Yes, you would think that a Friday episode (as I assume this one was) would be more momentous, but I guess the big reveal that VFG = Petofi was supposed to be the cliffhanger.
More Selby wonderfulness: Magda rushes into Collinwood and tells Quentin about how the hand chased her. If I only knew what it would take from me! We have all lost a lot, Quentin acknowledges. Thank you for being so understanding, she replies sarcastically. Just as sarcastically, Quentin reminds her, The child who died was my son--remember? My son, who I never got to see. Yes, he was a pretty baby, she says. Even though she never saw him, she must have heard it from Mrs. Fillmore. A good baby, Magda continues, the little girl, too. Every day I wake up, wondering if she is still alive. My head aches from thinking. What can I do to help her? And if you could help her, Quentin asks softly, so she can grow up to be a beautiful young girl--what happens then? When she marries? What will happen to her children? Magda sips her drink and answers quietly, Like you, her sons will dread the full moon. What if we could do something about that? Quentin asks suddenly. Would you do it? Of course, Magda replies. Suppose I said I needed the hand to accomplish it? he asks. Remember what the hand has done, Magda points out. Because we didn't know how to use it, he says. But there is someone who does. If I give him that hand, he'll end my curse. How do you know he can? Magda asks. I don't know, Quentin admits, but I'm going to take the chance. We're going to the Old House to get the hand, and give it to this man. What's the name of the man who claims he can cure it? Magda asks. Quentin answers cagily, You might not understand--it's Aristede. He's going to HELP you? she asks, incredulous. He tried to kill you! Listen, Quentin argues, what Aristede did wasn't done to me personally. He had to do it because he needed the hand very badly. There's nothing wrong with that. [Just the fact that Quentin acknowledges this indicates the width of the swath he has cut through life.] There is, Magda insists. The hand belongs to the gypsies. It was in their possession for over one hundred years. Then your people are going to have to do without it, Quentin retorts. I'm giving it to Aristede, and he'll cure me. You're a fool, Magda says scornfully. I'm willing to be a fool if I can be cured, says Quentin--and keep my little girl from carrying it to her sons. Would you take that chance, for Jenny's child? he pleads. Looking miserable, Magda wipes away a tear. Quentin presses his advantage, jumping about five steps ahead. If we're giving the hand, then let it cure me. Maybe Aristede won't be able to keep it and will return it to your people. Already you're thinking of betraying him, Magda chides him. I'm thinking of nothing but being cured, Quentin says ruthlessly. We are going to the Old House. Go without me, Magda says nervously. Surely you aren't frightened of it, Quentin says. You would be, too, if you'd seen it coming out of the fireplace, she says. People are frightened when they have something to lose, Quentin observes. But we are in that strange, satisfying state of having nothing further to lose, so why be frightened anymore? He leaves--and so does Magda.
The hand must really like Tim. He seems to be coming into his own now that he's got it. The scene where he brings it to Evan is really something. Meanwhile, of course, Magda and Quentin haven't found it. Magda opines that wherever the hand is, it wants to be there.
Armed (so to speak) with the knowledge that Evan and Trask used him to murder Minerva, Tim gets some measure of revenge by tormenting Evan with the hand. He forces Evan to tell him more about it. Evan explains (off camera) how the gypsies removed the curse of the werewolf from Count Petofi--but their price for doing so was the hand, so they took it, and with it, most of his powers. So whoever controls the hand has the power? Tim asks. No one knows for sure, Evan replies. The only certainty is that the hand, like its former owner, brings evil. Tim acknowledges, Well, you answered that one nicely. Now let me try something a little more recent. I have this paper, he says, taking it out of his pocket. I've been puzzling over what it means, but I suspect not for much longer. He hands Evan the paper. Just glancing at it makes Evan very nervous. Curious, he comments, but Tim is relentless. “The queen of spades,” Tim reads. Now what can that mean? You're going to tell me, Evan, aren't you? I don't know what it means, Evan insists. I know differently, Tim says. You wrote it--why? Evan tries to leave the room, but Tim calls his name. All by itself, the hand rises in the air, moving toward Evan menacingly. Make it go away! Evan pleads. There's no place for you to run, Tim replies sternly. Now answer my questions! Why did you write that note? Trask made me write it! Evan wails. He tries to fend off the hand, which comes even closer to him. I knew he was behind all this--why? Tim asks. It was a plot that we worked out together to kill Trask's wife, Evan confesses at last. Oh, and you simply made me do it, Tim finishes. Yes, Evan admits, desperate to keep the hand away. How? Tim demands. Begin at the beginning. Tell me what you did, and what happened--everything! Evan shuts his eyes in misery, realizing he has no choice.
Victor is waiting impatiently in the woods when Aristede shows up. Why are you late? Victor asks irritably. You know waiting always makes me fretful! I couldn’t help it, Aristede pleads. Victor replies, I’ll accept your apology--in exchange for the hand. Caught, Aristede stammers, I--I don’t have it. Furious, Victor slaps him three times across the face. Stupid! Incompetent! he rages. Please, it’s not my fault, Aristede whines as he cradles his precious, injured face, it was Quentin Collins. We were supposed to meet at the Blue Whale. He came, but he didn’t have the hand. He says the hand is lost. And you believed him, Victor sneers angrily. Yes, Aristede replies. There’s no reason for him not to give it to me. Yes, there is, Victor answers: He has a brain--something that you, with nothing behind that lovely face of yours, cannot possibly understand. Seizing Aristede by the lapels, he continues, I knew all along he was lying to you. Then why did you make me meet him at the Blue Whale? Aristede cries. Because I was desperate enough to do anything! Victor shouts. I’ll do the job myself! he decides. I’ve been relying on you too long, and circumstances forced me to be patient, but I can’t afford that any longer. Do you know that? You can’t do that, Aristede exclaims in horror. I can no longer afford patience, Victor argues. It’s too dangerous for you to come out into the open, Aristede pleads. What about the danger if I do not get the hand? Victor answers, his voice steely. I must have that hand!
Victor (using only his left hand) and Aristede are busy ransacking the Old House when Magda and Quentin surprise them there. What's going on here? Quentin demands. I think you already know that, Victor answers calmly. I regret that I've been less than completely honest with you in the past, but sometimes, from the purest motives, one is forced to follow the most devious routes. I want to know those motives, Quentin says with quiet menace. And they had better be pure, or you won't leave alive. Please, Victor says, threats make me extremely uncomfortable. I'm sure we can conduct our business in a more pleasant manner. What do you mean, business? Quentin asks. Yes, our odd methods aside, this is a matter of business, Victor replies. You have something, I want it--the hand. I've wanted it for a long time. Why? Quentin asks in his least businesslike manner. Because it is unique in the entire world, Victor replies. Because I collect the unique and pursue anything that meets the standards I set, which is why I am the one person who shall have it. May I be completely honest? Without waiting for Quentin’s reply, he continues, Once, I had the hand. I asked no more of it than was my due to ask. Why don't you have it now? Quentin asks. A good question, Victor acknowledges. I owned the hand at one time. But if you don't know it, let me tell you that there are men who are unscrupulous, men who smile and steal easily, he finishes, the outrage still apparently fresh. I, who know so much about some things, am a mere babe in arms about others, he continues. But I do not regret it. I must maintain a certain innocence in order to be worthy of the beauty I constantly seek. We ain't got what you want, Magda says flatly. I think you do, Victor says. No, Quentin says. She told you she doesn't. Victor points out. She told you it disappeared before her startled gypsy eyes. One thing I've learned during my career is that every gypsy has a price. Whatever that price may be, I will pay it. I'm telling the truth, Magda insists. We ain’t got it. I don't always trust the word of a gypsy, Victor says. Magda is insulted. I never trust it, Aristede chimes in. Hoping to get back into Victor’s good graces, he slaps Magda across the face and shouts, You’re lying! You will do what I say! Victor stops him: No, Aristede! She will do as _I_ say! With a dismissive wave at Aristede Aristede, Victor explains [rather unnecessarily] to Quentin, He’s sometimes stupid, sometimes cruel, but generally a nice boy. Get out, he orders Aristede. I'll handle this myself. You've upset the lady, and we are trying to woo her--now get out! After Aristede leaves, Victor says to Magda, who now cradles her injured face, Please accept my apologies. I want nothing from you, she says flatly. Aristede did it because he knew he was anxious to get the hand, Victor says smoothly. What a passion it has become to him! Smile, he coaxes Magda. Gypsy women are very beautiful. I ain't got nothing to smile at, she retorts stonily. There's always something to smile at, Victor says, the expectation of a new possession, the river of life that runs through a glass of wine. So saying, he pours her a drink and offers it to her with his left hand. I don’t want a drink, she says. If you do, he says, you will feel better. Then we can get down to talking business. Magda reaches for it, sees his cuff button and gasps in horror. What's the matter? Quentin asks. That cuff button! Magda cries. That mark was the same mark on Julianka's forehead! Victor turns away, dismayed. He tries to leave, but Quentin grabs him and in the ensuing struggle pulls off Victor’s right glove--and his all-too-artificial right hand as well! You! Magda gasps. You are Count Petofi! Victor simply stands there, nothing but darkness in his empty sleeve....
