345 - (Alexandra Moltke) - Collinwood is deceptively quiet and calm. Out thoughts take wing and fly in many different directions. At the Old House on the Collinwood estate, there is one who dreams of taking a bride one day soon and recapturing all the glory of the past. While at the great house, we think only of the future--and pray for the safe return of one who has left us.
Mrs. Johnson comes into the drawing room and tells Liz that Burke's plane has gone down in the Amazon jungle.
Liz immediately gets on the phone to check out the passenger list. Mrs. Johnson hovers nearby, both women very upset.
Julia works on her notes on the desk at the Old House. Barnabas, gazing intently out the window, pronounces it a dreary night, and complains how tedious the evenings have become. "Is there something you'd like to do?" offers Julia (hopefully). "Cards? Cribbage?" he asks derisively--no, he wants Vicki to be Josette! He anticipates lovely evenings when that happens. He orders Julia back to her notes so he can have what he wants. Whatta sweet guy!! Curing him doesn't guarantee his getting Vicki, Julia points out--how do you plan to get her? Vicki will come willingly, says Barnabas, as Josette, not Vicki. Julia reminds him Vicki isn't interested in him(zing, score one for Julia), and then digs the knife in a bit deeper when she asks if Josette ever came to him willingly? Stung, angry, Barnabas walks away from Julia, refusing to look at her. That provides her answer. When she says he shouldn't base his life on self-deception, Barn accuses her of cold, clinical thinking, which Julia, her love for him obvious to us if not him, denies. He tells Julia she's always curious about Josette--as if she's a rival of hers. (Score one for Barn.) Julia denies that, too. Barnabas offers to tell her all about Josette, but says they have to set the mood right--he wants to take her to the place where it happened, on this dark, moonless night when ghosts walk and can perhaps reach out and touch those they still love.
Vicki comes into the living room to find the edgy Mrs. Johnson and Liz hanging out. Vicki wants to go for a walk in order to feel closer to her fiance; she can't sleep, and of course she starts going on about how wonderful Burke is and how happy she is and how much she misses him, just so the ladies will feel even worse about the impending bad news. She shares a memory of something Burke said about piloting a ship on a lightless night like this, and Mrs. Johnson finishes it for her--a widow's dance. Vicki gushes about Liz' offering them the West Wing, and how very happy she is. . .the phone rings and Liz, near tears, runs to get the bad news--confirmation that Burke WAS on the downed plane. Liz gives Vicki the bad news.
The young woman says she refuses to believe it and nearly faints. While Liz helps Vicki upstairs, Mrs. Johnson goes to find some pink pills to give her. They can't even call Dr. Woodard now, wails Mrs. J.
Later, Liz and Mrs. J are up, commiserating in the drawing room. Vicki's asleep, Mrs. J says. It broke her heart to hear Vicki talking so joyously about Burke, says Liz. They've sent out a search party. Mrs. Johnson doubts Burke is alive, but Vicki comes in, coat on, and says he WILL come back, and she's going for that walk.
On Widow's Hill, Barnabas tells a sympathetic, raptly-listening Julia the story of Josette--how gentle and beautiful she was. He had no interest in meeting his middle-aged uncle's new wife, but when he saw Josette, he was spellbound, in love, and vowed to make her his. Josette, however, was a good wife who loved her husband, but as the years passed, she realized she was married to an old man. She feared time--and he could defeat that for her. She became foolishly frightened and apparently ruined his plans for her. Julia murmurs how human Barnabas seems, talking of Josette. She knows he loved her very much, so in order to be happy,
he's going to have to stop measuring every woman he meets against Josette.
Vicki, drawn to Widow's Hill, joins them and tells them about Burke's plane. Julia gasps, and Barnabas, citing the cold ("I'm concerned for your health, my dear," aka, I'll kill you if you don't get the hell out of here), heartlessly sends Julia back to the house so he can be alone with Vicki. Julia doesn't want to go, but sees THAT look on Barn's face and decides it would be best for her to exit. As Julia leaves, Vicki stands at the cliff's edge, gazing helplessly out on the ocean. Vicki wonders about the Brazilian jungles, and vows to ask Burke about them when he gets back. She appeals to Barnabas to tell her that Burke is coming back to her, and he wisely does so, bolstering his own future hopes by telling her if it were HIM, nothing would stop him from returning to her. Vicki expresses sorrow that they never set a wedding date. She mentions the West Wing, and Barnabas says it's beautiful and suggests they look at it together,
but she prefers to wait for Burke to return. She tells him what a good friend he is, and the widows start to wail. Vicki, hopelessly gazing at the sea, says she always thought the legends surrounding Widows' Hill were untrue, but if she believed Burke were dead, she'd take a jump herself. Barnabas interrupts this in mid-sentence, pulling her back from the cliff's edge. "You must never be as foolish as. . ." he begins, and, as the widows wail, promises her that she will be a bride one day very soon. "Very soon," echoes Vicki, as the widows' wails fills the air.
NOTES: That ep was great! Barnabas is being so terrible to Julia, it hurts the heart to see it. You can't blame her for becoming angry with him, after all he put her through this week.
Interesting to hear that Josette did NOT come to him willingly. A different story will soon be told to us.
And I've always wondered--did Barnabas somehow cause Burke's plane to crash? What was he gazing at so urgently while staring out the window?
346 - (Alexandra Moltke) - No night at Collinwood has ever been longer than the one that is now almost over. It has been a night of waiting--to hear some word about the fate of a loved one, but waiting can exhaust the mind and finally one must sleep, and dream, dream of the days to come--days we hope desperately will be happy ones.
Whoa, Julia, you are one jealous woman, and your actions are going to result in a ticket to ride you won't like very much at all!
Vicki, lying asleep on the sofa at Collinwood, dreams--she goes into Josette's room and puts on a bridal veil. Barnabas comes in and tells her what a beautiful bride she is. "All brides are beautiful," says Julia, who has accompanied Barn into the room. Barnabas sends Julia out. Vicki asks where Burke is, and Barn points to the shrouded figure lying on the bed. Vicki says she can't be a bride if her groom is dead, and Barnabas smiles. She runs out, crying, "He has to be alive!", and those are the words she's shouting when Carolyn wakes her up. They speak for a few moments and Carolyn encourages Vicki to talk about Burke as if he's alive. Vicki smiles and remarks that it's good to feel surrounded by people who care about her; she's not completely alone. Vicki answers the phone and is upset to get a call that not a trace of plane nor passengers have been found.
She shouldn't hold out much hope, cautions the caller.
Julia is alone in Josette's room, sitting at her dresser, touching her brush and comb, musing over Barnabas' obsession with this woman, trying to fathom why. She talks to herself--why can't this dead woman STAY dead and buried? Julia hears a sound and demands to know who's there. She must be scientific about this Josette business. Sensing a man's presence, Julia calls out, "Dave?" She's relieved to hear Vicki calling her from downstairs and shouts for her to come up. Julia doesn't deny that she's doing research on Josette. Vicki says she's decided to restore the West Wing--and take up Barnabas' offer to help her. Julia turns belligerent harpy and says EVERYONE is always bothering Barnabas, taking advantage of him, but he's a busy man! He prefers to be left alone, Julia insists,
but Vicki, taken aback by this outburst, says she doesn't understand.
Barnabas pays Vicki a visit at Collinwood and feigns distress over her not hearing anything about Burke. Vicki relates to Barnabas the odd conversation she had earlier with Julia, but Barnabas, clearly angry, assures Vicki he didn't offer to help with the east Wing out of kindness--she's dear to him! Vicki says Julia's attitude was peculiar, is she working too hard, perhaps? Not to worry, Barnabas assures her. Julia comes in at this very moment, bearing beautiful yellow flowers for Vicki, a token of apology for her treatment of her earlier. When Vicki leaves to get a vase, Barnabas, his tone furious, grabs the flowers out of Julia's hands and tells her that he KNOWS hard work isn't the explanation for her outburst. They are nothing but doctor and patient, no matter what her delusions to the contrary. No matter what your delusions, retorts Julia, we're more involved than that. Because of Woodard? Barnabas asks. Control your feelings, Barnabas advises, and be nice to Vicki. Julia gazes at him, tight-lipped. When Vicki returns with the vase, she is dismayed to find the flowers are dead.
Barnabas, too, looks upset; did his evil touch do that?
In the lab, the distracted, angry Julia sticks herself with the needle she is preparing for Barnabas. Despite her orders not to, he stares at her, making her nervous, and she snaps angrily at him. Perhaps she is working too hard, but Barnabas denies that's true. He tells her he wants to expedite the experiment, and when she demands to know why, he seems disappointed at how naive she is--Burke is gone for the moment, he must strike while the iron is hot, while she's vulnerable. Like Josette, she will turn to him, and if Burke does come back, it will be too late. Julia has these injections/treatments timed, she doesn't want to rush them! Hearing an edge in her voice, Barnabas grabs her arm and warns her that her jealousy must not get in the way of his plans. He taunts her about being a humanitarian vis a vis Woodard, why did she do it? You made me, says Julia defensively. Barnabas further warns her that she had better not slow down the experiment or be unkind to Vicki again.
Vicki forgave Julia, but, says Barnabas in a chilling voice, "I do not forgive."
Love, Robin
