602 - (Marie Wallace) - On this cold, clear night, one can hear the sound of the ocean at the great house of Collinwood, a sound which means peace to some, but rage and fury to others. And in another house, nearer the sea, the emotion is rage, rage because one of the many plans conceived there is in danger of being stopped by a violent death.
Nicholas stabs the same letter opener into the same table Eve did, wondering when Barnabas will learn it's useless to fight him--he won't allow him to kill Eve and defeat him! It's too easy to destroy him--and such a great pleasure! If he was sure it wouldn't also destroy Adam. . .but he considers his plans for Barnabas as delightful as death would be. Adam, hinting Ang listens to her own orders, not Nick's, tells Nicholas Angelique is out of the house. Blair is angry she's missing when he needs her. It won't happen again, says Nicholas, but Adam says dealing with Barnabas is HIS responsibility, not Angelique's. Adam grabs Nicholas' arms and tells him to listen to him. For a moment, satanic fire flares in Nicholas' eyes and he looks as if he could gladly kill Adam. Then he smiles. "It's taken you less time than I would have thought to begin to give orders," he tells Adam--if you are not careful, I shall see to it that you never give another." Adam looks like a chastised little boy, lip thrust out defiantly.
Adam and Nicholas glare at each other; Adam turns away. This is no time to test each other, he tells Blair--a man protects his mate, he doesn't let a woman do it for him. Nicholas assures him that Barnabas is more frightened of Angelique than Adam. If Barnabas knew Ang was there, he would have more fear in him than if Adam were in the same room as he, holding a knife to his heart. Adam doesn't believe it, but Nicholas assures him it's true. Adam is concerned Barnabas will make his move while they're waiting for Angelique--he wants to get Vicki, assuring Barnabas will not act.
No, says Nick. Adam wants to know why, and Nick explains he wants it handled delicately--Angelique will control Barnabas with her powers. Adam is surprised to hear both of them have powers. Nicholas reminds him he saved Carolyn for him, provided the life force for Eve. Adam doesn't trust men who try to handle him, and Nicholas is trying to handle him! Trust me, says Nicholas, about Barnabas. Find Angelique with your special powers, challenges Adam. Nicholas says, "I shall." Adam taunts him, and Nicholas orders him to leave the room while he searches. No, says Adam, prove it to me while I'm standing here. Nicholas uses the magic mirror. Although Adam insists it's only a mirror, Nicholas tells him nothing is exactly as it appears, says Nicholas. Nicholas' mouth doesn't move as he summons the disobedient Angelique. Her face appears in the mirror, impressing Adam. She is with Jeff Clark, leaning over his sleeping form, caressing his hand. Nicholas is unpleasantly surprised. Adam wonders how Nicholas can do this--can he see anywhere, anytime, anyplace? Nicholas puts off his questions.
Ang calls to Jeff, waking him up (he's in the infamous brass bed that will appear in later storyline). Jeff is not happy to see her and orders her out. You always fights me, she complains. He turns away--I'd hoped you'd forget me, I can't help you anymore--Barnabas won't let me near the lab. You can, she insists, as long as the equipment is there. He doesn't want to listen to her. She caresses his face, and he keeps saying no. I want to see Vicki, he whines. You need me, she reminds him--haven't you missed me? He looks at her, not saying anything, wanting her despite himself. She knows he needs her. He smiles and says he dreamed about her. (wet?) What is the power she has over him?
Fangs descend in her mouth; Jeff happily grabs her as she sinks down to bite him. Abruptly, Nicholas grabs the back of her neck and drags her back like a teenage daughter caught making out on the sofa. She stares at his furious face, her eyes huge.
Jeff leaps off the bed and demands to know how Nicholas got in and what he's doing. Nick continues to grip Ang on the back of the throat and tells Jeff not to ask any questions. Jeff demands to know what Nicholas knows about her, but the warlock orders him to be quiet and sit down--now! Jeff, hypnotized, obeys. Nicholas turns to Ang. He thought he knew everything about her life, he didn't realize she had time to surprise him--are there other things she's keeping from him? He hopes not, he says in a dangerously soft voice, especially since he's about to be very nice to her. Go home and wait for him--he'll be there before dawn. Chastened, she stands and leaves, giving Jeff a longing glance first. Nicholas says he will make her goodbyes for her. Once she has gone, he asks Jeff where he met her. In the Old House he says woodenly, in the lab. She came and told him Barnabas sent her to be the life force. He didn't believe her at first, and she came more than once. The second time, she lay on the table and he connected the electrodes and turned on the equipment. You did the experiment? Demands Nick. No, says Jeff, I started, but Barnabas came downstairs. . .he didn't see Angelique, she disappeared--one minute there, the next, gone. Jeff would like to forget about Angelique, and Nicholas tells him to go to the bed. Jeff lies down on his back. Nicholas orders him to close his eyes--you are sleeping, yet you can hear my voice and obey--forget what happened tonight--forget Angelique.
She existed only in your imagination--she never came to the lab, you dreamed she did--when you waken, all the scars she has given you (he gestures to the fang marks) will be gone. Nicholas smiles and leaves, closing the door behind him. Jeff hears a knock at the door and wakes up. Nicholas is calling, "Mr. Clark!" Jeff stands, feels his throat and lets Nicholas in. He slaps Jeff's arms with one of his gloves and asks if he wants to have a drink--is something wrong? No, says Jeff, I just had a weird dream. He agrees to have a nice big drink with Nicholas.
Adam, talking to Eve, stares into the magic mirror, pissed that Nicholas didn't show him how to use it before leaving the house. He shouldn't have done that--they could have found Barnabas and known when he was coming. Eve disdainfully calls him a child, and he says that isn't true, she will see--he will protect her. She doesn't need it. Yes you do, insists Adam--Barnabas will kill you, and I'm a man who does what I say. Eve tells him she wants to look at the ocean, she isn't afraid. Adam, afraid for her, won't let her leave, and she has to order him out of her way. She shouldn't even be in the room, protests Adam, Barnabas might be outside right now. He grabs her arm--come with me. She struggles in his grip and he propels her away. Her hair covers her face as she orders him to stop it--the moment you let me go, I'll kill you! No you won't, counters Adam. Yes I will! she screams through gritted teeth.
Basement of Blair House - Adam takes Eve downstairs. I don't want to stay here, she says, terrified. It's for your own good, he says. She remembers this room, she says, he's going to send her back to where she came from!--I won't go. No, says Adam, you were made as I was--I only want you to stay for a little while, safe from Barnabas--stay until the danger is over, he orders, and goes upstairs. I will kill you, she cries, I mean it. He locks her down there. you'll see, she shouts insanely, I'll do as I say I will--you will see!
Adam tells Nicholas he must take Eve away. Nicholas agrees their time is almost up, but HE makes the decisions here. Eve and I are unhappy, bitches Adam, we want to leave tomorrow. Where would you go? asks Nicholas. The city, nearby, says Adam--I want to be alone with Eve--I can get a job. You must wait, says Nicholas. Adam is petulant--Eve won't wait, and he's afraid if they stay there much longer, she will hate him. Nicholas assures him he will speak to Eve tomorrow about waiting until they get Adam's scars removed--then they won't have to hide--the police are still hunting him, which Adam hasn't forgotten, and without scars, they can go in complete safety. Can it be done? asks Adam. Nicholas assures him it can, but he must find a doctor he can trust--they could go into the city or he might bring someone there. When? demands Adam. Don't be so impatient, chides Nicholas--Eve will agree with all his reasons and see the sense in them--it will be quite soon. Angelique comes in. It's nearly dawn, she points out, her brow furrowed with concern. Nicholas sends Adam to think. The big guy glances at her as he leaves.
Ang wants to know what her punishment will be--she expects Nicholas to be cruel, given that he IS cruel, after all. You touched me tonight, he says. Her face brightens as hope. He never realized how much she hates being what she is, but he was moved by her passion with Clark. She doesn't believe him. Ingenious, he praises, but she fears he has something terrible planned for her. He insists he hates to see her so miserable when he himself is almost happy. She's noticed that. He's going to give her a present, something to make her life happy and more pleasant--someone she will DELIGHT in controlling. . .someone who will make her happy to be a vampire. . . She asks if this is a joke, if he's making fun of her--she can never tell when he's serious. Nicholas assures he is quite serious now. There's a man who must become her slave and nothing must prevent it from happening.
She knows. . .she knows. . .don't be afraid. She will have him. Her face is filled with hope and disbelief--Barnabas? Barnabas Collins?
NOTES: Thus begins one of my very favorite segments in all of DS. While the Adam storyline bored me a great deal, this little segue was utterly enthralling and erotically stimulating. We know how much fun Angelique has in draining her victims (and notice none have been female), but imagine her lust when allowed to go after her former husband--with an eye toward returning him to his vampire state so he can be with her. . .forever!
Love the bitchy Eve. She's so nasty to Adam, always threatening to kill him. The big lug just puts it down to boredom, but he sure isn't her type of fellow. You can't imagine these two settling down to a life of babies reared for Satan. It's just too ludicrous a pairing.
603 - (Alexandra Moltke) - A quiet, still night at the great estate of Collinwood. A whisper of wind barely stirs the branches of the trees, but that whisper seems to carry a message to one woman--a message that her death draws nearer and nearer.
Liz surveys a model of her mausoleum, which says Stoddard on it. Vicki comes in and calls to her, but Liz doesn't pay attention at first. Vicki asks if she wants to go for a drive, but Liz requests that she come in and close the doors. I want to show it to you, says Liz, and I'm grateful at the closeness we've shared--no one else has seen it, it came today--I'm unsure if it's all right, I might want to make changes, but there is no time--I want you to be my witness, to say I insisted on it being finished, and if something happens to me before, you will see they hurry. Vicki doesn't understand.
Liz stands aside and shows Vicki her tomb. Promise me, says Liz, if I die before it's built, you won't allow them to bury me under the ground. "Mrs. Stoddard," says Vicki helplessly.
Vicki looks lovely in black with her hair down (perhaps it's that pregnancy motherhood glow). Vicki refuses to make the promises because Liz isn't going to die. Liz is upset. Vicki realizes she can't help what she's thinking, but physically, Liz is fine, and the reports from Windcliff say she's in excellent shape. They won't admit how powerful the mind can be, says Liz, how it can defeat the body. Stop yourself from thinking of these things, asks Vicki. Liz says it isn't that simple. There are doctors who can help her, says Vicki. I've seen them, says Liz. Vicki tells her that if this were happening to anyone else, she'd be the first person to advise them to get help. I can't be helped, says Liz. Vicki insists Liz can't state they understand each other and claim THAT--you and your family have been kind to me, and when I was in the orphanage, I feared I'd always be lonely--I couldn't prevent myself from thinking it, just the way you think she can't do anything--but you showed me I was wrong--let all of us show you you're wrong--help yourself. I've tried, says Liz, I don't like being this way--I have to be, she says, gazing at her model tomb--I'll build it by the sea, on the cliff, and when the bell rings, you can hear it--someone must always be at Collinwood, in case the bell does ring, because if it does, it will mean I'm alive.
Roger enters and barks at Liz: "What are you talking about?"--you promised me not to mention it again; Vicki isn't encouraging you to speak of it--you must think of other things, demands Roger--you haven't tried hard enough. Liz hides her model tomb from him, telling him he'll see it soon, standing on the cliffs. When she reveals it to him, Roger looks lost--he can't believe she had an architect draw up plans--did you tell him of your terrible fear of being buried alive?--do you know what he thought while making it? Liz doesn't want to hear such cruel, negative talk. He was humoring an insane woman! shouts Roger--they must be laughing in the village. Vicki steps in to assure him they aren't. Liz tells him he shouldn't be so concerned about what others think--he'd have a better life. They're talking about THAT, says Roger, disdainfully pointing to the model. Liz cries that he'd better get used to that, because it will be built--she's paying for it. Roger, in a rage, takes a statue and destroys the model, causing Liz to cry out a strangled NO and run from the room. Vicki is angry at Roger for doing this. He realizes swiftly that he shouldn't have done it. Vicki tries to put it back together while Roger sits in a chair, in despair. I don't know what to do, he says, I've tried everything--listening, reasoning--I had her almost on the point of admitting the absurdity--she's seemed her old self, and just when I thought all was OK, she starts with the death business. He knows things will never be the same again. He finds himself almost on the point of believing it. Vicki continues trying to put Liz model tomb back together.
Liz, standing in her room, hears a voice calling her--her own voice, filled with menace and stealth. "You can't hide from me, says the voice, you must listen. Get ready. It's nearly time for you to go to your grave. GET READY! "NO, NO!" Liz cries.
Roger ruefully tells Vicki it seems everything began to change when he married Cassandra--perhaps I blame her because. . .we've never been very lucky in love, although at least you didn't marry young Clark. "No, I didn't," says Vicki sadly. A knock at the door interrupts. It's young Clark, who looks nervous. Roger demands to know what he wants. To see Vicki, says Jeff--I have to see her, please. Roger closes the doors, leaving him outside, and tells Vicki Jeff is here--Should I say you don't want to see him? No, says Vicki, I'll see him.
In her room, Liz continues to hear her own sly voice: They will find you in your room, think you dead--you will never leave this room--tonight, you will seem to be dead, here in this room. NO, objects Liz.
Jeff slowly enters the drawing room. Vicki greets him. It's good to see you, he says. He takes out a ring box and says he has a ring that doesn't belong to him--it's yours, he says. She keeps her face turned away. It will always belong to you, he adds. He touches her shoulders; she pulls away: "Don't touch me." He says she has every right to be angry at him, and forgiving is a part of love. Knowing the man you love is also part of love, counters Vicki. Am I Peter Bradford, he asks? I want to know about Jeff Clark, says Vicki. You do, he says. No, I think I made up the man I loved, says Vicki, because the man in my mind wouldn't have acted as you did. (true!) I know I should have taken Roger's job offer, says Jeff, but I couldn't. That's the only explanation you have, she says, and if you love me, you could tell me--"I don't like that job, hate working in a cannery, hate Roger"--something I could understand, even if I didn't like it. I did everything I did for your sake, he explains. You HURT me for my own sake? she asks, not understanding--try and explain it, she invites. I can't, but I will, later, he promises.
I'll wait until you do, she says. We love each other, he begs. People can love each other and still know a life together wouldn't work, says Vicki--I'm sorry. She turns away.
Roger goes to Liz' room and knocks. No answer. He asks to speak to her, and finally opens her door. "Liz?" he calls, but she isn't there.
Jeff takes his ring. I tried, didn't I? he asks. Yes, you tried, Vicki agrees. I said everything I planned to say, says Jeff--perhaps you didn't want to hear everything I'd planned to say, perhaps that would have made you want to be part of my life again. Roger comes in and announces that Liz is gone.
In the cemetery, Liz walks amongst the tombstones. This is where they will bury me, here with my ancestors, but I won't be dead--I'll lie under the ground, unable to breathe. This is where I will lie, because my tomb won't be finished in time.
Roger and Jeff slip into their coats to look for Liz. Roger tells Vicki to get Mrs. Johnson and search the house.
Liz gazes at Peter Bradford's tombstone. That day, so long ago, mutters Liz, when Vicki found you and knew you really were Peter.
I wonder if someone will look down at my tombstone, thinking me at peace, not knowing I died, struggling to breathe. Liz feels a pain in her chest and moans. Roger and Peter hear a sound as they search.
Why would Mrs. Stoddard come to the woods alone? asks Jeff. Roger explains she hasn't been herself lately, she's been troubled. They decide to split up; she might have gone to Widows' Hill.
"No," cries Liz, "I'm all right." The ugly voice tells her it's starting, soon she'll be lying there and whoever finds her will think her dead! Jeff comes to her then. She tells him not to come near her--he's dead--Vicki told her he's dead. He grabs her shoulder as Liz orders him not to touch her, and she falls over, giving him a good look at Bradford's tombstone--born 1/18/1770 died 4/3/1795.
Vicki comes dejectedly downstairs. Peter enters, carrying Mrs. Stoddard in his arms. I found her in the graveyard, he explains, placing her on the sofa. Vicki calls to her, finding her hands cold. She has no pulse. She listens to her chest--no heartbeat! "She's dead!" cries Vicki.
NOTES: Sorry, folks, even more boring to me than the Adam storyline is the Liz-being-buried-alive storyline. Ick.
All Roger ever cares about is how the Collins family looks to the townspeople. He really should get off that horse, considering everyone probably considers the family eccentric, if not downright nuts. He should be more concerned about Liz than the family rep.
Jeff is being a decent guy, trying to make it up with Vicki, but right now, she wants that explanation for why he did what he did, or she's not buying. Will he get her to change her mind? Will his kindness toward Liz change her mind? He's still not my idea of marriage material, too bombastic, like the actor portraying him!
Love, Robin
