Farewell indeed, Don Briscoe! And farewell to John Yaeger's false nose, thank goodness!
Alexis is dead, and Angelique took from her mind what she needed to know in order to reintegrate into Collinwood. Here are my notes on that scene: As Alexis watches, stunned, Angelique gets out of her coffin. (And no, we don’t see her do it either.) This can’t be happening! It isn’t possible! Alexis gasps. But it is happening, dear sister, Angelique replies calmly, thanks to you. But you’re dead! Alexis protests. Angelique laughs (just as normal-time Angelique would) as she replies, There were so many things that didn’t interest you, but I always knew that life is much more than it seems to be. I was able to master secrets that you never even dreamed existed. But the dead cannot live again! Alexis protests. Yes, they can, Angelique replies, with the help of the living. Sparing the writers, she adds, I won’t reveal how my body was preserved, but I always knew my spirit would never die, that someday someone would open the casket and then all I would need was the touch of a human hand. The warmth of your touch brought the life back to my body. Alexis now notices that she feels cold. Angelique assures her, You will become colder and colder until all the warmth leaves your body and you die. I need your warmth to save myself. Alexis tries to break the spell, but Angelique orders her, Look into my eyes. I don’t want to die! Alexis cries out. Your time has come and you must accept it, Angelique replies pitilessly. You have only a few moments left to live. In that time, you're going to tell me all I need to know before we change places. You will take my place in the coffin, and I will take yours at Collinwood. Alexis screams in vain as she feels the warmth draining from her body--the last thing she ever feels.
Trask calls out to "Miss Alexis," although he should refer to her as "Miss Stokes." As Trask enters the mausoleum, Angelique closes the coffin, explaining that the talking he heard was a final prayer for her sister. May she rest in peace, Trask intones, voicing the only religious sentiment anyone ever expresses in Parallel Time. None the wiser, he drives Angelique back to Collinwood.
At Collinwood, Dameon tries to warn Quentin but his ghostly abilities are no match for Angelique. A moment later the disturbance stops abruptly--at the moment Angelique reenters Collinwood, where she forgets herself so far as to look around the drawing room in wonder. I just can never believe how really lovely this room is, she murmurs.
It turns out that Chris is Cyrus's lawyer as well as Quentin's. He's concerned because Cyrus has opened a new bank account for John Yaeger with five thousand dollars--quite a lot of money in 1970. How long have you known this person? he demands. Not long, but I know him well enough, replies Cyrus. I want to meet Yaeger, Chris says, and I need his signature for the bank account. Being an unworldly scientist, Cyrus apparently didn't realize this but agrees to send Yaeger around soon. Chris climbs up the stairs rather unhappily--and this is Don Briscoe’s positively last appearance on the show. [After Cyrus next changes to Yaeger, presumably he meets Chris and kills him, because Chris is never seen again.]
Cyrus and Quentin meet at the mausoleum. Quentin decides to take one last look at Angelique. He opens the coffin lid and gazes down at what is actually Alexis’s body. He marvels at her beauty, then adds, Well, my dear, goodbye--forever, this time. He shuts the lid, and he and Cyrus carry the coffin outside. He sets a torch to the coffin, which instantly bursts into flames. Cyrus steps back, perhaps surprised at the intensity of the fire, and the two friends watch it burn, never dreaming that it now contains Alexis’s very definitely lifeless body. [As the coffin burns, someone quickly dashes across the scene.]
Up in her old room once more, Angelique is happily trimming a plant with those unnecessary pruning shears when Trask comes in after knocking (no properly trained butler would ever knock!) to tell her that Quentin has returned. He remarks that seeing how quickly "Miss Alexis" (he still should call her Miss Stokes) has settled in sometimes even makes him think that Miss Angelique (he should call her the first Mrs. Collins) never died.
Quentin prevails on Cyrus to return to Collinwood for a drink. This takes some doing, as Cyrus is always pleading his work, but Quentin finally insists he's working too hard. Quentin goes upstairs to tell “Alexis” that the deed is done. There is going to be a big change in the atmosphere around here, he tells her, and adds, I hope it will bring Maggie back where she belongs. Maggie? Angelique asks. Although Maggie’s return surely was not Angelique’s goal in coming back from the dead, she judges Quentin’s reaction and covers up her surprise and anger fairly well. I hope that Maggie and I can meet again under more favorable circumstances, she says politely. [Is this a blooper by the writers? We know that before killing Alexis, Angelique took from her mind what she needed to know about the present situation.] I hope you can become good friends, Quentin says. I see no reason at all why we shouldn’t, Angelique replies. I’m glad you came to the mausoleum with Cyrus and me, Quentin says. It takes a big load off all of our shoulders, especially yours, and I want you to be very happy for as long as you’re at Collinwood. I feel like a different woman now, Angelique agrees. Quentin remembers his guest downstairs and invites “Alexis” to join him and Cyrus for a drink, but “Alexis” declines, explaining, After what I’ve been through tonight, I would rather be alone.
Meanwhile, Cyrus is down in the drawing room waiting for Quentin to return and bothering no one when he suddenly goes into convulsions. To his horror, he sees coarse black hairs spring up on the backs of his hands (well, glued there by Makeup, I suppose). His fears are confirmed when the face of John Yaeger confronts him in a handy mirror. (Fortunately, Makeup seems to have given up on the execrable false nose.) It seems Cyrus doesn't need the Yaegerade after all--and this time, the change took place spontaneously in only a few moments. Trying to think what to do next, he locks the drawing room doors. Quentin comes down, finds the doors to his own drawing room locked against him, and calls out to Cyrus while pounding on the doors. But for once John Yaeger is paralyzed with fear of discovery....
