Written by Joe Caldwell, directed by Lela Swift (per DS Wiki)
Very insightful observations, MT. Even now, reading my notes on this scene is pretty jolting. Yaeger's verbal abuse is just as bad as the beating. This was pretty strong stuff for TV back then, but I suppose they got away with it because being _merely_ a daytime soap, DS might have been below the censors' radar. Also, then as now, censors were more concerned with nudity than violence.
Above the door of Yaeger's new room is a stained-glass panel in a flower pattern that will figure prominently in the next storyline. Yaeger's suit would have made even a 1970s pimp blush.
Poor Amy gets a break when Quentin tells her that Daniel will be home soon. Another loss from Briscoe's departure--the nice interactions between him and Denise Nickerson. Amy is about to leave the drawing room to find Daniel when she spots the crumpled note in Yaeger's handwriting. She gives it to Quentin, who puzzles over the one note in two different hands. The handwriting--it is different... similar but different, he murmurs.
When Maggie was at Collinwood, Quentin was always off to the cannery or somewhere and had no time for his new bride. But now that she's left, he seems to spend a lot of time hanging around the house.
Amy shows Quentin another of Will's discarded sheets of paper that she retrieved to draw on the back of. Has she just invented recycling or is she simply precocious in displaying that parsimonious streak that runs through the Collins clan? It seems to have something to do with a room in the East Wing, she thinks, maybe Alexis's room, but Will describes it as "empty."
Back at the lab (again), Yaeger is about to take the antidote when Sabrina comes down. (A cupboard has materialized on one side of the free-standing column, and the rabbit cages seem to have disappeared.) Rather than hide this time, he calmly settles himself in Cyrus's chair. What are you doing here? Sabrina asks him severely. Who let you in? He replies blandly, Hasn’t Cyrus ever told you of his good friend John Yaeger? Yaeger! Sabrina exclaims with deep and instant disapproval. I might have known. I got in with a key the good doctor gave me, Yaeger explains, adding, I’m merely a friend, Sabrina. Miss Stuart, thank you, Sabrina corrects him in freezing tones. Yaeger merely chortles with glee as he gets up and walks over to her. As he walks around her, looking her up and down, he wonders, Are you always this cold and aloof? I seem to sense some kind of emotional release that is trying to get out of you--am I correct? Sabrina stolidly answers that Cyrus won't be back again tonight. I was told to wait, Yaeger says, so wait I will--especially now that you’re here. I hope we can get better acquainted. She tries again to get him to leave, but he insists on waiting for Cyrus. Even guarding Cyrus's mysterious but precious experiment isn't enough to make Sabrina stay with such a creature. As she stalks out, he tries to get her to stay: I'd like to discuss that emotional release I mentioned. She pauses, perhaps hoping a crushing remark will come to mind, but none does, so she just glares at him and goes upstairs. He laughs as she leaves, but the moment he’s sure she's gone he finally retrieves the antidote and drinks it. The transformation from Yaeger to Cyrus seems just as painful as the reverse.
Quentin decides to check out Will's theory about the East Wing. As he approaches Alexis's room he hears the children talking. But when he opens the door, the room is dark and empty--except for our David and Amy. David is telling Amy, My father and Dr. Hoffman saw Barnabas get caught here. Maybe something will happen if we wait. Amy, however, doesn't want to get stuck and would rather be in bed. Quentin watches in amazement and tries to get in, but finds his way blocked by an invisible but impenetrable barrier. [A stagehand in a blue shirt catches the door that Quentin threw open.] Can’t you hear me? Quentin calls out to them in vain. What is it? We heard you calling us. Is something wrong? Daniel and Amy answer--from _behind_ him. He turns around in amazement to see them standing there--but they’re in the room that is now behind him as well.…
