff Clark bursts in. She stares oddly at Lang and says goodnight to him, obviously very curious about the connection between these two.
Lang slams the door after Julia's departure and turns to Jeff. You're three hours late, grouses Lang, and picked the worst possible time to come in. Jeff apologizes. Lang wonders what Julia thought, seeing Jeff, and Clark reveals his meeting Vicki and Julia at the cemetery. Lang asks if they saw him digging, and Jeff said no. What were they doing at Stanhope Cemetery? asks Lang, but Jeff says he was at Eagle Hill, not Stanhope. Lang asks why he went to Eagle Hill instead of following instructions. Jeff understood his instructions. There hasn't been a burial at Eagle Hill for 50 years, says Lang, but Jeff has no idea why he went to Eagle Hill--he started walking and that's where he ended up. Lang is pissed he came back empty--handed, but Jeff refuses to go out again. Lang insists. I don't want to do this, it's wrong, protests Jeff--when I saw Vicki tonight, I felt rotten and sick--and ashamed. Lang asks if she knows what Jeff is doing, and he says it doesn't matter--she's a decent person who respects him, and he wants to keep seeing her, and he can't unless he stops this. Lang says not to worry--he won't be seeing Vicki anymore. Try and stop me, challenges Jeff. Lang warns him that if he intends to interfere in his plans, seeing Vicki--I won't have it! Jeff wants to know what Vicki has to do with his plans, and Lang tells him Barnabas wants to marry Vicki, and he doesn't want Barnabas to be unhappy. Jeff doesn't care about Barnabas' happiness. (no wonder I don't like this schlemiel!) Jeff wants Lang to keep away from Vicki, but the doctor orders him to get to the cemetery and get the job done.
Their voices escalate. Lang reminds him that he was once in an Institution for the Criminally insane, which sets Jeff off on a screaming meemie tantrum. "STOP IT!" screams Jeff. Lang doesn't feel he has to threaten to send him back to that place--he'll go the cemetery and carry out Lang's instructions, because he doesn't want Vicki Winters to know he's a murderer.
NOTES: What is Jeff doing for Lang, "digging" in the cemetery? Who did he murder, and how is it that Lang can hold this over his head and force him to do something which is obviously distasteful to Jeff?
Julia is awfully protective of Barnabas, given that he tried to drive her insane only a few days before Vicki went into the past. She still loves him, we realize that, but she's essentially threatening Lang, and he doesn't seem like a man who will tolerate such interference. What is his plan to rid Barnabas of the curse permanently, I wonder?
Oh, that Lang grates on my eardrums, and that last scene with Jeff truly made my head pound. I don't know which is the worst over-actor, but they were running neck 'n' neck.
470 - Roger is going to be "a prisoner of an evil presence from the past", says the intro.
Vicki troops downstairs in her yellow nightgown and matching hair ribbon. She hears Roger speaking in the drawing room and listens outside the door. Roger pulls the doors open and talks to her as if he were Joshua, ordering her to her room. He wants to get a better frame for Angelique's painting. Vicki reminds him it's after midnight, calling him Roger--which he denies. He's Joshua--and Mr. Collins to her! She stares at him, horrified. Vicki tells him the painting is doing something to him--stay away from it--he is ROGER, but she's doing something to make him think he's Joshua. He doesn't know what she is talking about. She says he must stay away from it and he gets angry--he's the master, she's a servant, she can't speak to him that way. He takes the portrait. She blocks his way. He's under a spell, she insists, and he orders her to get out. She wants him to put the painting back; she fears something bad will happen to him if he leaves with that evil painting.
He demands to know if she's threatening him. He refuses to listen to her. Desperate, she shows him the telephone and asks if he knows what it is. He's in the 20th century, not the 18th--he's Roger, not Joshua. He looks dazed as he stares at the phone in her hand, and comes out of it, asking mildly if the phone is for him. She's relieved and explains what happened. He doesn't remember, he didn't even know she'd come into the room. He recalls admiring the painting, but doesn't remember removing it from the easel. Vicki puts it back. She's taking it back--let him sell it to Stokes. Roger is upset. It's evil, she says, but he insists it's a beautiful work of art. Angelique Collins was a witch who almost destroyed the family before and is trying again, says Vicki--the painting must go. Roger suggests she sleep on it, she might feel differently in the morning. I'll have a nightcap, then go to bed, he tells her, and she seems to make sure he heads for the study before going to her room. Once she's gone, Roger goes back into the drawing room and drifts into another trance. He lifts the painting off the easel and walks determinedly out the door after putting on his coat. Vicki spies him leaving and runs outside, ordering him to come back. She returns to the drawing--the painting is gone.
Vicki sleeps on the drawing room sofa. We see her reflected through the empty easel. She awakens, looks outside the window. She answers a knock at the door--it's Jeff Clark. He needs to speak to her right away, even though it's only a little after 8 AM. He notes how tired she looks. She admits she didn't get much sleep. They go into the drawing room. He refuses an offer to sit down. He hesitates before asking her a very personal question-is she in love with Barnabas? No, she says, but Jeff asks if he's going to marry Barnabas. Who told you? demands Vicki--she assures Jeff they know each other better than he thinks and can ask her anything. He asks again if she's planning to marry Barnabas. Before the accident, they were going to elope, admits Vicki, but she isn't going through with it--she can't--she doesn't know how to tell Barnabas; she doesn't want to hurt him. It's unavoidable, says Jeff.
Vicki wants to go to the hospital, but Jeff sharply tells her to wait until Barnabas is released--that hospital isn't safe for Vicki or Barnabas. There's a reason why he can't answer her question. He admits he works for Dr. Lang--did she trust Peter Bradford? Yes. Jeff asks for the same trust. He'll tell her everything eventually, but if she must go see Barnabas, do it quickly and come straight back to Collinwood--that's all he's able to tell her right now. She looks at him, bewildered.
Barnabas, getting dressed, gazes at his unfamiliar reflection in the mirror and reaches out to touch it, smiling with pleasure. Vicki comes to see him. He's thrilled to see her. He feels splendid, he says, and can leave the hospital today. They go out on the terrace and Barnabas remarks on how lovely it is. He says she looks beautiful in the daylight and when he gets back to Collinwood to begin a whole new life, they must do a lot of talking. She says she must speak to him now. He notes she seems troubled and she has a tough time saying it--it has to do with him and the past--she knows she WAS in the past, she has proof--she, Julia and Jeff went to the secret room--she didn't dream it, it exists. What do you know about the secret room? He asks. She started remembering all the terrible things that happened, reveals Vicki, the suffering caused by one person--Angelique Collins. Barnabas turns away. Vicki goes on to relate to the man who knows best that Angelique used her witchcraft to turn people against each other, to torture and kill them to get what she wanted--the first Barnabas--she almost destroyed the entire family before getting him to marry her. Barnabas points out that the history books don't mention Angelique. There's a lot the history books don't mention, says Vicki, but it all happened. What else? he prompts. She doesn't remember details, but until last night, she was troubled by the reason everything happened. She thinks she went back for two reasons--to save one person and to meet another. If she hadn't been in the right place at the right time, Daniel would have died, along with the Collins family of today. The other reason was to meet Peter Bradford.
He belongs to the past, says Barn, but Vicki says she believes Peter came back with her in the person of Jeff Clark. She's seen him several times and believes he's Peter. Impossible, maintains Barn. I came back to the present, why not Peter? Asks Vicki. Barnabas patiently explains this is her time, now, she had to come back because she belongs here--Peter stayed in the past. Vicki isn't sure, and until she is, she can't make any plans for her future--their marriage ain't gonna happen; her feelings have changed a great deal. "I can't marry you, Barnabas," she says, and he looks bereft and miserable.
At Lang's house, a despondent Barnabas tells his doctor about Vicki's decision not to marry him. Lang is sorry, but Barnabas is sorrier--I don't want you to continue the treatments, says Barn--a new life would have been exciting, but not without Vicki--forget the experiment. Lang tells him he's making a grave mistake, but Barnabas no longer cares.
Lang angrily reminds him he saved his life, but Barnabas says he changed his life, he didn't save it--he would have survived the accident and Lang knows that. Lang reminds him he would have died if he'd exposed him to the light before the transfusion, which entitles Lang to a few moments of his time--did Vicki say why she changed her mind? Yes, says Barn, there's someone else. Jeff Clark, says Lang. Barnabas is surprised he knows, and more so to learn Peter works for Lang. Lang warned Peter to stay away from her--if he could make Vicki change her mind, would Barnabas be willing to cooperate? What would you do, asks Barnabas, hopeful. He doesn't want Lang to talk to her, but Lang assures him that won't be necessary. Jeff comes in bearing a box. Lang introduces him to Barn as his assistant. "How do you do?" asks Barn politely, but Jeff doesn't look in the least thrilled to have met him. Lang escorts Barn out and Jeff, looking grossed out, sets the box on the table. Lang opens the box and we see an arm, packed in ice. Lang encourages Jeff to look at it, but he looks away, disgusted. "Don't be so squeamish," bids Lang, "it's a perfect specimen!"
NOTES: What's with the severed arm? What kind of experiment is Lang working on, and how does he want Barnabas involved?
Didn't Barnabas look so depressed when he told Lang about the other man in Vicki's life? I felt like pulling him into my arms and comforting him. Having Vicki decide not to marry him after all was such a blow--and without his vampiric control over her, he can't force her to marry him. I wonder if he wishes he still had that power?
Love, Robin
