Curiouser and Curiouser (C&C)

Nick im Wunderland

Week starting May 14th, 1995

Phil Bedard & Larry Lalonde

Jon Cassar

Judith Scott as Carol Lewis

After spending a little too much time alone with Schanke, Nick pays a friendly visit to Janette at the Raven. They are interrupted, however, when a group of robbers wearing walrus masks and toting guns burst into the club, demanding money and jewelry. Nick and the other vampires present silently agree that using their powers to stop the thugs is unwise with so many mortals around.

A young woman refuses to give up her ring. She and one of the robbers struggle, giving Nick a chance to disarm him. But the robber managed to fatally wound the woman who, after begging Nick to help her, dies.

When back-up arrives, Schanke and Natalie try to reassure Nick that it wasn't his fault, but he is inconsolable. He goes home to drown his sorrow in a bit of bovine blood, and is reminded of one of his first kills. He is shaken out of this brief reverie by a loud knocking. He sets his glass of... could that be wine?... down, and is greeted by an unusually domineering Schanke. Nick is surprised by Schanke's pushy behavior, but goes with him to investigate another murder... at CERK radio station.

Nick is naturally shocked to see that the victim is Lacroix. He's been stabbed in the heart with a knife, and yet seems to be dead. Well, more than usual anyway. Schanke, though remembering Nick's fondness for the Nightcrawler, offers no compassion. Nick, perhaps assuming Lacroix is playing possum, asks where Natalie is. Schanke seems surprised that Nick used Nat's first name, and says that she already left.

While Schanke begins to investigate, Nick hurries to the Raven to see Janette. The club is silent and empty, and Nick recalls the tragedy that took place there earlier.

Nick then proceeds to the morgue in search of Natalie. No one is there, but Nick stops to look at Lacroix's corpse, which sends him spiraling into a flashback about Lacroix warning him about the consequences of guilt. When Nick snaps out of it, he realizes how much he needs Lacroix, and pleads with him to come back. Lacroix does not respond.

Nick returns to the precinct and tries to call Janette at the Raven, but there is no answer. Natalie finally makes an appearance... but now she's Police Captain Lambert. In a very business-like manner, she informs Nick that Internal Affairs want to speak with him. While Nick stands there baffled, Schanke, still being very un-Don-like, reports to the "Captain" on the Nightcrawler case, and leaves.

Nick, seeking some sort of explanation, tries to talk to Natalie. She stops him before he can say anything, and tells him to call her at home.

Schanke and Nick, investigating Lacroix's murder, head over to the Raven, where Nick hopes to find Janette. On the way, Nick hears Lacroix's voice, talking about the shooting at the Raven. Strange, Schanke doesn't seem to hear anything...

Once at the Raven, Nick finds the club's owner... Amanda Cohen, dressed just like Janette, and is greeted warmly by her. Lacroix's name is unfamiliar to her, and under "the whammy" she reveals that she and Nick have been friends for years, and that vampires don't exist. She asks him if he's having a relapse, but any answer Nick might have given is cut off by Schanke, who doesn't find this situation at all strange. Nick leaves abruptly, and Amanda warns Schanke not to push Nick over the edge. Hmm...it seems that this isn't the first time Nick has behaved this way...

Nick returns home and learns that he's married to a much plainer-looking Janette, and they have a baby. Janette hints that they don't have a very healthy marriage. He tells her that their master is dead, and she becomes upset, and tells Nick that he's having delusions again, that this "vampire nonsense" began after "the last time". Nick becomes frustrated and asks Janette what this mysterious "last time" was, and she tells him that a woman was killed in the line of fire at a stake-out involving him two years before. She says that his delusions about being a vampire started then, and she thinks he's relapsing. Confused, Nick leaves, despite Janette's pleas for him to stay.

Nick meets up with Schanke and a technician at the sound lab, who are going over a tape of the Nightcrawler's show from just before Lacroix was killed, during which the killer called in. Appropriately, the topic of the show was guilt. Using background sounds on the tape, they determine that Lacroix's killer lives near the lake. Nick then meets with Ms. Lewis from Internal Affairs, who denounces Nick as unstable and out of control, and accuses him of hiding from his guilt behind a phony hero disguise. Nick leaves, disturbed that her words hit so close to home.

Meanwhile, Nick continues to hear Lacroix, who tells him that this bizarre little world he's found himself in is exactly as it should be. Nick goes to see Natalie, who's dressed in rather... suggestive evening wear and is apparently expecting him. She makes no effort to hide her feelings for him, and Nick realizes that in this world the two of them are having an affair. Nick expresses his confusion, and Natalie figures he's having another nervous breakdown. At her suggestion, Nick returns home.

No sooner than he'd sat down in his loft, Lacroix's face appears on the TV and begins quoting from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass". He reminds Nick that he warned him once about the consequences of guilt. Lacroix appears again in the mirror, and reminds Nick that Carroll's "Walrus and the Carpenter" felt no guilt when they ate their oyster friends. Lacroix then states that he doesn't like being dead, and insists that Nick lead Lacroix to his killer so that he may have his revenge. Lacroix then disappears, and Nick yells at him to come back. In doing so, he awakens the baby, which angers Janette. Nick, again, walks out on her.

He returns to the sound lab, where the sound technician, Carpenter, has determined that the killer lives in Nick's area. Seeking answers, Nick returns to the Raven.

He asks Amanda to tell him about "the last time" and his alleged nervous breakdown. She tells him that he was "mad as a hatter", and was convinced that he was a vampire. Nick laughs this off nervously. Amanda is worried that it's happening again, and offers to help in any way she can. In a priceless moment, Nick kisses her as he would have Janette, and is immediately disturbed that he did it.

Back at the precinct, a more sober Natalie informs Nick that he's been suspended. He goes back to the loft, where Janette tells Nick that it's not the shootings that are driving him crazy - it's the guilt of losing his humanity. She tells him that he must start dealing with what his life has become. Janette goes upstairs, leaving him to ponder this.

After a sudden flash of memory, Nick goes to the fireplace and retrieves... the knife that killed Lacroix. A flashback reveals that Nick is the killer. Lacroix's image appears again, declaring that his killer will now pay.

Nick heads to the Raven, and on the way begins to understand this little charade. He again recalls "killing" Lacroix, who asks him if that act has made him free. Once in the Raven, which is again empty, he confronts Lacroix, who tells him that this Wonderland of his has been created by his guilt. He also says that the same thing will continue to happen, his guilt will continue to surface, if he does not release it. Nick insists that he can't, and so Lacroix generously offers to do it for him. He then tosses Nick around the Raven and sends him hurling into walls, though insisting that "this is hurting me far more than it's hurting you".

Lacroix then, calmly, asks Nick what his greatest guilt is. He then answers his own question - Nick's hatred of what he is, and the fact that he's still alive. Smiling, Lacroix pulls out a stake and comes toward Nick, who does not move. Lacroix stakes Nick and pushes him out a window into the sun...

Suddenly, Nick jerks back into alertness, and finds himself sitting in his loft, exactly where he was just after the Raven shooting, before his little adventure through the looking glass. He goes to answer the pounding at his door, and as he gets up he sets down a glass of... yes, it's blood this time.

A much more friendly Schanke comes in and tells Nick that I.A.'s decision regarding Nick's actions at the Raven is waiting at the precinct. In an effort to make sure things are back to normal, Nick asks what the Captain's name is. A confused Schanke replies that it's Cohen. Relieved, Nick accompanies him to the station.

When they arrive, Captain Cohen informs Nick that Internal Affairs have declared him blameless concerning the shooting, and tells him not to feel guilty.

Having learned his lesson, Nick replies that he'll try, but the only way to deal with guilt is to find ways to deal with it. A much relieved Nick agrees to walk Schanke to the coffee machine. Just then the Captain is informed that there's been another homicide... at a radio station.

Short, but important. This memory looks at one of Nick's first kills, and when he first began to feel guilty about his actions. Lacroix appears and asks Nick what's wrong. Nick is unable to clearly explain, but manages to express his uncertainty about killing. Lacroix understands, and assures Nick that his feelings are normal. But he warns him that he must get over these feelings of guilt, or there will be consequences. Lacroix tells him that he will be fine, as long as he listens to Lacroix and does what he says. Nick, perhaps knowing already that he can't dismiss the pain he will cause others, remains uncertain.

This is, in my opinion, one of the best FK episodes. The way it parallels the "Alice in Wonderland" stories is absolutely ingenious, and every actor does a superb job, as usual. Great script, great direction, and I love that squeaky bug toy that Nick steps on. As many of you know, Nigel Bennett won a Gemini award (Canadian Emmy) for this episode, and it was well-deserved.

There's something for everyone here. Cousins will enjoy Lacroix's as-always strong presence and will love his monologue scenes. Light Knighties get to see a very frustrated, very human Nick dealing with this episode's confusing events. NatPackers will get a laugh out of Natalie's behavior towards Nick, and we N&NPackers can cheer her for being so unusually open about her feelings for him. Ravenettes will get treated to a side of Janette we rarely see. Cohen-heads will get a kick out of seeing Amanda dressed like Janette. Cousins of the Knight like myself will enjoying seeing Nick realize that he does need Lacroix in his life, and will appreciate Lacroix's unusual patience with Nick in the flashback sequence. Die-Hards will like this one, obviously. The Unnamed Faction, well, they can use their imaginations.

Lacroix to Nick:	(after Nick stabs Lacroix) "Happy, Nicholas? Absolved? Free?"
Lacroix to Nick:	(while throwing Nick around) "This is hurting me far more than it's hurting you."
Schanke:	(referring to Lacroix) "Next to him, Howard Stern sounds like Regis Philbin."
Amanda to Schanke:	(when Schanke complained about her customers) "Maybe you'd prefer it if they all wore baseball caps and ate chicken wings by the barrel."
Lacroix to Nick:	(when Nick approaches him with a knife) "Come to slay the Jabberwock?"

Broken into fragments throughout the episode. Mostly his intention is to tell Nick how unnecessary his guilt is, and that all of this could have been avoided, had Nick only listened to him. Lacroix several times quotes "Through the Looking Glass", including parts of "Jabberwocky", brilliantly relating them to the episode's events and the theme of guilt; he makes a great comparison of himself to the monstrous Jabberwocky itself.

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