Second Chances

EPISODES 628-632

"Satan is out,
can I take your message?"

The last we saw Angelique, she burst into flames while calling forth a powerful evil being, "The Master". The spell pays off and she is teleported to the realm of the Master aka Satan aka Diablos (as titled in the credits) who, to be honest, looks rather like his secretary than the Satan himself, mostly due to the decor: One expects flames across the ceiling with skulls dangling down and a sacrificial virgin or two. And a throne, the Satan MUST have a throne! What we got instead is a less than impressive desk; the hell must be going through a rough patch. But what Diablos lacks in fancy ornamentation, he makes up for in authoritarian demeanour. Thankfully he ain't your typical red headed, horned creature; he wears a hooded robe that suggests there's nothing in there but darkness. But, I digress. Like a student telling on a fellow student to a teacher, Angelique complains about Nicholas and blames him for being unjust. She also says that he has derailed from the ways of evil for he fell in love with a mortal: Maggie Evans. This grabs Diablos' attention. Great! The Devil's interest was just what Maggie needed!

Like mother; like son.. not!

Meanwhile, Adam is at Nicholas' place pretending to be angry with Eve's absence when Julia drops by and announces Eve's death. She knows Adam has something to do with that despite his desperate attempts at lying and tells him to own it up 'cause Jeff is wrongfully accused (although they are all aware Adam, being a monster, can't go to the police, so what's the point of this intervention really. Moral lessons, maybe?) Julia also says she has protective maternal feelings towards Adam because she brought him to this world (Geez woman, you just pressed some buttons). Then she leaves Adam with his conscience.

Twin Peaksy connotations

Later, Maggie arrives at Nicholas' place looking puzzled and no idea why she came. Soon after, it all becomes clear when she begins to choke and suddenly the lights turn to red and Diablos speaks to Nicholas through Maggie. Kudos to Satan for his sick sense of humour but hey, this is our sweetheart Maggie you're messing with mister! Nicholas begs his master to leave Maggie alone, which Diablos notices as signs of "human(e) feelings". He finishes off by telling Nicholas to be ready for his judgement at midnight! When the lights return to normal, Maggie wakes up and Nicholas tells her she fainted. I swear the poor girl will have brain tumor one of these days from all the mind-meddling.

Nicholas pays a visit to Collinwood that night to talk threaten Julia into repeating the experiment to revive Eve's dead body with a new life force. She asks why he won't do it himself with his powers (good question) and Nicholas replies with freaky Biblical references: Both Eve and Adam have to be made artificially so they can be different than regular humans and so his master can rule their lineage of superhumans. When Julia says no, Nicholas threatens to kill Adam, an action which they both know will also kill Barnabas. Upon this, Julia calls Windcliff to speak with Barnabas, not aware of Liz watching her suspicious behaviour.

Can't argue with the Master!

At midnight, Nicholas is summoned by Diablos to his set hell dimension. They gossip a bit about Angelique and her cunning; a quality that Diablos appreciates but blames Nicholas for overlooking. He also blames Nicholas for giving her more a lot of "second chances" despite her various attempts at treachery. Then comes the subject of the failure of Project Eve but lucky for him, Nicholas has already arranged it to be redone. Diablos gives him two days to finish it and after that he will be bound to exist only in this hell dimension. Nicholas surprises the audience, namely me, by pleading to give up his powers to live with Maggie. However, Diablos' twisted sense of humour strikes again and he will let the lovebirds be together BUT only in the Underworld and for that Maggie must be sacrificed on the black altar. OH NO! Yet again, here's the sacrificial decoration I was looking for.

Once back in the Overworld (or you know, just the world), Nicholas is visited by Barnabas, who is apparently back from Windcliff and not under Angelique's influence as much. They go through the routine whose penis is bigger contest: Nicholas -modest as always- believes himself to be the winner yet finds Barnabas a worthy opponent. Good thing Nicholas ain't no longer hiding his thing-- I mean his powers. He says he has someone in mind for the life source and Barnabas should get his science team together asap.

Enter Maggie again, this time she looks oriented enough. Nicholas first impresses her with his antique goods (and I don't mean his pee-pee this time) and then pops the "will you marry me" out of nowhere! She hesitates because of Joe and Nicholas knows it, so he tells her to make up her mind soon for he is leaving Collinsport. Maggie claims she can't imagine the town without Nicholas. Really Maggie? You can't imagine your hometown of twenty-something years without the man who's been here for what, two, three months?

Vicki #2 w/a temper

Same night (seriously, how long is this night?) Maggie goes to Collinwood to discuss the proposal with her dear friend VICKI #2 and my first reaction is, why the hell does she have Carolyn's old hair? Betsy Durkin took over the role from Alexandra Moltke and initially I was very judgemental but I realised after two or three episodes, she grows on you; too bad she only has like ten of them. This Vicki comes off as being very edgy when she asks how Maggie can marry a man she hardly knows. Obviously, nobody bothered to pull Miss Durkin aside to tell her about the true nature of the character. Anyways, she knows things about Nicholas that she can't let Maggie in on and after their argument where their friendship almost ends (what a sympathetic way to introduce a new actor as an established character), Vicki decides to face the man herself. Nicholas and her have a heated quarrel where she accuses him of being a warlock, judging from the fact that he is Cassandra's brother. Nicholas denies this but she threatens to tell all this to Maggie unless he calls the proposal off. Look at you fervent little Vicki! Alexandra Moltke must have felt very jealous.

Tom's second chance..

Mr Nicholas Blair, instead of finding an easier way like casting a simple memory spell or killing Vicki on the spot, goes to the trouble to deal with this and surprise surprise, he revives Tom Jennings the ridiculously unphotogenic vampire. We were wondering what happened to his body after Barnabas put a stake through him and it turns out, Nicholas had it in his cellar all this time. We also learn vampires don't turn to dust like in Buffy or True Blood style jelly mess but they just remain there, dead until someone removes the stake. Easy as that! Tom is sent to sneak into Vicki's room and he'd have killed her too if it weren't for Barnabas to the rescue (and can someone tell me what the hell is he doing outside her room in the middle of the night). They are both shocked to see the supposedly-dead Tom alive.. or, undead! After he rushes out the window, Barnabas tells Vicki about the existence of vampires. Damn it, why the fun things are happening to Vicki #2 whereas the original Vicki spent all her time "not understanding"?

...is poorly wasted!

Nicholas has three more visitors that night (that house is busier than a whorehouse on thanksgiving): One is Chris Jennings investigating his brother's death by going through his last employers and his timing is perfect! Nicholas tries his best to make the man leave and Chris almost sees his revamped brother outside the window. Later, Harry Johnson comes upon Nicholas' order and they get ready to rob Eve's grave. Their discussion is interrupted by Barnabas who this time has the upper hand on the powerplay and tells Nicholas rather firmly to keep Tom away from Vicki and his own paws from Maggie for the sake of the experiment. He agrees after much fuss. But Barnabas wants to be sure, so he enters the Blair house once he and Harry leave to dig up Eve. Tom attacks him but he is saved by the rising sun. Tom burns and vanishes as Barnabas watches in pity. Good to know he is at least acknowledging his vampire days while going around slaying vampires like he is the boss. At least, the Tom-Chris mess is cleared!

It is FINALLY the next day and Nicholas summons Maggie to get her answer on the marriage. His promise to Barnabas was of course a sham! Maggie agrees to marry him and Nicholas says it has to happen tonight. Then, they will leave for London and live happily ever after! LIES!!! Meanwhile, he tries to get Adam used to the idea of a new Eve. Good luck with that!

Not brother dearest

On a different dramatic note, Chris visits his little, troubled sister Amy at Windcliff. She is mad at him for not being there for her sooner and she gets madder/sadder after hearing he isn't gonna be sticking around. Seeing his sister like that saddens him and he changes his mind about leaving. Once back at the hotel (Yay! @ reappearance of the good old innkeeper after almost 600 episodes), Chris asks to change his room with the most secluded one and Mr Wells takes him to the attic-like room with a barred window. "Perfect!" he says and asks the man to lock him in til morning and never ever open the door, regardless of the noises he may hear ("I sometimes move around and act out while I'm writing"). Later, the full moon rises and Mr Wells hears some trashing sounds from the room. Not listening to Chris' earlier warnings, he enters the room to see if he is alright and is killed by something offscreen. Later we see his slashed body get dragged across the floor. Nobody has used the W-word yet but do they really have to?

Satanic weddings are a hoot

Meanwhile, Maggie is at Nicholas' place, in her wedding dress and waiting for the minister to arrive. She's confused about the whole marriage thing. Heck, even I am confused about what is Maggie's free will and what is part of a spell. So, Nicholas drugs and carries her to the altar and starts the black ceremony or whatever it is called. "Let the legions of the damned salute youuu!" he says.. Maggie lies still but we hear her otherwordly screams in the distance.