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No. 25 - "Spirit Thief" 3/21/97Cast:
Guest Starring:
Co-Executive Producer: Garner Simmons Co-Executive Producer: Gary Sherman Producer: Fran Rosati Writer: Bill Bleich Director: Allan Eastman |
| Fourth episode of the Second Season. Major thanks to Kris Kroner for this episode description! House in Bayou - Night Outside the house, bottles hung on a tree rattle in the wind. Inside, a healing ritual is going on. Dozens of candles are lit and a fire burns in the fireplace as a young woman dressed in a traditional African costume beats a drum. Grandma Rose, an old woman, lies on a table with her stomach exposed, while Tanya, her granddaughter, kneels by her side and asks, "Are you sure you want to do this, Grandma?" Although frightened she replies yes. An African shaman named Daniel dances and chants as he performs the ceremony. During this ritual ceremony he rattles shakers, paints a white symbol on her stomach, and blows smoke on her. Soon, his eyes turn totally white and Rose screams as he reaches his hand inside her stomach and pulls a pulsating blob from her belly. He holds it for a few seconds then places it inside a red cloth bag. The woman beating the drum is now trancelike and she beats the drum with increasing intensity. Daniel tosses the bag into the fireplace where it burns up. Suddenly, Rose smiles as the pain is gone and her stomach is totally healed. On the mantle over the fireplace is a picture of Rose and her granddaughters, Tanya and Alex Moreau. Morning - Legacy House Library Alex puts an old 78 rpm record of zydeco music from Cool Bird Records, called, "The Spirit Left Me," on the phonograph and smiles and dances as she puts softcovered books out on the table. Nick enters, apologizes for being late and then, seeing the books she's laying on the table, asks if they're having a pop quiz. Alex smiling, tells him not to worry because she'll let him copy off her. They're preparing for a telephone auction of paintings of lost impressionists from the St. Petersburg museum. Alex explains they have some chance at some real fine pieces. Nick, obviously perplexed, sits on the edge of the table, picks up one of the books and leafs through it for a second before asking how one painting can be real fine and another can be just so-so. Alex explains that art is subjective and you have to feel a painting. It has to touch you or speak to you in a profound way. A great one speaks to you on an emotional level. Nick, looking quizzical, asks if the paintings speak to her. She replies, "Absolutely, every single one of them." Nick looks up, listens a second and then tells her he doesn't hear anything. Looking exasperated, Alex tells him he's not listening. Then Nick decides he does hear something but realizes it's his stomach and he's going to try breakfast. As he leaves he tells Alex that if one of the paintings calls for him to take a message. Soon after he leaves the phone rings and it's her sister Tanya who tells her she's in San Francisco staying with Daniel in a house there that was given to him by a believer. She tells Alex she misses her. Alex tells her she spoke to Rose who told her about the faith healer that Tanya brought to her and asks where she's been. When Tanya responds that it's complicated, Alex asks why she couldn't have picked up the phone and called her because it's like she dropped off the face of the earth. The conversation ends when they decide to meet for lunch at Cicero's at 12:30. Daniel's house Daniel comes to Tanya's side after she hangs up and asks her if she feels better. Tanya is uneasy, saying she hasn't seen Alex in so long. Her whole family has the gift of sight but Alex's is more potent. He responds that every worthwhile endeavor is difficult and tells her he also wants to meet Alex. When she asks why, he reassures her that it's because she needs reconciliation with her sister to make her well and whole. The reconciliation will also help the healing ritual. She agrees, embracing Daniel as he tells her she's the most important thing to him. Library Derek looks through the auction book while Rachel and Alex discuss Tanya, Alex's older sister. Alex tells her their problems go back to when they were kids and Tanya resented the fact she did well in school. Rachel feels that Tanya is resentful because Alex has accomplished so much. Alex agrees and says she feels responsible for her, relating that Grandma Rose used to always say she was her favorite because of the gift of sight. Tanya always envied that. Alex tells Rachel that Tanya is smart, funny and talented but always feels the need to compete. At one point she even went to nursing school but dropped out and now her whole life mission is to find herself. She's always been involved in some psycho-spiritual obsession. Derek, who has been following this conversation intently, suddenly looks very concerned as Alex adds that 6 months ago Rose told her Tanya took up with this African healer, a shaman. Nick enters and sits down at the table. Derek tells him the auction starts in a few minutes. Nick replies dryly, "Can't wait, what's first?" Derek says the Luna Foundation must have the Monet painting that's in Lot # 4. He looks at Alex and asks how high they're prepared to go. Alex opens a file folder to look for the appraisal and clumsily drops it all over. Rachel goes to help pick it up reassuring her that it's all right. Derek, looking worried, tells the women, "never mind," and looks at Nick, tossing the book he's been studying at him saying, "Here. You do it." Nick looks shocked and complains he doesn't know what to bid. Derek simply replies "Whatever it takes," and then ushers Rachel and Alex out of the library. Once in the hall he asks Alex what she knows about the shaman, Daniel. She replies that he cured Grandma Rose's intestinal problem in the healing ritual. She knows Tanya was there and thinks Daniel dragged her right in. She literally bangs drums for him at his healing rituals now. When Derek asks how Grandma Rose is feeling now, Alex replies that she speaks to her every week and her pain still comes and goes. Alex remorsefully comments that she and Tanya used to be so close and now it's like they hardly know each other. Rachel asks how she feels about seeing her sister again and Alex responds that all she knows is that, "No matter what happens, it always ends in disaster." Rachel reassures her that maybe this time it'll be different. Daniel's house Tanya, in a red traditional African dress, comes out of the bedroom and tells Daniel she's very nervous. He gives her a decorated bottle as a gift of reconciliation to Alex. Tanya recognizes it as a Nkisi bottle from Grandma Rose's bottle tree. Daniel tells her the glass in that bottle will capture and contain all the fires that burn between the sisters. He tells her to reach out to Alex and let what's in her heart shine. She reassures Daniel she'll do her best. Cicero's restaurant. Alex is already there when Tanya enters. Alex compliments her, "Look at you! Daughter of Africa." She then observes that she looks tired and asks if she's all right. Tanya assures her she's never felt better and she gives her the bottle. Alex smiles and recognizes it as a Bakongo Nkisi bottle which Tanya praises her for knowing. Alex reminds her she wasn't the only one raised around Grandma Rose's Creole superstitions. Alex tells her they've wondered where she was for the past 6 months and Tanya says she met Daniel through a spiritual teacher, Naomi Sabah. Although Alex tells her he's a fake, Tanya replies she's grown because of him and tells her if she meets him she'll change her mind. Late that night - Alex's bedroom Alex lies asleep in her bed. Suddenly, the Nkisi bottle on her nightstand begins to glow, casting an ominous light on Alex. Daniel suddenly materializes in the room next to her bed. He performs a ritual, part of which is holding his hand above her chest. When a mist appears to rise out of her chest he catches it and laughs as she writhes in her sleep. Alex tosses in her sleep as he moves his hand around her face without touching it. He then extends his arms and disappears. Alex awakens, startled, looks around and sees the bottle glowing. Next morning - Control Room Nick, wearing a black turtleneck sweater and jeans, holds the bottle and grins. He patiently explains to Alex and Derek that he did a spectrographic exam, a laser refraction patterning analysis and an x-ray and what he found was that it was a bottle! Alex is upset and says she knows what she saw and what she felt. Nick offers it back to Alex who refuses it and tells him to keep it there because she doesn't want it in her room. Still smiling, he offers it to Derek who takes it and looks at it carefully. Alex, obviously upset, says she had herself convinced that Daniel was a sham but after last night she's not so sure. Derek, still studying the bottle, agrees and adds that considering the nature of Tanya's claims, Daniel shouldn't be taken lightly by any of them. He puts the bottle down on the table in the control room. Alex tells Derek that Daniel wants to meet her. Derek decides they'll invite them to dinner that night. Formal dining room - Legacy House The large formal dining room table is set with a white linen tablecloth, gray runner, candelabra, crystal, china, and silver. Servants, wearing white gloves, hover in the background. The Legacy members are all dressed in formal evening clothes. Derek wears a black suit with a bow tie. Nick, dark suit with a regular tie. Alex, a grey silver shimmery pants suit. Rachel, a black evening dress. Tanya and Daniel wear traditional African clothing. As they eat, they discuss Daniel's work. He tells them that the name shaman is more appropriate to central Asia than Africa. Tanya interjects that it's preferable to sorcerer. Nick looks at Daniel and asks if what he does is the same as a witch doctor. Daniel looks at him, replying, "No, I don't even have a broom.". Derek, studying him intently, then comments that the evil spell of the witch is what the shaman banish from the sick. Daniel engages easily in conversation and is extremely charming to the women. Rachel is enchanted at his glib way with words and smile. She asks if the shaman experience is more transcendental. Daniel agrees with a smile but says he can't reveal his trade secrets. Alex explains that Bakongo healing is done with the aid of the spirits of the dead that a shaman holds captive in a Nkisi cauldron. Then he enters a trance where he commands the spirit zombies to aid him against their will. Daniel makes intense eye contact with Alex as she speaks. Her voice begins to slow considerably and she seems almost in a trancelike state as she gazes deeply into his eyes. Rachel, Nick and Derek notice this and look concerned. Derek then has a vision of Daniel in Alex's bedroom doing the ritual. He abruptly asks Daniel if a shaman ever questions the morality of holding dead souls in such a limbo. This forces him to break his eye contact with Alex as he replies, "Is it not more ethical to use the power of the dead to sustain life rather than to ignore this power and leave the living to suffer and die?" At that point, Rachel replies that it's always the duty of the doctor to ease suffering. Alex, still watching Daniel says, "If I remember, communing with the dead in a trance is called "La Prise des Yeux, the holding of the eyes." Daniel smiles warmly and tells Tanya that her sister is a marvel, as beautiful as she says and so much more. Tanya is not pleased at that comment and Derek and Nick look concerned as well. Daniel then offers a "blessing" to Alex and Tanya. He holds up his wine glass to the others and says, "To my beautiful protégé, Tanya, and her lovely sister Alex. May they be reunited and from this night forward may they be together as one, forever." Foyer As they leave the dining room Nick bids them goodnight and goes upstairs. Everyone else heads towards the front door. Daniel stops Alex and tells her there's much he could teach her if she could get past her skepticism. He tells her she's stronger than Tanya by a thousandfold and that what's latent in Tanya is far more potent in her. He tells her he wants her and wants her to come work with them as a healer and asks what he can do to convince her. When Alex responds nothing short of a miracle Daniel tells her that can be arranged. He gives her the address for his next healing scheduled for midnight and tells her to come alone. Small house - Midnight Dozens of candles are lit and a fire burns in the fireplace. A very sick child lies on a table. The family, sitting across the room, look worried and clutch each other. Alex watches from the side of the room as Tanya beats the drums. Daniel dances and rattles shakers over the young boy, then he drinks from a bottle and spits it on him. He puffs a cigar and blows the smoke on him before he rustles a leafy branch over the child. Suddenly, the boy cries out. The cauldron glows and from it come 2 female spirit zombies. Tanya beats the drums still harder. The zombies materialize next to Daniel and stand one on either side of him and they reach their hands over the boy. Black and red mist rise out of his abdomen and into their hands where it disappears. The zombies then vanish and the boy wakes up, cured, and calls for his mother, Tanya suddenly collapses to the ground clutching her abdomen. Daniel looks at her across the room but doesn't move towards her. Breakfast Room - Legacy house Derek, Alex and Nick sit at the breakfast table. On the table is a fruit basket with apples and oranges, a wicker basket lined with a napkin holding pastries and a basket with utensils wrapped in cloth napkins. Juice is in a pitcher. Jam and sugar are in glass containers. The table has blue placemats. Nick, wearing a black short sleeved shirt with a red collar, is eating a bowl of cereal. They all drink coffee. Alex is telling them about the previous night saying that despite how skeptical she was she found Daniel pretty amazing. She mentions that he wants her to go to Portland with him. Derek sarcastically replies that way he can make great use of her spiritual and psychic power. Alex feels Daniel would want it for good after what she saw at the healing. Derek asks about Tanya and Alex replies she's not well. He then tells her she should go because her sister's welfare is paramount. He tells her to ask questions and learn everything she can about Daniel Euwara. He reminds her that if she needs them, they'll be there. Outside Daniels house - cloudy and misting day Alex walks with Tanya along a sidewalk and Alex asks for names and places where they may be going. Tanya tells her Daniel keeps that confidential. Alex reminds her the people she works with are very concerned about her welfare and she needs assurances that she'll be OK before she goes with them. Suddenly, Tanya grabs her stomach, collapses, and asks to be taken back to Daniel, despite Alex trying to get her to go to the hospital. Daniel's house Daniel comes from the bedroom and tells Alex that Tanya is exhausted because during ceremonies powerful forces are set loose. Alex tells him it looked like more than exhaustion. Daniel makes eye contact with Alex and holds it as he tells her the ceremonies are tiring and Tanya is vulnerable and not as strong spiritually as Alex would be. Alex, gazing into his eyes, asks "Strong enough for what, exactly?" He replies seductively, "For me. The interplay between male and female energies is very important in our rituals. It's something that I need." They are close to kissing when Tanya calls for him. Alex moves back , alarmed, as the trance is broken. She leaves the house quickly. Tanya's bedroom Tanya, very weak, lies on a four poster bed. Daniel puts a white powder in a cup of tea and forces her to drink it despite her protests. He makes her drink it all and she falls asleep. He passes his hand over her face and says "now rest." He takes an amulet that glows from around her neck. Legacy house Alex's bedroom Alex, sitting in a chair, suddenly has a vision of Daniel opening up the amulet and pouring out its contents. She sees Tanya writhing in pain. Alex looks up shocked. Tanya's bedroom Daniel returns the empty amulet to Tanya's neck as she sleeps. Grandma Rose's house Rose talks to Alex on the phone and tells her the man has power for good and evil and tells her to look out for Tanya. When Alex asks her who else was at her healing she remembers that Daniel had a beautiful young woman with him. She never saw her after that night and never knew her name Tanya's bedroom Tanya, barely awake in the bed and in great pain, talks to Alex on the phone. She verifies that the ritual was the same one and tells Alex the woman's name was Anna Jeanotte. When Alex asks what happened to her she remembers that she went with Daniel after the ritual and then she didn't come back. Tanya suddenly looks very frightened. Daniel's house In a room lit by hundreds of candles, Daniel in a red shirt, stands facing an African cauldron. It's a statue comprised of figure of a Bakongo man decorated with feathers, bones, and chains. He holds out his arms, looks upwards, makes sweeping gestures and shouts out each word so emphatically that saliva spits out with each word.
He strikes his chest as he shouts his name. At that, mist rises from the statue. Control room- evening Nick works alone, sitting at a computer terminal. He has accessed the Legacy Data Network and reviews the identifying information on Anna Jeanotte. On one wall of the room, a bank of security monitors show various views of the grounds. Suddenly, the Nkisi bottle, which still sits on the desk where Derek left it, begins to glow. The security monitors immediately begin getting electrical interference. Nick looks up, alarmed, as just as suddenly it begins thundering and lightening outside and a huge windy unseen force attacks. Nick is picked up from his chair and thrown around the room, from one wall to another and then back again. Monitors smash and papers fly everywhere. Nick tries to grab onto to something to stop himself but it's futile. Alex, hearing the commotion, runs in and tries to help. He warns her to stay back just before the force throws him directly into the wall of monitors. Alex sees the bottle glowing and runs to it, grabs it and throws it against the wall, shattering it. As soon as the bottle is broken, the force stops and vanishes. At that point the emergency lights, indicating power outage, come on in the corner of the ceiling illuminating the destruction. She looks around and sees Nick lying unconscious near the broken monitors. Library - a short time later Nick, with abrasions, contusions and blood on his face, sits shirtless in a chair. His elbows and arms also have abrasions and he appears to be in a lot of pain. He has a gauze bandage over his right shoulder and Rachel wraps bandages around his ribs as she tells him she should take him to the Emergency Room. He adamantly refuses, saying, "I'll be fine." She cleans the abrasions on his face despite his protests of pain. Derek and Alex are nearby observing. Rachel then helps Nick up from the chair telling him he has to stay in bed until she says he can move. He doesn't object as he leaves with her. As she helps Nick out of the room she turns and tells Derek that she'll stay there and watch him to make sure he doesn't have a concussion. After they leave, Derek asks Alex if she's all right. She replies that Nick caught the brunt of it. Derek goes over to a tray where all the pieces of the bottle have been placed. He picks up a piece of the shattered bottle with a forceps and agrees with her, "Yeah. Whatever forces Daniel commands came right through this and attacked the first person in the line of fire." Alex notes that Daniel doesn't want them checking up on him. When Derek asks about Tanya she tells him worriedly that she called but there's no answer and she wants to go to her. He tells her to keep trying to call and that she can't go without a plan. He looks at the pieces of broken bottle as he says, "Judging from what just happened, Daniel can kill any of us if he puts his mind to it." He throws the glass piece down in the tray and says disgustedly, "Literally." Library - Later that evening Alex sits at a laptop computer. Rachel comes in just as Alex says the good news is that fortunately Nick backed everything up on optical drive and that she's been able to retrieve most of it. Derek asks her to show them the bad news and she loads the picture of the woman that Nick had been looking at prior to the attack. Alex tells them she's sure the woman is one of the zombies she saw at the healing. The data shows that Anna Jeanotte, Haitian Creole of Bakongo descent on her father Thomas's side, was a renowned healer in New York City 3 years ago. That's when Daniel arrived there and they decide he must have seduced her before he left NY. The other woman was Naomi Sabah who was from Zaire. It turns out she traveled on same plane from London to NY with Daniel and after that she disappeared. It appears that the souls trapped in the Nkisi cauldron are those of Anna and Naomi. Rachel protests that they need proof just as Alex puts on the screen what she found in the Baton Rouge Mercury. Rachel reads aloud that an unidentified corpse was found in a bayou graveyard outside Baton Rouge, the victim of a ritual murder. There were markings found on gravestones nearby. Derek recognizes them as central African cosmograms, He saw them while he researched this in the archives. A Legacy member found the same markings when on an exploration of the Belgian congo in 1849, Dr. David Livingston. Rachel asks, "The Dr. David Livingston, I presume?" Derek replies, "Precisely." Derek gets the leather bound Livingston journal, and opens it to the drawings of the cosmograms. Derek tells them that according to Livingston, they're invocations to Lord Simbi, ruler of the dead. The cosmograms were supposed to allow a warrior to capture the souls of his enemies slain in battle. If you knew someone who had lost his soul in battle these were the cosmograms you'd use to get it back. Alex agrees saying legitimate African healers harness the wandering spirits of the already dead. "He's not a shaman, he's a sorcerer!" Derek notes that he's become more powerful with each new soul he enslaves. He ominously adds that the only reason Tanya is still alive is because he wants Alex as well. The phone rings. Daniel asks Alex to come to his house. She agrees and replies she'll be there in a half hour. She hangs up and tells Derek and Rachel he wants to see her alone, Tanya's getting worse. Daniel's house Alex pounds on the front door. Daniel opens it and she demands to know where Tanya is and what he's done to her. He replies that it's not what he's done it's what he can do and warns her against letting her friends interfere. He tells her she must work with him or Tanya dies. She agrees telling him to show her what she has to do. They go into a candlelit room where the cauldron is. Tanya lies unconscious on the table. Daniel tells Alex to get the drum and starts the ritual, chanting and dancing. The cauldron glows and the zombies soon appear, moving to either side of Daniel and hold their hands above Tanya's painted stomach. He reaches inside her and pulls out the blob, puts it in a red cloth bag and tosses it in the fireplace. Meanwhile, Derek is climbing over the balcony outside the room. Tanya wakes up and Alex stops the drum beating and goes to her. Daniel looks at them, saying, "Now, you're mine!" and he directs the zombies to take both of them. They grab Alex, who struggles. Daniel triumphantly exclaims that "Both of you to serve me. From this night forward this is the form in which you'll serve me. Your souls will be locked forever in this cauldron." Alex shouts, "Never!" as the zombies force her in the direction of the cauldron. Daniel begins to chant. "Lord Simbi, lord father, I evoke you! Take this woman..." Suddenly, Derek bursts into the room and holds up a scroll with cosmograms drawn on it that he's brought with him. Daniel smiles and comments that he's come to join his friends in bondage. Derek triumphantly replies, "No! To free them!" and he starts to chant himself while holding the cosmograms up so the zombies can clearly see them. "By your name, Anna Jeanotte, by the name of your father, Thomas and your mother, Leah. By your name, Naomi Sabah, by the name of your father..." Daniel then screams "NO, don't listen to him," but Derek continues. "By the names of all your ancestors you are hereby free from slavery to this Mindoki witch, Daniel Euwara. By these signs you are released." Daniel shouts "NO!" and approaches Derek with a dagger raised. Derek grabs his wrist and holds it as he reaches with the other hand to the amulet on Daniel's neck, tearing it off. Daniel immediately falls back. The zombies then grab him and force him to the cauldron. They encircle him with their arms and overtake his spirit and he is sucked inside the cauldron. Their spirits are then drawn upwards and they vanish. Alex runs to Tanya and cradles her. Legacy House - night As the rain pours outside, Alex writes in her journal. "My grandmother taught us that our family was our magic. Able to overcome all that stood in our way. I used to wonder what she meant. Now I know." |
Copyright on my web page design, original graphics and descriptions. © 1996, 1997, 1998 Clarianna Demonbreun. All rights reserved. This and all the episode descriptions are for your personal use, not for posting on other webpages. Thank you! "Poltergeist: The Legacy" was created by Trilogy Entertainment (executive produced by Trilogy partners: Richard B. Lewis, Pen Densham and John Watson) with Showtime and MGM/UA |