| Forward Into the Past | |
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| Broadcast Date | 8 October 1994 |
| Season | 2 |
| Broadcast Order | 4th |
| Episode Number | 28 |
| Production Number | 205 |
| Writer | Michael Levine & John Scheinfeld |
| Director | Don McCutcheon |
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Next Story: Capital Offense
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| “ | I'd get the stake! You, too. They'd double us up on one big long skewer like shish kabob. | ” |
— Aristotle, Forward Into the Past
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Summary[]
It has been more than forty years since Nick has seen his close friend, Katherine Barrington, and her secretary, Madelyn Pinchot. Then, he helped them escape to new identities after Katherine's husband was murdered. Now, Madelyn has been tortured to death. Nick knows that Katherine will be the next victim if he can't find her before the killer does.
Guest Cast[]
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- Stephanie Morgenstern......younger Katherine Barrington
- Corinne Conley......older Katherine Barrington
- Matt Cooke......younger Jeremy Stanton
- Donald Davis......older Jeremy Stanton
- Venetia Marie......younger Madelyn Pinchot
- Fran Elliot......older Madelyn Pinchot
- John Friesen......Detective Norton
- R. D. Reid......Aristotle
- Carolyn Hay......Ava Franklin
- Vernon Chapman......George
- Robert King......Danny Carruthers
- Paul O'Sullivan......Paul Blondell
Detailed Story Recap[]
Vampire Lore[]
- When vampires want to move on, they contact Aristotle, a vampire who keeps a vast data bank of information enabling him to create impeccable new identities for his clients. Aristotle has a hard and fast rule about confidentiality, and refuses to reveal information about a client's new location. He normally only works within the vampire community, not for humans.
Fan Fiction[]
Quotes[]
Notes[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- The German title for this episode is "Man lebt nur zweimal" ("You Only Live Twice").
- Corinne Conley, who played the older Katherine Barrington, also appeared in the Season Three episode Dead of Night as Natalie's deceased grandmother, Nana Tash.
- The Ceilidh Arts Centre poster that Nick finds in Katherine Barrington's kitchen has the date of the dance written on it. From this, we know that the climactic scene in the ballroom took place on the evening of May 3rd—despite the fact that the episode was first broadcast in October.
- When Nick left the assassin in the trunk of his car, he called Schanke and told him to go to an alley near Wynford and Garamond. This address is an "in joke": the studio where Forever Knight was filmed was located on Garamond Court, which is a turning off Wynford Drive.
Continuity[]
- When Nick went to Aristotle in the 1950s, the other vampire initially assumed that Nick intended to relocate. He promptly suggested, "Stay away from the States. They might take you for a Commie." This is a reference to events in the flashback of the Season One episode "Spin Doctor".
Canadian Content[]
- Katherine Barrington's first husband, Gordon, was killed in a car accident. His body was found in his car at the bottom of the Scarborough Bluffs.
- When Katherine and her second husband move back to Canada, they live in a house in Hamilton.
- When Aristotle created the new identity of Natasha Perry for Madelyn Pinchot, the details included her having been born in Winnipeg, gone to McGill University as an undergraduate, and completed a Master's degree at the University of British Columbia ("UBC"). Aristotle's documentation is so complete that we are told by Schanke that he even knows how many boxes of cookies Madame Natasha sold as a Girl Guide.
Goofs[]
- To gain Aristotle's assistance, Nick reminds him, "You still owe me for that time at the Battle of Hastings." However, the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066 A.D. Nick was brought across in 1228 A.D.
Fan Reactions[]
This is, btw, the infamous, "you still owe me for the Battle of Hastings" line, which means the writer was too lazy to look up a simple date. Hastings was in 1066. Nick was brought across in 1228. If that was the only problem, I could ignore it. Actually it's just the first flaw.
1. Katherine's husband is murdered by his partner, leaving her as holding half the stock. He can't operate the business without her consent on a number of things and he will have to have that vote in written form every year. You know, as in stockholder meetings and proxy mail-ins if someone can't go there and vote in person? The writers blithely brush that off on the ground that Katherine's signature can be regularly authenticated by her bank. Nope, not if she's been missing for and not seen in public under her own name for decades. Even Howard Hughes ended up having to testify by phone in court proceedings after some of his stockholders sued to force him to prove that he was alive and competent. His signature wasn't sufficient. There's a little thing called forgery. There's also the fact that signatures change over time. If she stays missing this long, there's going to be no way to bring in a witness such as her bank manager who can testify that it really is her signature. The ex-parnter is a very rich and influential man who can afford the best legal talent. He'll have her in court -- which will make it possible for him to trace her false identity and whereabouts -- so fast there'd be no time for a commercial.
Anyway, partnerships are almost never set up this way, so that if one partner dies, the other doesn't get the whole thing. It's normal to carry insurance on the partners which, in the event of death, pays for the survivor to buy out the deceased's half. If Katherine is missing it would go into some kind of holding account. In any case, there would be no stock to support her.
The worst of this nonsense is at the end when she tells Nick, "let them sell it." Who's "them"? Katherine just spent forty years risking her life to keep it. She apparently needs the money and she has a second husband by now. He apparently isn't a rich man in his own right. Even if the villain's heirs get his half -- which is dubious, given that he killed to get full control of the business and you can't profit by a crime once you're convicted of it -- her half still requires her consent to be sold.
2. In the last scene, where Katherine is showing Nick pictures in an album and waking down memory lane, she says, "oh, that's George, my husband." Right. They've been in contact since the beginning of the show, and they've apparently talking at length in Nick's loft for a while. She hasn't already told him she's remarried and the new husband's name is George? That's amateur exposition of the most naive kind.
3. Katherine's troubles are entirely of her own making once she comes back. She is aware that if the villain ever finds her, he will kill her. That's why Nick and Aristotle helped her disappear in the first place. Yet once she returns to Toronto, not only does she reclaim and start driving a very rare and conspicious model of car, she also takes up residence in her old house. They used the same establishing shots for the modern crime and the past. Oh, yes, and she has the same first name. Admittedly Katherine is a common name, but in conjunction with the rest, she might just as well call the villain and ask him to come and shoot her.
There were lots of eisodes I didn't care much for and a few I really hated in the third season. However, for me this one took the cake.
— Lisa McDavid, "Least Favorite Episode", post to FORKNI-L, 29 August 2004