750 - (Terry Crawford) - Collinwood in the year 1897, a time of terrifying events that will affect the Collins family for generations to come. On this day, as the sun slowly moves toward the horizon, one man live in relentless fear. Quentin Collins would trade his soul to hold back the night, for he knows that with the coming of darkness a curse will be placed upon him--but what it will be and how it will destroy him, he does not know.
Quentin gazes out the window, wondering what form his curse will take. In the cemetery, Magda assures Jenny that she will have the peace she seeks, and solemnly assures her, your death will be avenged--there will be no escape for Quentin Collins, his punishment will be worse than death, and he will suffer it all the days of his life. (Jenny was born in 1869, died 1897.) The headstone fades into Quentin's anxious face staring out the window, which he closes, looking resignedly at the oncoming night sky.
Sandor joins Magda at Jenny's grave. He helps her to her feet, telling her they will go back to the house now. Magda wants to stay longer. We must leave tonight, insists Sandor, because when the curse begins to work, our lives will be in danger. Patting her husband's hand, Magda assures him, I know of protection for us, but the Collinses will be in danger--each of them could be a victim of Quentin's curse--I don't want to leave, but stay and watch them be destroyed, one by one (a distant relative of Angelique's perhaps?)
Judith, wearing a lovely green velvet dress, tends to her mail. She asks Beth into the drawing room and hands her a letter terminating her employment at Collinwood, plus two weeks' severance pay--you can thank Edward for the latter; says Judith, frankly, I was against it. Beth timidly asks, why am I being fired? Judith gives her a look and says, with Jenny gone, your services are no longer needed. Beth, shocked at this abrupt dismissal, doesn't know what to say. Judith doesn't understand why--you were only kept on to care for Jenny. What about the children? asks Beth. They'll stay in Collinsport with Mrs. Fillmore, replies Judith. They could be brought back here, with Jenny gone, suggests Beth eagerly. No, says Judith, not very practical, and how to explain two infant children suddenly arriving at the house? Tell the truth, says Beth, that the children belong to Quentin and Jenny. Impossible, says Judith sternly, Quentin must never know about the children. I never understood why you and Mr. Edward decided to do that, says Beth--it seems to me Quentin should know about the children. Judith notes, you seem very concerned about Quentin lately. What is that supposed to mean? asks Beth. That your infatuation for my brother hasn't gone unnoticed, says Judith--the servants have been gossiping about it for a month. Is that the real reason for my dismissal? asks Beth. The reason for your dismissal is stated in the letter, says Judith cruelly, sending Beth scuttling away. Quentin returns home and Judith meets him. Everything is settled, he says--you'll be rid of all of us by nightfall. Splendid, pronounces Judith--where are you he going--just so I can forward your mail and refer any creditors you might have accumulated. Quentin laughs--you do think of everything! "I try to," she retorts. Magda knocks at the door; Judith answers. Quentin, heading upstairs, stops. I have come for my sister's possessions, says Magda--or have you also buried them? Judith curtly tells her, I'll have Beth put them together, but in the meantime, I suggest you pack your own things and be ready to leave tonight. What makes you think we're leaving? asks Magda. If you expect anymore money than you've already been given...begins Judith. I wouldn't take a penny from you, insists Magda--you have always treated us badly because we are gypsies and inferior to the great Collinses, but we are faithful to something you don't practice--betraying your own flesh and blood! (You GO, Magda!) Judith is horrified to hear they didn't take the money.
Quentin listens as Magda explains, we gave it back to your brother, the murderer. "That's enough!" Quentin orders. Magda notes with satisfaction that he's beginning to get frightened now that the time is drawing closer. Quentin advises her to try her curse on someone else; he's leaving Collinwood tonight. She laughs. Leaving won't stop the curse, she exults, you can't escape it no matter where you go. GET OUT OF HERE! Quentin shouts. Whatever you say, agrees Magda, I'll send Sandor for Jenny's things. She leaves. Judith tells Quentin he's an unspeakable liar and demands back the money. I'm keeping it; he says, you want me to leave, don't you? Yes, agrees Judith, but I want the gypsies gone, too. I did my best, but for once they weren't interested in money, explains Quentin. Then you didn't keep your end of the bargain, insists Judith. Q tells her to stop it--I gave you a signed agreement waiving all my rights to my inheritance. She agrees to give it back, but he doesn't want it, he wants to leave but needs a "small financial stake." I would hardly call 10 thousand dollars a small stake, she informs him. You're right, he says, but I'm not as good at pinching pennies as you are. "You want the money, Judith?" he barks. "Sue me!" And he races upstairs, leaving her fuming.
5 PM - Beth carries Jenny's two baby dolls downstairs into the drawing room, along with the black dress we saw Jenny wearing most of the time. She lovingly tucks them into a suitcase. Quentin tells her to start packing her own things--we are leaving Collinwood tonight. We? asks Beth--I have no choice in the matter? (like she really wants one!) I thought you wanted to go with me, he says. I thought so, too, says Beth. Are you changing your mind? He asks. I don't know, she confesses--so much has happened. I have to leave Collinwood and want you to go with me, he says. Strange, she says, I never thought of leaving Collinwood. Start! says Quentin--I don't see why Judith would want to keep you on. I have been dismissed, she reveals. So there's nothing more to think about, he says. I still have a memory of Jenny, says Beth. You can't afford to think of her now, says Quentin (cold man!) but Beth can't help it--that pathetic, dead face, the way she looked at both of us just before she died. . .. It was something that couldn't be helped, he insists. Beth isn't sure that's true. Do you think I killed Jenny deliberately? He asks. I don't know, she says--that's why I feel as I do--I'll never know. He grabs her and says, "Well I didn't! I was trying to protect the two of us, she had a knife in her hand, she would have killed us!" She begs him not to discuss it anymore. Are you coming with me? he asks. Holding one of the dolls, Beth repeats, I don't know. You have no reason to stay here, points out Quentin, do you? She glances at the doll in her arms. He demands an answer--do you have any reason for wanting to stay at Collinwood?
I guess I don't, says Beth. Are you coming with me? he asks for the umpteenth time. I'll let you know later this afternoon, she promises. That will be too late, he starts to say, but someone knocks at the door--Sandor, for Jenny's things. They're ready, says Beth. Sandor follows her into the drawing room, giving Quentin a look before joining Beth. Beth closes the suitcase and tells Sandor, that's everything. Quentin asks to speak to Sandor, who doesn't want to talk to him. Q asks Beth to leave and closes the doors. I consider you a practical man, says Q, and want to offer you a handsome proposition. You have a short memory, says Sandor--your proposition was already rejected. This is different, insists Quentin--I offered you and Magda 10 grand, now I'm offering the same amount to you alone. "And you expect me to take it?" asks the gypsy. Quentin chuckles--you didn't fool me down at the Old House, when I mentioned that money, your eyes bulged. Sandor agrees it's tough to turn down. Take it, urges Quentin, keep it for yourself--Magda need never know about it. If I take it, asks Sandor, what do you expect from me? You know as much about the curse as Magda does, right? Asks Q. Maybe, says Sandor. When Magda places the curse on me, you can remove it--whatever is done can be undone. I don't know how, says Sandor. Ten thousand in cash, says Quentin, all yours. "How miserably you fail to understand us, Quentin," says Sandor. Stop preaching; orders Quentin, you'd cut your best friend's throat for a tenth of what I'm offering you and you know it! Of course, agrees Sandor--it hurts to see that money slip through my fingers, but would hurt me even more to lose Magda, so I can't betray her.
I'll give you all the money if you just tell me what the curse is, offers Quentin. What good will that do? asks Sandor. I want to know what to expect so I'll be ready for it, says Q. Sandor notes, you're beginning to sound desperate. Quentin demands, tell me what it is! Wait and find out for yourself, says Sandor. No, says Q--perhaps you can't tell me, because it's just a lot of gypsy gibberish, like Edward said--if there were anything for me to be afraid of, you would relish telling me. Only a few more hours, Quentin, says Sandor--"Only a few more precious hours."
Dusk - We see Jenny's headstone. How much longer? Sandor asks Magda. Be patient, she says. I don't like graveyards, he complains. In a few minutes, the sun will disppear, she says, and the moon will rise and it will be time--for us it will take a few moments, but for Quentin, it will last a lifetime.
Quentin, carrying his carpetbag and dressed in his cape, descends the stairs and goes into the servants' quarters. It's 7 PM. Beth has packed her belongings in a suitcase, which she closes. She glances through the window.and begins tying a hat on her head. Quentin comes in, joyously holding and pawing her. "You decided to come with me, eh?" he asks. Yes, she says, pulling away from him. You don't sound very enthused, he complains. Beth turns to look at him, then asks, why do you want me to go with you? That's obvious, he says, for a long time--"I love you, Beth." I've been thinking about us since the other night, she says, and if we are going away, you must be honest--you don't want me along because you love me, because I'm not sure you love me--or anyone (wise gal). Quentin doesn't answer, but turns away from her when he denies what she said. You want me with you, says Beth, because you're the kind of person who can't ever be alone or do anything alone--people mean nothing to you, you use them and when you're tired and bored, you discard them in favor of new ones. If that's the way you feel, he asks gently, why have you decided to come with me? I love you, she says, and care about what happens to you--every instinct tells me not to go, but I'm going anyway. He takes her in his arms and assures her, you won't regret it, then plants a big kiss on her. I'll take you back to the carriage, he says. I have something to do, she says, a personal matter in Collinsport. There isn't time, he says desperately--it will be dark soon, we must leave. Beth, however, insists, I must go.
The moon has risen. It's time, Magda tells Sandor. She scoops up dirt from Jenny's grave and says, "Let my voice be carried by the wind, be taken to the surrounding countryside, heard by all the tribal chiefs and prophets. . ..I speak for one of us who has been struck down and for whom we must secure justice. Listen! Hear my words! Honor my wish!" She makes the two-fingered sign and says, "I place this curse upon Quentin Collins, and upon all his male kin of succeeding generations..."
Quentin shakes Beth, demanding she tell him what she must do in town, but she, equally adamant, insists, I can't explain it--let me go! Forget it and come with me! he says. I want to go, pleads Beth, it will only take a few minutes. There isn't that much time! he shouts. Why not? she asks. It's getting dark out, he says, and the gypsy told me. . .Quentin abruptly begins to experience terrible, terrible pain, tearing at his insides--I can't bear it! he cries, I feel like I'm going to die!--get a doctor, before it's too late! As she runs from the room, Quentin falls to the floor, writhing in agony. A dog howls. We see the full moon.
NOTES: Magda's curse against her brother in law has officially begun! Wait until she learns she has cursed her own kin, her niece and nephew, whose existence she isn't even aware of. Edward and Judith hate Quentin so much, it's scary to see siblings feel this way about each other. Beth's feelings about Quentin are right on the mark, so true--he can't love anyone, at least not now. His cowardice was embarrassing to watch today; he really was acting like a terrified girl! Loved Terry Crawford's performance. She has such dignity, and even though she knows Quentin probably doesn't really love her, she loves him and that's enough to make her go with him. A loyal woman, too. Her desire to bid goodbye to Quentin and Jenny's children is so sweet. That Judith and Edward agreed to keep such a secret about Quentin's children is shocking, unconscionable! I also felt it wrong for Jenny to be buried so quickly, without her family in attendance. One wonders why they bothered with a headstone at all--but of course, for the sake of propriety. Did anyone in the village know of Quentin's marriage to Jenny? Didn't anyone wonder where she disappeared to so suddenly?
Wonderful episodes, and fabulous performances by all.
751 - (KLS) - Collinwood in the year 1897. In the cemetery, Jenny Collins lies, newly dead. At her grave, her grieving relatives wreak their gypsy vengeance against the man who murdered her. And in Beth's room at Collinwood, Quentin Collins begins to feel the stirrings of the curse that was put on him.
Beth rushes to the phone (which today is conveniently located on the table in the foyer.) There's a knock at the front door. Forgetting for a moment that she doesn't work at Collinwood anymore, she puts down the phone to answer it. Rachel enters, panicked, out of breath--I must speak to Judith or Edward or Quentin--somebody--about Jamison! She insists. Nobody's home except Quentin, says Beth, and he's gravely ill. She returns to the phone and calls the doctor, who isn't in. She leaves a message for him to call back, then tells Rachel she's got to return to Quentin.
At the new Worthington Hall (which looks pretty much like the old one, even though it's supposed to be at the House by the Sea now), young teacher Dorcas Trilling reports to Reverend Trask the results of her evening of spying on Rachel--she pretended to be asleep, tattles Dorcas, then got up and went to Collinwood.
I figured she'd do that, says Trask, to tell them about Jamison. He thanks Dorcas for her excellent report. Dorcas, clearly smitten with the Reverend, tells him, you inspire me (to lust, one would assume, but God knows why). You're a comfort to me, praises Trask, but certain other teachers here (Rachel, I guess), are a trial. Why don't you just get rid of Rachel? Asks Dorcas bitchily. Because Rachel sometimes makes me feel animal instincts, confesses Trask, like anger and ugliness (and unmitigated lust?), so having her around gives me an opportunity to face those feelings and fight them, so I can ultimately overcome my baser self. (pardon me while I hurl!) Therefore, he finishes, I will keep her here until I become as pure as I wanna be. (my paraphrase)
Back at Collinwood, Beth and Rachel go to Beth's room and find it ransacked, Quentin gone. As Beth looks around, Rachel starts trying to tidy up. Speculating that Quentin might have had some sort of seizure and wrecked the room this way, Beth tearfully begs Rachel, help me!
Trask and Dorcas continue his admiration party in the classroom. I can't imagine you being cruel or angry, trills Dorcas. He reminds her of times he's raised his voice, and even the time he locked Jamison in the "mediation room." That was righteous cruelty, righteous anger, insists Dorcas, and makes me admire you all the more. Trask appreciates her assessment. I'll pray for the day that Rachel stops being a trial to you, Reverend, says Dorcas prayerfully, so you can send her away (and maybe you will then lust after ME!). In the meantime, says Trask, I have to do something about Rachel's visit to the Collins family tonight--Dorcas, give Jamison his supper, but not too much--"Just enough to make a liar out of Rachel." He looks immensely pleased with himself.
Beth and Rachel search the house but found no trace of Quentin. Beth suggests that Quentin might have been dragged from the house by some horrible mad creature--he might be dead! Rachel wants to call the police. Beth says Judith believes the police always get in the way, and she's right. We should tell Judith, or Edward, suggests Rachel. Beth nixes that, too--Judith is in Bangor, Edward dining at the Old House. Rachel suggests calling the Old House and even picks up the phone, but Beth reminds her the Old House has no phone. Rachel, growing impatient, wonders if there's something Beth isn't telling her, then says, I don't understand the Collinses and their secrets. "What is it they try to protect Beth?" she screams--I'm glad I'm just the governess and not a member of this nutty family. Beth reveals, I might be a member of the family myself one day--Quentin and I were planning to go away together, start a new life--if we could only get away, I'm sure everything would be all right.
Back at Worthington Hall Trask is praying when Dorcas enters the room with a tray for Jamison. I've changed my mind, says Trask--I don't want you to take the food to Jamison after all, because that's exactly what Rachel would want me to do--I'm going to call Judith and tell her I'm trying to save two deluded souls--a boy who cheated on his exams, then lies to his teacher, to convince her he was being mistreated. Dorcas remarks that it's hard to imagine Jamison having to cheat on his exams--he's such a bright child. Trask, amused at Dorcas' innocence, says Jamison is smart, too smart, and sometimes a little arrogant about it, so confessing to something he didn't do is just the thing to humble him. He calls Collinwood, Beth answers. Judith isn't here, she says. Trask asks for Rachel. Beth hands Rachel the phone. Trask starts intimidating her right away. He uses the murder and robbery accusation when she threatens to tell Edward that Jamison is being denied food. Trask insists the boy's soul is having "a glorious feast." He orders her to come back to the school immediately and hangs up. Trask, meanwhile, caresses Dorcas' shoulder. Rachel beaten once again, tells Beth, I have leave. What did you want to see Quentin about in the first place? Asks Beth. It's not important, says Rachel in a small voice.
Out in the woods, Rachel thinks she hears someone approaching. Hearing the footsteps coming closer, fearing for her life, she does what any woman would do who believes herself being pursues--she stands perfectly still and screams. Reverend Trask comes up behind her. She tells him, I thought I heard someone following me. You're safe with me, he assures her (says the big bad wolf to Little Red Riding Hood). He takes her back to the school.
At Collinwood, Beth is on the phone with Evan Hanley, who has no information about Quentin. He says he'll come by tomorrow, and Beth, discouraged, hangs up.
Meanwhile, at the school, Trask accuses Rachel of lying about hearing footsteps in the woods. They argue about her wickedness (she says she's not, he says she is), Rachel stealing food for Jamison, and a few other gripes between them.
Trask says he'll drop the charge of stealing if she'll pay for the food with one week's salary. Rachel screams that that's a pretty high price, especially since, you took the food from me before it ever got to Jamison in the first place. Trask doesn't like her attitude, so he cries, I have heard enough, and slaps her. Afterwards, Trask insists, everything I'm doing is for your benefit. He leaves to meditate. Rachel catches Dorcas outside the door eavesdropping. They get into a big argument about Dorcas' spying on Rachel.
Rachel tells Dorcas you and Trask deserve each other, then leaves. A moment later, a window shatters, and Dorcas screams in horror, "Stay away from me!"
Trask, hearing the screams, runs to the classroom. Rachel is already there, gazing at Dorcas, dead body on the floor, crying, in dismay, "Her body is mutilated!" Trask, surveying this suspicious scene, wants to know who did this.
The next morning, Beth finds Quentin lying unconscious on the floor of the foyer, wearing a bloody, torn shirt (nice view!).
His hair is disheveled and he's covered with leaves. Quentin comes to and asks what happened. She describes how he disappeared, and says, you've been gone all night--where have you been?--how did you get like this? They're both dismayed to realize he doesn't remember a thing.
NOTES: Trask and Dorcas had a neat little mutual admiration society going there. One can imagine him making love to her while fantasizing she's Rachel, since she's the one who has captured his heart--or some other portion of his anatomy. Trask is worse than his father, who at least believed in what he was doing. Trask seems given to all the back temptations and then some. That he's influenced Dorcas so easily is really scary, and Lord knows what perverse things he has her performing on him in the name of righteousness.
At least Rachel cares enough to see to it that the kid has gotten a bit to eat. Beth cares about Quentin, too, and is frantically trying to locate him. When she finds him, his state of dishevelment terrifies both of them. Because of what we've witnessed happening to Chris, WE know he killed Dorcas, but at this point, Quentin, a newly-minted werewolf, has no idea what he's done. Which brings up another question--is Chris related to Quentin somehow? It seems likely. Why, then, didn't Tom end up a werewolf, too?
Love, Robin
