Warning: Spoiler Alert
Think back to that one moment in your life when everything was perfect, we all have that moment, whether it be at a concert, or your first kiss. When all the planets were aligned and there was perfect harmony in the universe, you felt invulnerable and the moment would last forever. However, the experiences end but the memories linger, warming our souls on these cold winter nights. The latest episode of the ABC series “Forever,” explored that topic deeply, as the victim in the murder they’re investigating, was involved in a role-playing game, meant to evoke an experience that took place in 1979.
We see a tone-arm being placed on an LP, filling the air with KC and The Sunshine Band’s hit “That’s The Way I Like It.” A young blonde-haired woman grabs a dress that would have look perfect on a disco-floor, puts on her makeup, then suddenly her cell phone rings, from inside a dresser drawer. The young woman picks it up and asks the caller what’s their problem and to stop calling her, the door knob to the apartment starts to turn and she says she’s got to go, she’s holding the cell phone in her hand when the door opens and says I’m sorry.
The next morning NYPD Detectives Jo Martinez and Mike Hanson are walking through garbage to get to their latest victim, it’s the girl we saw in the apartment. No wallet or ID, but there are Polaroid pictures of her and a fondue fork next to her, apparently the murder weapon. They notice bruises on her wrists, theorizing she got held down by her killer while she bled out.
Henry Morgan’s having his coffee at Abe’s shop before heading to work, when Abe brings a box from the cellar to the showroom. Henry asks what’s that smell and Abe says it’s wet cardboard and mold, a box of what he calls useless junk got soaked by a burst pipe. Henry says these are your memories, Abe points to his head and says all I need’s in here. However, Henry finds Abigail’s cookbook and Abe says that’s not junk. Morgan says perhaps you’re right Abraham, new day, new memories, I’m off.
Henry investigates the victim and he’s blown away, she’s wearing hair-spray and nail polish from the Seventies, her outfit’s a vintage original as well. This was carefully crafted to recreate the situation as close as possible, Hanson comes in with the identity of the victim, an NYU junior named Sarah Clancy, reported missing by her roommate. Lieutenant Reece, assigns Henry and Jo to talk to the roommate and Mike to go back to the crime scene and scour for more evidence.
Martinez and Morgan talk to Sarah’s roommate Jennifer, who says they were both from small towns and they really clicked and then they became best friends, but Sarah changed over the last few months and they grew distant. She says Sarah dropped all her class schedule except for one course and seemed obsessed with it. She gives the course information to the pair and they head off to NYU.
They enter a darkened lecture hall as a female instructor shows projected images of different forms of sexual expression. When the lights come up we see that it’s our old friend, Dominatrix Therapist Iona Payne, she and Henry make eye contact and after a few brief remarks, dismisses the class.
Henry and Jo walk down to see her and Henry says Iona, she quickly stops him and saying on campus, it’s Professor Dawes, but he can call her Molly. He thanks her, says she can call him Henry, then tells her they need to talk to her professionally.
She’s clearly distraught, when she hears of Sarah’s murder, the two had a lot in common, both had sheltered childhoods and she was mature for her years. Jo then says they have reason to believe she was in some role-playing situation and Molly says, Sarah talked about it with her in her office a couple of weeks back and she asked if she was happy and felt safe? Sarah answered both enthusiastically, but she hopes she didn’t dismiss a cry for help, Henry tells her it isn’t her fault. She offers her services to help solve the crime, Martinez politely refuses.
Mike Hanson’s pulling a Tom Sawyer on Lucas, as he has him wearing the hazmat suit and poking through the trash. Lucas finds a packet of junk mail covered with Sarah’s blood, near where her body was found all from the same address. They’ve found the apartment where the murder took place.
Henry and Jo check the place out and it is like stepping back into the late Seventies, magazines, accessories, the fondue pot, an analog TV and a Technics turntable. They then see a macramé wall-hanging on floor, when they lift it up they see it’s concealing Sarah’s blood. They also find another Polaroid picture, but this one’s from the seventies and it’s the original woman that Sarah portrayed in the role-playing situation.
Henry’s telling Abe about the apartment they found and he says it wasn’t his favorite period of the 20th Century. Henry then brings up Iona/Molly and Abe says oh that’s why you got the new scarf, your domination gal-pal’s back in town. Abe says I understand you’re nervous, it’s been a while, Henry responds he’s had relations, he’s certainly not a monk. Abe replies, that Henry’s had sex with some of the world’s most beautiful women, but they never went anywhere. When was the last time you had a date with someone you cared for?
We flashback to 1982, as we see a shaggy-haired Henry trying to apply some gray to his temples. He asks Abigail if she’s ready, the restaurant they’re going to are liable to give away their table if their late. We hear Abigail off camera says perhaps we shouldn’t go out, Henry says but it’s our anniversary. Abigail comes into view, it’s not Mackenzie Mauzy who’s played the role all season. Abigail’s 62-years-old now and while still an attractive woman, she’s no longer the slip-of-a-girl Henry met in 1945, she’s portrayed by Janet Zarish.
She asks how’s it going to look, an older woman out with a younger escort, people will stare at them. Henry says we’ll look like a distinguished couple in love, we braved a war and raised a child together. I’m rather certain we can survive a night on the town, it’ll be fun. Abigail smiles and agrees.
Back at the station, Hanson tells Jo and Henry they recovered Sarah’s audition tape for her role-playing gig, she’s saying what are obviously lines written by her partner. She stops, said her roommate just got home but she’d like to accept his offer. Henry and Jo bring the video to Molly. She says it’s not domination, it’s recreation. Jo says they need to track down apartment tenant from 1079.
Martinez and Morgan track down the former tenant, a man named Neville show him the picture of Sarah and he denies ever seeing her, Henry then shows him the Polaroid of the other woman, pain quickly crosses his face but then he says he doesn’t know her. Morgan starts folding and crinkling the picture, which destroys the emulsion on the pictures and the man finally begs him to stop. He says the picture you just destroyed is when my wife first told me we were having a baby, Henry produces the picture unharmed. Three weeks later she got diagnosed with breast cancer, she died in 1981. He then says he killed Sarah Clancy.
Neville’s taken downtown and questioned by Martinez and Hanson, but he’s fuzzy on the details, he then says he stabbed Sarah with the fondue fork in a downward motion, when Henry knows the wound came from underneath. Reece congratulates Jo on solving the case, but then Henry tells her he didn’t do it. Martinez says the case’s closed if you want to see Molly again just ask her out, how long ago was it since you and Abigail split up? Henry says a while and we flashback to 1982.
Abigail’s mortified as they return home from their anniversary dinner, the hostess thought Henry was so sweet for taking out his mother and everyone stared when he took her hand. We looked ridiculous, and Henry replies ridiculously in love. She says he’s blind and he agrees from the moment he laid eyes on her. She says every time she looks at him she feels old and he tells her to close her eyes.
He says where are you picturing us and she replies at the Queensberry Officers Club when you wore that suave tuxedo and suddenly we’re there, with Abigail at her most ravishing with Glen Miller playing. Henry says well we’re there and the two start dancing.
He meets Molly for drinks and she asks him if he’s thinking about the case and he admits he is and asks if he could have suffered a psychotic break, to cause him to forget holding down Sarah while she bled out? Molly says that doesn’t fit his profile, he was about creating not destroying. So they head to the apartment to reenact the crime.
Henry notices the indentation in the couch cushion and says that’s where Neville sat, Molly sits on his lap and the two start making out and Henry drops his glass. He suddenly realizes Neville wouldn’t have allowed the stain to form on the cushion. So Henry, Molly and cushion head to the lab.
Henry discovers Ketamine got mixed into Neville’s drink and he got drugged, so likely someone else killed Sarah. The next morning everyone’s called in on their day off due to Henry’s discovery, so they bring Neville out of his cell for questioning. Mike asks if he’d agree to having his blood tested as they think he got drugged, by someone putting Ketamine in his drink. Neville says he knows what Ketamine is and he killed Sarah. Henry says he’s covering for his daughter.
Cecily Neville, was born nine months to the day after the picture of her mother got taken, ran away from home at 15 and incarcerated for possession of Ketamine. She says check with her manager, she worked the night her father’s girlfriend got killed. Henry says Jo never mentioned the woman was her father’s girlfriend and Cecily tells of seeing a woman passing by the shop wearing her mother’s coat. She trailed her to the apartment she grew up in but of course it wasn’t her mother. However it wasn’t Sarah Clancy either. They realize it was Sarah’s roommate, Jennifer.
Jennifer attends Molly’s class and then asks to talk to her about switching majors, and Dawes invites her back to her office. Jennifer soon says that Sarah was her roommate and Molly recognizes her coat, Jennifer says when she wears it, she feels like Sarah’s with her. Molly says she’s got to go to another meeting but they’ll schedule a meeting soon and Jennifer leaves. Dawes calls Henry’s office, but Jennifer comes back and knocks her on the head.
Henry and Jo head to her apartment, but she’s not there, however there’s a printout of Sarah’s class schedule. Just then Lucas calls Jo’s cell and says Henry got a crank-call from the NYU Psychology Dept. They race to Molly’s office.
Molly’s awake and Jennifer asks why she called the police, she didn’t mean to kill Sarah, she tried to save him from that nasty old man, but then Sarah got so mad. Molly says we’ll just tell the police you had a psychotic break, we’ll tell them, I’ll help you. Jennifer starts screaming she’s not psychotic and Molly says that’s just an excuse, a defense to get her off.
Suddenly Henry and Jo start banging at the door and screaming for Molly, Jennifer covers the professor’s mouth and starts pushing a blade into her neck. Henry sees the phone’s been knocked off the counter, busts through the door, Martinez gets Jennifer up against a wall and calls for an ambulance, Henry rushes to Molly who call him her hero, then passes out.
Jo and Henry are sitting at the hospital and tells Jo it’s a long time since he felt like this and Martinez responds that’s what happens when you open up to someone, you become vulnerable. The surgeon comes out to tell Henry, Molly lost a lot of blood, but she’s going to pull through. Henry asks to see her, and Jo pulls NYPD rank to allow Henry to see her.
He walks in and she says she’s always had a fantasy of being rescued by a handsome doctor. She then says she’s the one who got stabbed but he looks terrible, he says it was a harrowing night. Henry then says he’s started to develop real feelings for her and she asks isn’t that a good thing? He says usually, but she replies you’re not a usual guy. You don’t allow those feelings to come out, I don’t know who she is, but she beat you up really bad. Henry says the wounds are still healing, she says if he ever decides he doesn’t like her so much, give her a call. Henry kisses her on the cheek and leaves.
When Henry arrives home he smells something delicious, it’s Abigail’s lasagna recipe that Abe cooked up. He has a taste and says for a moment it felt like she was here, Abe says I hear you Pops. Suddenly it’s 1955, Abigail puts down her lasagna and Abraham says it smells great Ma, Abigail thanks him. Henry says every time he smells that aroma he wants to dance with a beautiful woman and takes Abigail in his arms and they dance. She says I’m a mess and Henry says your perfect, everything’s perfect. We flash to 1982 and we see Abigail and Henry dancing and she says it can’t last and he says let’s not talk about that now.
The Story Continues Next Tuesday at 10:00 pm on ABC.
