Episode 50 : Kings, Queens, and Pawns

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(The Dark)

Skull Kaiser, formerly one of Samhain's greatest generals, stages a rebellion against impossible odds. The fate of countless worlds rests upon his ability to protect the Loss Queen and beat back her assailants. Along the way he is forced to fight old friends and make new allies...

Episode 50 : Kings, Queens, and Pawns

The episode opens with Shields reporting as requested to Gordon. Gordon takes a moment to size Shields up and finally commends him on his performance the last week: he's improved 100%. Gordon also makes a jab about Shields's success maintaining propriety around Jennifer, which makes Shields rather uncomfortable. Gordon changes the subject immediately and says that he's going to reward Shields by giving him a special assignment. Because of their close association with the police department, Gordon has taken advantage of a policy loophole and "acquired" a rather special patient for them. He asks Shields if he's heard about the cop who went crazy downtown last week and killed 6 innocent people for no apparent reason. Shields nods then asks with incredulity if Gordon intends on housing the cop here. Gordon nods, smiling. He explains that while they haven't had any live-ins for some time, they do have the facilities for it. At first Gordon had to call in some favors, but then it became clear that bringing the patient to their facility would ease some budgetary issues within other departments. Shields ends their conversation by saying that things should get pretty interesting.

We cut to a hallway with the sun (visually) blaring through the window. A man in a straitjacket is fighting wildly against a number of orderlies as Shields demands to know why the patient hasn't been sedated. One of the orderlies insists that he has been and his moment of distraction costs him as he takes a kick to the stomach. More orderlies arrive, and finally the patient is held down by 5 or 6 men. Shields takes a syringe from one of the orderlies and gives the patient a shot.

We cut again to a dark room where all we can see is two men sitting in straight-backed, wooden chairs, facing one another. One of them is Shields, the other is the patient, Leo Strauss, still wearing his straitjacket. Shields comments on his calmness and Strauss smiles, saying that the sun isn't shining in here. Shields asks Strauss to tell him about the afternoon last week and Strauss, well-spoken, well-mannered, and as calmly as can be expected of anyone, proceeds to.

He describes how he was walking downtown, approaching the Columbia Building. He thought that a cloud had passed before the sun and it caused him to look up into the sky. There were no clouds to speak of and seeing the sun seemed to light his brain on fire. He says that there was something else, something indescribable, but even at Shields's prompting he won't say what it is (we can see in the flashback however, that it's the Undead Vine that's basically wrecked the Columbia Building, though in the flashback, no one else seems to notice). He says that the fire in his mind seemed to grow and grow and he felt more and more agitated until a group of people came out of the Columbia Building and he attacked them savagely with his bare hands. The people he attacked were all very pale and seemed to shamble about, not well able to defend themselves at all, and obviously not prepared for a mad police officer. Strauss explains that he felt compelled to kill those people, that, in some fashion, killing them would ease the swirling chaos in his head fueled by the momentary glimpse of the sun. He finishes his story saying that that's all he knows, that he wishes he had a real answer for why he did what he did.

We cut to Shields who's holding his coat over his shoulder. He appears to be staring at something listlessly while going over his new patient's case in his head. He wonders if Strauss's condition could be authentic. Strauss was so lucid during the interview, and yet so violently crazed before getting a second dose of sedative. Shields's thoughts trail off and we pan back to see that he's watching Jennifer in the office, though he himself is unobserved by her. He sighs deeply and leaves work for the day and as we pan back further we see Gordon with a cruel smile on his face watching Shields watch Jennifer.

We cut to darkness; all we hear is a cruel and deliberate laugh. Jennifer suddenly appears, her clothes are disshevled, her hair is a mess, she appears frightened. She's running from something. She looks like she's screaming but no sound is coming out of her mouth. All we hear is the laughter. Then we hear Shields's voice telling Jennifer to run as the figure of Dr. Gordon appears behind her. Gordon is laughing and his laughter grows louder and louder and echoes. Gordon is walking slowly towards Jennifer who looks like she's trying to run/swim/fight through molasses, like she's caught in some slow motion trap, trying to get away from Gordon. The color of Gordon's face changes, becomes pale and almost orange, and his mouth sharpens at the corners and takes on an almost cartoonish appearance—much like the carved, jagged smile of a jack-o'-lantern. We continue to hear Shields's voice just slightly above the laughter, begging, pleading for Jennifer to run and escape, but Gordon is just about upon her, and as he reaches out to touch her, Shields awakens springing up in his bed. After calming down, he laughs and chides himself for having a silly dream like that. Of course he's going to see Gordon as a monster getting in his way.

We cut to Shields making his way downtown to his office. As he walks, he gives us a voice over telling us that in spite of the circumstances, he'd hoped things could have been different with Jennifer. She was the first person in as long as he could remember that he had been interested in. She made him remember what it felt like to be alive, to be a part of the human race. He laughs at his own naiveté, for thinking that it could have worked. This time, he assures himself, fate, or at least poor timing, was completely to blame.

We cut to him arriving in his office where he looks up distractedly to see that Jennifer is staring at him angrily with hands on hips. She says they have to talk and he motions for her to go into his office. She demands that he talk to her, tell her what's going on, he answers her simply by saying he's already told her that Gordon made it clear. She says that's not good enough. He looks at her incredulously and points out that Gordon is not only his boss but her husband (!). She looks down sheepishly, staring at her fidgeting fingers. She is clearly upset and wants to say something, she stammers out, "But... but..." She tells him that he's very important to her, that circumstances are awkward but... He looks at her sympathetically and finishes for her, saying that she can't or won't change her circumstances. She insists that it's not that simple. Shields sighs heavily and stares at her for a moment. He tells her that her feelings for him are flattering but also frustrating—he's not in any position to change anything. He apologizes to her and says that maybe it's better they stop what ever was starting to develop. Then he catches himself and apologizes, saying that he's been too presumptuous, but before Jennifer can refute him, Gordon walks in with a large, fake smile on his face. He interrupts without hesitation, saying he'd like to discuss the Strauss case.

Gordon and Shields are walking down a dim hallway, discussing Strauss's condition, disclosing that, strangely, whenever Strauss is in the presence of the shining sun, he seems to lose his reason and fall into a savage, animalistic state. His body becomes so pumped with adrenaline that it takes several men and doses of sedatives just to restrain him. He won't be let out of his straitjacket any time soon. When kept in the dark, though, and after sunset, he appears to be in complete possession of his senses, his reason, and so on. Shields makes the comment that Strauss is kind of like a werewolf, only affected by the sun instead of the full moon. The discussion comes to a lull and Shields thanks Gordon for the opportunity to work with Strauss, the case is interesting and a nice change to the normal routine. Gordon chuckles (a little too similarly to the way he did in the opening nightmare) and after a moment, he composes himself and says that he's been watching Shields, noticing things, old patterns and new tendencies coming together into an interesting collage. He asks Shields how a certain neighborhood is after dark, commenting that it's generally thought of as rather dangerous.

As Gordon talks, we see a vignette of Shields beating the crap out of a would-be mugger in an alleyway.

We cut back and Shields looks a little concerned that Gordon may know about his recent fights. Gordon says that he thinks he sees something similar in both Strauss and Shields, that if anyone can get at what's wrong with Strauss, it's Shields. Shields looks a little disconcerted by this but Gordon continues and tells Sheilds that he's doing a pretty good job staying away from Jennifer, but to keep up the effort. Then he turns to Shields and says that he hasn't touched is wife in years, that she'll have nothing to do with him, but that appearances are important to both of them. Also, Gordon likes the power he's able to wield over Shields and he makes this clear. He reminds Shields of all that he's done for him and that any sort of betrayal would force Gordon to ruin Shield's career. Gordon's mood becomes instantly lighter and he turns to leave Shields, saying he's famished. As he turns, Shields sees but dismisses what looks like a twisted stem with some leaves on it sticking out of the back of Gordon's head.

To Be Continued...