Part 23: Blackwell Unbound - Update 9

Update 9

Alright, so let's see here. Mavis' son, Sam, gave her a mother's day present once. He apparently hated her, but she seemed pleased to see him (or, at least, Joey pretending to be him). It's quite likely that the present has some emotional significance to her. That might be our in for saving her.

Inside The Gate



Joey: Hi. Mom. Do you have that present I gave you?
Mavis: Which present was that?

The only problem is, we have absolutely no idea what the present was, and Sam refused to tell us. So Joey has to guess.

Joey: Um, the scarf?
Mavis: Don't be silly, Sam. You never gave me a scarf.
Joey: Um, the perfume?
Mavis: You never gave me perfume, Sam.

Joey keeps on guessing...

Joey: Um, the flowers?
Mavis: You never gave me flowers, Sam. Nobody has given me flowers in twenty years.
Joey: Ah. Sorry. Um, the hat?
Mavis: A hat. Sam, have you EVER known me to wear a hat?
Joey: No. No. Sorry. Sorry. Nevermind.

Hahaha, the hat This isn't working. Perhaps somebody else might know?



Mitchell: Come in. Have a seat.

Mitchell said that Mavis spoke to him about her family. If the gift was of emotional significance to her, perhaps she mentioned it to him?

Lauren: Did Mavis ever mention a gift or a present from her son?
Mitchell: Now that you mention it, yes. She showed me a leather bound edition of "Alice in Wonderland," and said it was from her son.
Lauren: "Alice in Wonderland?"
Mitchell: Yes. It's by Lewis Carroll.
Lauren: Yeah, I've heard of it. Well, I think that's all for now.
Mitchell: All right. You have a good night now.

Excellent. Let's see what we can do with that piece of information.



Mavis: Of course I still have it! It was the only Mother's Day gift you ever bought me, Sam.

This is pretty bittersweet. She obviously loves her son, but he never wanted to see her, so she cherishes the one gift she has from him, even though it's just a book

As awkward as it is, this is our opening. Joey will need to use the book against Mavis to snap her back to her senses.

Joey: Can I see it?
Mavis: Whatever for?
Joey: C'mon, ma. I just want to see it.
Mavis: Sure, Sam. It's right on the table.

Of course, there is no table, and no book. Joey tries to bring Mavis to this conclusion.

Joey: Great. Why don't you bring it out here?
Mavis: You mean... pick it up?

Mavis talks as though picking it up is an undesirable thing. It's clear that, on a subconscious level, ghosts know that they are dead, and actively take steps to prevent themselves from being confronted with this fact. However, Joey is insistent.

Joey: Yeah. Pick it up. And bring it over.
Mavis: Pick it up. Sure. I can pick it up.

Mavis floats over to the "table", but of course, can't pick the book up as it's not there. Nothing is there.

Mavis: Oh!



Joey: What?
Mavis: The book. It's GONE.
Joey: Gone, huh? Imagine that.
Mavis: Somebody stole it!

So close to figuring out the truth, at the last minute Mavis comes up with an alternative possibility.

Mavis: Sam, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry!
Joey: It's okay, mom.
Mavis: Okay? OKAY? I lost your gift!

This is a pretty tragic scene. Mavis has treasured that book because Sam never visits, and now that he has, she can't find it anymore and is panicked that he'll think she didn't care about it It's pretty heartbreaking, but we'll need to keep pushing the issue here.



Mavis: Sam?
Joey: The book's not there... and neither is the table. Right?
Mavis: What...?
Joey: THINK! The book's gone! The table's gone! The whole room is gone!

Unfortunately, in Mavis' state, she just thinks "Sam" is angry at her for losing the book.

Mavis: Sam! You're awful. I'm upset and I'm sorry. Don't make it worse, please!

She's going to need a pretty big jolt here. Joey goes in for the kill.

Joey: You NEED to find that book, Mom.



Ouch.

Mavis: You don't mean that!
Joey: I mean it, mom. You need to tell me where the book is.
Mavis: But... I don't know where to look!

Mavis is starting to get hysterical by this point.

Joey: Maybe it's under the sofa?
Mavis: No. It's not there.
Joey: In the bathroom?
Mavis: No. I never saw it in there.



Perhaps now, with Mavis so panicked, Joey can entice her outside of her apartment?

Mavis: In the hallway?
Joey: Sure. In the hallway. Yeah. I'm SURE it's out here. Come on out and help me look.
Mavis: Oh, okay Sam. But only for you.



Almost there...

Mavis: I still... don't see it anywhere.
Joey: Let's try further down, Mom.

53rd and Lex



And for the first time in nearly two decades, Mavis braves the outside world.

Mavis: I'm... I'm outside.
Joey: Yeah. I knew you could do it, Mom.
Lauren: ...Mom?
Mavis: Sam? Sam! Where are we? I'm scared!
Joey: I'm right here. Mom.

Now for the last little push.

Joey: I need you to do something.
Mavis: What?
Joey: Turn around.
Mavis: I can't.
Joey: Sure you can. Just turn around... and look behind you.

After a few tense moments, Mavis turns around.... and beholds the construction site where her apartment used to stand.

Mavis: Oh...

Mavis pauses for a second, before having a full-blown panic attack.

Mavis: Where's my apartment? Where's my HOME?! It's GONE! Those bastards! They tore it down!



She then turns her fury onto Joey.

Mavis: You made me leave, and they TORE IT DOWN!
Joey: Hey, calm down!
Mavis: I've got NOTHING now!
Joey: Mom...



Looks like the gig is up.

Mavis: You are NOT my son!

Her anger quickly gives way to sorrow.

Mavis: My son hates me! All I had left was my home, and then... Then I... Oh... GOD!



Unlike Alli and Isaac, who seemed to going through the process of recognising their own death rather calmly, Mavis' passage to this stage is filled with tormented panic and misery. Lauren and Joey can only watch in silence. Finally, Mavis speaks again in a bitter, depressed voice.

Mavis: ... Are you happy now? You couldn't just leave me there. You had to bring me out. You had to make me... remember.
Joey: I'm sorry.

Mavis is seriously miserable here.

Mavis: It's horrible. Being dead. It's horrible.
Joey: You get used to it.

You can hear Joey trying to bite his tongue here. It's hard not to feel sorry for Mavis, but she also comes across as extremely selfish throughout this entire case.

Mavis: I... I don't want to feel like this anymore. Everything is so... dark. And cold. Can I go home now?
Joey: Sure. Sure I can take you home. Just hold onto this.



Let's get this sorry case finished.

Joey: Over to you, kid.
Lauren: Right.

Mavis Faces Eternity



It's a nice touch that Mavis and Isaac both have personalised themes for their transit through Nodespace.

Mavis: Oh... my... God.
Lauren: Mavis?
Mavis: It's so... bright. And big. It just goes on forever... I just want go home. Please can I go home?
Lauren: I think that's the only home you've got, now. I'm sorry.

Even here, in Nodespace, where ghosts normally begin to calm down and get reflective, Mavis just wants to return home. On the plus side, she's a lot less panicky in here.



Mavis: Husband gone and dead. My son hates my guts. My home is gone. My life... over.

I need a bigger to encompass this scene.

Mavis: I remember that, too. Dying, I mean. That old woman... choking me.
Lauren: Old woman?
Mavis: She just... came in and killed me. Said she was going to help me. Ah. Well. What now?

This definitely isn't a coincidence. By this stage it's 100% obvious that it was the Countess who killed both Mavis and Isaac. But why?

Lauren: The light, Mavis. Just head towards it.
Mavis: And then?
Lauren: I don't know.
Mavis: I'm scared, but it feels right somehow.

After twenty years of shutting herself away at the expense of everything else in her life, finally at the end of it all, Mavis seems to accept her lot. She's really run the full gamut of emotions during this scene.



With a final apology to her husband and son, Mavis' anguished existence comes to an end. Lauren has one final reflection...

Lauren: I wish I could feel sorry for you. But I don't feel much of anything anymore. Best of luck. Wherever you are.

...though it's more of a reflection on herself than anything else. If she's not driven to some sort of emotion after witnessing Mavis' outburst, then Lauren really does have emotional issues.

The Countess Approaches



Joey: You all right?
Lauren: Yeah. Fine. I'm exhausted. Call it a night?
Joey: Sounds good to me.



Before they can leave, however, a familiar figure approache.

Joey: Like clockwork.
Countess: You... saved her?
Lauren: Yeah. Sure we did. No thanks to you.
Joey: We've got some questions for you, lady.



Lauren has already made the connection here.

Countess: I didn't kill them! I'm like you!
Lauren: You're nothing like us. We don't kill.

"Like you"? What does she mean?

Countess: I help spirits enter the next world. Like you.
Lauren: You mean... You're a medium?
Countess: Yes.

Wait, what?

Lauren: But... you can't be!
Countess: I am like you.
Lauren: Wait. No. This doesn't make any sense. Why are you killing people?
Countess: I SAVE people! I don't hurt them!



Just like last time, the Countess suddenly darts away without warning. Joey and Lauren take up chase...

Lauren's Theme (Alternative)



...but that ends up pretty much the same as last time.

Joey: Your nose okay?
Lauren: That lamp post should NOT have been there.



And, as usual, Lauren ends up on the balcony with a cigarette. Joey tries to help her make sense of what is happening.

Lauren: I'm so confused, Joey. I feel like the answer is on the tip of my tongue. I just... can't figure it out.
Joey: Well, let's chat for a while. Maybe we'll come up with something.

Let's try to work through this.

Lauren: She's a medium. Like me. It makes no sense.
Joey: It does make sense, actually. She's not an animal, or another ghost. The only way she could see me, is if she was a medium like you.

I wonder how many other mediums are out there?

Lauren: Why would a medium kill?
Joey: Maybe she doesn't think of it as killing. She did say she helped people. Saved them.
Lauren: By killing them?
Joey: Maybe she felt they were better off dead?
Lauren: I don't think so. Mavis and Isaac were sad, mixed up people. But they didn't deserve to DIE.
Joey: Maybe she thinks otherwise.

Lauren then voices her primary concern.



Joey: What do you mean?
Lauren: That woman. The Countess. Or whatever she's called. Is that what happens to mediums when they get old?

That's a... pretty awful thought.

Joey: I don't know darling. I really don't. But I won't let that happen to you. You have my word, on that.

This scene takes on extra poignancy since we know how Lauren's life ended.

Lauren has another pertinent question.

Lauren: If she's a medium, where's her spirit guide?
Joey: You know, I wondered that myself. I'm your connection to the spirit world. The Countess, or whoever she is, doesn't have that. Or, at least, none that we can see.
Lauren: Is it possible to be a medium without a guide?
Joey: I don't think so, sweetheart. That's one thing I'm sure of. Medium and guide. That's how it works.

Joey has a point - without a spirit guide, the Countess can't travel to Nodespace. I guess that's why she's resorted to throttling people to get them to "move on". Still, presumably, if she's a medium, she had a spirit guide at one point.



Joey: I don't know.
Lauren: I thought you couldn't leave my side.
Joey: I know. Either her spirit guide managed to escape, or...
Lauren: Or what?
Joey: Or it was killed.
Lauren: Is that possible?
Joey: I don't know. I don't think I want to know.

I'm not sure which of those two possibilities would be the worse one...

Lauren: So what could her connection be?
Joey: Dunno. SOMETHING has to connect her to the spirit world. It's not another ghost, or we would see it. So it must be something else. Something that has a connection to everything we've seen.
Lauren: Or someone.
Joey: Yeah, that's it. The Countess connects these two cases. There has to be something or someone else that has the same connection.



Lauren tries to think back over the various names involved in the two cases today.

Lauren: Cecil Sharpe?
Joey: Nah. He knew Isaac, but he didn't know Mavis.
Lauren: Dwayne?
Joey: That music guy? No. Couldn't be him. He didn't know Mavis, and barely knew Isaac at all.
Lauren: Harriet Sherman?
Joey: Well she's certainly old enough to know the Countess. But I don't think so. She knew Mavis, but not Isaac.
Lauren: Sam Durkin?
Joey: I don't think that kid has anything to do with this. He knew Mavis, obviously, but he has no connection to Isaac that I can see.

There's only one person other than the Countess that has a connection to both cases...



Joey: Bingo.
Lauren: The reporter? How could HE have this kind of power?
Joey: I don't know how he GOT the power, but it all fits. He wrote about both Mavis and Isaac, and the Countess killed both of em. He seems like the best candidate.
Lauren: But it doesn't make any sense.
Joey: Think about it. You're a medium. What is it that mediums do?



Hahahahaha, I love how Lauren still manages to barb with Joey at a time like this

Joey: Ha ha. Look, I'm trying to be serious for once.
Lauren: We get a lead, investigate, and ask lots of questions.
Joey: Yeah, that's part of it. But WHY?

To save ghosts?

Lauren: We help spirits into the next world.
Joey: Exactly. A medium needs a guide. Hers is gone. Somehow, Mitchell fills in the gap. Our Countess is being told, through Mitchell's writing, to help certain spirits into the next world. It's not her fault that they are still alive.
Lauren: You mean...
Joey: I think you get the picture.
Lauren: Oh God. That's sick.
Joey: It makes sense, though.

That's... pretty damn horrifying. So the Countess kills whoever Mitchell writes about? And in her mind she's saving them. Unfortunately, she completely fails at sending the spirits to the next world, as her victims seem to have stuck around anyway. We'll need to go to the source to handle this.

Lauren: How is this possible?
Joey: There's only one way to find out. It's time we paid our friend Mitchell one more visit.



Well, that was an emotional rollercoaster. Join me again tomorrow as Lauren and Joey confront Mitchell and try to put a stop to what's been going on here. Blackwell Unbound is almost at a close!