Episode #257 - There are those who inflict harm upon themselves in order that others might feel a greater pain. They debase and sacrifice themselves for causes that are often futile. And the instrument of revenge becomes the executioner.
Buzz rides his motorcycle to the front door of Collinwood and knocks. Liz answers, but tells him she will let Carolyn know he's here, but he can't come in. In the foyer, Carolyn coldly informs her mother that they must talk, since Buzz will be Liz' son-in-law soon. Carolyn joins Buzz outside in front of the door, where he smokes a cigar. Carolyn kisses him. He isn't pleased at being denied admittance to Collinwood, but he wants to get going, anyway. Carolyn talks him into coming in; she wants to make sure he is allowed to enter next time.
Foyer - Buzz sits on the stairs, awaiting Carolyn.
Drawing room - Carolyn insists that Buzz be permitted in the house. Liz tells her she's aware that everyone is against her marrying Jason, but that's no reason for Carolyn's charade--she knows Carolyn won't marry Buzz! In defiance, Carolyn assures her mother she WILL marry Buzz, and they continue to argue about it.
Perhaps we can have a double wedding, taunts Carolyn.
Buzz, still sitting on the stairs, blocks Jason's attempts to get down. He and Buzz trade threats; Jason wins out and Buzz lets him pass. Seeing the men together, Carolyn refers to them as the two bridegrooms.
Buzz offers Jason a ride, which he declines. Jason enters the drawing room. Carolyn announces she's going to fix her hair and leaves Buzz cooling his heels again, waiting for her.
Drawing room - Liz tries to convince Jason that Carolyn really does intend to marry Buzz.
Jason refuses to believe this and suggests that HE handle this matter.
Jason enters Carolyn's room, offering her some "fatherly advice," which pisses her off. I can see your father's stubbornness in you, he tells her, and you are causing your mother the same grief your father did 18 years ago. Carolyn does not believe his expression of concern. Jason angrily tells her she isn't going to stop this marriage and leaves her room. (take that, papa!) Disgusted by her future stepfather, Carolyn hurls her hairbrush across the room.
Liz paces the drawing room. Jason comes in and confesses he was unsuccessful in convincing Carolyn not to marry Buzz. Jason suggests that now he speak with Buzz, and Liz tells him there will be trouble if he's unsuccessful in preventing Carolyn's marriage.
Blue Whale - Carolyn and Buzz dance while Buzz drinks. They decide to go someplace more rockin', and Carolyn leaves to powder her nose. Jason enters the bar and tells Buzz that Carolyn is using him to try to prevent her mother's marriage. Buzz doesn't mind. You could get a new motorcycle if you see less of Carolyn, Jason offers.
"I like the bike I got and I like the chick I got," Buzz says. When Carolyn returns, Buzz tells her about refusing Jason's offer, and she rewards him by embracing him enthusiastically. Jason is not happy that his ploy didn't work, but promises that his marriage to Liz will take place. After the couple leaves, Jason goes to the bar and lights a cigarette, his face filled with anger.
NOTES: Sounds like Buzz is pretty happy to have Carolyn as his fiancee, and perhaps, given his nice motorcycle, his family has some money, too. You have to give Buzz credit for refusing Jason's bribe.
Sounds like Liz is determined to prevent Carolyn from marrying Buzz, but will she stop her marriage to Jason to do so? We'll see!
Buzz actually seems like a far nicer guy than Jason, doesn't he? He rides a motorcycle and drinks a lot, but otherwise seems like an OK guy.
Episode #258 - The only fact that man knows of his future is that death is inevitable, and yet this is the only fact that he continually resists accepting. For one who has accepted death as imminent, all hope vanishes.
Maggie goes to her cell window. "Little girl!" she calls. Dejected, she returns to the cot, murmuring, "There's no hope." She hears the song and sees that Sarah is INSIDE the cell with her this time, singing "London Bridge" and tossing the ball up and down. Amazed, Maggie asks how she got in. Sarah tells her she heard Maggie crying and came to see her because she sounded so sad--Sarah recalls people crying here long ago.
Maggie assures her she won't cry, now that Sarah is here, but the child refuses to tell her how she got into the cell. Sarah admires the music box tune, and says only that she was "looking for someone", and asks Maggie to play catch with her. Maggie fears their being heard, but they play catch and sing London Bridge together, and Sarah raises Maggie's hopes by promising to take her with her when she goes. When Maggie checks nervously out her cell door, Sarah disappears. Sobbing, Maggie calls frantically to her new friend.
Later, Maggie sings London Bridge in a slow, strange fashion. Barnabas appears in her cell, but she doesn't respond to him until he places a hand on her shoulder. She freezes and moans, "No!", begging him to leave her alone--she is afraid he's going to kill her. He plays the music box, but she refuses to even pretend to be Josette.
I'm going to escape, she tells him in a child-like voice--I have a special secret friend who plays with me. Barnabas gazes at her, perplexed, then turns away from her. After he goes, Maggie wanders her cell, grinning as if she has a wonderful secret.
In the drawing room of the Old House, Barnabas tells Willie he believes Maggie is losing her mind, and describes his odd encounter with her in the cell. Barnabas insists he must kill Maggie, but Willie begs him to show her mercy. I once begged for mercy, says Barnabas cruelly, but no one helped me--now he has no mercy left to give.
Maggie is to be killed tomorrow, and if Willie dares to interfere, he, too, will die.
Maggie sits in her cell, quietly singing Sarah's song. She calls to the little girl--come out and play! Willie appears with food, asking Maggie who she's talking to. My friend, she says gleefully. When Willie puts down the food, she eats with gusto. He strongly urges her to stop discussing her secret friend,
and is upset when she keeps on talking about her. When Maggie reveals that her friend enters her cell, Willie becomes violent in his frantic efforts to stop her babbling. Defiant, Maggie starts to sing London Bridge again; when Willie screams at her and orders her to stop, she does. He exits. Maggie cries. She spots Sarah's doll on the floor and goes over to pick it up. She holds it close.
NOTES: The keywords in today's show are sadness, disillusionment and sorrow. I felt sorry for Maggie, who, while clearly beginning to lose her grip, DOES have a secret friend. The fact that the child disappeared from the locked cell doesn't seem to affect her, or make her wonder. She just knows she's found a mysterious friend. If she truly believed this child would save her, Maggie, assuming she was in her right mind, would never have told either Barnabas or Willie about her. You really felt Maggie's frustration when Sarah refused to answer her many questions and kept going off on tangents. By the way, did you all catch that KLS had to whisper a forgotten line to Sharon Smyth? KLS is turning in a marvelous performance as the slowly-going-crazy Maggie Evans.
I felt sorry for Barnabas, too. He realized, once and for all, that Maggie will never become Josette. This has to cause him unmentionable pain. He's also angry, remembering how no one showed him mercy when he needed it, and therefore, he won't show Maggie any, either. That she is blameless for his past disillusionment seems to slide right by him, much as the weirdness of her little friend does for Maggie.
I pitied Willie, too, who was terrified to see what was happening to Maggie, whom he clearly loves. He knows if she doesn't become Josette, she is doomed, and there isn't anything he can do to prevent it. He reminded her that he's stuck his neck out for her, but she seems oblivious to everything, and pinning her hopes on the little girl she doesn't realize has to be a ghost.
Love, Robin
