760 - (Louis Edmonds) - A violent conflicts rages within the great house of Collinwood between two supernatural forces--one determined to snuff out the lives of two young children, the other equally determined to save them. Only Barnabas Collins is aware that the safety of Jamison and Nora is vital to the whole future of the Collins family.
(I loved how, in 1897, they talked about certain people in every intro, and actually showed them to us.)
Angelique continues to laugh. "YOU!" says Laura in disbelief. I destroyed you, says Laura.
Angelique explains, you shouldn't underestimate the power of an enemy--I created an exact replica--a doppelganger--and it was she who was destroyed. A vicious trick, declares Laura (so jealous!), I despise you. You have very little time left, says Ang, and you know it. Laura promises, I will get my children. Don't get angry, warns Ang, it drains one's energy. Laura swears she will do what she came to do as Ang smirks at her. I won't stop you, says Ang, but offers a word of friendly advice--in whatever fiery world awaits you, you really should use more caution in choosing your enemies. Laura flounces out, leaving a grinning, triumphant standing Angelique in Jamison's room.
Barnabas paces the drawing room. Edward comes in and asks if Laura has come downstairs, then assures him that the children are safely hidden from her. I should have known she was plotting something, he says--why else to come back to Collinwood?--doing something to the children would hurt me the most--Laura can look for them, but she won't find them. She has unusual powers at her command, warns Barnabas. I can't buy that, says Edward--she's disturbed and dangerous, but supernatural powers?--absurd! Take me word for it, says Barn, and be prepared--her powers are weakening, but she's desperate and has little time and will use what powers she has to communicate with the children. How, if she doesn't know where they are? asks Edward. Take precautions, cautions Barn--no fire or flames anywhere this evening--extinguish everything, but use electricity wherever possible. Absurd, insists Edward, but allows Barnabas to do what he suggested. Laura enters--I want to speak to Edward alone, she says-- Cousin Barnabas is to leave the room! Edward nods to Barnabas, who gives Laura a look as he exits. Laura closes the doors. Say what you have to say, Edward tells her. I'm leaving tonight and you'll never see me again, says Laura. We'll both be better off for it, says Edward stiffly. I want to see the children, insists Laura. No, out of the question, says Edward. I have the right to say goodbye! says Laura. I feel you have more in mind, says Edward. She denies it--I just want to see them once before I leave--they're my kids, too, and I love them. She proceeds to pass out on the floor. Edward calls to Barnabas, pulling open the doors. I want to call a doctor, says Edward. Barn assures him it will do no good.
Meaning what? asks Edward. By the time a doctor arrives, says Barn, she'll be dead.
Laura, gasping for breath, lies in Jamison's bed, twisting and turning. She calls to Ra, begging, let me live! Spare me! Edward enters. Can you hear me? he asks. Yes, she says, and begins muttering about destroying Barnabas--tell them! Tell them! She seems to come back to consciousness, realizing where she is--her son's room. Does this means you're going to let me see Jamison? She asks. No, he says, it was just the closest room to the stairs. How can you be so cruel? she demands. I want you to lie still and be quiet, he says. I'm so weak, what harm can I do? she asks. She's cold, but when he offers blankets, she instead asks him to light up the fireplace. I can't do that, he says, Barnabas asked me not to. Is he master of the house? she asks, why are you doing as HE says? He apologizes. I want a fire! Cries Laura--I'm dying, she says. I know that, says Edward. How can you be so inhuman as to deny me my last wish? She asks--human kindness! she begs--it's the last thing you will ever have to do for me--please, light just a little fire?--what harm can it do? (don't ask!) Edward considers.
Somewhere in the house, Nora chides her brother for trying to open the door when it's locked from the outside. I want to get out, he says. Barnabas told us to stay here and not ask any questions, explains Nora. Jamison asks his sister, how would you feel if our mother went away and we would never get to see her again? That wouldn't happen, says Nora. She wants us to go with her, says Jamison, so we must find a way out. Nora says, I told Mother I don't want to go away with her. The alternative is the school, Jamison reminds her. I don't want to go back there! Says Nora. That's what would happen if she left without us, warns Jamison. I wish we could just stay here together, says Nora--it would be so much easier to be happy! No, says Jamison, because our mother must go away anyway, I don't know why--it's a very special place where we would never have to be unhappy again. There really IS such a place? asks Nora ecstatically. Yes, he tells her, and both are smiling--our mother wants us to go there with her, high up on a mountain, very peaceful, and the sun is always shining. Nora agrees it sounds wonderful--but I'm not sure about leaving Collinwood. I don't want to return to the school, says Jamison, I'm tired of being punished for no reason--is that what you want? No, she says. Then we must go away with our mother, or it's going to happen, he tells her. I don't know what to do, frets Nora. We should go with our mother, says Jamison. How can we even get out of the room? she asks. Our mother will find a way to get them out, promises Jamison, if she knows we really want to go with her.
Edward builds a nice fire in Laura's room. I'm a little warmer, she says--I want to look at the fire, I find the flames so fascinating--help me out of bed, closer to the fire--there's so little time. (no, Edward, dooooon't!) Edward helps her to sit up. Since there's nothing more he can do for her, he leaves the room. Laura moves to the foot of the bed, stares into the fire, and summons Jamison. Let me know where you are, she says--hear me and tell me how to find you!
Jamison does hear; he calls to his mother, I'm in a locked room in the east wing. He tells Nora, I'm speaking to our mother, I heard her voice calling me. I didn't hear anything, says Nora. Our mother knows where we are and will get us out, says Jamison. Nora smiles euphorically.
Laura, strengthened from her contact with the flames, rises from the bed. Edward returns. Stay where you are, she orders--you did the only thing you could for me--you lit the fire, and now, I am in control of it.--"Don't try to stop me," she warns the terrified man--if you do, we will both go up in flames.
"My God," says Edward, letting her pass him--I should have listened to Barnabas, he warned me about the fire. (Too late now, Ace!) Edward opens the door and calls to Barnabas to come up at once. Laura tells him, it's too late for Barnabas--I have found the strength I need, my prayers were answered, and I will have my children--"There is nothing you can do to stop me now!" She disappears before his very stunned gaze. Laura, he whispers.
A fire suddenly pops up in the fireplace in the room where the children are hidden. They realize, with glee, that their mother is coming for them! They stare eagerly into the fire.
Edward stares into the fire in Jamison's room. Barnabas races in, Angelique in tow. How did the fire get started? Barnabas demands. "She just disappeared before my eyes," says Edward, shocked. What happened? demands Barnabas. We don't have time, says Edward, she's gone after the children. He reveals to Barnabas where the kids are hidden. Go to them right now, orders Barnabas, I'll join you shortly. Barnabas tells Angelique, we need you to stop Laura. Seeming to find much humor in this request, she asks, what can I do? You can put your powers to great advantage when it suits you, says Barn, "I ask you to do it for ME!" Laura is a creature of fire, she reminds him, so I may be useless against her. Please try, begs Barnabas, and flees the room. Angelique approaches the fire and kneels.
You must not be frightened, Laura tells her children--you must be brave, no matter what happens. Nora begs, I want to see you! Soon, promises Laura, I must be alone with you--Jamison, go to the door and bolt it from the inside. Nora, eyes huge, notes the flames are getting bigger! Jamison puts an arm around his sister and tells her, don't be frightened. "Mummy, mummy where are you, please let us see you!" begs Nora. Soon, Laura assures her.
Angelique calls to Laura--wherever you are, the power to command you belongs to me, for I have invoked the powers of darkness, and you can't resist me. . your children are waiting, but when you appear to them, they won't know you, you will be a stranger to them.
Nora and Jamison cling to each other, fire billowing around them. How did the fire get in there? They wonder, as the flames begin closing in on them. There's no way out, says Jamison. Come to me, calls Laura. Save us! begs Nora. The moment has come for us to be together, always, says Laura, "I'm coming to you!"
You're in the presence of an enemy, Angelique reminds Laura, and your enemy is time--all the years and centuries and eras you have lived through, I have summoned that enemy to confront you now, and you will appear as you really are. Laura comes closer to the children--run into my arms! She says When the hooded figure appears, however, the children are terrified, and cry, you aren't our mother! They back away from her.
Come to me, she begs, but the woman that reaches out to them looks haggard, ancient, disgusting--a stranger to them. Laura screams as the fire takes her back from whenst she came, her cries echoing as the the flames lick hungrily at her struggling body.
NOTES: Goodbye, Laura. Your mission failed--or did it? Barnabas and Angelique defeated you. Neat how Barnabas, with one bite, screwed up Laura's well-laid plans. She helps him so willingly, but you always wonder--what will her price be for services rendered? To Laura, this is natural, taking her children with her into the flames, so perhaps she deserves some sort of pity. Edward was so foolish, not listening to Barnabas, and he put his own children in danger by not believing what Barnabas so adamantly insisted.
Good ep. Barnabas looked very handsome, and Quentin's horror at watching Angelique's doppelganger burn was quite fun to watch. I guess Barnabas won't get it through his head that if he really wanted cooperation, he should have bitten Magda, too. She very much has a mind of her own, and she apparently hates him a whole lot for destroying her happy life with Sandor.
Loved Laura's little reminiscence about Barnabas having a crush on her. It still doesn't explain to some folks how Jeremiah was old enough to be married when Barnabas was a little boy. Just another discrepancy?
761 - (David Selby) - This night has seen the violent end of an evil woman who threatened the lives of the two Collins children, a creature of the supernatural, Laura Collins, has been consumed by the flames that once sustained her. But the threat she posed still exists, for the two children, Nora and Jamison Collins, remain trapped in the fire she created in a remote section of the house.
Nora and Jamison, still trapped in the fire created by Laura, huddle together. Edward and Barnabas reach the locked door. Edward bangs on the door when he can't open it. The door is bolted from the inside, the children tell them--the fire is blocking us from unlocking it. Barnabas sends Edward to get an axe. As the fire grows closer, threatening to engulf them, Jamison tells Nora they had better hurry. Poor Nora looks terrified. Once Edward leaves to get the ax, Barnabas uses his vampire powers to dematerialize. . .
Edward returns with an axe but finds Barnabas gone. He starts to hack away at the door, but at that very moment, Barnabas appears in front of the children and tells them to go away from the fire while he unbolts the door. Suddenly, the fire disappears altogether. Jamison explains that the fire began in the fireplace and spread to the rest of the room. Edward calls in to Barnabas--can you open the door? Barnabas lets him in; Edward joins his children. The fire went out as mysteriously as it started, says Barnabas. We saw our mother coming from the flames, says Nora, but it wasn't her--it was someone very old. Edward hustles the kids out to phone a doctor.
A very drunk Quentin knocks frantically on Evan's door, hoping his old friend will understand the lateness of the hour. Evan points out how drunk he is. Yup, says Quentin, very--and it doesn't help. It never does, says Evan. Turn on the lights, asks Q, I don't like being in the dark. Evan demands, what do you want? Help! says Q--there's no one else I can turn to; only you understand. But I can't do anything for you, says the lawyer. There must be some way to end the curse, insists Quentin, and you have to find it. I tried twice and failed, Evan reminds him. In two nights, there will be another full moon, says Q, and we both know what that means. I know, says Evan. What you DO NOT know, Quentin tells him harshly, is the agonizing pain that comes before the change, and the guilt after--the last time it happened, I killed a woman!--there MUST be some solution to undo what Magda did. Evan has no solution. Quentin is miserable. Evan says, I'd like to help you, to keep you from suffering, but I have no supernatural powers! But you do have knowledge of the black arts, says Q, use it!--if anyone can end my misery, it's you--we must persuade Magda to stop it. We tried, says Evan--it did no good. I'm not looking for a miracle, says Q, just something, anything--I can't go through with this again, I'd rather die! He splays himself in a chair. Evan pats his shoulder and promises to try to think of something--I want to get you cleaned up and back to Collinwood, we can discuss it tomorrow.
Collinwood - Edward joins Barnabas in the drawing room--the kids are all right, he says, just in a bit of shock--I still find it incredible. As long as the doctor gave good news, says Barn, no use in my sticking around--you need rest yourself. Edward, however, has questions--how did you manage to get into the locked room with the children, accomplishing something that is humanly impossible--HOW? Uh oh! Says the expression on Barn's face.
Edward finds Barn's silence disturbing--how did you get into the room? He asks again. I ran to the other end of the corridor, claims Barnabas, got out of the window and onto the ledge, then climbed into the window of the room where the children were imprisoned. Edward remarks, you did it very fast. I knew there wasn't a second to spare, says Barnabas. Edward says, I hope you don't mind my asking--do you know what happened between Laura and the children? All I know, says Barn, is that Laura contacted the children and tried to get them to go with her. Through flames? asks Ed. Yes, says Barn, and now you yourself have seen evidence of Laura's supernatural powers. Edward admits it--I never believed it could happen--is Laura gone for good now? I assume she died in the room, says Barn, consumed by her own flames. Flames that left the children untouched, marvels Edward--and what became of Laura's body? The circumstances surrounding her death make it impossible to explain by ordinary logic, says Barn. And yet, says Edward, I must explain her death for the children's sake--they don't believe it was their mother in that room, but an incredibly old creature they had never seen before. It WAS their mother, insists Barn. Edward frets, how will I ever explain that to the children? Jamison and Nora won't get much sleep, anyway, says Barnabas, so after the doctor leaves, you should speak to them and tell them they must accept that their mother is gone and will never return--I don't envy you the task, but you must do it, and succeed in convincing them. Edward swears to try and they bid each other goodnight. Edward turns off the lights and closes the double doors.
It's a little after 4 AM. Jamison comes downstairs and goes into the drawing room, sitting on the couch in the dark. A bit before 5 AM, he has fallen asleep on the sofa. Quentin and Evan come in. Jamison awakens and runs to them. Quentin asks, brusquely, what are you doing out of bed at this hour? I wanted to talk to you, explains Jamison, but didn't find you in your room. I was visiting Evan, says Q--what was so important? I wanted to ask if we could become good friends again, says Jamison. Quentin chuckles and assures him, I never stopped being your friend. I know that, says Jamison, but I said some really rotten things to you. Q asks, did something happened tonight to upset you? Yes, says the boy, my mother is gone--she's dead!
How did it happen? asks the surprised Quentin. Jamison explains about his mother being trapped in a fire in the east wing (causing Evan to look up sharply)--it was terrible. Quentin kneels and tells Jamison, you don't have to talk about it anymore, it's too upsetting. I'm afraid you'll go away, too, says Jamison. His uncle assures him, I'm staying right here and we will be better friends than ever--go to bed--we can have a nice long talk in the morning, like we used to. Jamison bids both men good night and goes upstairs. Evan, observing the expression on Q's face, asks, are you going to be grief-stricken, considering you hated Laura? I did, says Q, but now in one way, at least, I envy her--if she's dead, she may be better off than I am. As long as you're breathing, says Evan, there must be some hope. Quentin doesn't believe it. Sternly, Evan says, you must look in the right direction--I was thinking--I might have a way of solving yours problem. Tell me, bids Quentin. We're not amateurs when it comes to the black arts, we've been successful in summoning dark powers, right? Asks Evan--we can conduct a ceremony to contact the supreme power of the underworld. The DEVIL? asks Quentin. Yes, says Evan. I admire a man who aims high, says Q, but doubts the devil would respond. We have nothing to lose by trying, urges Evan, and if we are successful, your troubles might be at an end--there would be a price. I'll find some way to repay you, assures Quentin. I'm not talking of my own price, says Evan, but the devil's, which I expect will be rather high--will you be willing to pay it? "I'm willing to pay ANY price!" says Quentin firmly--"If necessary, I'll sell my soul to do it." You may have to, warns Evan.
Drawing room - Nora sits, looking sad. Edward enters and asks, why are you sitting alone, without your brother? We both want to be alone today, she says, after what happened last night. He sits beside her, asking, have you been thinking about your mother? Yes, she admits, I hope you aren't angry. I understand, he says, but it isn't doing you any good. (hey, let the poor kid mourn, Edward!) I can't help it!, says Nora.
I don't know how long it will take, he says, but you will have to accept your mother is gone and not coming back--make every effort to forget about what happened last night--occupy your mind with other things--will you do that? She promises she will, then says, I'm going upstairs. Alone, Edward broods for a moment. The phone rings. It's Trask, asking about the lease. Edward directs him to speak to Evan, our lawyer--he's courteous and most efficient (and tries to summon the devil on occasion). Quentin comes in. Edward asks to speak to him about a very important family matter. I never thought anyone considered me a member of the family! Says Q, grinning wickedly. It's time we did, says Edward. Are you feeling all right? asks Q. Edward feels the quibbling siblings should all try to become a family again--sit down and try to reconcile our differences. What brought this on? asks Quentin. "The realization," says Edward, "that there is something unnatural about our lives."--what happened to Laura last night went against the natural order of things, and I want to make sure nothing so freakish and abnormal comes into our lives again (like a werewolf brother, I guess). Quentin looks disturbed. Edward notices and asks why. All Quentin says is, I must go--I'm going to be late. Edward demands to know what's more important than family matters. You wouldn't understand if I told you, says Q, but you may be interested to know that I, too, am interested in the natural order of things. And with a sad chuckle, Quentin leaves.
At his place, Evan lights black candles, them slips into a black robe. Everything is ready, he tells Quentin, then turns to see the latter is drinking up a storm again. Should we postpone? asks Evan. No, says Q, I'm going to be all right. They shout at each other, disagreeing--I don't feel my drunkenness will bother the devil--if he happens to show up, sneers Quentin. Evan tries to grab the booze from Quentin's hands. I am the victim here, Quentin reminds him, I must pay the price--let me pay it in my own way! The clock begins to chime--it's time to begin! Evan turns down the lights, then stands before the three black candles and asks the Prince of Fire, hear my plea. He calls upon the flame, the raven and the bat and all the dark creatures of nature. ..draw him out of the earth. . .lightning flashes and thunder crashes as Evan summons the Price of Darkness in the name of the seven plagues. ..nightshade. . .(the door blows open and Quentin stares, afraid). . .Evan continues to chant, to evoke the Big Bad One, Satan, to appear to them. Someone appears in the double doors, looking to me like Prissy from GONE WITH THE WIND.
Quentin drops his bottle of booze and collapses to the floor.
NOTES: Who has come to this little party, Satan himself? Or someone else, perhaps more human? I love the interplay between Evan and Quentin, with Astredo and Selby in fine form together. Astredo seems to love these scenes in which he conjures up the wicked from below-stairs in order to help the wicked on earth--it's just so much fun.
We see some of the sympathetic man emerging in Quentin now--he feels terrible about what his curse is doing to others. When Edward wants to speak to him about family matters, he must leave to meet with Evan, and possibly the most evil of evil beings, in order to stop his curse. Quentin IS thinking about his family, in a lopsided, semi-selfish way.
The children have lost their mother--how did Edward explain her demise? What did he say happened to her--a carriage accident? They assumed that crone wasn't Mommy, but they knew she was somewhere nearby, so what do they think happened to her? I feel sorry for those kids, I really do. It was sweet how Jamison wanted to make up with Quentin, but his uncle had more urgent matters in mind. Despite that, Quentin was gentle with his nephew. It was a nice scene.
That was a sticky wicket for Barnabas--how to explain saving the children from what appeared to be an impossible situation? Can't just say, "I'm a vampire, and I materialized in the room where the kids were trapped and saved them--just another night in the life of Barnabas Collins, Hero Vamp!"
Love, Robin
