670 - (KLS) - A new afternoon at Collinwood, a day which has seen the arrival of a guest on the Collins estate--a mysterious young man who has a dark and evil secret, a secret which could endanger all those who live in the great house of Collinwood.
Chris and Carolyn enjoy martinis in the drawing room. She asks if he has anything to say about the cottage. It's just what I need, he says--private, away from other people. Carolyn asks what he has against other people. I'm not completely anti-social, he says, admitting that he's on the "withdrawn" side. Why is that? she asks. I seem to function better that way, says Chris-- I solve my problems better when I'm alone. She asks if his problems are so different from other people's. I thought we were just going to have a celebration drink on my moving into the cottage, he says, taken aback by all the personal questions. I know I'm being too inquisitive, admits Carolyn, and drinks to his new life in the cottage. Although he doesn't seem all that thrilled with his new life, they clink and drink. He says he won't be seeing her until after the weekend--I'm going away for a while, leaving later today--it came up suddenly, I'm sorry. So am I, she says, I planned to surprise you with a date Sunday. I'll see you the following Sunday, says Chris, or during the week. Amy joins them, happy to see her brother, and she says she's much better than yesterday. She's thrilled he lives so close and hopes to see more of him. Chris says they should thank Carolyn for that. My pleasure, she assures them. Amy's eyes suddenly widen--she spots a star on Carolyn's face.
Noting the little girl's frightened expression, Carolyn asks if she said something wrong. Amy asks her if she's going away. Of course not, replies Carolyn. I see a star on your face, says Amy. Chris is horrified. I only saw it on one other person's face--my cousin, Joe, says Amy fearfully--and now he's gone away--I hope it doesn't mean you're going away, too, Carolyn!
Chris holds Amy in a comforting embrace as Carolyn examines her face in the mirror and tells them there's no star on my face. It was there, insists Amy, as it had been on Joe's. Chris says he didn't see anything. Carolyn wonders, then, why Amy did. Amy apologizes for upsetting her. Carolyn assures her she's only baffled--perhaps Amy has ESP--run away and play, she urges the child, I want to speak to Chris. Amy leaves. Carolyn tells Chris she sometimes finds his little sister's behavior very strange. Chris excuses himself abruptly. She asks why. I have to be on my way, he says. Are you upset by what Amy said? Wonders Carolyn. I just have things to do, he says--I'll call you when I get back. He almost runs from the house, leaving Carolyn puzzled, checking her face in the mirror again.
David sorts through the gigantic playing cards. Amy comes in and asks why he isn't in the West Wing. I've been back an hour, he says, annoyed, waiting for you--where have you been? Seeing Chris, she says. With Carolyn? he asks. Yes, says Amy--did you speak to Quentin about Chris and Carolyn? Yes, I did, says David--Quentin isn't unhappy about it, he seemed pleased. Amy's glad, she thinks they make a nice couple. David, building a house of cards that topples, doesn't care--I just want to make sure Carolyn stops interfering with us. How? asks Amy. By playing the game with her, says David--Quentin has a way, but wouldn't tell me. Amy asks how they'll do it. David says we'll just help out. Neither child understands, but David says all they must do is carry out Quentin's instructions--later that afternoon, David instructs her, you are to pretend to be sick. Amy doesn't get it, but David advises her to go along if she doesn't want Quentin to be angry at them. Amy wonders what Quentin's going to do to Carolyn--he isn't going to hurt her, is he?--I don't want anything bad to happen to her. David orders her to stop asking so many questions. I'm just afraid, admits Amy. David threatens to go tell Quentin she's afraid and refuses to help him. This upsets Amy--don't do that, she begs hastily--I didn't mean it that way. Perhaps I WILL tell him, says David--then Quentin and I can play the game--with YOU. (cruel!)
No, begs Amy--why are you being so mean to me? I don't want you to be afraid, says David, it's only a game. Sometimes it's so dangerous, protests Amy. What's dangerous? questions David--it only scares people, not hurt them. David demands she make up her mind, and she agrees to be with them. They only want to stop Carolyn's interference, says David, and Quentin told him after tonight, she'll never bother them again.
Amy comes out of the kitchen area into the drawing room. Carolyn dejectedly tells Amy Chris left and they won't be seeing anymore of him until after the weekend. Amy asks why. He's leaving on business today, says Carolyn. Amy wonders why he didn't tell her. It slipped his mind, suggests Carolyn. Amy wants to go to the cottage and see him before he goes, but Carolyn says Maggie is about to begin their lessons and there won't be time. Amy's disappointed. Carolyn hugs her and says Chris will be back soon--he only just told me, says Carolyn. If you see him again, to tell him I'll miss him, says Amy, who goes upstairs, leaving Carolyn thoughtful.
Chris sits in a chair at the cottage. He pulls off his tie, looking impatient. He begins to throw things into a suitcase.
David and Amy work on their schoolwork. He asks her if she feels all right--she looks pale. She says she feels fine. Maggie reminds them she told them not to talk to each other until they were finished. David says he's just worried about Amy. Maggie urges him to pay attention to English grammar--you must speak properly, she giggles. I'm finished, announces Amy. Maggie picks up her paper to grade it. Maggie wants them to do their spelling together.
Amy touches her hand to her forehead--I feel kind of funny, she says. Maggie kneels and notes how pale Amy looks, but feels no fever. Just tired, says Amy. Perhaps we should hold off on the spelling, suggests Maggie. Amy says no, then complains how awful her head feels--so light. She passes out on the table. David asks what's happened to her as Maggie carries Amy to her bed. She tells David to stay with her while she goes for Carolyn and to get a cold compress. After Maggie is gone, Amy sits up. "How was that?" she asks David, and he lauds her performance. You almost had me worried, he praises--now we must make sure Carolyn goes to the cottage to get Chris. Amy wonders why. You don't have to know, answers David. Amy wants to know what Chris has to do with all this. How should I know? he answers. Hearing Maggie's voice, Amy sags back down on the bed. Carolyn and Maggie come in, speculating on what's wrong with the child. David thinks it's because Amy's upset over Chris leaving. Carolyn thinks this might be correct--Amy seemed really upset earlier. Maggie suggests Chris come see his sister before he leaves. Carolyn goes downstairs to phone Chris. Amy wakes up, muttering, "Chris. . .Chris!"
Carolyn phones the cottage. Chris, still packing, looks outside at the sky. He turns on the light. The phone rings, but he doesn't pick it up, ignoring its insistent ring. He continues to pack and closes his suitcase. The ringing stops. Carolyn hangs up. Concerned, she goes back upstairs. Amy keeps calling for her brother, asking him not to go away again. Maggie assures her he's coming over soon to see her. Amy comes to fully, and is surprised to hear she fainted. Maggie wants her to spend the rest of the day in bed, but Amy protests this decision. I won't let anything happen to you, Maggie vows--you were dreaming, she adds, about Chris and that he was saying goodbye to you. Maggie tells her that Carolyn went to call Chris. She should be back by now, says David--she had plenty of time to make the call. Perhaps he's already left, speculates Amy. Maggie goes downstairs to see what happened to Carolyn. David tells Amy she's gone, but the sad look doesn't leave Amy's face. He asks what's wrong. She confesses I'm confused--I don't understand all this. You don't have to, insists David. She demands to know Chris' connection to all this.
David doesn't know, and accuses her of getting afraid again. Why must Carolyn go get Chris? she asks. Because it's what Quentin wants, David reminds her. What will happen? Amy asks. Again he assures her nothing bad. Amy protests he doesn't know any more than she does, but he says all Quentin wants Carolyn to do is leave the house--it has nothing to do with Chris, he's just going to scare Carolyn so she'll stop interfering. Amy thinks she understands. They hear footsteps, so Amy returns to her lying down position. Carolyn comes in and asks how Amy is feeling. All right, says the little girl. Carolyn tells them Maggie went to the cottage to get Chris. The kids exchange upset looks. "She shouldn't have done that," says Amy, puzzling Carolyn--I thought you wanted to see Chris, Amy. I do, says Amy, but. . . I thought Carolyn was going to the cottage, says David. It makes no difference who goes to get him, insists Carolyn. But it obviously makes a lot of difference to the perturbed children.
Chris checks out the window again. He begins to feel the pain rippling through him. He takes his suitcase under his arm and backs off when he hears Maggie at the door--I want to come in and talk about Amy. Trapped, turning into the creature, Chris leans against the wall. How is he going to get out of this one?
NOTES: Two more wonderful, eerie performances from the kids. Quentin was as spine-tingling as I remember, playing with Mrs. Johnson's head. Why does he want Carolyn to be killed by Chris? Why would be want Chris to kill Carolyn, given the relationship? This is his family, and he's really being so nasty! I miss Barnabas and Julia, two eps without them is tough to take.
671 - (Nancy Barrett) - A late afternoon sun sets slowly on the great house of Collinwood, and soon an evil game of life and death will be resumed. No one fears the approaching darkness more than a young man who lives in a small cottage on the estate, for he alone knows that, with the coming of the full moon, he will experience a painful and hideous transformation from man to predatory animal.
Chris, in severe pain from the oncoming transformation, tries to leave the cottage, but Maggie arrives at the cottage, preventing his departure. He hugs the wall, asking who it is. It's about Amy, says Maggie. Chris is trapped!
Maggie begs Chris to open the door, which he finally does. He tells her he's fine. We've been trying to phone you, she says. I must not have heard the phone, says Chris nervously. He's perturbed to hear that Amy fainted, but he has other things on his mind. He sends her back to Collinwood, assuring her he'll come along shortly--he needs time alone. He almost pushes her out the door and stares in the mirror, his face twisted with agony.
Collinwood foyer - Carolyn comes downstairs. Maggie returns, annoyed--Chris was so hostile and rude, anxious to get rid of me. Carolyn says he behaved oddly on their date, too. He will come to see Amy, says Maggie. Carolyn remarks that something strange is going on with the kids--when they learned you went for Chris, they got very upset--I also think Amy was faking her illness, despite the fainting--she's perfectly all right now. Keep an eye on them, Carolyn advises Maggie, perhaps talk to him--I'm going to the mausoleum. Maggie wishes she wouldn't go while it's dark, but Carolyn says it's Liz's birthday and she wants to spend time with her. Maggie reminds her it's been three weeks since your mother died, and you seem to be hoping your mother will return to life. True, admits Carolyn--I was at first convinced Liz wasn't dead, but now. . . Maggie suggests she just accept it. Carolyn says she can't help hoping.
Maggie tells her it's not possible to come back from the dead (oh, boy, you can at Collinwood!). Carolyn reminds her Liz feared everyone would THINK her dead, but in truth she would only be in a catatonic state--I want to believe that, too. Maggie heads upstairs.
Chris writhes in pain as he begins to transform. He lurches around the cottage, staring at the full moon. Wracked with pain, he twists and twirls as if in an insane dance, finally settling in a chair to begin his transformation into wolf!
The wolf growls, stares at its hands, then rises from the chair. He looks at himself in the mirror and immediately begins trashing the cottage, knocking over lamps, overturning furniture, etc. He leaves the cottage.
Carolyn stands beside her mother's coffin, thinking over what Maggie told her about no one being able to return from the dead. Carolyn, crying, clasps her face and moans. I must go on believing you'll be with us again, she tells herself.
In her coffin, Liz, eyes closed, tells Carolyn, "I AM alive, and must find a way to tell you--you're in terrible danger!" "Good night, Mother," says Carolyn. Liz wonders why she can't make herself heard. Silently, she begs Carolyn to stay with her. Turning away from the door as if she'd heard something, Carolyn dismisses it and leaves the cute little tomb they built for Liz. The werewolf is in the woods, prowling, growling.
David and Amy ask Maggie where Carolyn is. The mausoleum, answers Maggie, asking the kids why they're looking at each other like that. They profess innocence. Amy wonders what's keeping Chris. David suggests they go outside and see if he's coming. Maggie nips that idea--wait in the drawing room, she orders--I want you to answer a few questions, truthfully. David says they have no reason to lie to her. Amy agrees. Maggie asks if Amy was pretending to be sick. Why Amy would do that? Demands David, jumping in to answer for her. Maggie wants the answer from Amy. The little girl slouches in a chair and says she wasn't pretending, she really did faint--I'm feeling better now, smiles Amy. Maggie wonders how she got better so quickly. David says girls are always having dizzy spells. (huh?) Maggie insists that's an exaggeration, and David says some girls have them all the time. Not Amy, insists Maggie. Amy can't explain her illness. Maggie asks her why both of them were so upset when they learned she went to the cottage to get Chris. David says neither of them was upset, but Maggie explains that Carolyn said they were almost frightened when they heard Maggie had gone to the cottage. David again denies--I was just surprised, he says--Carolyn likes Chris, and we thought she would want to go get him. Amy corroborates this--Chris likes Carolyn, too--we saw them on the terrace the night before last. David orders Amy to keep quiet. She asks David what's wrong with you--I didn't say anything wrong. No, she didn't, agrees Maggie. Amy asks Maggie if she believed them. I do, says Maggie, but there have been many strange things happening lately--Mrs. Johnson's experience at the cottage, for instance. David thinks Mrs. J was only imagining the strange man at the cottage--she's always been jumpy that way, and besides, there was no strange man when we got there. Maggie suggests he got out the back way. David asks why no one has seen him since. Maggie doesn't know. David does--because he doesn't exist.
Carolyn returns to Collinwood. Maggie assures her the kids are fine, but Chris hasn't arrived yet. Carolyn is puzzled to hear this, not understanding--Chris promised. He should have called if he was delayed. Maggie doesn't feel the kids should stay up any later. Carolyn agrees that Maggie should take them upstairs; she'll wait for Chris.
The werewolf growls, moving swiftly through the woods.
Carolyn paces the foyer, worried about Chris. Maggie comes downstairs and suggests perhaps he decided not to come. He knew Amy wanted to see him, protests Carolyn. He was in a strange mood, says Maggie. Carolyn insists that's no reason to disappoint his sister. Amy isn't disappointed, says Maggie. Carolyn says Amy doesn't know that, and tells Maggie to call Chris. She does, but gets no answer. The werewolf continues to look for victims in the woods, mindlessly growling. He stops to look at Tom Jennings' gravestone (1944-1968 ). He is about to enter Liz's tomb, but changes his mind. Liz, lying in her coffin, wants to warn Carolyn of the danger she's in, but she's helpless to do so.
Maggie gets no answer at Chris' cottage, so Carolyn decides to find him and give him a piece of her mind. You don't know where he is, protests Maggie. Carolyn is sure he's in the cottage, just not answering the phone--I'm fed up with his moods and broken promises, and tired of waiting. Maggie feels she shouldn't walk alone through the woods, but Carolyn leaves, assuring her she isn't afraid of the dark. Maggie closes the double doors into the drawing room.
Carolyn huddles into her coat, heading towards the cottage. Liz, in despair, wishes she could move, warn her daughter!--there must be some way to tell her! she says, eyes fluttering.
Amy slips through the secret panel in the drawing room and opens the double doors. David, dressed for bed, demands to know where she was going. Nowhere, she says, backing away from him. I don't believe you, he says. She's scared, asking what he's doing down here.
I came to meet you, he says--I heard you leaving your room--you went to the West Wing, and I didn't hear you pass my room, came down the secret stairway. She admits it. He demands to know why, accusing her of going to warn Carolyn at the cottage. No, says Amy--I don't want her to get hurt, she admits. I told you that wouldn't happen, he reminds her, so don't worry--go back upstairs, he orders, but she wants to wait for Carolyn to come back. We promised Maggie we'd be good children, he reminds her--go straight to bed--we don't want to disappoint her, do we? He ushers her back through the secret panel.
Carolyn finds the cottage wrecked inside and calls to Chris, checking the bedroom. Desperate and scared, she surveys the mess, then runs out.
In her coffin, Liz is still trying to figure out how to warn Carolyn of the terrible danger she's in.
Carolyn, walking in the woods, hears a noise and calls to Chris. She's visibly frightened when she hears the rustling again. The werewolf comes into her line of sight, growling ferociously. Carolyn walks very slowly, sensing danger. She hears Liz calling to her--"Hear me, Carolyn, you're in danger!" The werewolf seeks his prey, snarling.
NOTES: Pretty exciting, as Liz tries to let Carolyn know of the danger she's in using telepathy. Will she be able to prevent the werewolf from killing her daughter?
Seems like David's way more into these sick little ghost games than Amy is. Perhaps Quentin's spirit is the stronger of the two, able to take over the boy more often and with more power. In any case, Amy's illness was very convincing.
Quentin wants Carolyn killed, which makes some sense, given his vengeful feelings toward the Collins family, but once we learn certain other facts, it makes little sense. You'll see.
We can only hope the Liz fearing death sub-storyline is coming to an end soon!
Love, Robin
