451 - (Nancy Barrett) A seance has been held in the great house of Collinwood, a seance which has suspended time and space and sent one woman Winters on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past, back to the year 1795. There, in the village of Collinsport, Victoria Winters has been unjustly condemned as a witch, and the powers of darkness themselves are invoked to undo the curse left behind by a cruel and terrifying force.
Bathia calls out for light and Josh brings over a candle, which makes Barnabas scream and fall away. She grabs her throat. Terrible power, she declares--Angelique is among them, and her power is evil! Joshua gazes around, terrified. Barnabas sits in the chair, still. Joshua wants her to begin again; he felt it was going to work. She can't, insists the white witch--there's danger here for her--life and death for both Barnabas and her, battle between her spirit and Angelique's. He reminds her she has the power, but she says Ang does, too. She must help Barnabas, insists Joshua. She says she can't, but Joshua promises her money, anything. She won't, she's terrified, her powers are only human--nothing more can be done. Barnabas awakens and begins speaking of a ravaged countryside where innocent people are made monsters. He sees good men turned evil, and the source of the evil, the cause of the terror is himself!
Joshua begs Bathia for her help. She struggles to decide, then says they must go to the house of the first curse. Not this house, she knows. The Old House, says Joshua. She needs something from the living Angelique, and must not be disturbed--it could prove fatal. Her survival will be her reward, she says, and would mean the death of an evil spirit and the lifting of the curse. In any case, she is hopeful. She tells him to take Barnabas to the Old House and wait for her there (with a little assist from someone feeding her the forgotten lines, a classic blooper). Barnabas follows his father out of the room, and Bathia takes the cross and prays: The power of goodness and light are yours, she says--silence, silence, fear not!
Joshua checks the house to make sure no one is around, then leads Barnabas out the servant's entrance. Millicent spots them leaving. "Barnabas," she says, "I told them you were not dead--I told them!"
Old House - Angelique's portrait hangs above the mantle (when was this painted?) and Barnabas pitifully asks why she looks at him like that. Don't look, suggest Joshua. Don't look at the eyes, warns Bathia, but Barnabas tells them those eyes are looking into the pit of his soul.
Joshua gives her a ribbon that he thinks belonged to Angelique. The painting glows when Bathia passes the ribbon over it, and she says it's certain it belonged to her. Bathia warns Joshua again-nothing must interfere this time, if the circle of faith is broken again. . .He promises. Her work and existence depend on his promise, she says, and begins again.
Drink in hand, Nathan asks Naomi about Millicent. He thought Millicent in town with Naomi. He doesn't like her wandering around. Perhaps Millicent is looking for him, suggests Naomi. She's checking on Daniel. He says he'll be there for some time yet and pours himself another drink. He hears insane laughter and finds Millicent hiding behind the drapes. She's giggling madly. Did he bring her flowers? No. When a gentleman courts a lady, he brings a token, she says. He reminds her they are married, not courting. Why are you here, to distress me further? she asks. You're already my wife, he says. Not possible, she protests. He goes to grab her to take her upstairs, but she reminds him of her honor--who will defend her now?--her cousin Barnabas was there. Nathan is surprised.
She'll speak to Barnabas and Nathan will come to a bad end, she predicts. She sounds sad, pitying her poor lieutenant, who is destined for such a bad end--never, she moans, never. Nathan realizes his bride has gone crackers, for real. Naomi tries to escort Millicent upstairs, but she protests and says she'll see Barnabas tomorrow. Naomi says it hurts to hear her speak of him. Your grief will end, says Millicent, I will talk with Barnabas tonight and we will see him together, at the Old House--he was in the tower room. Nathan orders Naomi not to listen, but Millicent prattles on about the lights, which Naomi said she saw, too, despite Joshua's protests. She found Barnabas in the tower room, says Millicent, or a man who looked like him. It couldn't be says Naomi. Millicent tells her Joshua has taken Barnabas to the Old House. Naomi starts to leave, but Nathan tries to talk her out of it. It's not safe, he says, but she says she's capable of taking care of himself and he should tend to his wife. Millicent recalls he has a wife and they can never marry. She is betrayed. I will kill you, she cries, and attacks him. He slaps her across the face, grasping her wrists; she sobs for help from Barnabas.
Old House - Barnabas lies on a table, and Bathia walks around it, creating a circle of faith. She holds Angelique's ribbon. It's so dark, says Bathia, so dark--the light will find and destroy Angelique forever!--first, a final warning--free this man from your curse--surrender your power! Barnabas begins to moan, twist his head. She will find her in the dark, swears Bathia, and burn her in the light of her own fire. Barnabas continues to moan. Naomi knocks at the door, hears sounds from within, checks the window, which is covered with a curtain. She calls to Joshua. "Mother?" says Barnabas. He's out of the trance, declares Bathia, all is lost!
Joshua goes to the door and Naomi interrogates him. I heard voices, she insists. You heard nothing, says Joshua, ordering her back to Collinwood, now! She goes, quickly, apparently sensing her husband's seriousness. He tells Bathia to proceed. Barn tells them he heard his mother's voice. Bathia holds up a candle and tells him to look at the light. He covers his face and cries, "I CAN'T!" over and over. She tells Joshua that the spell is broken, she can't lift the curse. She's defeated, and what will happen now has yet to be revealed. She's terrified, in great danger. Joshua tells her to leave, and she begs for water. Fire! she cries. Giggling is heard; Angelique's portrait glows as poor Bathia is consumed in flames, screaming, and disappears, leaving no trace of anything. The camera pans on Angelique's smirking portrait and Barnabas' stricken, disbelieving face.
NOTES: How awful! A white witch loses her life and Angelique proves herself just as powerful in death as she was in life--she's seen to it that Barnabas cannot escape her curse. Joshua has tried and failed in this urgent endeavor, which must be a bitter realization for a man who isn't used to it in business, but is rapidly becoming so in his personal life. Sad. Barnabas? calling to his mother always gives me a sensation of having been punched in the belly, it's so awful. A mother never stops loving her son, or a son his mother!
452 - (Alexandra Moltke) A seance has been held in the great house of Collinwood, a seance which has suspended time and space and sent one woman on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past, back to the year 1795. There, Victoria Winters has been condemned as a witch, and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead. One man could save her, but to do so, he would have to reveal a terrifying secret.
Joshua comes in from a storm and tells Naomi, who is plying him with questions, that he pities Millicent, who is with her husband, where she belongs. They need complete privacy, he says. She demands to know what he was doing at the Old House, and he dodges the question by asking why she went there.
She explains they found Millicent there, claiming that's where Joshua had taken Barnabas. Naomi knows something strange is going on, that he's keeping something from her, but it's impossible: Barnabas is alive. Joshua looks surprised--and wary. Joshua reminds her she saw her son in his coffin, and Millicent, is mad. Naomi saw a light in the tower, as did Millicent--why did Joshua lie about the light in the tower? I didn't lie--one of the servants must have gone up there, says Joshua--it's insanity to think Barnabas alive and hidden in a room in the tower just because she saw a light. She heard his voice, crying out in pain, insists Naomi--it was Barnabas. Both of our children are dead, Joshua says--the mind can play strange tricks, believe it for your own sake. She did hear voices, if not Barnabas?, says Naomi--what happened at the Old House? I was there with a woman named Bathia Mapes, who had the power to exorcise a curse, confesses Joshua--I believe--reluctantly--that the Collins family has been under a curse. She's surprised to hear of his belief in the supernatural, but he says too much has happened--the witch was Angelique, he reveals--Ben Stokes accused her of it, and I believe that now, says Joshua. I summoned Bathia to exorcise the evil, but her attempts failed. Why did he keep it a secret? She asks. I didn't understand the powers of darkness and didn't want you touched by them, he answers. He's been wrong about other things, including Miss Winters--he'll try to help her--talk to Judge Hanley, tell him she's innocent--he'll have to listen to him. Naomi says the execution is set for dusk tomorrow evening, so he'd better be quick. She is astonished at how he's changed and believes he's still hiding things. He says he's told her as much as she needs to know--believe that for both their sakes.
At the gaol, Peter comes to see Vicki. Once in her cell, he hugs her. She's thrilled to see him--he was gone so long! They kiss. She asks what happened in Salem, and he has to report he didn't find Trask. No one knew anything about him. He stopped at several inns but couldn't find Trask. Vicki wonders why he'd leave a note exonerating her, then disappear. He promises they'll come up with something, but she thinks it's hopeless. They hug. Joshua comes to the cell and joins them. He has come to apologize to Miss Winters, he said, he was wrong about her--he knows she's innocent.
Vicki is surprised to hear of this change of mind, and Peter demands to know why. Joshua says it was Stokes' testimony, and when Peter presses, says he doesn't need to offer any other explanations. He's asking Judge Hanley to reopen the trial on the grounds that Abigail was an unreliable witness--he's willing to say that. He was fond of his sister, but she was wrong about Vicki, who, very gratefully accepts his apology. Joshua tells Peter to meet him in the meeting room--he hopes that what he is about to do it enough. Peter and Vicki are pleased, and Peter says this might be the miracle they've been hoping for. They kiss again, smiling hopefully at each other through the bars.
Joshua tells Hanley that he's decided she's innocent--he wants a stay of execution and a new trial. The judge asks if there's new evidence, and Joshua seems to feel his opinion is enough (hell, he's a Collins, that isn't enough?)--Vicki isn't capable of witchcraft; Sarah loved her; Vicki was good to Sarah. Mrs. Collins said much the same, the judge reminds him. Surely Joshua's opinion counts for something, but the Judge says it's too little, too late now--unless he has new evidence to offer. Joshua tells him that Abigail was not in her right mind when she charged Vicki--she was a fanatic, always seeing the devil somewhere, and long before Vicki came to Collinwood--her opinion isn't reliable. The judge says Trask proved Vicki guilty. Joshua shouts that the Reverend was a charlatan. Peter reminds the judge about the note, but the judge had to discount it because there was no corroboration from Trask. Joshua shouts that the judge seems determined to send the girl to the gallows, unwilling to care if she's innocent or guilty. The judge assures him he cares a great deal, but he doesn't believe her innocent. Opinion isn't evidence. What about Angelique? That had to be discounted, too, says the judge--Stokes was unbalanced when he testified. What more can he say, asks Joshua, to stop the execution?
Produce a new witness, advises the judge, who knew Angelique and can offer absolute truth she practiced acts of witchcraft--that's the only way. Joshua is forced to admit he can't produce such a witness, and the judge says the sentence of the court must be carried out--Vicki must hang! Peter looks miserable.
Peter and Joshua return to Vicki's cell and give her the bad news. Joshua apologizes, says he did as much as he could.
"Goodbye," he says sadly, and she bids him he same. Peter says there's still a few hours--that miracle might yet happen. They hug, and the jailer tells Peter he has to go. Peter asks for another minute--I can't leave her, I love her. Vicki protests that he'll only make it worse for her. He tells her he loves her and always will, and asks her to remember that. She can't even look at him, but watches him leave. Out in the meeting room, Peter, desperate, grabs the gun from the jailer's belt and holds him at gunpoint. He demands the keys and tells him he'll kill him if he makes a move or shouts for help. The jailer unlocks Vicki's cell and Peter pushes him in. I won't let them hang you, he tells Vicki. He hands her the gun and tells her to shoot the jailer if he moves. When Peter starts to gag him, the jailer attempts to wrestle the gun away from Vicki. The gun goes off, a bullet striking her in the shoulder, and Peter knocks the jailer unconscious. They hear voices; Peter tells Vicki to lean on him--they must get out of here! There's knocking at the door, and Vicki leans heavily against him as they exit the gaol as fast as they can through a back door.
NOTES: Very exciting ending as Peter, realizing they've been defeated, takes the law into his own hands and busts Vicki out of the pokey. Good job, except for getting her shot, but she's out, and perhaps they have a chance to save her. Imagine Joshua's anger at realizing that his mere word isn't enough to free a condemned prisoner! How dare they, he's a COLLINS, damn it!
I know a lot of people don't like Roger Davis, here or in real life, but honestly, when Vicki and Peter fell in love, it was damned romantic, IMHO. I thought they were cute together and didn't notice how much he touched his hair or his tendency to shout. He was cute, and they looked adorable together. I thought it nice that Vicki found someone after losing Burke.
The question is, will Vicki escape her fate?
Love, Robin
