2015. május 26., kedd

Forever 1x21 The Night in Question


I don’t think I’ve had the chance before to express my love for this little show called Forever, and seeing as there’s a chance that next week’s season finale will be the series finale as well, I feel like I have to do so while I still can. So here it goes: I adore Forever. It’s honestly one of the most perfect series on TV right now. Everything in it is amazing: the main story arc, the characters, the relationships, the cases of the week, the flashbacks, the humour, the atmosphere, the suspense, the emotional moments... everything. I love it so, so much, and I honestly think I’m gonna cry if it gets cancelled next week. Before that can happen though, I would like to review at least these remaining two episodes, and then cross my fingers that the overwhelmingly positive critical and fan reaction will be able to somehow override the terrible ratings, and grant this wonderful show the second season it deserves. So here’s how it all went down this week...


The previous episode ended on not one, but two pretty huge cliffhangers: Jo telling Henry that the reason she didn’t go to Paris was not because she didn’t want to go to Paris at all, but because she didn’t want to go with Isaac, and Abe barging in on them and telling Henry that he „found” Abigail. This week we picked up presumably only a few minutes after this, as Henry was busy reading Abigail’s records and wondering which is worse: if she never came back to them because she had died soon after she left, or if it was because she had forgotten about them. Abe pointed out that she was already in her seventies when she disappeared more than thirty years ago, so it’s most likely that she’s already dead anyway, but still, they had to find out what exactly happened to her, so off they went to her last known address. The lady living there told them that she remembers Abigail, but she has no idea what’s become of her after she was just gone one morning and never returned. She does still have a box of her things though which might be of some assistence in figuring out their next step. While she was talking, Henry wondered off in the garden, and discovered some flowers which prompted a flashback to 1946, when Henry gave the same flower to Abigail after they’ve just moved into their first apartment in America. Because of the way the present day flowers were growing, Henry suspected that there might be a body buried under them, and sure enough, they found a skull. At this poing the sheriff showed up, and I let out a squee because he was played by Boris McGiver, also known as Hersh from Person of Interest, aka the guy I used to hate but then he had a change of heart and decided to help Team Machine, at which point I realized that he wasn’t really that bad after all, and then he got blown to bits at the end of the very same episode. It’s always nice to see a familiar face on a different show! Even if right now he was trying to get Henry to hand over the remains and leave the property. Good thing Jo hasn’t been idle either: she went to Lucas to find out Henry’s whereabouts after he didn’t show up to work that day, and since Lucas actually knew the basic details about the Morgans’ quest – that they were looking for Abe’s mother -, she was able to arrive at just the right moment to back Henry up and reassure Sheriff Hersh that everything is under control.

Of course, Henry was devastated because he thought the body had to belong to Abigail, and then they even found her keychain next to the remains, which certainly pointed even more in that direction... but then the examination revealed that although the person in question really has been dead for at least 25 years, she couldn’t have been older than 20 when she died. So it wasn’t Abigail after all! That’s a relief. But then where did she go all those years ago, and who is the girl buried in her backyard? To find the answers, Henry and Jo visited the hospital where she used to work, and questioned another familiar face: Miss Claudette from Orange Is the New Black. The reason this makes me happy is because the actress was in a serious accident a couple years ago and I didn’t know that she was back to acting, but now that she is, maybe she can come back somehow to OITNB for season 4? I really loved Miss Claudette. Anyway, this old nurse lady remembered Abigail of course, and she also remembered her treating a young girl around the time she disappeared: a young girl injured in a car crash. Apprently she has just finished treating her when the victim of a motorcycle hit-and-run was brought in, and Abigail was called away. This didn’t stop her from taking the girl home with her though, as the girl had shown clear signs of domestic abuse and needed protection. A look into her records showed that the person who brought her in was a judge named Teddy Graves, and if it was indeed him abusing the girl (Belinda Smoot, as we’ve found out), that would explain why she didn’t want to press charges. That is not the story Judge Graves has to tell, however. He insists that she only offered Belinda a ride to the ER after he had seen her trip and fell at a party they were together, clearly drunk. Later, Lucas showed Henry a tiepin he’d found in the dirt from the grave, and after recognizing it as one belonging to Judge Graves, Henry went to his office and attacked the guy, demanding that he tell him what he did to Abigail. While initially reluctant, he eventually went to the police station and confessed – he had an affair with Belinda and they were together when they hit the motorcyclist, and the reason why he never went to the police was because she was afraid what her boyfriend would do if he found out about their relationship. He also handed over the hospital records of Motorcycle Guy, which he had previously stolen, so there could be no record of him ever being there.

Fortunately, this was not a dead end in the investigation. Henry had found Abigail’s journal earlier, in which there was a letter she wrote to him about how she wants the three of them to be a family again, but one which she never got to send. Another interesting thing Henry found in the journal was her mentioning the root cellar of her house, something which the cops did not find during their surveying of the area. Jo asked Henry if he thought Abe’s mother might have been kept in the cellar, to which Henry replied: "Something in my heart tells me Abraham's mother never left that farm alive." Oh :( They went to check out the cellar but Jo had to leave Henry alone to take Hanson’s call. He was calling from the hospital to tell Jo that no one had checked in to see Belinda, even though Judge Graves had told them that her boyfriend visited her there, and that is when they both realize who it must have been. After all, who is someone who can carry a gun into a hospital and doesn’t even have to sign in? Why, Sheriff Hersh of course! I should have known. And here I was suspecting the poor old landlady. Anyway, Henry realized the same thing one moment too late, because suddenly he found himself facing the Sheriff and his gun. Luckily Jo was there to save the day yet again, and they could take the guy in for questioning. Of course, for Henry the how and why of Belinda’s murder didn’t really matter – all he wanted to hear about was Abigal. Turns out, Hersh did see her that night – while she was leaving the house with a guy, thirty-something, dark haired... and this was where it clicked for me: it has to be Adam, right? And then I had this idea that somehow all this would mean that Abigail is still alive... I don’t know, maybe Adam had figured out what makes someone immortal, and decided to try it on Abigail? I was really hoping Henry would get to see her again, is what I’m saying.

But wait, that’s not all! Hersh also recalls the landlady coming back 5-10 minutes after the murder, and knocking on the door. Henry thought this was weird because there’s only one road leading to the house, and if she came back so soon she should have seen Abigail pass her in the car, in which case she wouldn’t have bothered knocking. The only explanation is that the car never made it down the road, but instead toppled over the side. The team went to investigate, and sure enough, they found the remains of the car, as well as another skull. Age 65-75, cause of death fractured sternum... it’s definitely Abigail this time. So there goes that idea. Henry theorized that maybe her throat was cut when she was thrown through the windshield, but Lucas pointed out that her ribcage was also broken, by a hand even, so someone must have used chest compression on her, which wouldn’t make much sense is she was bleeding out of her throat... also, judging by the direction of the cut, it was most likely self-inflicted. Uh-oh. So she was thrown out the window, got resuscitated, and then slit her own throat... but why? Well, probably to get away from someone. And that someone had to be the motorcyclist, Henry realized – he’s the one who ties everyone together. I would argue that at this point he really didn’t have any evidence to have come to this conclusion by simply asking „who else played a part that night (other than the judge and the sheriff)”... why did it have to be someone who has already played a part, and who says the motorcyclist wasn’t just some random guy who got run over and then later left the hospital completely unaware of what’s happened to the others involved? Well, Henry says, apparently, and of course he was proven right: checking the guy’s hospital records it turned out that he was far beyond saving when he was taken in, and yet there was no death certificate. And this is where it finally clicked for Henry. He asked for a moment alone, called Adam, and we finally got to hear the true story of April 7, 1985.

The motorcyclist struck by the judge’s car really was Adam, but he didn’t immediately die in the hospital: Abigail saved his life. When she came back to check on him, he asked her to kill him, knowing that he would return to life completely healthy and injury-free. He even told Abigail about this and to his biggest confusion, she believed him. He realized that this was because she must have known another immortal, but no matter how hard he questioned her, she wouldn’t tell him anything – she didn’t want him to find Henry, because she thought he meant to harm him. Abigail was called away before the discussion could have been taken any further, so he chose the easy way out and killed himself. Later that day he showed up at her house demanding Henry’s name, and he even showed her a knife to make her talk. Unfortunately, she thought he was actually threatening to kill Belinda, who had just walked in at the worst possible moment, so she agreed to go outside with him. They went away in her car and soon after she drove off the road. He tried to save her while she was unconscious, but she woke up and slit her own throat – she died trying to protect Henry.

So that’s where the show left us before the big finale. If I had to guess, the final episode will see the eagerly anticipated showdown between Henry and Adam, possibly finding out whether the theory about killing an immortal with the original weapon that killed them is true or not (dear God, please only let it be true if it’s tried on Adam), and hopefully Henry will finally tell Jo everything, and she will believe him and everything will be nice and perfect by the end of the episode. Also, the show will get renewed for a second season. This is all I ask for. It’s really not that much, is it?

Episode MVP: Ioan Gruffudd as Henry Morgan

Quotes of the episode:
Lucas was on fire tonight.

"Look, just because I'm now Henry's best friend, it doesn't mean I know everything."

"Wait, Henry didn't... he didn't take a few days off because of me...?"
"Wait, what... what does that mean? Are you guys like, uhh... *makes weird hand gestures*"
"No, what is... no! That is..."
"I mean it's totally cool if you guys are! You'd automatically be my favourite couple ever. And you know if you'd have any single ladyfriends, we could double-date... I'm obviously looking for eights and above."
"Lucas..."
"That's the last we'll speak of it, but at least you know how I feel."

"You're a beautiful man! Just when I thought you've peaked, you go and take it to a whole new level."


"I dug up some dirt."
"On whom, Judge Graves?"
"No, like real dirt."
"You mean incontrovertible evidence?"
"No, dirt dirt!"



And Abe too.

"I'll drive."
"Ah-ah, not letting you anywhere near my car. Sorry dad, but I'm mortal."

"He was a gravedigger in another life."

Oh and let’s not forget Henry either.

"How would you like to take a trip with me, detective?" – you couldn’t NOT think of their imaginary trip to Paris from the previous episode when he said this

"It would take a lot more than that to make me uncomfortable." – complete with sex eyes

"Did we just accuse a federal judge of murder?"
"Damn did it feel good. "

And last but not least:

"Who is she? "
"Abe’s mother. "
"No. Who is she to you? " – Jo Martinez

Random tidbits:
 - It was so nice to hear Abe call Henry 'dad' instead of Henry for a change. He rarely ever does it, not even when they’re alone.

 - That scene with Abigail lying on top of Henry, reading him poetry... hot damn. For a moment I didn’t even know which one of them I envy the most.

 - Henry's teary eyes after finding out why Abigail has died might just be the reason why I’ll cry myself to sleep tonight.

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