Warning: Spoiler Alert
Yes, the latest episode the ABC series “Forever,” did have a full hour’s worth of plot, however if you’re reading this immediately after watching this chapter, likely all you can think about are the final three minutes of the show. Yes two giant cliffhangers, occurred in that last segment and we’ll eventually get to it, but let’s talk about the moments, leading up to that final scene first.
If you’ve yet to figure out why so many, including this writer, believe that Forever is the best new show of the 2014-2015 TV campaign, you might want to sit down and watch the episode entitled “Best Foot Forward,” as it highlighted the strengths of this show. As I’ve written before on these pages, the formula for success on the small and large screen is simple, combining incredible writing and top-notch acting, attaining that combination, however is far more difficult.
Bottom Line: Series Creator Matt Miller and his writing staff are wonderful storytellers, an art appreciated since our oldest ancestors sat around the fire at night, dreaming of what comprised the silk-black sky above them. The show breaks down barriers, combining the best aspects of a procedural, a sci-fi/fantasy tale and one man’s search for love and contentment. Add to that one of the finest acting ensembles, on Television today and you’ve got a show, that given time to grow, could become one of the finest productions, in the history of the medium.
The case that the precinct solved, was intriguing in its own right, however resolving some other situations, also played a huge part of this episode. Those situations led up to the final segment, that many viewers likely watched multiple times, before shutting off their TV.
We start the hour, watching a crowd stream into the Stuhler Center For The Performing Arts, to attend a ballet. A historic event, dubbed by company director Dmitri Milkoff, the final performance for the company’s Prima-Ballerina, Odessa, retiring after this performance. Except the company forced her out, as Milkoff says the pain started showing in performance. She tells him she tolerates the pain, but she can’t stand him.
The curtain opens and Odessa dances, smiling to the crowd. They reach the end of the first act, when Milkoff asks where dancer Eva Selgas is at, she’s got a solo, early in the next act. A woman with a laundry cart, taking the dancers costumes, sees blood staining the bottom of her cart. She starts rummaging through the cart, then screams when she discovers a dancer’s foot, encased in a ballet slipper.
We travel to Abe’s shop, finding Henry’s in the basement, playing with the pistol that initially killed him and we hear Adam’s words, see flashbacks of the pistol killing Morgan. Curiosity, bordering on morbidity, the pistol doesn’t repulse him. He’s fascinated by it, meaning at least in my mind, some part of him is entertaining using it on himself. Suddenly, he hears Abe upstairs, gets nervous and goes up to check on Abe.
Abe’s on the phone with the medical center, he believes Abigail worked at, after leaving Henry in 1985. The operator’s sympathetic when he says he’s looking for his mother, but says he’d need to get the police or a Medical Examiner involved, to acquire information. Henry’s coming up the stairs and he thanks the woman and hangs up. They then each fabricate stories, to explain what they’d been doing.
Jo Martinez blindfolded, sits in her boyfriend Isaac Monroe’s kitchen, as he feeds her something from a spoon, her face registers with delight. He tells her it’s his homemade paella, every bite will make her feel, like she’s on the streets of Seville. She tells Isaac, she’s never travelled, suddenly he wants to take her to Spain, or any place she’d like on his private jet. She starts tensing, when the phone rings, Mike Hanson’s at the Stuhler Center.
Henry looks at the foot and says obviously a dancer, she’s five feet four, judging by her skin color, possibly of Spanish descent, she loves sushi and her favorite color’s red. (Well, he said some of that.) Hanson’s not even impressed with Morgan’s talents at this point, asks if she could be Cuban, then shows them the photograph of the only dancer missing the performance, Eva Selgas.
Lieutenant Reece asks her officers, how the investigation’s proceeding, Mike says considering they’ve yet to find a body, there’s not much to go on. Reece, says the Mayor’s called twice already, so get this case on the front burner and find the body, as quickly as possible.
Henry and Lucas examine the dancers foot, Morgan points out the broken toes and strained ligaments she had, then sees needle marks on the heel and assumes she was taking cortisone for the constant pain. He says to Lucas, it’s amazing, what some people will do for their art.
Which leads us to our first flashback of the evening, the graphic informs us, that we’re in Paris in 1929, Doctor Morgan’s dressed to kill, in a tailor-made suit. Though he came because his friend Valerie said she was sick, we hear jazz blasting into the hallway, Morgan opens the door and finds the apartment’s filled with some of Paris’ finest.
Valerie greets him, she said she fibbed to get him over, as she knew he wouldn’t attend a party. We see a dashing American, say to Morgan, that this is Paris, he should be exploring the city, with a beautiful girl on his arm. Henry replies, I had a girl Ernest, until she got seduced by an American novelist. The man says he’s forgotten that, perhaps Henry should too. Morgan starts to stop the man from walking away, when Valerie tells him she won’t allow him to ruin her party, fighting with Hemingway again.
Morgan asks what they’re celebrating, Valerie tells him her new sculptures, got accepted by the Salon. Henry’s awestruck by her creation, telling her it’s her finest work yet. A woman sidles up to Val, and they head towards the back of the apartment. Later that night, as the apartment’s almost cleared out, Morgan’s about to leave, when he looks for Valerie, to wish her good night. He finds her comatose, on her bed, a hypodermic-needle, stuck into her arm. Henry removes the needle and helps Valerie vomit, saving her life.
Abe heads to the precinct, to try to engage Lucas Wahl’s help in finding Abigail, saying he needs a Medical Examiner to get records released and he must keep this mission, a secret from Henry. After Abe flatters Lucas a bit, he says he’d be glad to help Abe try to find his mom.
Back in the present, Martinez has struck out looking for Eva’s body, while all Henry’s turned up, was some carpet fiber, from her slipper. They go to visit Eva’s brother Javier, the two came to the USA on a raft from Cuba and have remained very close. All he can tell them is that Eva said she thought she had a stalker, but didn’t reveal a name. Morgan, however gets excited when he realizes Eva drove a classic-car, as the rug-fiber, likely came from the auto. We find the car, we might find the body.
Mike locates the car in an impoundment lot, there’s blood in the trunk, but not enough for her to have bled out. However, he finds some tubing and says she might have used a tourniquet, to staunch the bleeding, if that’s the case, then Selgas might still be alive.
Lucas and Morgan inspect the car in a “Clean-Room,” Henry tells Wahl, that time’s critical. A young woman comes down to tell Lucas he needs to sign for the records he requested, from the medical facility. Henry barks out what medical records, his assistant says it must be a mistake, he’ll straighten it out.
They bring in Odessa and one of her thugs, Sergei for questioning. The Prima-Ballerina says she’s angry she got replaced, but never touched Selgas, she says it’s an old Russian trick, make a rival nervous, to throw them off their game. Morgan, raps on the glass in the room Jo’s in, stopping the interrogation.
We’re in front of the Stuhler Center, Henry tells Martinez and Hanson that Odessa and Sergei aren’t involved in the murder. He then points out the statue in front of the building, telling them that the Romans referred to that type of work, as a lover’s statue, as lovers would leave notes for each other in the work’s crevices. He quickly finds a note, in the crook off an arm, the note says meet me at the Oyster Bay Motel at four, P.
They head to the motel, realize that’s where Eva’s foot got cut off, Henry realizes that the sand and grass he found in the tires, matches the area. He then points out a large flock of seagulls, likely there for food. Morgan runs into the grass, finding Selgas still alive.
In Eva’s hospital room, Javier expresses concern, over his sister’s safety, Lieutenant Reece assures him that there’s a guard stationed at her door 24-7. Reece asks the doctor, when she may wake up, to possibly identify her attacker. He responds, looking at her chart he’s amazed she’s alive, Morgan says what the chart fails to show’s her spirit, her determination, and her will.
Lucas and Abe strike out finding a match for Abigail amongst the files they received. Wahl says to get any more in-depth records, they’d need to get Henry involved, Abe acknowledges they’ve hit a dead-end. Lucas feels terrible that Abe can’t get closure, the older man responds, that what hurts the most, is thinking she ended up in a morgue under a phony name, possibly going unclaimed.
Abe thanks Lucas for his help and leaves, Wahl starts to get up, puts his new scarf on and gets inspired. He puts on a phony British accent and identifies himself as Henry, then asks for some records, as he throws the scarf around his neck.
Jo’s at her desk, a brochure of Africa sitting in front of her, talking to Isaac about a vacation in Africa, he says they can go on a safari. She says if she’s going on vacation, no guns. He then suggests Paris, she starts to tense up and sees Henry heading to her desk, using that as an excuse to hang up.
Henry asks if she’s traveling to Africa, she replies no, but Isaac wants to take her on vacation. Henry says he works fast, she responds that’s the problem. Morgan asks if she’s adverse to going because she doesn’t care for him enough and she says it’s just the opposite. He sits down and says that if they’ve learned anything from this case, you can live through the pain you’re going through, but you can’t let fear stop you from opening up to someone you care about.
The pair then head back to the Stuhler Center, to interview more dancers, when a ballerina’s dropped and hits the floor hard. Henry runs to her, helps her up and gets her seated, she says she’s fine, as she starts to inject a needle into her heel. Morgan advises her to go with ice and rest, she says look around Doctor, you think anyone cares about us? It’s all about being the best.
Second flashback, as Henry returns to Valerie’s apartment the day after the party, while she’s working on a statue. Morgan scolds her for getting her creativity from heroin, she thanks him for saving her, but says she doesn’t want a lecture. She tells him that heroin’s her muse, that she becomes incredibly creative while high. He tells her that if she believes in herself, she can create true wonders, far better than her present work. She says she needs to get back to work and says goodbye to Morgan.
After chasing several false leads, Eva regains consciousness and talks with Henry. She tells the Medical-Examiner, that all she remembers is waking up in the trunk, realizing what had been done to her, the rest’s just a blur. Morgan asks her doctor, when they’ll amputate the rest of her leg, the doctor replies it’s not needed, the wound was surgically cauterised.
He informs Hanson and Martinez, that Eva’s assailant had a medical background. Mike sprints to his car and shows Jo and Henry, that Javier was a field-doctor in the Cuban army.
Hanson and Martinez run to Javier’s apartment, knock down the door, he’s not there, but Mike finds a bone-saw. Javier enters, he sees the detectives, jumps out the window to the fire-escape, then runs to the roof, realizing he can try to jump to the other roof, or get arrested. He attempts the jump, grabs the other roof’s ledge, then falls to his death.
Morgan’s mystified at why Javier would do this to his sister, Jo says perhaps he got jealous. She then smiles and tells Henry she took his advice, Isaac and her are headed to Paris that evening. She asks what he would recommend she do in Paris, he says to go out and get lost in the city streets. Go until you’re so tired, that you have to stop at some unknown café, have something wonderful to eat and a couple of glasses of wine, then have at it again. Jo’s eyes glisten, as she responds that’s nice.
Lucas comes up as Jo goes home to pack, with the toxicology reports from Selgas’ foot. Her brother injected her with some drug, to fight off the pain of a congenital birth defect. She’d only be able to dance for one more year. At first Morgan’s puzzled, but soon has his eureka moment.
Eva’s getting discharged from the hospital as Henry arrives, he tells the nurse that he’ll push Selgas’ wheelchair to her car. He then reveals that he’s figured out that Javier cut off her foot, to keep her memory alive forever. She would have had to quit dancing, just one year after getting the title she spent her life working for. This way, she’ll get remembered, as the girl who had limitless potential taken from her in a violent act. Eva’s face turns to stone, as she replies that’s quite a story, very dramatic. Then she tells Morgan she’ll take it from here and wheels herself to her adoring public, waiting for her at the elevator, she’s beaming.
Martinez wants to arrest her, Henry says without Javier, they’ve got no case. Reece says the District Attorney would toss the case, go catch your plane and bring her back some pastry.
Lucas gets a call, from the medical facility, they’ve got information on the woman he’s tried to locate, the man on the other end asks if he’d like it now. He puts back on his accent and says please.
Isaac picks Jo up, puts her suitcase in the trunk, says he’s excited to being going to Paris with her. He then says he has every minute planned, every bite they eat, every sip of wine they take, Jo asks if they could just get lost? He laughs, says I won’t get you lost.
Henry heads back to the shop, then puts the pistol back in its case. Yes, he’s still grieving, still needs closure with Abigail, but he loves life too much on April 7, 2015 for him to cash in his chips right now, this incident and his last memory of his friend Valerie, reinforced that. Morgan made one last visit to Val’s apartment, she’d sculpted a lover’s statue, like the one in front of the Stuhler Center. But his excitement, turned to horror as he saw Val’s dead body on the floor, feet away.
There’s a knock at Abe’s shop’s door, it’s Jo with her suitcase in hand. Henry asks her what happened, she said she didn’t want to go. He asks, you didn’t want to go to Paris? She replies, she didn’t want to go with Isaac. Then she says I didn’t want to go to Paris with Isaac, looking right into Henry’s eyes. He knows exactly what she’s saying, but he’s afraid to go there, so he bats her statement away by asking her why? She replies she doesn’t know, as they’ve both lost their nerve. She starts to say something when Abe walks in saying he’s glad Henry’s there.
Abe says he needs to talk to Henry, Jo says it really wasn’t important, see you at the precinct in the morning. The look on Henry’s face priceless, a mixture of confusion and frustration, as he watches her leave. He then turns to Abe and says what’s wrong Abraham, his son say I Found Mom. Let that phrase linger with you as you go through the next couple of weeks, waiting for the season’s final two episodes. Abe didn’t say I found out what happened to Mom, which he would’ve if she died, he said I Found Mom. Abigail Morgan’s ALIVE.
The Story Continues Tuesday, April 21, at 9:00 pm on ABC.
