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FKSPOILR

Logfile LOG9605 Part 31

May 16, 1996

File: "FKSPOILR LOG9605" Part 31

	TOPICS:
	SPOILER: LK Details (Warning: LONG)
	SPOILERS: Francesca
	Spoiler: AtA
	SPOILERS:F/ AtA/ LK (long)
	SPOILERS: Ashes to Ashes
	SPOILER: LK  (2)
	Blood Knowledge (Francesca & AtA)  (2)
	dysfunctional relationships, Francesca, Last Knight  (long)

=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 08:21:03 -0700
From:         lucienlc <lucienlc@i.......>
Subject:      SPOILER: LK Details (Warning: LONG)

Marcia asked that someone post detailed spoilers of LK, instead of the
little snippets that have heretofore appeared.

Accordingly, I have dug out my spoilers from a month or so back that went to
the private spoiler loop of folks who wanted to be spoiled then.  I have
edited them to account for what actually did and did not show up on screen,
having now seen the episode.  And I think I deserve hazard *pay* <g> for
having to sit through the blasted thing enough times to get it right.  :-)

WARNING:  these are detailed.  _Very_ detailed.  If you don't want to be
spoiled, please don't read them.  I'm only doing this as a service to those
who find it easier to deal with something if they know what's coming.

Several more precatory comments (so I don't need to leave spoiler space <g>).

This is a long post, containing detailed spoilers and lots of quotes.  If
your copy gets cut off, e-mail me.

I thought it would be better for folks to form their own opinions rather
than rely on my own perceptions, so there isn't much analysis or commentary.
Just details.

Another fan (Lora Haines - President of the FK fan club) makes the big
time.  As a suicide.

Okay, away we go.  Form your own opinions:


TEASER:

Story opens on the a stream of running water, a faucet filling a tub.  A
woman's hand turns the water off, tests the temperature.

Cut to the LOFT, where we see LC.  His figure is hazy, eerily distorted.  He
almost looks two-dimensional.  Something is very odd.

LC: "Life is a gift.  As sweet as a ripe peach, as precious as a gilded
jewel. I have never understood the logic of wilfully surrendering such a
treasure.  And what is there to gain?  How dark can your existence be when
compared to an eternal void? <beat> Unless, of course, you have faith
that there is something beyond."

While LC is speaking, throughout this speech and the others in the teaser,
we cut back and forth between him and the woman, signing the last page of a
journal, slipping it into an envelope. We see her, hazy, in the steam of the
bathroom mirror.

Cut back to LC.  We don't see who he is talking to or what he is looking at.

LC: "What do you see from where you stand?  A bright light at the end
of the tunnel?  Is it a ray of hope, a glimmer of something better?  Or
will it burn you like the rising sun?  Is that sound you're
hearing the trumpeting of St. Peter's angels ... or the screams of
Memnoch's tortured souls?  You can't answer that, can you?  Because you will
never know the answer until the deed is done.  And is your faith really that
strong?"

"I understand the need to move on.  It is something that happens to us all
... and your time has truly come.  I also understand that with the beauty of
this life there comes pain and despair.  No one is immune.  But consider
what you have in your hands, before you give it up.  Don't trade a treasure
... for an empty box."

As the above is being said, the woman slips into the bath, fully clothed.
She lifts and exposes her wrist. She slits her wrists with a scalpel, and
drops back into the water, staining it red.  They show the envelope,
addressed to Dr. Natalie Lambert.

END TEASER

ACT ONE

Natalie is at the crime scene, kind of in shock.  Nick and Tracy are talking
about the case, about how nobody saw this coming.  Nick asks Tracy to finish
up, so he can take Nat out of there.

If anyone figures out where she's sitting while she reads from the journal,
please let me know.  A room in the morgue we've never seen?

Nat (reading from the journal): "Do as I ask, not as I've become.
Don't let yourself become empty.  First time I've lost someone to suicide.
First time I've had a suicide note addressed to me, a night of firsts."

"You know, I think that Dr. Lora Haynes in there was right on the money when
she pegged me as a kindred spirit."

Nick: "Nat, she took her own life.  She obviously had some pretty big
problems."

Nat: "Think so?  You know, Nick, I used to think suicide was
sacrilege.  But I'm not so sure anymore."

Nick: "Nat, don't talk like that."

Nat: "Why not?  You've considered it yourself."

FLASHBACK to "Last Act" ["So we're feeling a little self-destructive" scene.
Those who have never seen first season Nick will finally have the opportunity.]

Nick suggests that Nat not do the work on the case, but she tells him it's
okay, she owes it to her friend, she can handle it.

Nat: "But you know what I can't handle?  I think I understand her, and
that scares me to death."

Cut to Reese and Tracy discussing the case, the note, the impact on
Nat.  Tracy asks if she can knock off early for the night.  Their discussion
is interrupted by a prisoner who is being disruptive and causing problems.

Cut back to Nick and Nat.

Nat: "You know, when she and I would get together, years ago, we'd talk for
hours.  About our careers.  Professional gossip. We slowly came
to realize that we never really talked about ourselves. And you know why?
Because there was nothing there to tell, our personal lives were
non-existent.  That was a bit of a depressing discovery; we, uh, sort of
lost touch after that.  Her leaving me the note and her journal: she meant
for me to learn from her mistakes.  It's my wake-up call, Nick.  Time to get
a life."

Nick: "You've got one, and it's not empty.
Nat: "Not now.  ...  Six years ago ... April 14 ..."
Nick: "What was that?"
Nat: "The day they brought you in."

FLASHBACK to "Only the Lonely" (their first meeting)

Nat: "My life changed that day. I don't want to end up like Lora, Nick.

Nick: I won't let you."

Nat: "Well then, it's simple.  You just have to love me as much as I love you."

On Nick's totally dumbfounded look,

END OF ACT ONE


ACT TWO

Beautiful shot of the Toronto skyline. Cut to LaCroix, in the loft, same
weird shots and angles as before.

LC: "Love.  It warps our senses, twists our souls.  'Can take us past
hope, past cure, past help.'"

He sighs.

LC:  "I know about love.  Its suffering, its anguish, its pain. 'Heaven
makes means to kill our joy with love.'  And yet we must have
it.  At any cost.  But are you so enamored that you will overlook your love
of life?  And you do love it. I've seen you smell the sea, gaze at the stars
at night.  Are you willing to sacrifice one mistress for another?  Look into
your heart and tell me that you're willing to make the choice."

[Note:  Ger, as director, decided to get *clever* with the camera in the
next scene.  It made me dizzy just watching it.]

Nick: "I can't.  "You know I can't."
Nat: "I've been wrong about a lot of things in my life, but I'm not wrong
about _this_ ... about what I feel from you.  I'm asking for an end, Nick
... for a
resolution.  I'm not willing to go on like this.  We can be together."
Nick: "I can't damn you into becoming what I am."
Nat: "There is a way. I have faith in you ... and whatever follows."

FLASHBACK to the scene where he kills Alyssa in the Dead of Knight flashback
by draining her completely.

Nick.  "Natalie ... it's just too much to ask.

The next bit is really eerily filmed, a combination of warped sound effects
and slow motion. Back in the precinct, Dawkins, the prisoner, breaks free,
grabs a gun, and takes a hostage.  Then we get back to normal filming.
Dawkins escapes down a corrider without the hostage.  Reese sends his people
looking for him.  He doesn't know that Tracy hasn't left yet, and she goes
looking for Dawkins on her own.

Cut back to Nick and Nat.

Nick: "Whether I bring you across or not, either way, it could be a death
sentence."

Nat: "A lonely existence like Lora's is a death sentence.  With you, there's
at least hope.  It's partly my decision, Nick.  And I'm not afraid to try."

At which point the phone rings and Reese alerts him to the situation at
the precinct.  With some awkwardness, he leaves.

Nick, at the precinct, asks Reese to let him go after the guy alone.
He's met him before, arrested him once, figures maybe he can establish
rapport with him.  Reese gives permission.  Neither of them knows that
Tracy has gone after him on her own.

Nick finds Dawkins, starts to whammy him as Tracy, unbeknownst to them
both, closes in from behind Nick.  Dawkins loses it and fires, striking
Tracy.  He squeezes off several more shots as Nick vamps out completely and
slams him to the wall.  (Note:  the filming is bad, imo;  I'm still trying
to figure out how she got struck in the back of the head.)  Nick, still
vamped, turns in horror to see Tracy as she slowly collapses, bleeding
badly.  Nick frantically calls for help.

Tracy to Nick: "You could have trusted me ..."

As other cops rush in,

END OF ACT TWO.


ACT THREE

LaCroix again, at the loft, speaking to the unseen.

LC: "Haven't you tired of this incessant guilt?  Hasn't it swayed your
back and stooped your shoulders to the point of throwing it off?  You
insist on taking responsibility for the actions and emotions of
those around you, when they alone are truly responsible.  It is
foolish.  It is so unnecessary.  It is so mortal.  And it
must stop.  This and all else that has happened tonight should make
that clear to you."

Cut back to the precinct, medics hastily getting Tracy out of there, Nick,
angsting over Tracy getting shot.  Reese, telling him it's
not his fault.

Several hours later, Nick and Reese watching Tracy.  Reese tells him that
there's a review board report the next day, that it's going to be rough
since Dawkins didn't make it.  He also tells him that, if Tracy dies, there
is life after the loss of a partner.  They recall Schanke (Black Buddha
flashback).

After Reese leaves, Nick stands there, watching Tracy at death's door, his
eyes glowing.

Another Black Buddha FLASHBACK, with Nick blaming himself for Schanke.

Cut back to Nick agonizing over the decision: should he or shouldn't
he?  He moves to Tracy's bedside.  He's fully vamped out, moving in on her
neck.

Offscreen Nat: "_Nick_"

He turns sharply, still vamped, and sees her.  She stands shocked,
betrayed.

Nick:  "If she dies, it's my fault."

Nat: "How do you know that that's what she wants?  And why is it
so easy to consider bringing her across ... and so impossible to
consider bringing me?"

Nick looks at Tracy, moves past Nat and leaves.

Cut to the RAVEN

The place is deserted, chairs turned up.  The LC bust from Pompeii is there.
(Hey, how'd they fix it?)  LC is loading a shipping trunk.

LC: "Good evening, Nicholas."
Nick: "You're leaving."
LC: "It's time.  For both of us.  We have come full circle in this life."
Nick: "LaCroix, I'm in trouble."
LC: "Yes.  I know.  Your partner.  Is she ...?
Nick: "No.  But her chances aren't good."
LC: Nicholas ... don't you see?  You have overstayed your welcome.  The
pain you are causing your mortal friends is no longer acceptable to
them.  Those that do survive will not allow their relationship with
you to continue in the way that it was.  They will demand change.  And you
will be compromised.  One way or another."
Nick: "Even if I wanted to leave, I couldn't.  Too many loose ends to tie
up..."
LC: "I've seen you leave looser."
Nick: "I can't just walk away.  Natalie needs me.  I have to be here
for Tracy."
LC: Nicholas, the time has come.  I will be at your loft tonight
for your decision.  And then I'm leaving.  With or without you."

Close on Nick as END OF ACT THREE


ACT FOUR

Close on LC, in the loft, again speaking to someone offscreen.

LC: "For all the things that we are, there is a price to be paid.  Love can be
tasted but never savoured.  In our darkest moments we may envy
mortality, but we should never aspire to it.  Guilt ... is a poison. And
staying past our time ... is death.  But it need not be.  If we
truly care for a mortal ... truly love one ... then we must go.  Isn't that
something that _you_ taught _me_?"

And we see that LC is talking to Nick, who is looking away.  Something is
definitely bothering him.

FLASHBACK to "Be My Valentine" [Fleur - all the scenes put together
where Nick confronts LC and demands/pleads that he leave Fleur alone]
LaCroix moves closer to Nick.

Cut back to LaCroix and Nick in the loft.

LC: "Leaving ... is the purest form of love."  Nick half turns toward him.

Cut to MORGUE - Nat reading Lora's diary.

Nat:  "Everyone's pain is my problem but mine is mine alone... I have
solutions for all but none for myself.  I have to stop and think 'Where
am I?  What am I doing?'  I'm not coming, I'm going.  I'm gone."

Nat glances around; she's been packing.  The contents of her desk have been
put into a box.  She puts the diary into the box and puts the cover on.  The
phone rings, and she picks it up.

Cut to Nick, in the Caddy.  He turns on the radio. Some woman is speaking.
A listener asks what happened to the Nightcrawler.  "He said it was time to
move on."

MULTIPLE FLASHBACKS:  Nick and Nat (Black Buddha), Nick and Janette (Human
Factor) dealing with the theme of leaving, moving on.

Nick enters the loft.  Nat is there.

Nat: "Tracy Vetter passed away twenty minutes ago."

Off their reactions, END OF ACT FOUR


ACT FIVE

Nick: "LaCroix thinks I'm a fool, bearing this guilt.  Trying to somehow
atone for what I've done.   Maybe he's right.  All it's ever caused is pain.
And more death..."
Nat: "That's not true."
Nick: "Tracy ... Cohen ... Schanke ... How many others over the
centuries .... because of what I am?"
Nat: "And how many lives were you able to _save_ because of what you are?
You've more than made up for what you've done in the past."
Nick: "It's not enough.  It's never enough."  Pauses.  "I'm
leaving.  Tonight."
Nat: "Not without me."
Nick: "I'm leaving _because_ of you.  You don't want my love.  It will only
destroy you."
Nat: "There is a way... there is one cure that we haven't tried.
Janette became mortal by making love to Robert ... taking just a little
at a time."
Nick: "It was a lot more complicated than that, Nat."
Nat: "I'm willing to take my chances."
Nick: "Well, I'm _not_.  What if I take too much?"  I'm not willing to live
a life of eternal pain ..."
Nat: "Is it any worse than living a life of eternal regret?  It's partly my
choice too, Nick."

He looks down and she walks over to the window. "Does LaCroix ever talk to
you about faith?"
Nick: "In what?"
Nat: "In yourself ... in an afterlife ... I don't know, in a greater being
who loves us no matter who we are or what we do?"
Nick: "Faith is a mortal folly, Nat."
Nat: "His words or yours?  You really believe that's true?"

FLASHBACK to "For I Have Sinned" [Nick offering immortality to Joan of Arc:
"Faith. Pure and simple faith."]

Nick: "I'm not sure."

Nat: "I won't accept that the sum of our existence can be measured in
the few short years that we're alive here.  It would make everything that we
believe meaningless.  It would make our whole lives here meaningless.
I know that's not true, and so do you.  You have faith, Nick.  And, if
it's a mortal folly, then you're the most mortal man I've ever known."
Nick: "You cannot deny what I am!"
Nat: "You can't deny what's in your heart."
Nick: "What are you saying?"
Nat: "I have faith that there is a future for us ... Here, as we are ... or
somewhere else."  She walks slowly over to him.  "I believe in you.  I trust
you. Make love to me, Nick ... take just a little at a time."
Nick: "I'm afraid of what might happen."
Nat: "Don't be afraid.  I'm not afraid of death.  Or of an eternity in
darkness, as long as I can spend it with you."  She's caressing his face
looks to him, cups his face in her hands.  "All I have is faith, and love.
All I'm asking is for you to make love to me.  I trust you"

They look deep into each others' souls, Nick looks down.  When he looks back
up his eyes are glowing.

Nick: "I won't leave you.  Whatever happens, we'll be together."
Nat:  "Forever."

They kiss once, gently.  Nicks caresses her hand.  Then Nick bites into her.
(Hey?  Anyone here ever here of foreplay?)  We get a montage of flashbacks,
from Nick's many lifetimes.  Is Natalie receiving these images?

Nat, swoons and collapses.  (We see no blood, btw.)  Nick lowers her to the
floor, leans over her, still high on the experience.  Behind him, we see
LaCroix.

LC: <evenly>  "Well ... all that remains now is to turn off the
lights and lock the door on our way out.  Unless of course you have decided
to add her to our entourage. <off Nick's silence and confusion>  Oh,
Nicholas.  You _have_ thought this through, haven't you?"

Nick (stricken): "I couldn't stop myself.  I've taken too much."

On Nick, as he looks to Nat, lying there, still.

END OF ACT FIVE


TAG

LC:  "There she lies at the brink, Nicholas ... her fate is in your hands.
Bring her across, or let her die.  You must decide."
Nick: "LaCroix?  Is it possible for a vampire to have faith?"
LC: "That's a strange question at this moment in time."
Nick: "Have you ever had faith in anything but yourself?"
LC: "I have seen too much."
Nick: "Then maybe I haven't seen enough."
LC: "After nearly 800 years?  Nicholas, be done with her.  Time heals
all - we must move on.  You cannot deny what you are."

Nick slowly bends over to Natalie.  "I can't condemn her to this darkness."
He kisses her, then rises.

LC: "A wise decision.  We even have time for a burial, if you'd like."

Nick stands ... crosses to the fireplace ... lifts the most elaborately
carved excuse for a stake I have ever seen from the firebox.  He's very upset.

Nick: "She had faith in me ... in what's beyond.  That we could have a life
together.  That this would would be a beginning ... not an end..."

He walks back and sits down, holding the *stake*.

Nick: "I have that faith too."

LC (as we come full circle to the teaser):  "Don't be foolish, Nicholas.
Life is a gift.  As sweet as the freshest peach, as precious as a gilded
jewel.  I have never been able to understood the logic of wilfully
surrendering such a treasure.  What is there to gain?  How dark can your
existence be when compared to an eternal void?  Or do you have faith that
there is something beyond?  What do you see from where you are?  A bright
light at the end of the tunnel? Is it a ray of hope, a glimmer of something
better?  Or will it burn you like the morning sun?   Are the sounds you hear
the trumpeting of St. Peter's angels ... or the screams of Memnoch's
tortured souls?  You can't answer that, can you?  Because you will never
know the answer until after the deed is done.  Is your faith really that
strong?"

Nick remains silent.

LC (trying to suppress his hurt): "And so ... in your eyes ... I'm the Devil."

That evokes a reaction.  Nick stands and faces him.

Nick: "No.  Not the Devil, LaCroix."

LC:  "What then?"

Nick: "You ... are my closest friend."   As he speaks, he hands LC the stake.

Nick kneels beside Natalie's body ... reaches out and takes her hand, his
back to LC.

LC:  (sotto)  "Damn you, Nicholas."

He hoists the stake in one smooth motion.  Cut to the exterior of the loft,
then the sunrise.

The End.

Except for the hundreds of alternate endings yet to be written. :-)

One bright spot:  the earlier versions of the script (I've seen two of
them), were far WORSE than this, difficult though that may be to believe.


Laurie
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 11:36:15 +30000
From:         Valerie Meachum <valerie@l.......>
Subject:      SPOILERS: Francesca

Tigger's Tardy Tidbits, Part One:

Gillian's waxing poetic again.  :-)  Several really lovely speeches that
I think succeeded in fitting into the action.  Prime example of the
fusing of classical and contemporary that is part of what makes FK so
special.

I'll never forgive them for waiting so long to let Nigel direct!  Clean,
lyrical, elegant, and he certainly knows how to show off his expressive
colleagues to best advantage.  And boy, does TV need more of that...

Didn't have time to watch it until Friday, at which point I took great
exception to my co-worker Karen having told me that Francesca reminded
her of me!  :-)  (Don't worry, she meant physically, though I don't see
it.)  Nick getting totally taken in by yet another pretty face--and so
late in the game, too.  I hadn't thought before how *personally* he takes
it when that happens--Francesca's cruelty seemed a direct affront to
*him*.  It adds a clearer puzzle piece, I think, to his rather judgmental
tendencies--they do always seem to have a betrayed flavor, don't they?

The speech to Natalie about what the blood means--and her reaction,
yipe!  I'll take expressions like htat in lieu of lines any day, and
would pick them *over* a lot of lines (especially what she's had
lately).  Nick was clearly concentrating so hard on pressing htis thing
into language (boy, do I understand *that*!) that I think he completely
failed to notice her reaction.  Considering how central the pursuit of
knowledge--and especially knowledge of what makes *people* tick--is to
her identity, it's no great surprise that this concept was so
captivating, at least for that moment and (hopefully only) until she
thinks beyond the concept and takes the realistic side into
consideration.  Still, when she said she could see why...I wonder if he
really understands that she *can*?  He's so fond of that "you can't
possibly imagine" copout--if I were Nat, I'd be *incredibly* sick of
that.  It's a major pet peeve of mine: don't *ever* try to tell me what I
can or can't imagine!  That is the one thing in humanity that has *no*
limit except what the individual puts on herself, and I don't believe
Nat's put a lot of limits on hers.  And imagining what he was so
successfully describing is *exactly* what she was doing in that scene;
and he missed it.  It was also interesting to hear him using "you" in a
conversation with her to refer to the hypothetical mortal--he does that a
lot, mostly it seems when he isn't paying attention.  It has a couple
implications--it tends to create a line of separation between her as the
mortal and him as the vampire, and I also think it's intended
(consciously or unconsciously) as a warning to her.  There have been an
awful lot of those sort of warnings recently, partly simply because they
go hand-in-hand with the kind of honesty he was giving her in this scene,
which we really haven't seen since first season.

Now *there's* FK--I've barely scratched the surface of what I
could say about a two-minute scene!  Whatever one may dislike about
where the show has gone, *no one* else has quite the same sort of
storytelling, and I'm going to miss it terribly.  :-(

Speaking of expressions--Vachon and Tracy were, as usual, priceless.
Javito, pobrecito, aren't *you* supposed to be the one challenging the
laws of reality?  Not getting flummoxed on what's becoming a regular
basis by the supposed straight woman.  I love it.

Half caught up...

Valerie Lynn Meachum    <valerie@l.......>
THE CRUCIBLE * by Arthur Miller * directed by Valerie Meachum * June 6-22, 1996
      Rosebriar Shakespeare Company, Columbus, OH * (614) 268-7986
Visit us on the Web at http://members.aol.com/wiliqueen/rosebriar.html
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 11:43:49 -0400
From:         Carrie Krumtum <CKrumtum@g.......>
Subject:      Spoiler: AtA

I decided to note the number of times LC SWALLOWS, in this ep. I found this
non-verbal cue that Nigel used to depict LC's nervousness quite endearing. It
would be out of character for LC to be too blatant about his unease. Anyway,
LC swallows while in the tomb just before Divia propositioned him, again
while recounting the Pompei story to Nick in the Raven, and again when
initially confronted by Divia at the Raven. There may have been more. The
look on his face at these times is priceless. I think I'll go rewatch AMPH
and see if what kind of non-verbal cues I'll find there. Ya know, as a
Knightie, I have to admit that I paid much more attention to GWD's
performances than to Nigel's. I think I need to remedy that. This ep has NOT
made me a cousin, never a cousin, but I am rapidly becoming a Nigel Bennett
fan.

Off to the VCR for a new viewing of AMPH....


Carrie, Slovenly Knightie AKA Carrie the Cruel
CKrumtum@g.......
It's hard to judge someone when you're blinded by your love for them.
--Mother Teresa
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 08:52:54 -0700
From:         LC Fenster <lucienlc@i.......>
Subject:      Re: SPOILERS:F/ AtA/ LK (long)

Regarding Marian, Catherine and Karen's posts:

>  You are also correct in noting that LaCroix's return in the present
>was the beginning of the end, at least in part.

Of course, for some of us, the entire attraction of the series was the
dysfunctional relationship between Nick and LaCroix in the present, and
the hope that Nick would finally stop trying to achieve the impossible
and come to terms with what he was and learn he could still live a
*moral* life as a vampire.  Some of us would not *be* fans if LC were
not alive in the present.   When I come up with my "top ten" list of
episodes, I don't include any first season episodes in that list.  Yes,
I think first season Nick is the best Nick in any season, but I so
detest first season LC (apart from Dark Knight, where he was alive and
not presented as the embodiment of pure one-dimensional evil, as he was
later in the season) as to find it first season extremely unpleasant to
watch.  (Marian and I have hashed this to death off list in the past; I
won't bore anyone here with that.)

Point I'm making, and sorry to beat a dead horse:  I understand that
first season fans were not necessarily happy with the way things went
in second season, just as many second season fans (like myself)
disliked the way things went in third season.  And, of course, third
season fans think we're all nuts and that third season is wonderful.
All of these points of view are valid.  There is no *right* or *wrong*
answer, or view, or opinion on the show.  Everyone watches for their
own personal reasons;  everyone derives something else from watching.

But at this point in time, when many folks are going to be upset by the
final episode, and when everyone is upset by virtue of the fact that it
*is* the final episode, to get bogged down in an argument over whether
the show has been going downhill since first season, or since second
season, or since Rick Springfield did Nick Knight, seems most untimely
to me.  Save it for a month or two from now, when folks can look back
on everything and discuss the series from an overall perspective.

But of course, that's only my opinion.

Cousin LaurieCF
M+B+D+T+K
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 11:58:51 +30000
From:         Valerie Meachum <valerie@l.......>
Subject:      SPOILERS: Ashes to Ashes

Tigger's Tardy Tidbits, part two:

WHIMPERRRRR!

The cynic in me (based not on fact but on grumpiness) says "Oh look, they
have so many people to kill off that they had to start a week early."

Fortunately, the cynic in me is not very persistent and I have no trouble
stepping on her.  And I like a good tragedy too much anyway.

I think I'm saddest for Urs.  I mean, I'll miss Vachon, and the whole
business with Tracy and the stake was just heartbreaking.  (Seems to me
he thought he was dying once before...could he be as sure as he thought
he was this time?)  But he had Tracy with him, and he had an appropriate
burial next to Screed.  (I refuse to get into all the times they told us
first season there shouldn't be anything to bury; I just keep telling
myself I survived 5 years of Quantum Leap inconsistences, I can deal with
this!  To quote our FME, "extraordinary circumstances; and I think I'm
okay with that.")  But Urs died alone in Nick's elevator, terrified for
Vachon and for herself and with no knowledge of what had happened; and
her remains were "taken care of" by a complete stranger.  All this just
when it seemed she might actually have decided, after a hundred years,
that she just might learn to live after all.  It would have been nice to
see more of her after "Hearts of Darkness"; but the balancing act got
tricky enough as it was, I understand that.  Still, what a waste.  She
could have been so completely different--she could have had a life.  So
incredibly sad.

Kathryn Long has got to be at least a 23-year-old in disguise.  Kirsten
Dunst, look out!!!

The price of keeping secrets from Tracy is getting too damn steep.  Now,
more than ever, she *deserves* to know.  And as much as I love Nick, how
*dare* he????  Her knowledge of vampires was Vachon's gift to her; her
being with him at the end was *her* gift to *him*.  They had no right to
take *either* from her.  And no business leaving her to deal with it all
completely alone.  I wish Nat had spoken up more on that; I don't think
she's ever really approved of keeping Tracy in the dark about Nick, but
she acknowledges that it's Nick's decision.  Still, if she *had* found
herself in the same position, I hope she would told Tracy.  Both of them
having to deal with it alone would have just been insufferable.

But for pete's sake, *this* is his solution?????  Especially since, as
someone (Sharon?) pointed out, if she thinks Vachon is alive and has
taken off on her, she's as likely to go looking for him as anything
else.  And even more likely to get into trouble.

You know, we simply don't get tidbits about LaCroix.  We get *torrents*.
I still think he's a cheating SOB and I still want to hurt him a lot, but
it's always nice to know more about who he is anyway.  The understanding
he and Nick are coming to is *very* interesting.  So with all that he
takes in stride, the idea of incest even *now* makes him shudder.  Chew
on *that* for a century or three.  Tells you something about his complete
lack of faith in innocence or "purity"--Divia shattered that idea pretty
darn early on.  Not too hard to understand why he considers it an
illusion wherever he finds it now.

There's a lot more to say about both of these, but I have to sew now, so
I'll leave it for future discussions and for others.

Later!

Valerie Lynn Meachum    <valerie@l.......>
THE CRUCIBLE * by Arthur Miller * directed by Valerie Meachum * June 6-22, 1996
      Rosebriar Shakespeare Company, Columbus, OH * (614) 268-7986
Visit us on the Web at http://members.aol.com/wiliqueen/rosebriar.html
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 09:12:35 -0700
From:         Karen Stortz <firefox4@i.......>
Subject:      Re: SPOILER: LK

Laurie,
   Thanks for posting the synopsis.  What a lousy way to end the
show--and we thought the ending to the second season was bad!!!!
They've outdone themselves.


Karen
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 09:48:33 -0500
From:         Margie Hammet <treeleaf@i.......>
Subject:      Re: Blood Knowledge (Francesca & AtA)

At 05:33 AM 5/16/96 -0400, Janette Z wrote:
>didn't Nick say in Francesca that by sharing blood he could know everything
>about someone?  Wouldn't that be the same with vampires?  And if so, how
>come Nick didn't know about Divia?

In Francesca, when Francesca said she would have Faubert's instrument brought
and that Nick would be able to play like Faubert, Nick said, "It will last
maybe two hours, no more."  At the AOL chat with Gillian Horvath, she said
the memories gotten by sharing blood also only last two hours.  That explains
why Nick didn't know about Divia.

Margie (treeleaf@i.......)
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 13:39:38 -0400
From:         "Lori A. Martello" <LoriArgyll@a.......>
Subject:      Re: SPOILER: LK

I was disappointed with the ending also...could have done a better job
myself.
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 12:40:38 -0500
From:         Sandra Gray <TMP_HARKINS@d.......>
Subject:      Re: Blood Knowledge (Francesca & AtA)

Margie writes:
>At the AOL chat with Gillian Horvath, she said the memories gotten by
>sharing blood also only last two hours.  That explains why Nick didn't
>know about Divia.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like hogwash to me.  We're talking about
intelligent former humans here, who (judging by the details they
remember in flashbacks) have what appears to be better memories than
we do.  I can understand how even a vampire brain could not remember
*all* of the memories gotten by sharing blood, but by golly, they damn
well should remember some of it.  Otherwise, what's the point of
having such an ability to begin with?

Makes me wonder if Ms. Horvath regrets introducing the concept in the
first place if she wants to so insist that *nothing* is remembered.

But there could be other reasons why Nick didn't know about Divia.
We haven't seen that many instances of blood sharing between Nick and
LC.  Also, LC, being a much older vampire, may have ways to block his
own memories, etc. from being transferred during such an instance.
Thirdly, Nick's brain may not be back to normal yet from his injury
in Night in Question (he may have once known, but it was something
that LC chose not to "fill in Nick's blanks" about).

If vampires remember nothing from blood sharing, then how come Nick
remembered the conversation after he and Erica shared blood (and more :) )
in Last Act *centuries* later?

--Sandra Gray, forever Knightie
--tmp_harkins@d.......
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 11:28:21 -0700
From:         Karen Stortz <firefox4@i.......>
Subject:      dysfunctional relationships, Francesca, Last Knight  (long)

Possible "Last Knight" spoilers near end of this post!

The dysfunctional relationship between Nick and LaCroix in the present
is certainly an amusing diversion, but it's hardly the main attraction
of the series for me.  The attraction of the series is that it has the
potential (or at least, it once had it) to seriously explore the larger
issues: faith, mysticism, rationality, good vs. evil, life vs.
existence, afterlife vs. oblivion--dealing with how those elusive
concepts are first defined and then manifested.

Most FK episodes play with those concepts in one way or another without
truly exploring them.  "Francesca," for instance, is fun to watch.  It
does deal with the recincarnation not only of souls, but of those
soul's biases towards good/evil, but it doesn't really explore the idea
of the timeless preservation of good or evil, it merely (rather too
openly) states the possibility and plays with it for a while.  As I
said, it IS fun to watch.  The performances are excellent, the casting
is excellent, and Nigel's direction is excellent. As far as the story
exploring the concepts it presents, however, it's pretty much an
appetizer with no meal backing it up.

"Cherry Blossoms," on the other hand, has that elusive quality,
substance.  It deals with what happens when an immortal vampire is
found again by a mortal enemy, but more than that, it revolves around
the damage and danger inherent in what we DON'T notice in what we can
see all around us, no matter how many other things we DO notice.  That
theme permeates not only the sub-plot with Nick and the old man, but
the investigation of the hitmen as well.  This theme is not once stated
as dialogue.  Sure, the FX in this episode are ridiculously cheesy, but
the story itself has DEPTH.

I miss that.  In the day-to-day rush to put food on the table, drop off
or pick up the dry cleaning, cover daycare when the kid's school is
out, remember to get to the bank BEFORE I have to do it with groceries
melting in the car, (dang, I forgot to go to the post awful), not to
mention the really stressful stuff like finally getting through school,
going through a divorce, and trying to find REAL employment, I enjoyed
being able to collapse in front of the idiot box once a week and be
effortlessly (at least, on my part) reminded that those ideas are not
only still there, but that I am still able to think about them, and
that ultimately, hope is found in them.  As I've said, I miss that.

Please don't slam those of us who think the earlier stuff was better.
After reading the "Last Knight" spoilers, we are as disappointed as
anyone else.  I, for one, was hoping against hope that they would use
the opportunity of KNOWING they were making the FINAL episode to revive
the depth, the hope, and some of the sophistication of the earlier
storytelling (minus cheesy FX).

I haven't seen it yet, but based on the spoiler postings, I'd have to
say they've come full circle in a way we never expected: depicting a
triumph of despair and loss over hope, and failure where there should
have been success is perhaps a more true reflection of the series
overall than any of our individual favorite episodes could be.  And
when it's all said and done and the final ep has aired, maybe we can
sit back smugly and say to ourselves, "They think they just DID
something?  We coulda had a V-8!"

Karen
=========================================================================

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