1084 - This can't be, it's impossible! bleats David, peering into the doll house. They're the ones you threw into the fire, says Hallie--they are! They aren't even burned, notes David. I know, says Hallie, and we're not free at all, still under their control, and there's nothing we can do about it--nothing. Don't say that, he says. But it's true, she wails, you know it's true--you know they're always watching us--and they know we tried to break the spell and will be angry with us, especially Daphne! He puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. You think Daphne will try to punish us? asks David. I don't know what to think, says Hallie, but I do know something terrible is going to happen to us;. The music begins to play. The carousel music, says David. But look, David, yelps Hallie, the carousel isn't moving! And indeed, it isn't. Where's the music coming from? wonders David. I don't know, says Hallie, it sounds faint--I don't think it's coming from this room! It is, says David, I'm sure of it.
Collinwood drawing room - Julia tells Eliot I don't see why we have to involve Sebastian Shaw in any of this. The fact is, says Stokes, you and Barnabas have accomplished almost nothing--when you returned to Collinwood, you had six clues to go on, three of them have become reality--the night of the sun and moon turned out to be a lunar eclipse, nothing happened, it was the same with the other two clues, the picnic and unfinished horoscope--nothing happened. Nothing that we KNOW happened! amends Julia, miffed. We must find out before it's too late, insists Stokes--there are only three clues left, somehow, we must be prepared for them. He sucks on a cigarette. How? demands Julia, lovely in lavender. I still think Sebastian Shaw could help us, says Stokes. You really do believe in his psychic abilities, says Julia. If he's a fraud, says Stokes, he's an extremely credible one--when it comes to clairvoyance, I'm not easily impressed. Julia stands--it wouldn't hurt to see him, she says, but we must decide what to tell him. I say tell him everything, says Stokes, beginning with the transition of parallel time into the future. Do you think he might have a little difficulty believing the story? asks Julia. Why should he? asks Eliot, if he himself can transcend time mentally, he should be willing to accept that it may be transcended physically. If he could enlighten us on just one of the clues, says Julia--the one I feel is most important--the night Rose Cottage was destroyed--I would give anything to know where and what Rose Cottage is.
Playroom, David searches for the source of the music. I don't understand, he says--the music must be coming from someplace in this room. I know! Hallie announces--it's coming from inside Rose Cottage. It isn't possible, insists David, how could music be coming from inside a doll's house? I don't know, she says, but it is! Suddenly, they see lights coming on in the entire top floor of the dollhouse!
We must be dreaming this, insists David. I saw the lights go on, agrees Hallie. How could there be lights inside a doll house? asks David, there's no electricity (batteries?). I don't know that, either (and this is getting tiring)!
I'm going to find out, he says, and moves around to the back of the doll house. Don't, begs Hallie, please! He looks inside anyway. His mouth drops open--there's a man inside, and it's not another doll!--come see! Hallie moves to join him, reluctantly-- no one else is in there, she says, just the dolls. He's gone, says David, but he was there, I swear it. I believe you, she assures him--I think I'd believe anything after all that's happened--I just wish we knew what to do. David puts his hands on her shoulders--maybe there is, he says--we could go to my room and write down everything that's happened to us, everything we've heard and seen in this room--come on. They leave the playroom.
Worried, Julia checks out the front door. Stokes comes out of the drawing room--try and relax, he urges--I'm sure Mr. Shaw will come as soon as he can. Julia apologizes, her hand at her throat--I'f be a lot more relaxed if I didn't feel Gerard's presence in the house. I wish you she could describe your feeling to me, he says. I can't, says Julia, I just know that his spirit is here, but it isn't as overwhelming as it was in the future. Something to be grateful for, remarks Stokes, it must mean that Gerard is not yet ready to strike. Julia shrugs. They go into the drawing room.
In his room, David opens a notebook--Hallie, we should describe the music--it's what drew us to the West Wing--and the playroom. I don't know if we should start anyplace, she says--writing it down is the same as telling it, and if we tell it, they'll be angry with us! This isn't the same, insists David, this is something we have to do. But why? demands Hallie. Because it's the only way they'll know what happened to us--after we're gone, says David. (Creepy, especially the mournful way he says it!)
8:20 - Stokes answers Shaw's knock at the door--thank you for coming on such short notice, says the Professor. Shaw asks who the other of the "we" is. Stokes invites him into the drawing room and introduces him to Julia, who shakes his hand. Perhaps you can tell me what this emergency is about, says Shaw. Your remarkable talents, says Stokes, made it possible for you to see into the future--what would you say if I told you that Dr. Hoffman had BEEN to the future? Staring at Julia in astonishment, Shaw says, I'd say I'd like to learn a great deal more. And so you shall, says Stokes, please, sit down.
David, busy writing in the notebook, reads, "We wanted so much to tell about Rose Cottage, but for some reason, couldn't, neither of us knew why, all we knew was that everything had gotten out of control.": Oh David! wails Hallie, please hurry and finish! I want to tell the whole story, he reminds her, can't leave anything out.
...and that's how Barnabas and I got back to the present time, finishes Julia, who is seated on the sofa next to Sebastian. Shaw nods. Since then, we've all been trying to prevent the disaster, explains Stokes. That is a most fascinating story, says Shaw. The question is, says Eliot, do you believe it? I have no reason not to, says Shaw--I don't know if I can help you. You gave me a demonstration of your psychic powers, Stokes says, is it possible they could be applied to this? How? Shaw asks. Can you confirm whether or not there are active spirits in this house? asks Julia. Shaw considers--I don't know--I can try, he says. I am most intrigued by one particular clue, says Julia, the one about Rose Cottage. I have never heard of such a place, says Shaw. Neither has anyone else in this house, says Stokes--but Julia is convinced it does exist, somewhere. Could you possibly determine its location? asks Julia. Shaw hesitantly says, I hope the two of you don't think of me as being all-powerful--there are many times when I concentrate and absolutely nothing happens. Could you simply concentrate on Rose Cottage? asks Julia--find out what happens--it may be a matter of life and death, Mr. Shaw. He agrees to try--I'll do what I can. Shaw covers his face with his hands, rubs his eyes, then looks skyward. Rose Cottage, he says...Rose Cottage...he gets a vision of the twirling carousel playing music, then the playroom itself. We see his eyes superimposed over all this. He sees the dollhouse, some of the furniture and toys, then it all fades.
Spent, he says, I don't think I can help you. Then you saw nothing at all? asks Stokes. I saw something, says Shaw, but it didn't look anything like a Rose Cottage. Tell us what you saw, urges Julia. Very little, actually, he says, I saw a room, nothing more. What kind of room was it? asks Stokes. I don't know, says Shaw, the vision was unclear. Perhaps it was just a room in Rose Cottage, suggests Julia, which really wouldn't help us at all. Shaw shakes his head--I'm sorry, he says. Our immediate concern is for the safety of the children, says Julia--would you be kind enough to talk to them? Why? he asks. We feel they know a good deal more than they're telling us, says Julia, perhaps if you talk to them, you might have some psychic reaction to what's happening in this house. All right, I'm willing to try again, says Shaw, but can't promise anything. We understand, Julia assures him. Stokes volunteers to go upstairs and get the children. Julia offers to get them some tea--Mr. Shaw, make yourself comfortable, she says. He wanders the room, looking troubled.
Hallie watches David write as he describes--just tonight, I saw lights go on in the dollhouse, and when I looked inside, I saw a living man no bigger than a doll. When Hallie looked in, he was gone. You can stop now, David, she says nervously, that's all we know! I just want to add one more thing, he says. Stokes' knock at the door sends them quickly shoving the notebook into the desk drawer. Come downstairs and meet someone, he offers. Obediently, the kids go.
As Julia brings out the tea tray, she hears someone at the piano, playing the same music she and Barnabas heard in 1995. We see someone's hand on the piano, picking out the notes.
Julia enters the drawing room and puts down the tea tray on the table. Shaw sits at the piano, playing the familiar playroom melody. What do you take in your tea? she asks. Nothing, he replies, continuing to play the tune. Julia brings him a cup of tea--it's an interesting melody, she remarks. I really wouldn't call it playing, he says. What's the tune? she asks. Something I made up in my head, he says. Just now? she asks. That's right, he responds. You've never heard it before? she asks. No, he says, never before. I don't believe you, she insists. He taps two wrong notes and says, "I beg your pardon?" I don't believe you, she says, because it happens I'm familiar with that tune. Coincidence, he says.
No, says Julia, it is not, Barnabas and I heard it in 1995, and I can tell you where you heard it before--earlier, when you were concentrating and saw the vision of that room--you heard that tune. He rises from the bench--I only saw the room, he says, I didn't hear anything. There is no way you could have just made up the melody, she insists--you heard it during your vision, and know it has something to do with the spirits in this house! I know nothing of the sort, he says, angry. Oh, or does it have something to do with Rose Cottage? she persists. I don't know what you're talking about, says Shaw. You either heard or saw more than you're willing to tell us, she accuses. I did not, insists Shaw. When I first heard of you, says Julia, I suspected you were a fraud, now I'm beginning to think you're something worse, a man with genuine second sight who apparently uses it only for monetary gain. I'm not willing to listen to this claptrap, he says angrily--"Good night, Doctor!" He leaves the house. Julia is downcast. Stokes and the children stand at the top of the stairs. David and Hallie, go back to your rooms, instructs Julia--Mr. Shaw just left. Run along, urges Stokes, we'll talk later. Stokes comes downstairs--what happened? he asks Julia. I was too outspoken with him, she admits, Mr. Shaw knows more than he told us, when I came back with the tea things, I found him playing a tune on the piano, the very same tune Barnabas and I heard in this house in 1995. Stokes asks, are you sure? Positive, I'd know it anywhere, she says. Stokes surveys her solemnly.
Entering his room, David tells Hallie, I just have to add one more thing--then I'll hide it. The notebook, however is gone. Who could have taken it? demands an Hallie, upset. I don't know, he says--perhaps Aunt Liz or Mrs. Johnson. No, we weren't downstairs long enough, says Hallie. Maybe Daphne took it, suggests David. Hallie says, "Oh, no, David, she mustn't read what you wrote!" The frightened children leave the room.
Foyer - Julia, says Stokes, i quite agrees with your reasoning--Shaw must have heard the melody while he was concentrating, but what I can't fathom is why he didn't mention it to us. I shouldn't have been so blunt with him, laments Julia. I still have the feeling Shaw can be enormously helpful to us, says Stokes--if we can get him on our side. He and Julia bid each other good night and he leaves.
David and Hallie return to the hallway outside the playroom. As he reaches for the doorknob, Hallie says, we don't know it was Daphne who took the notebook. Who else would have? asks David. But if it wasn't, persists Hallie, we have to be careful what we say in there--we'll just look around, not say anything about the notebook. David agrees.
They enter the room. Sitting together, side by side, are Tad and Carrie--who are reading the notebook!
NOTES: Pretty cool, huh? We have their 1840 counterparts reading what they wrote. That must mean Daphne--and probably Gerard--know all, and what does that mean for Hallie and David? Are the young ghosts trying to take over their bodies, or are the older ghosts attempting the same?
Julia became understandably angry at Shaw, since he IS hiding plenty, even the knowledge that these same two kids are doomed to die. If he had met them, would he have told all? Did Julia blow their chance at avoiding the inevitable? That would be most unfortunate.
The mysterious Rose Cottage has dolls that won't burn, its own lighting system, and a live, miniature man. Was that Gerard? Or someone we haven't met yet?
Perhaps Julia's accusations will give Shaw something to ponder--but will he buck Roxanne, who seems to have a hold over him?
Lots happening, mystery after mystery. And yes, Hallie's constantly saying, "I don't know" and moaning David's name over and over in that bleating way of hers IS growing annoying to me. She is shrill, isn't she, sometimes?
1085 - David and Hallie, stunned, watch their exact replicas reading their notebook. Do you see what they're doing? cries Hallie. They're reading what I wrote, says David. Please speak to them, begs Hallie, tell them we can't help them, we'd like to, but we can't--please speak to them! David steps forward--if there was something I could do to help you, he begins--but they disappear. David and Hallie stare at the chairs in which their twins were seated. Hallie freaks out: "They know we're in the room--they're dead people--they're ghosts--and we look exactly like them--what's happened--why did they disappear like that?" Calm down, urges David. I'm scared, protests Hallie--what will we do?--we've got to get out of here, we said we'd never come back here again and we did--why? We had to! says David. No! insists Hallie. David picks up the notebook from the table and opens it. Put it down, says Hallie, don't touch anything in here, let's just get out! We must not leave it here, he says. Put it down! she wails. Come and read it, he says. She joins him. They sit down in the chairs vacated by Tad and Carrie. They abruptly seem like different people, and sure enough, they look at each other and smile. "Carrie," says David. "Tad," she replies, "why would anyone be afraid of Miss Daphne? She's so kind, unless they did something wicked. Do you suppose they've done something wicked?" This doesn't say, says Tad--I suppose we frightened them. We?--frightened them? asks Carrie--we're so fond of them--why would they think that? I don't think they like us, says Tad. But they're so intelligent, objects Carrie, and friendly! Maybe we should ask Miss Daphne to explain this to us, suggests Tad. Perhaps, says Carrie, Miss Daphne knows everything--come, bring the book, we'll go across the hall and show it to her. The kids start to leave the room, but stop. I seem to recall that David and Hallie were here, notes Tad--I suppose they've gone--wonder where they went? The kids leave the playroom. Tad, notebook in hand, returns to Daphne's old room. Quentin passes by, unknowing, some books in his hand.
Julia sits in the drawing room, going over a small volume. Quentin brings her books--the last in the West Wing study, he says. Thank you, says Julia--put them on a table. He sits across from her--haven't you given up hope of finding some trace of Rose Cottage? He asks. After there was no mention of it in old tax records, says Julia, I have given up, for the moment, anyway. Why, asks Quentin, did you have me bring the other books? I'm trying to find a staircase, she says. In a book? he asks teasingly. I'm trying to find a mention of it, she explains, or something that says something about the staircase Barnabas and I returned on from 1995. Oh ho! chortles Quentin, those mysterious stairs, eh?--he paces the room. They did lead from the playroom to a corridor in the West Wing, she says. There is no playroom, at least in this time, says Q. Nobody knows that better than I, she says, but the corridor is there, and if I can find a mention of the staircase, or the staircase itself, maybe it would lead to... Lead to where? demands Quentin--the past, future? No, perhaps it could lead to some clue that would stop the disaster that's suppose to happen, says Julia. Quentin laughs--you and Barnabas don't give up easily, he remarks. We don't dare, says Julia, for the children's sake, and yours, and everyone's. He apologizes for joking about it, and offers to help. He takes a couple of the books, sits beside her, and is all ready to get to work, when Julia announces, I think I've found it--she holds up some papers and reads, "Proposed stairway into time." Somebody actually drew up plans under that heading? asks Quentin.
Julia has found what appears to be small blueprints, and the signature if that of your great grand uncle, she says. Quentin looks at it, reads his own name, and the date--1840.
In Daphne's old room, a candle burns. Tad, I wonder where Miss Daphne is? asks Carrie--do you suppose she'll come? Tad picks up a new photo. What it's doing in this room? she asks. Obviously, she wants it near her, says Tad wisely. They examine the photo. Daphne enters. We were looking for you, says Carrie. Tad hands her the photo, which seems to anger her. I'm sorry if it disturbs you, he says--we have something that puzzles us--he picks up the notebook. It's something David and Hallie have written, says Carrie, full of strange, curious things. Explain it to us, please, says Tad, handing the notebook to her. She glances at it, then hands it back almost instantly. If you're not going to explain it to us, says Tad, what should we do with it?--give it back to Hallie and David? She hands a candle to Tad. Ss she wants us to burn it, he realizes. Daphne nods.
Tad sets the notebook aflame. Now we'll never know what Hallie and David were writing about laments Carrie. (The notebook, obviously coated with lots of flammable fluid, almost sets the three of them on fire, too!) I sure hope they won't be angry that we've done this, says Tad. I hope not, agrees Carrie. Maybe someday we'll be able to ask them ourselves what it means, says Tad excitedly.
Do you think we will? says Carrie gleefully--do you think we'll be able to talk to them soon? The kids are ecstatic. Daphne nods. Exactly when? asks Tad. They hear Quentin's voice outside, telling Julia, Barnabas and I were here before--are you sure that this is the place? Tad, as Carrie, do you hear strange voices?
Out in the hall, Julia tells Quentin, this is the corridor where Barnabas and I found ourselves when we came back from 1995, at least I'm pretty sure. Someone's coming! says Carrie. Are they coming in here? asks a frightened Tad. Daphne holds up a hand over Tad and Carrie's faces, which apparently breaks the possession. Hallie, says David, what are we doing here, in this room? I don't know, he says. Outside, Julia explains, Barnabas and I used the staircase, I was almost unconscious; maybe this isn't the place. According to the plans, says Quentin, this has to be it. The kids run to the door and listen. It's Quentin and Dr. Hoffman, says David. What if they come in here? says Hallie, what will we tell them? That door there, that's the one, says Julia. Barnabas and I were up here before, says Quentin, looking for the so-called playroom--all that is there is an empty closet. An empty closet? repeats Julia, with all that elaborate door frame? Open it and see, says Quentin. They're opening the playroom door, says Hallie. Sure enough, it's only a closet, which surprises Julia. What else could it be? chuckles Quentin, the other side of this wall is outside--this place it not big enough for anything other than a closet. Julia reminds him the plans specify that in 1840, Quentin Collins intended to build a staircase to time, right here, unless--I wonder what this door leads to. She's standing outside the room where Hallie and David hide. That's just another room, says Quentin evasively. Maybe we read the plans are wrong, says Julia, maybe the staircase is on THIS side. The kids' eyes grow round with terror. Julia, says Quentin, you said yourself the plans specify exactly where the staircase is--now either we give up, or we go downstairs and look for more plans. Let me see what's in here, says Julia, about to open the door behind which the kids are hiding. David and Hallie huddle together in the corner, awaiting capture. Julia, if we're going to start opening and closing every door we come to, says Quentin, we'll never finish. I know, says Julia, but just let me take a quick look. She opens the door and enters. Quentin stands in the doorway. The kids huddle behind the open door
Another bedroom, points out Quentin, like so many of the others. I wonder whose room it was, says Julia. Perhaps there are more plans we haven't gone through downstairs, says Q--why not go back and look? We're looking for a stairway...time, says Julia. If you're going to go rummaging around through every room in this house, we might as well forget about the staircase, advises Quentin, taking her arm. One of his hands is shaking. I'm sorry, she says--yes, we can check for other plans, the staircase must be someplace, I was on it myself. As David helps Quentin close the door. When the adults are gone, Hallie asks, what they would have said if we'd been found here--how would we have explained? I don't know; he answers--we couldn't have told them we were exploring up here again. Why can't we tell them the truth and say we were in the playroom across the hall? She asks, close to hysteria. Stop it, says David. And we saw Carrie and Tad, she babbles on, and they were reading the notes, and then they vanished. David grabs her hands--don't become hysterical, he says. Why can't I? she asks--oh, David, for a minute there, we didn't know who or what we were! He takes her hand again--stop it, he says, we should get out of here. Whose room is this? she asks. I don't know or care, he replies--I saw Quentin in here once before looking for notes for Dr. Hoffman, so let's go. David, look! she cries, pointing to the burned up notebook. My notes--the things we'd written to let people know what happened to us! he cries--it's burned. That's why we were brought here, says Hallie--to destroy what you wrote!--David, nothing can help us now--no one will ever know what happened to us--WE will never know--and perhaps it's just as well.
Julia sits at the desk in the drawing room, looking at papers--Quentin, there were no other books or papers in the West Wing study at all? She asks. I don't think so, he says--I'll go look again. Would you mind? she asks. I said I'd help, he reminds her, and leaves the room. On his way upstairs, Quentin is stopped by the scent of lilacs--then you're near--but where, I must see you, please, I must see you. He goes upstairs.
As they exit the room, Hallie tells David--Dr. Hoffman said something about a stairway to another time--what do you think it means? I don't know--I wonder what they were talking about? Hearing footsteps, the kids hide behind a wall. It's Quentin, who enters Daphne's room and finds her there. He goes to her--I knew you'd be here, he says. She reaches out for him. No, he says, I want to know what kind of power you've got over me
--what's happened to my freedom?--I know, all you have to do is summon me and I'll come--you won't let me tell Julia and Barnabas about you--why?--is it because you have something to do with what is supposed to happen?--is that it?--Please, God, you've got to tell me, I can no longer lie to my friends--one minute I help them, the next minute, I betray them--I'm not going to continue with this--I must never see you again--do you understand?--never. He begins to leave the room.
Quentin stops in the doorway. Daphne has conveyed something to him; he turns and looks at her. He walks back into the room, slowly, as if drawn by magnetic force, and he kisses her. I should have known I could never get away from you, he says, smiling gently, that I'll never be free--it's too late for that. She shows him a small notebook, which he opens and reads, "The thoughts, words and deeds of Quentin Collins, Esq., as set down by his own hand, 1840." He turns back to her, but she's gone. Why have you given me this? he asks--are you trying to help us?--please, he begs, you've got to tell me, where are you?--are you trying to help us by giving us this?--or are you trying to destroy us? he asks, gazing doubtfully at the book in his hand.
Drawing room - I can't believe it, says Julia, what a strange man he must have been, wildly fascinated with the occult, raging against the stars and universe because he knew they were capable of changing, and that his relationship to them could be quite different--where on earth did you find this? In the West Wing, says Quentin--no mention of the staircase? Not yet, she says, but apparently he believed that time was quite fluid (Hallie and David head downstairs), and accessible--he must have been very advanced for his time, he conceived of things that others... Hallie and David are nearly in the drawing room when they hear Tad's voice bidding them to come--we're waiting for you. Hallie, come! David, come, please! calls Carrie. The kids race upstairs.
No stairway? Quentin asks Julia, who is still going over the book Daphne gave him. Julia finds an entry stating, "There is no such thing as time--there's only space, physical space, and it is space that measures the distance between those points which we, in our ignorance and folly, insist are points in time--all time is one point, one moment, it is ever-existent, and ever accessible--and it is physical space that can be used to make all time immediately accessible, I intend to do precisely that.
David and Hallie are drawn to the seductive voices of their 1840 counterparts. They stand in the corridor outside the playroom. Don't go in, David, begs Hallie. They're calling to us, he says. We've got to try never to go into the playroom again, insists Hallie. But they're calling to us, we must go in, he says. They do.
Inside, Tad and Carrie seem to be standing on something very high, towering over them, their hands held out in urgent supplication. Come--hurry! bids Tad. Please come! implores Carrie. Hurry, hurry, don't keep us waiting, says Carrie. Follow us, begs Tad. David and Hallie stare at them, unsure of what to do.
NOTES: Will Hallie and David do what the ghosts are begging them to do? And if they do, will they BECOME Tad and Carrie? One senses that Daphne had Quentin give Julia that journal to keep her busy while she, Gerard, Tad and Carrie took over the bodies of Hallie and David. Once
again, the adults, who know what is going to happen, are clueless, and it's occurring under their unknowing noses.
Nice kiss between Quentin and Daphne, but she is a bad ghost, that much is obvious, and is trying to help Tad and Carrie come back to life--which has to mean death to David and Hallie. Quentin tried to get away from her, but she apparently has a great deal of power over him, and she isn't letting go. The scary part is, she almost stabbed him just a few eps ago. While she kisses him with her mouth, her hands could be doing him wrong.
Julia is so diligent with all that research, but if she really wants to know what's going on, she should instead be secretly tailing Quentin, Hallie and David, spying on them. It's all happening and she is totally unaware! Get with it, Julia!
The special effects are crude here, but one must never lose sight of the fact that this was done 30+ years ago, and far removed from Industrial Light and Magic. The scenes containing both Tad and Carrie and Hallie and David are not terribly well-done, but back then, they looked pretty cool, believe me.
I am growing very annoyed with David, but especially Hallie. She's just sooooo annoying. I don't remember how long this lasts, but I'm looking forward to when we go into 1840 and we don't have to see these kids going back and forth to the playroom. Hallie whines and wails so much! It's really getting on my nerves now. I wish she'd stop being so mealy-mouthed--and as Tad and Carrie, both kids are even more irritating.
Love, Robin
