The great house at Collinwood in the frightening world of Parallel Time; a time when the Collinses live under a curse that has haunted them for over a century and a half. To appease this curse, a member of the family, chosen by lottery, must enter a mysterious locked room and spend an entire night there. All those who have done so have either died or emerged mad. On this day the lottery was held again and Catherine Collins drew the losing slip. Now night has fallen and Catherine is prepared to meet her fate.
Julia takes Catherine to the West Wing, but she is unable to open the locked room. The two hear Morgan’s voice from the other side, and he says he has changed the locks. Morgan declares he is taking Catherine’s place.
Act I
Catherine begs Morgan to open the door, but he refuses, saying he and Quentin had a secret pact all along that no woman would enter the room. A tearful Catherine leaves to go back to the main part of the house, while Julia wishes him good luck. Inside the room, Morgan gazes at his surroundings before calmly sitting down in a chair.
Catherine rushes to Quentin and begs him for the key. He adamantly refuses, and brings up the pact he and Morgan made. Quentin tells her all they can do is wait.
In the locked room, Morgan rises from the chair and walks around. On the back wall, he notices a lone curtain; he tears it down and finds a hidden door.
Act II
Morgan finds that this door is also locked. He grabs a candle and searches for a key.
At 9 p.m., Julia, Quentin and Catherine are in the drawing room when there is a knock on the front door. Kendrick arrives and tells Quentin and Julia that he believes Gabriel is hiding somewhere inside Collinwood. Julia sternly denies it, and Kendrick wonders why they both seem so worried.
Meanwhile, Morgan breaks the padlock on the hidden door and goes inside.
Act III
A frustrated Kendrick prepares to leave the house, but Melanie sees him from the top of the stairs. Melanie accidentally reveals to him that something is going on with Morgan, which makes Kendrick curious. Julia agrees to let them have a moment of privacy in the drawing room. Just then, Quentin realizes that Catherine is gone, and rushes upstairs to look for her.
In the drawing room, Melanie lies to Kendrick and says Morgan is only feeling ill. Kendrick appears to believe her, and asks if Gabriel is in the house. He says he must find Gabriel since he is certain he killed Stella. Melanie tells him that Gabriel did not kill Stella, which makes Kendrick even more suspicious. He asks her why she is crying, but she says it would take too long to explain everything. Melanie thinks she would be different if her parents were still alive; she begins to explain how the Collins family adopted her.
In the West Wing, Catherine goes to the locked room and calls out for Morgan, but Quentin catches her.
Act IV
Quentin escorts Catherine back downstairs.
Back in the drawing room, Melanie says she has no memory of who her real parents are (she was adopted when she was just six months old), and has never really tried to find out who they were. Kendrick says they can continue their conversation later, and they kiss each other goodnight.
In the study, the clock strikes 11 p.m. as Quentin and Julia discuss him finding Catherine in the West Wing. They eventually head back to the drawing room to join Melanie and Catherine, where they all anxiously wait throughout the night. Finally, the clock strikes 6 a.m., and Quentin and Julia head to the West Wing.
Quentin and Julia enter the locked room and find Morgan, alive and sitting in a chair. He signifies that he is fine and they take him downstairs.
When everyone reconvenes in the foyer, Catherine excitedly embraces Morgan, but he is unresponsive and appears to be in a trance. Catherine takes him into the drawing room, where he tells her to stop calling him Morgan, because it isn’t his name.
This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 1219.
The final episode of the series would air one month from this episode's broadcast.
First appearance of character James Forsythe, seen here possessing Morgan Collins. He will be seen as a living being in his own right in a flashback to the year 1680 PT in 1231.
TIMELINE: 9pm: Kendrick arrives at Collinwood. 11pm: Quentin and Julia discuss Morgan. Day 448 begins, and will end in 1227. 2:10am & 5:20am: Waiting for Morgan to come out of the locked room. 6am: Quentin releases Morgan.
Bloopers and continuity errors[]
The transition from the scene with Quentin and Catherine in Quentin's room to Morgan in the locked room seems to cut off Quentin's last line, where he is saying something additional about hope.
There is some offscreen noise including a cough when Kendrick and Melanie are quietly speaking in the drawing room during Act III.
When Melanie brings coffee or tea into the drawing room, there is a close-up of the grandfather clock. You can see the edge of the set as well as crew members on the left side of the screen.
