Saint James Infirmary 273: Desperation Takes Hold.

[GodWilling]

If Vik is Blue Gloves then why Alex and Katie? Why...

Just to clarify that: I mean it's hard to make sense of this if Vik is Blue Gloves, acting alone and to his own ends. The delivery -> Alex -> Katie -> "anything he wants" - that looked like a plan. Vik doesn't seem like a man with a plan, or even a man who would know how to steal a van. On the other hand, I did suggest a while back that the point of events on Saturday night could simply have been to test whether Pink Clouds worked on members of Adrian's harem. Having established that it did via this incredibly complicated plan, Vik may then have had the confidence to walk up to Amy and use it on her in the street. But wouldn't it have been easier for him to surreptitiously try it on Laura (which in fact he'd already done, albeit apparently unknowingly)? And it's a remarkably involved plan to come up with and execute within a day of learning about the effects of Pink Clouds.

As far as we know, the entire harem is at the SJI except for Amy and Mallory. We haven't seen anyone leave, including Jacqui. I guess we know Raven doesn't shoot. Obviously that still leaves quite a few other contenders, but given that I suspect she may have done the break-in, I'm wondering if Miriam owns a rifle.

There's still this strangeness around Julian and Cherry too. We assume that since he had the watch, Julian is at least connected to the BMW driver, and therefore also to Cherry. He's given the watch to Adrian and asked him to get Dani to fix it. So what is Cherry doing in the house? How is she helping Julian get the watch fixed? Is it possible that there's a false assumption in there somewhere? Or is Cherry there to take some kind of action that will demonstrate to Adrian that they mean business?

[Daphne]

Houses have multiple doors, and not every coming and going is noted.

[laguna85]

Cherry look for the heart of the watch?

[GodWilling]

Houses have multiple doors, and not every coming and going is noted.

Tagore?

[GodWilling]

Cherry look for the heart of the watch?

But isn't that part of what Julian is demanding? I mean, I don't know, but I took it that Julian was expecting to get back a fully-working watch.

It seems kind of odd to ask Adrian to get the watch fixed and at the same time send Cherry in to get its most vital part. I suppose she could simply be checking that Dani has it, but in that case why would she have wanted to take it from Dani (267)?

[jmundt29]

Different agendas?  Julian is there for The Watch on behalf of his employers (the Kuplers).  Cherry might be there on her own account for the crystal and a side dish of revenge.  It seems that Julian drove the car in Dani's hit-and-run and chauffeured Cherry in her initial scouting.

[GodWilling]

I find it hard to believe that someone who is prepared to kill to get what he (or she) wants is going to chauffeur around someone else who is pursuing a different agenda that appears to run counter to his own. It's not impossible, obviously, but it seems far more likely to me that they're working in tandem.

[Werdna]

What about: 

Julian's role is to get the watch into Adrian's hands and, through sinister threats, get him to order Dani to rebuild the watch.
Cherry's role is to ascertain that the red shell is still in Dani's possession and to sow dissension among those close to Adrian.  If she manages to end up with the shell and coerce Dani into rebuilding the watch, so much the better.

I suppose it's possible that Julian and Cherry are working together, but that Cherry is also working her own agenda simultaneously.


On the subject of the shadows - I quite like the nighttime shadows in SJI, especially because this all takes place in winter.  Darkness with multiple light sources (e.g., porchlights, streetlights, etc) combined with the reflection of the light off snow can create harsh effects like those shown here, and it works especially well in this case because it enhances Vik's harsh, possibly insane expressions.  I've always been impressed with the 'lighting' in SJI.

[GodWilling]

The way I saw it, the BMW driver turned up on Saturday night and was repelled by Erin's blood monster. So he sought help in the form of Cherry (possibly literally, I thought). Cherry got into the house where he had failed and set about furthering their aims. Or so I thought.

But then Julian just happened to be hanging about outside the place Adrian was heading to, so he didn't need to gain access to the house at all. So... I don't know.

I just wonder about what happened on Saturday night. Was it Julian who was chased away? What was he going to do if he got to the door? Why kill Dani in a manner liable to damage the watch if you can't repair the watch without Dani? Because you know what's going to happen? Because you know Dani won't die?

We saw the BMW first of all. Then we got a hint or two about its driver. Then we saw Cherry and saw that she got into the BMW and saw that she wasn't driving. I saw that as the chronology. But of course Cherry could have been in the car when Dani was run down. She could have been driving. Maybe she's running the show.

As usual I'm not going (or getting) anywhere with this; I'm just turning it over trying to find some way of making it fit right.

[laguna85]

GodWilling
I'm with you
Try to make it all the story piece to fit together
to many side storys

[jmundt29]

It depends which bits of Cherry's various natterings are true to what degree and in which order.  We saw the BMW run Dani down.  We saw the BMW return to the scene of the crash.  We saw the driver pick up the housing of The Watch (and mutter to himself...or possibly someone else in a foreign language).  Then we saw somebody get out of the BMW and try to break into the SJI, but be repelled by Erin's blood magic.  Then, we saw Cherry "run into" Erin after Theatre rehearsal and get into the BMW afterwards (speaking to the driver in a foreign tongue).  I think, Julian and Cherry arrived together and Julian is under the impression that they're working together because he thinks the Kuplers still actively control Cherry because she was part of Jakob's harem and was away from his apartment when his plane went down.  So, he's relying on her as part of a two-pronged plan, but Cherry's letting him think that while she pursues her own revenge/power game against Erin with the raw crystal as the prize.  I am equally flummoxed and could just as easily be going nowhere.

[laguna85]

Vikram did not need to steal the van if he had alarm four number code SJI-I 269
here can take the pink van
It seem that Vikram have been to the place and may work there.
Yves Bouchard said In SJI - I 269
(but I don"t like this, I want Vik here)
How Yves Know Vikram?

Why would Miriam help Adrian and have rifle?

Try put the parts together

[GodWilling]

From 148:-
Q: It's Kanti's brother. I think he hit on Pink Clouds.
Yves: Shit. What are you going to do?

Q doesn't need to explain who Kanti's brother is, so it's reasonable to assume Yves knows something about him already here. But if Vik had worked at Princess Pink, wouldn't Q have called him "Vik" here, rather than "Kanti's brother"?

That said, it's possible Vik worked with Yves during the time that Q was in prison, so that while Yves knows him by name at this point, Q doesn't yet.

But either way, remember that in 269 we're coming late to a conversation in which Vik's name will have been used quite a lot. Yves knows someone made the Pink Clouds that was used on Caitlyn. Presumably he knows it wasn't he. He knows Q can make Pink Clouds. And Q has told him Vik can make Pink Clouds. We don't believe he knows of anyone else who can make it. He doesn't know if he can trust Q. He wants both of the people who might have made the Pink Clouds here so that he can get to the truth. That's how I read it anyway.

And whoever took the van (I'd still call it stealing) used Q's alarm code. Presumably if Vik has an alarm code then Yves would know what it is. And if it were the same as Q's code, Yves would probably have spotted the implication of that.

[GodWilling]

Why would Miriam help Adrian and have rifle?

Why would Miriam return to Kearsarge at the same time as Q? Why was she running around in the background in 180? Why wouldn't she help Adrian? Why wouldn't she have a rifle?

(I don't know the answer to any of these questions. But I suggested a long time ago that she may have been responsible for the break-in and it would be nice to get at least one thing right.)

[GodWilling]

Julian is under the impression that they're working together because he thinks the Kuplers still actively control Cherry because she was part of Jakob's harem

I suspect that isn't the case, but I could go with it.

If Cherry were simply a victim of the watch though, I don't think "they" would see any value in her being in Kearsarge. From "their" point of view, there has to be a motive for bringing her and sending her into the SJI, otherwise she wouldn't be there. It really isn't clear to me where Cherry's conversation with Erin is heading, although Marliese is obviously seeing trouble ahead.