At this point in the story, I always start thinking that there are only about 200 more episodes to go. I'm caught between anxiety and amazement that the writers managed to squeeze in so much more plot!
"Alexis" really messes with Maggie's head, making her wonder if Quentin really did kill Angelique and "Why, Quentin, why?"
I love Carolyn's clothes in 1970PT.
Carolyn returns to Loomis House after a walk on the cliffs. Julia has been waiting to tell her that the police just left after a search. (Carolyn apparently now knows that “Hoffman” is in fact our Julia.) They almost found the secret room, Julia shudders, but since this happened off camera Julia’s announcement doesn’t generate much suspense. She tells Carolyn about Quentin’s jailbreak. “Alexis” was his last visitor, the suspicious Julia observes, so she must have engineered it, and if she engineered it, he’s in more trouble than ever. The two women agree that they must try to find him and persuade him to give himself up. Carolyn asks if Quentin killed Bruno, but Julia replies sternly that he didn’t. But then Carolyn realizes that they have one more problem--Angelique may have killed Bruno, but who killed Angelique???
Evidently it's perfectly normal for Carolyn to wander around Collinwood at 1:40 in the morning. Maggie shows her the Apollo Belvedere w/ascot and wonders if someone killed Bruno with it. Carolyn is forced to say she doesn’t know. (Our Loomis House conspirators have decided to keep Maggie in the dark for her own safety.) Maggie wonders if she might have done it herself--after all, she’s getting a rep for this sort of thing. Carolyn practically shouts at Maggie that she didn’t kill Bruno, but someone put the A.B. there for her to find. Maggie speculates that it could have been Quentin, but Carolyn suggests “Alexis.” No way, replies Maggie. Carolyn comes within a hairsbreadth of telling what she knows, then holds back. Nonetheless, she warns Maggie as emphatically as she dares to be careful of “Alexis” and leaves Maggie wondering why.
Carolyn returns home and tells Julia about her conversation with Maggie and how she almost spilled the beans. Julia warns her that if Angelique suspects Maggie knows anything, Maggie's life won't be worth a hill of beans.
Friends of Buffie will remember that she met Quentin while she was working at Collinwood. How would tending bar at the BW be a better job?
Carolyn tends to disagree with Julia, but they resolve nothing. Julia says, The only way we can clear Quentin is to find Angelique’s real murderer. She asks Carolyn about the séance and who was in the room when Angelique collapsed. Carolyn dutifully lists the cast of characters: Angelique, Quentin, Cyrus, Roger, Elizabeth (Carolyn’s mother), Buffie Harrington (who was working at Collinwood at the time--so that’s where Cyrus first met her!), Trask (the butler), and Will and herself. (She completely forgets about poor Sabrina Stuart.) But she can’t remember clearly who was the first to reach Angelique--anyone could have have done it. We may never know, she sighs.
Maggie returns to her room to find that someone has taken the Apollo Belvedere and some of Quentin's things. We see LP's shadow outside as she prepares to enter the room. Perhaps remembering Carolyn's words, Maggie asks if "Alexis" entered the room, s that he might be here in the house, right now. Again Maggie insists on seeing Quentin and talking to him. Is that wise? Angelique asks. I’m not going to be afraid, Maggie replies. It’s not a matter of fear but of safety, Angelique says. You’re not doing this deliberately to frighten me, are you? Maggie asks, perhaps remembering Carolyn’s warning. How can you say that? “Alexis” asks indignantly. I’m trying to help you. Then, suspicious in her turn, she asks, Has someone told you something about me? Maggie of course apologizes. Are you sure you’ll be all right by yourself? “Alexis” asks sweetly, then goes off for her walk. Maggie still wants to talk to Quentin about “everything.” I ran away from this house once. I won’t do it again, she declares to herself. If Quentin is here, I’ve got to see him.
At 2:00 a.m., Maggie comes back downstairs and Angelique pulls out all the stops to scare her. (Someone must have had the volume way up, because it sounds like a train is about to roar through the front doors.) The drawing room windows are rattling, so she closes them, but then the front door flies open. She calls Quentin faintly, but gets no response. Then she starts hearing Ode to Angelique on the piano--it sounds like it’s coming from Angelique’s old room, so she goes back upstairs to investigate. When she gets there, though, the doors are locked. She calls Quentin’s name again and the music stops. (We’ve had no evidence whatever that Quentin even plays the piano but so what?) Julia comes by and suddenly the doors open. As they enter the room, Maggie insists the doors were just locked, and tells Julia about hearing the piano--she insists she isn’t going mad. [As Maggie moves to the left, there is a quick glimpse of someone in the mirror in back of her.] Julia tries to calm her down and suggests (quite uncharacteristically nicely for Hoffman), You shouldn’t be alone tonight. Why don’t you stay at Loomis House, where Will and Carolyn will look after you? Maggie is on the point of saying yes when “Alexis” shows up from nowhere. Giving Julia a killing glance, she agrees--Maggie shouldn’t be alone tonight, and that’s why I came back from my walk. “Alexis” dismisses “Hoffman” for the night, and Julia is forced to retreat.
The camera inadvertently shows us a glimpse of what looks like a long blue nightgown under the knee-length coat that Alexis has been wearing in every scene--more about it below.
Back home, Carolyn is pacing fit to wear a hole in the carpet, getting tired of the Who Killed Angelique puzzle and thinking Quentin is beyond help. Then she decides that they have to clear his name and find out who killed Angelique and Bruno. She sits down to think about it, and the music tells us that she’s about to have a (dreaded) dream sequence even though she’s awake. In her mind’s eye she sees Angelique on the floor at Collinwood after the fatal séance (lying on her back, even though if she was pithed from behind she would have fallen face down). Now we can see that Angelique is actually wearing the same long blue gown and long white gloves as in her portrait, which dominates her room in the East Wing. (You have to wonder at their shooting schedule, if she had to have the gown on even under her coat!) She looks very definitely dead, and beside her Carolyn sees a hatpin with a huge green stone. Carolyn screams. Just then Julia comes back, and Carolyn gasps, Now I remember--I know who killed Angelique!....
