Penultimate Questions

Falcon Crest

Season 1 Episode 17

Air Date:  April 9, 1982

Recap:  Lance and Melissa are on their honeymoon in Hawaii, Lance tells Melissa that they need to do something about her being pregnant, he said that they need to make plans after the honeymoon, she tells him that her only plans are to get things for the nursery, obviously he wants her to have an abortion.  He asks her where her ring is, she tells him that it’s where his is obviously, in their suitcase.  He goes to get a drink, once he’s gone she starts to put on sun tan lotion watching some men across the pool

   The medical examiner is talking to Angela, he is worried about the questions Chase could ask.  She reminds him that he answers to the sheriff. 

   When Lance comes back he finds Melissa with two men, one is rubbing the sun tan lotion on her the other is sitting really close.  He sends them off once he tells them that he’s her husband.  In their hotel room Lance is packing, he complains about how she is paying attention to other men but won’t let him touch her.  He tells her that she won’t keep the baby, she tells him that she is going to and that it’s her word against his whether or not it’s his baby.

   Chase and the family are going through the old letters that Cole brought back from Italy.  He comments about all the negative comments there are about the relationship between Angela and his father Jason.

   Julia tells Angela that it’s only a matter of time before Emma tells the truth about what happened to that night..  They are surprised when Lance and Melissa come back from the honeymoon a week early.  Angela takes Melissa to the drawing room to hear all about the honeymoon, which I find a little creepy..  Lance and his mother go make some tea.  Emma is having a nightmare and wakes up screaming, Angela tells Melissa to stay downstairs.  Lance and Julia are comforting her when Angela comes in.  Melissa is listening outside the door and hears them talking about Emma feeling guilty.

   Chase goes to the Sheriff’s office and tells him that he wants answers, the sheriff reluctantly agrees to meet with him at noon.  The sheriff goes right to Angela and tells her that Chase is demanding answers from him.  She tells him to cancel the meeting.  Melissa is on the stairs and hears this exchange.  The Sheriff says that he can’t stonewall Chase forever, she tells him to tell him that he didn’t ask for an autopsy, he reminds her that she was the one who asked him not to have one done.  Chao-Li  finds Melissa listening at the door, Julia comes downstairs and tells Melissa that Lance is looking for her, she asks what is going in and tells them that she overheard what happened in Emma’s room last night.  They tells her that it was about Emma’s shoplifting, she doesn’t believe this and asks why Chase has anything to do with this.  Lance tries to get her out of the house by going horseback riding, she tells him that she can’t and announces that she is pregnant.  Angela looks thrilled by the news.

   Maggie is waiting for Chase with lunch, he tells her that he forgot, and that the sheriff stood him up, and he thinks that he is avoiding him.  They talk about how little time they’ve spent together lately.  They argue about whether or not he is trying to find about his father for the family or just for himself.  She gets upset and says that he is a workaholic.  Chase apologizes and tells her that he feels that something isn’t right about his father’s death.  Maggie says that she is going to help, she’s going to go talk to Dr. Banning.

Julia goes to pick her father up from the hospital, she wants to take him back to Falcon Crest to recuperate, but he doesn’t want to.

   Melissa goes to see Cole, he doesn’t want to talk to her, she tells him that she came to talk to him about Emma and his grandfather so he’s going to listen to her.

   Angela calls Dr. Banning, but he won’t talk to her because of doctor patient confidentiality.  She seems satisfied with that since he won’t talk to her he won’t talk to anyone else.

   Chao-Li  goes to the junk yard at Angela’s request and buys the steering wheel from Jason’s truck.

   Julia catches Emma trying to leave, she tells her that she is leaving and that she needs her own space.  Julia tells her that she wants to go with her, but that they can’t go yet.  She convinces Emma to go back upstairs, but Angela finds them before she can.  When Emma is upstairs, Julia tells Angela once again that it’s only a matter of time before she talks.

   Melissa goes to see Chase, she tells him that she needs to talk, she tells him that the family is keeping secrets from her, she tells him how ruthless Angela is, he tells her that she is just like Angela.  She tells him that there are so many secrets.

   Vicky and Chase are cooking dinner, when Maggie gets home, she tells him that Dr. Banning wouldn’t talk to her since it would be unethical for him to discuss his patient with her, Chase said that he was helpful before, Maggie tells him that was because Emma was there before and had consent for him to talk to them.    She tells him that Angela called the Dr as well.  Chase tells her about Melissa coming to see him.

   The next day the sheriff finds Chase waiting for him by his car.  Chase asks him why there was no autopsy performed on his father, the sheriff tells him that his father was a known drunk and that he made a left turn when he should have turned right, he tells Chase that the circumstances were clear and made a choice.  He tells Chase to let it go, and that it would do no good to perform an autopsy now, since the embalming fluid would have destroyed any evidence that there might have been.

   Julia tries to convince Angela to let Emma tell what happened.  Angela reminds her that they would loses everything because of the clause in her father’s will.

   Chase goes to the junk yard and goes to see his father’s truck.  He learns that the truck never worked well since his father was constantly getting parts for the truck, he also learns about the Chinese man that came and bought the steering wheel that morning.

   Emma and her father are going for a walk, just when it looks like she might tell him what happened, Angela comes to take her back home.  Douglas says that he wants to spend time with her and that Angela is making things worse for Emma.  He asks Emma where she wants to go, she says that she wants to go to Paris, he agrees.

   Chase asks Gus and Cole what they think about his suspicions that his father was murdered.  Cole asks him what he is going to do, Chase says that he is going to go to the District Attorney.

   The DA asks Chase why he thinks it wasn’t an accident, he asks him if he thinks Emma killed his father, he tells him no.  He tells Chase that the Chinese man could be anyone, not just Angela’s butler.  Chase tells him that he just wants help, but if he can’t handle it he’ll go to someone else.  The DA says that he can handle it, he just needs plenty of ammunition before going to “war”.  Chase tells him that Angela has a lot of friends in high places, he tells Chase that if he is right, then she will need them.

   Douglas calls and asks Maggie about Chase going to the DA, he tells her that he doesn’t want to see his family torn apart.

   Lance tells his mother and grandmother that he isn’t the father of Melissa’s baby, when she comes back to the table, he asks her to tell them that, but she cries asking him how he could say such a thing.  It’s clear that neither his mother or grandmother believe that he isn’t the father, since he went from girl to girl and had been seeing Melissa regularly for awhile.

   The DA tells Chase that any finds found in this inquest couldn’t be brought up in court if there were to be a trial, he tells him that he knows, he only wants to know what happened to his father.  He tells Chase that he could find out more about his father then he might want to, Chase says that he understands.

   Angela tells her lawyer to talk to the DA, but he tells her it wouldn’t do any good, he tells her he managed to get the inquest to be a closed hearing.  She says that Emma mustn’t go, he tells her to trust him, and that he wants to take her away once this is all over, I didn’t see anything going on between the two of them, I’m sure that she is just using him too.

   In the courtroom, Angela tells Chase that he is a fool.  Angela is called to testify first, Douglas brings Emma to the courtroom and tells her to tell the truth.  They walk in and Angela leaves the stand, Emma tells her that she wants to tell the truth.  Douglas collapses, everyone rushes to his side, he tells Angela to let Emma tell the truth.  The paramedics come and they say that he’s gone.  Angela gets up from the ground and tells Chase that she will never forgive him.
Final Thoughts:  I'm glad that they are finally concluding this storyline, I can't believe that the police do everything Angela tells them to do. 

Best Outfit:  Nitpicking again, but I think that it would look better if it was not all polka-dots with a solid top or skirt.