EPI-LOG ARTICLE on Beauty and the Beast
review by Nina Johnson. Click here for contents.

Episode 25 (Season 2, Episode 3)

Ashes, Ashes

Ashes, Ashes (airdate: Dec 2, 1988).  Vincent is walking along the docks when he sees a small motorboat.  He hides behind some crates and watches as sailors use a spotlight to hunt for something or someone.  Finding nothing, they continue on in their search. Vincent hears someone swimming near the dock.  It is a man who tries to get on the pier but he falls back into the water.  Vincent goes and picks him up out of the water.  The man faints and Vincent carries him to the tunnels.  Catherine is at the office late.  Joe and a well-dressed man come out of his office.  When the man sees Catherine they go over and talk.  The man, Peter Alcott, then tells the other workers that the first time he saw Catherine, she was naked.  They all laugh when she tells them she was crying and upside down, because he delivered her.  Peter leaves Catherine with a promise from her to visit him and his wife.  In the tunnels, the man wakes up.  Vincent speaks in Russian to him and asks about hishealth.  The man says he is okay and then speaks in English.  He tells Vincent that he is a sailor named Dimitri.  He has jumped the ship to find his fiancee, Anna, who has been in America for over four years.  All he knows is that she lives in Brooklyn.  Vincent convinces him to rest and leaves to talk with Catherine. Vincent tells her about Dimitri and asks her to help find Anna.  Dimitri slowly recovers.  Feeling better, he tells the children a ghost story.  Ellie has developed a crush on him and he tells her that she is beautiful and special, just like his Anna.  He expresses a wish to have a child just like her to which she retorts that she is not a child.  Vincent comes back to find Dimitri and Father playing chess.  He tells Dimitri that Catherine is looking for Anna.  Vincent escorts Dimitri to the entrance.  But their walk is slowed down by Dimitri coughing.  After leaving the main exit, Dimitri collapses.  Vincent carries him back down to the tunnels.  Father examines Dimitri and Ellie starts nursing him back to health.  As Father examines Dimitri's blood sample with a microscope, a frightened "Dear God" escapes his lips.  Catherine has tracked Anna to a school that teaches iimigrants English and gets Anna's address.  At the door, Catherine hears a celebration going on.  When the door is opened, Catherine sees Anna in her wedding dress.  Catherine says she has the wrong apartment and leaves.  Vincent goes to check on Dimitri.  He find Father holding Dimitri's hands.  Vincent asks how he is and Father tells him that he is dead.  Father explains that Dimitri had the Bubonic Plague.  Emergency measures are immediately put into action.  All helpers are warned to stay away and the tunnels are sealed off.  Catherine is having lunch when the sandwich vendor tells her that she should have the beef tongue instead of the chicken salad.  Inside the sandwich is a note.  She reads it and heads for the parking deck.  A black van pulls up and stops near her.  The driver is Peter Alcott.  He too is a helper.  Peter tells Catherine about the disease and she takes the van even after he tells her there is a quarantine.  Mouse and Jamie meet her.  She tries to get them to let her help but they won't get near.  She finally gets them to let her go.

The disease has affected many of the Tunnel World.  Ellie shows signs of it and is quarantined.  Eric doesn't want her to leave him and tells her that he hates her for leaving him by himself.  Catherine cares for Ellie since she is the one who brought her and her brother to the Tunnel World.  Catherine sings a lullaby to her, hoping to take her mind off her illness.  Eric tries to visit with his sister, feeling bad for what he said to her.  But he is not allowed to see her.  Ellie becomes much worse.  She calls for Catherine, then tells her "He told me I was beautiful."  Catherine tries to wake her up but it is no use.  She has died.  Father cries out that he has lost her.  Vincent takes Catherine away from Ellie and she cries on his chest.  Father blames himself for losing Ellie.  Vincent convinces Father to let him take Eric.  Eric asks how Ellie is.  When Vincent tells him, Eric doesn't believe him and runs.  Later, the worst part of the Epidemic is over, but Eric stays to himself.  Vincent takes Father to the chamber.  Eric tells father that he is writing a letter to Ellie.  But he has no way to give it to her now. Father tells Eric that he would like to write a letter to Ellie too and Eric gives him a sheet of paper.  Father tells Eric that he knows of a way to send Ellie the letter.  All the tunnel dwellers gather at the mirror pool.  They have built a small fire on the shore.  Eric tells Ellie how much he loves and misses her, then puts his letter on the flames.  The others place their own farewell letters in the flames with Vincent's being the last.  A large cinder floats up and out of the tunnels through the park towards the night sky.  Catherine tells Father goodbye, then she and Vincent go to her balcony.  She expresses wonderment at Dimitri's search for his love even though he may have known that she was lost.  Vincent tells her "One either moves toward love or away from it, Catherine - there is no other direction."  Catherine hugs Vincent to indicate which direction she has chosen.

Guest Cast: Adrian Paul as Dimitri Benko, Joseph Campanella as Dr. Peter Alcott, Carolyn Finney as Rita Escobar, Scott Hunter as the night school teacher, Yvegeny Lanskoy as the man in motorboat, Irina Irvine as Jamie, Kamie Harper as Ellie, Joshua Rudoy as Eric, Zachary Rosencrantz as Zach.

Writer: Durrell Royce Crays, Roy Dotrice

Director: Gus Trikonis.