283 - Alexandra Moltke - Hidden deep in the cliffs of Collinwood, in the majestic rocks that separate the earth from the sea, there is a tiny cove, caused by a long-ago sea. No one at Collinwood has seen it, and no one will ever see it, for the earth knows how to hide its secrets well. Many times, men, too, must hide secrets, even rage desperate battles in secret. If keeping that secret can mean the difference between death and survival. Unknown to the residents of Collinwood, such a battle is being waged, far from its walls, and the cause of that battle, the object of the desperate secrecy, is a girl, long supposed dead but actually living, and still in great danger.
Dave Woodard is worried that he hasn't heard from Julia at all, and she hasn't returned any of his phone calls. Nothing new has developed, she crisply tells him, and I'm not keeping anything from you. I sometimes feel you're avoiding me, complains Dave, and that you're keeping anything you've learned about Maggie from me.
Julia takes offense at his remarks, but Woodard feels she's far too possessive and secretive about Maggie; Sam and Joe are anxious to know what's going on. I'll give up the case if they're not satisfied, offers Julia, annoyed. No! says Dave, alarmed at the thought of losing her, offering apologies, I have every confidence in you. (Notice how she turns the tables on him here, very cleverly.) Julia accepts his apology and tells him that Maggie remembers being in a cemetery. Woodard thinks taking Maggie to Eagle Hill is a terrible idea, but Julia assures him she has no plans to do that. As soon as Dave leaves her office, Julia orders Maggie brought to her--for a visit to the cemetery.
When Burke comes to Collinwood to pick up Vicki, she's in the drawing room, listening to the music box. He invites her for a ride to Bangor and dinner (pretending to sell magazines, as I recall). I'd love to, says Vicki, but first I want to place flowers on a friend's grave. He assumes she's referring to Maggie, but Vicki tells him it's Josette.
Burke isn't pleased with the idea. She invites him in and shows him her gift from Barnabas. Collinwood is getting to you, says Burke, and your extreme interest in the past isn't healthy. Josette has done good things for me, protests Vicki, and I'm going to the cemetery with or without you. Burke gives in and agrees to join her.
Julia brings Maggie to the cemetery and urges her to look around. They look at Josette's tombstone, but it doesn't jog Maggie's memory. Hearing voices, they quickly walk away. Vicki and Burke, searching for Josette's grave, see two women in the distance, but can't identify who they are. When they do find Josette's marker, Burke calls it pitiful, and Vicki explains that this grave was Jeremiah's way of punishing Josette for deserting him by committing suicide (this is NOT how the story unfolds at all!) In Burke's opinion, Jeremiah's action was petty. Vicki places the flowers on the grave and she and Burke start to leave.
Julia and Maggie are about to exit the cemetery when Maggie hears Vicki and Burke's voices in the distance.
Stunned, Vicki spies a woman she is sure is Maggie Evans, but Burke assures her it's her imagination--she's under a strain, after all. They leave.
Julia and Maggie hide nearby the Collins tomb, and it jars Maggie's memory. Inside the mausoleum, Julia notes the occupants of the coffins and realizes Maggie has been in this place before--do you know the name Collins? She asks her. No, says Maggie nervously. Noticing the name Sarah Collins on one of the plaques--the same name as the little girl Maggie befriended--Julia asks Maggie questions about her.
Maggie goes into a panic and wants desperately to leave. He'll kill me! She cries.
NOTES: Gang, Julia is not behaving ethically here, IMHO. She and Dave have a huge argument about her secretiveness and her unwillingness to provide information to him, Sam or Joe. She's been avoiding his calls and behaving possessive about Maggie, all of which are frightening him. She asks if he's accusing her of malpractice, being very quick to jump on the defensive. Somehow, she ends up getting Dave to apologize to her, but I don't see her apologizing to him! When she tells him she wants to bring Maggie to the cemetery, he objects strongly--the risk to Maggie is, in more ways than one, too great! He extracts a promise from her that she won't bring Maggie to Eagle Hill or do anything drastic without consulting him, but no sooner does he depart then she has Maggie brought into her office for a little field trip.
Vicki is listening intently to her music box when Burke stops by. He, too, gets pissed when she says she wants to put flowers on Josette's grave (she's getting too wrapped up in this long-dead woman, he insists), and he isn't too happy that Barnabas gave her such a nice gift that she so clearly loves, either (which he proves by slamming it shut after she says it makes her feel close to Josette)! Why Vicki even once thought Josette could be her ancestor--but that would make her a Collins, points out Burke, aghast. When Vicki makes it clear she's going to give Josette flowers for her birthday with or without him, Burke relents and goes to Eagle Hill with her.
Julia, blatantly ignoring Woodard's orders and Maggie's own terror and safety, brings her to Eagle Hill just as Burke and Vicki are approaching. Maggie is upset and shaky, but Julia barrages her with questions, insisting she look around and try to remember something. Maggie kneels in front of Josette's headstone, but they hear voices and Julia urges her to get away before they're spotted.
Vicki places the bouquet of flowers on Josette's grave and Burke disparages such a poor burial for one of the mighty Collins. That was Jeremiah's doing, explains Vicki, he had Josette buried in this barren place because she committed suicide. Burke comments what petty revenge that is, but all Vicki can talk of is the loneliness and desolation poor Josette must have suffered.
As Julia and Maggie are leaving the cemetery, the latter turns around and Vicki gets a good look at her face. Shocked, she tells Burke she saw Maggie Evans! No, Burke says, not Maggie, someone who looked like her--and it's apparent her imagination has gone haywire again, like with that little girl she didn't really see at Barnabas' party (that Burke is so sensitive to her feelings, isn't he? NOT!) Vicki is shaken that her imagination is playing such terrible tricks on her, and Burke leads her away to more earthly pleasures.
In the meantime, Julia leads Maggie towards the Collins mausoleum, which frightens the young woman even more. Julia interrogates her with more questions, then leads the protesting girl into the mausoleum and asks if the name "Collins" means anything to her. "Sarah?" Maggie cowers in fear, then screams, "He'll kill me! I'll die!" Julia demands to know who she is talking about, but Maggie can hardly speak, she is so filled with fear. Julia soothes her and leads her from the tomb. The camera pans to the wall with the plaques, moving slowly from left to right.
Julia may not be guilty of malpractice, but I still say she was wrong doing what she did today. She shouldn't have lied to Dave, and her taking Maggie to the cemetery against his wishes (and they were spotted by someone who knew Maggie) were well-founded.
284 - (Alexandra Moltke) - Under the sun over Collinwood, the days seem trapped beneath the throbbing, unrelenting eye. No storm is promised, and the air itself is as still as the breathing of the dead. And yet one leaf will stir, one bough will lightly bend, and one knows that the stillness will sometime end--perhaps with a gentle rain, perhaps with a thundering storm.
In Woodard's office, Julia puts Maggie under hypnosis, questioning her about Sarah. Julia reminds her of what happened at the cemetery; when she speaks the name "Collins," Maggie is terrified. Dave, learning that Julia took Maggie to the cemetery against his orders, is furious. Julia calms him down and asks him to introduce her to the Collins family as an amateur genealogist.
Though Dave feels the family will cooperate if told the truth, Julia insists they operate under secrecy. Do you suspect one of the Collinses? queries Dave. Julia doesn't give him an answer. Anxious to find out what really happened, Dave agrees to her terms. This case has some "unearthly" aspects, admits Julia.
In the drawing room at Collinwood, Vicki talks to Julia, not masking her love for Collins family history. Vicki advises Julia to check with Barnabas, the true expert of the family history. David enters, expressing annoyance because he couldn't find Sarah to play with him.
Julia, intrigued, asks David about Sarah. David tells her he doesn't know his little friend's last name. After David leaves, Julia can't help but notice Vicki's fascination with the past as she speaks fondly of Barnabas. Vicki admits she is preoccupied with the past. Julia, eager to learn more, asks if they can go see Barnabas this afternoon.
Vicki and Julia enter Josette's room, even though Willie has urged them not to do so. Julia, impressed with the room, wants to check out the rest of the house, but Vicki suggests she have Barnabas do that. It was all right for Vicki to show Julia this room, given her strong feelings about Josette. As the sun sets, Julia feels an icy chill go through her. Vicki lights a candle, which is immediately extinguished. I hope you'll return here to look around further, says Vicki.
"I can't tell you how much I look forward to it," says Julia, her voice implying many things. They leave.
Julia goes to Dave's office and tells him her visit to Collinwood was a success, but doesn't tell him any of her suspicions. She asks him to bring Maggie to her for a private session, and when he leaves, she begins a little word play game with Maggie, trying to learn the name of her doll. Elizabeth? Sarah? Carolyn? Suggests Julia, but Maggie doesn't respond to any of those names. Barnabas Collins? Asks Julia. "No!" screams Maggie--"not that name!" Maggie hugs the doll to her fiercely and begins singing "London Bridge."
The wrong name for the doll, murmurs Julia aloud, but the right name for something else.
NOTES: Everything Julia did in this episode seemed directed towards gathering clues to fulfill her own personal agenda--and how determinedly she worked her way into the Collins domain under false pretenses, running roughshod over the disgruntled Dave Woodard! She grills Maggie about the name Collins, upsetting her. She refuses to tell Dave much of anything except that whatever is going on strains the boundaries of what is known on earth.
Julia goes to Collinwood and finds the perfect person to talk to--the guileless, Collins-addicted Vicki. Julia listens intently to everything Vicki, and later David, tells her--about Sarah, who seems to have no last name, the costume party, the Old House restoration (sans telephone, that eccentric, kind, gentle fellow, Barnabas Collins, who nevertheless values privacy). Vicki thinks Julia and Barnabas will get along great, to which Julia replies, almost to herself, "I hope so."
Vicki takes Julia down to the Old House, where the doctor examines Josette's portrait (which should, to her eyes, look just like Maggie), the dress, sees the room by candlelight, and twice feels a chill racing through her. "I'm afraid of nothing," Julia assures Vicki, and says she's looking forward to meeting Barnabas Collins (ah, if she only knew)!
Still, Julia reveals nothing to Dave after her visit to Collinwood, even after he reminds her that if she has any suspects in Maggie's case, she has to turn them over to the authorities. Hell, no, thinks Julia, she's got other ideas in mind for this "suspect." Just to cement her beliefs, Julia again quizzes Maggie in Dave's office, turning it into a game--she takes the doll from Maggie, holds her up, and asks her what the doll's name is: Elizabeth. . .Sarah. . .Carolyn. . .Barnabas? Hearing that last name makes Maggie bury her face in her hands and sob, "NO! DON'T HURT ME!" Julia assures the crying young woman that Barnabas is the wrong name for the doll, but adds to herself, "But the right name for. . .something else. . ."
AH HA!!!! I think she's got it!
Love, Robin
