281 - (Alexandra Moltke) A strong star has pierced the mists that cover Collinwood. Vague outlines appear, elusive now, but soon they will reveal themselves for what they are. But the mists in the mind and the mists that have protected the present from the past are lifting, too, and what there is to be seen will be witnessed by no strong star, but by something as frail and frightened as the human mind.
Old House drawing room - As this ep begins, the seance is in full swing--Vicki is in a deep trance, apparently reliving the night Josette died. She IS Josette, being pursued by. . .who? "He's getting closer!" cries Vicki/Josette--"He mustn't catch me!" Liz and Barnabas are concerned (well, Barnabas is afraid he's going to be exposed) and try to stop what's happening. "I've got to jump!" gasps Vicki. Just when it seems Vicki/Josette is about to reveal who her pursuer is, Barnabas leaps from his chair and shouts, "NO!!!", putting a stop to Vicki's trance. She falls unconscious to the table. Roger is pissed at Barn's stopping the seance, but Barnabas insists he was trying to avoid tragedy--Vicki was reliving the night of Josette's death!
Carolyn says Vicki was just about to tell who was chasing her, rattling Barnabas even further.
They lead Vicki to a chair and Burke re-lights the blown-out candles. Everyone tells the revived Vicki what happened, that Josette spoke through her again--and she was going to tell who was chasing Josette! Barnabas insists that person is moldering in a grave after 200 years, so cut it out. They speculate--last time Josette spoke through Vicki, she was warning of danger to David. Was she giving them another warning? Who was in danger this time? Could it have had something to do with Maggie's killer? Barnabas, rattled, points out that Maggie's kidnapper/killer had nothing to do with the Collins family (yeah, right). Vicki says she wants to get some fresh air, but as she's about to leave, she gazes up and sees Sarah looking back at her from the landing.
As Vicki watches, Sarah goes away. Burke thinks she must have imagined it, but Barnabas looks even more disturbed when Vicki tells him she could have sworn the little girl was outfitted in the dress they found in the trunk.
The party ends, and everyone post-mortems it at Collinwood. Vicki is sorry it ended so soon and feels really badly leaving Barnabas so alone and forlorn like they did. Roger makes a wry comment about dreaming of ladies leaping from cliffs and when chastised by Liz, insists if you're going to have ancestors, you might as well enjoy their suffering, then heads off to bed. Carolyn wished Barnabas hadn't interrupted the seance, and Vicki says perhaps she didn't really see that little girl after all.
Sarah, in Josette's room, carefully lays out her dress on the bed, then disappears
when Barnabas comes in. He lifts his sister's dress and gently folds it into the trunk. He speaks to Josette's portrait--she and the past are gone, he says quietly, and he must learn to live in the present. He tells his ancestors not to come back--any of them!
Vicki is distracted as Carolyn blathers on about how it didn't bother her to see Vicki together with Burke, her former crush. Carolyn retires for the night, commenting to an unhearing Vicki how nice Burke is. Barnabas stops by to thank Vicki for coming to his party and providing the proper "spirit" that made it a success. She apologizes for mentioning the child she saw, and he says he doesn't believe in ghosts, anyway (but he does believe in vampires and witches, too, or did he forget Angelique)? I know she hasn't even been thought of by the writers, but in light of what we know, this IS an ironic statement! Barnabas starts his campaign by presenting Vicki with Josette's music box.
She refuses to accept it at first, but he insists, and she listens raptly to the music as he fixes his predatory gaze on her.
Will the next Josette please stand up?
282 - (Alexandra Moltke) We are constantly searching our memories, searching into the past for moments that will reveal aspects of ourselves that have been clouded over by time, and by our fears, and it is from the fragmented memory of a patient that a tale of horror and death will be pieced together.
Windcliff, Julia's office - Under Julia Hoffman's gentle questioning, Maggie recalls tinkling music--and a cold feeling that scares her.
Drawing room - Liz enters to find Vicki, smiling, listening to the music box Barnabas gave her. Hearing of Barnabas' gift, Liz expresses her concern that Vicki's overdosing on Josette--they've had enough seances lately,
and Vicki is a sensitive and vulnerable girl without a past of her own--don't look for a past that isn't there, cautions Liz.
Windcliff - Julia prods Maggie to tell her more about this music, but Maggie doesn't want to concentrate on that. When Maggie recalls a sweet smell in the air,
Julia pushes her to close her eyes and remember. Maggie gets a memory flash of being in a cemetery.
Vicki returns the dress to Willie at the Old House, and tells him how much she's enjoying the music box--to his dismay. He explains that it was originally given to Josette on her birthday, which is tomorrow.
It's high time someone did something for Josette, says Vicki firmly, and when she returns to Collinwood, she informs Liz that she would like to take an hour off work tomorrow to put flowers on Josette's grave. Liz hears this, worried. Josette's become very important to me, insists Vicki. Liz is worried that she's withdrawing from reality, and asks Vicki to reconsider. Vicki won't hear of it--I'm putting flowers on Josette's grave, she says firmly.
Windcliff - Julia tells Maggie how pleased she is with her progress. You were found in a cemetery at the beginning of your illness, she explains, but Maggie has no memory of this. Julia feels Maggie's memory is close to returning, and suggests they pay a visit to the cemetery. Maggie, however, collapses in tears at the suggestion and doesn't want to go.
NOTES: Everyone got on Vicki's case today about being too involved with Josette, and she did seem to be going a bit off the deep end, what with listening to that music box and all so much. However, I also feel everyone was being too much of a buttinsky, making her feel she was imagining seeing Maggie and Sarah (hell, even Vicki herself believes she imagined Sarah now).
Maggie got the typical shrink's couch treatment today as Julia grilled her about a bunch of things. By the time she was through, Maggie had remembered a tinkling, bell-like music, a cemetery and the smell of jasmine, all of which triggered her fear.
Vicki returned Josette's dress to the Old House where Barn was slumbering for the day. Willie wasn't happy to learn Barnabas had presented Vicki with the music box, and when she told him she'd been playing it for hours, he burst out that she shouldn't, then, when she called him on it, lamely said she'd wear it out. Vicki admires Josette's dress lying on the bed and says it looks like it's waiting for it's owner to come and put it on, making Willie even more nervous. He tells Vicki that tomorrow is Josette's birthday, and it inspires Vicki to become involved even further.
When Vicki returns to Collinwood to ask Liz if she can have an hour off to place flowers on Josette's grave, it's Liz' turn to object to Vicki's intense involvement with Josette and the past. Besides, she doesn't want Vicki going alone to Eagle Hill, so Vicki promises she'll ask Burke to come along.
Julia praises her patient about her progress (and she DOES seem much better, more an adult than a child now), then suggests to Maggie that it might be a great idea to go to Eagle Hill cemetery and jog her memory even further. Maggie reacts to this idea with terror and begs the doctor not to do it.
Love, Robin
