Saint James Infirmary 588: Salvage Mission

[Daphne]

[laguna85]

so calling Danielle to bring the watch and make Lenore "Raven" Klopotowski his sex slave
Or Rain snap him out of it and back noble person?

[mns_95125]

Maybe he's returning Reka's call from before?  Could be interesting if that snaps the group out of the dreamscape; we could wind up with everyone converging on the Infirmary, with the repaired Watch just waiting to be used...

[jmundt29]

Out of the dreamscape but not off the new programming?  Just what exactly is needed for the appropriate shockabuku (I'm probably spelling it wrong even if the screenwriter for Grosse Pointe Blank made it up)?

Is it possible that this is him just ending his side of the call with Dani before getting up to more mischief.  I hope that our disparate groups do converge on the Infirmary.  Weston getting Superfecta lucky would be even more frustrating than the alternatives I can guess at. 

[Haight]

Hmmm, perhaps a trap for Pichler? I'd imagine that evil! Adrian doesn't exactly have good intentions for the guy.

[laguna85]

so give him what Julian Pichler wants repair watch.

[grimtidings]

I'm happy to see Patricia again.

[jmundt29]

I underestimated how bad it could get.  Silly me.

By which I mean, we still seem to be on a downward trajectory.  Adrian is making quick (perhaps hasty but that's unknowable at this second) decisions that are aggressive (maybe necessary) but without planning or preparation he makes himself and everyone in his orbit more vulnerable.  Partially in trying to change his orbit.

[GodWilling]

This is curious. It appeared that Julian and Cherry stole Zenon's pendant in the break-in. Julian called it a pendant when he used it on the assistant at the gas station (321). But he did refer to "the crystal" when driving Cherry away from the SJI (282). Caitlyn took the pendant from Julian at the airport. But Mallory called what Zenon had "the crystal" in 457. And she was comforted by the knowledge that Caitlyn had got "the crystal" away from Julian.

Except Julian still had a crystal. And it seemed to work a bit like the pendant. He used it on Patricia. But when we saw it in 434, 435, and 457 it was red. That aside, it doesn't look quite like the pendant, which is almost spherical and regular. The crystal looks more... like a crystal.

So there are two questions here. Firstly, does Julian's crystal change colour, or is this yet another object he has in his hand here? Secondly, how does Adrian know Julian has a crystal?

I suppose a related question would be: is Julian still at the Motor Inn, having grabbed himself an upgrade, or has he taken Patricia home with him? And to whom is Julian talking at the start here?

I guess the deal being progressed here is the one laid out by Julian in 470-471: Adrian allows Erin to heal Cherry and Julian provides Adrian with an opportunity to kill Jakob. I don't think the watch was mentioned in that proposal.

[jmundt29]

My guess is that Julian is talking AT Claudia, but it's only a guess.

[mns_95125]

It looks like this is going to be a long night.

Regular!Adrian was reluctant to let Erin risk herself healing Cherry and he was reluctant to use the Watch to mitigate said risk.  Evil!Adrian doesn't seem to have either of those concerns.

This does suggest that the dreamscape sequence will end soon, insofar as Adrian will need to collect Erin before he can use her to heal Cherry -- assuming that he isn't planning a more direct betrayal of Julian, e.g. shooting him when he shows up and stealing his crystal.  Actually I'm not sure why he'd need Julian's crystal if he's intending to play straight with Julian.

[GodWilling]

Actually I'm not sure why he'd need Julian's crystal if he's intending to play straight with Julian.

Ostensibly Adrian has the watch and the pendant, so he doesn't need, for his own purposes, the crystal that he mysteriously suddenly knows Julian has.

But while Erin may, just possibly, be nothing but tits and holes to Adrian right now, those are still his tits and his holes. And he may be feeling somewhat possessive at the moment. So if he's going to lend her to Julian, he could possibly want to hold the crystal in order to stop his property being misappropriated by those means.

Erin raised the possibility of using the watch to heal Cherry in 528, and she said that was Dani's idea. So possibly that could be his only reason for calling Dani back. It's not clear that Julian needs Erin specifically to do it.

My guess is that Julian is talking AT Claudia, but it's only a guess.

Her talk about patience suggests Claudia. And she does know about the kill-his-boss plan. But he seems to be talking to her as more of an equal than I'd expect. I'd expect a little more cruelty. He sounds more like he's talking to Cherry, or Johannes's PA. Or maybe Vik. (Well, we didn't actually see him die, did we?)

[mns_95125]

So if he's going to lend her to Julian, he could possibly want to hold the crystal in order to stop his property being misappropriated by those means.

We've been operating from the assumption that the crystal is unable to override Watch programming, based on its failure to control Caitlyn and some comments from Claudia.  Then again, Adrian may not know that.

Erin raised the possibility of using the watch to heal Cherry in 528, and she said that was Dani's idea. So possibly that could be his only reason for calling Dani back. It's not clear that Julian needs Erin specifically to do it.

I'm still trying to work out the tangle of interests here.  Julian wants Cherry alive, for which he needs Erin and her Magikal Healing Powerz.  He also seems to want Cherry liberated from Jakob's control, for which he needs the Watch.  He's offering Adrian a shot at Jakob in exchange.  Claudia also wants the Watch, presumably to liberate herself from Jakob's control.  Julian is working with Claudia (e.g. in #409 he says "We give them Jakob"), but I'm not sure why.  He doesn't seem to have the same kind of emotional bond with her that he does with Cherry, and I'm not sure what Claudia has to offer him in exchange for his help.  There's a missing piece there, or something I've overlooked.

Evil!Adrian seems to be the possessive sort.  He may just view Jakob as a threat who needs to be countered and he's now willing to do what is necessary to make that happen.  That means he wants to take Julian's offer, which in turn means he needs the Watch and Erin.  Confirming with Danielle that the Watch now works, and bringing her back to the Infirmary gets him the former.  If this theory is right we should see him working on getting the latter in the next few episodes.

[GodWilling]

The only help I can see Claudia being to Julian is that (assuming he's telling the truth about anything) he needs a venue for the proposed slaying of Jakob. Who else might visit the NY harem? Has Johannes left the country yet? Dani had Einfríður primed for some future event.

I know Erin ended up in hospital when she saved Dani. Is that what the voice on the phone means by going through hell? If so then he or she seems to understand the nature of the process.

Adrian didn't want Erin to be used to help Cherry because he feared she would get hurt. (He made a point of telling Julian he would ask Erin. But when Erin seemed keen to help Cherry he effectively said he'd ask Rain. That's how much he respects Erin's opinion.) It does seem possible that he cares less about Erin getting hurt now, in which case everything probably seems straightforward. And if he's thinking anything like Jakob, then killing Jakob probably seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

But if Erin wakes up, will all her little friends wake up too? It doesn't seem possible for Adrian to complete the deal without rousing Erin from whatever mental state she's currently in. But what happens to his mental state if he does that? I know I keep referring to it, and it's a hopeless aim, but I'm trying to figure out where things will be twelve pages from now.

[Haight]

But when Erin seemed keen to help Cherry he effectively said he'd ask Rain. That's how much he respects Erin's opinion.

Yeah, well, unfortunately we haven't really seen what goes down in Rain and Adrian's meetings - so we don't know why he has cause to respect her so much as compared to Erin and Dani and so on.