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Episode 4: A Grave Matter In the basement, Karl is extremely agitated, banging the lid of his coffin over and over. His eyes red and his fangs out, he screams as if in pain. The other vampires come to see what is going on and Essie and Merrill realise that he is going through ‘the Chill’. Merrill says that they should do something, Essie responds by putting her fingers in her ears and walking away. “The right of passage into adulthood is a daunting experience. We move from our family into the world, hoping to find in our friends what our family can no longer provide.” Whilst studying in the library, Sherry describes to Mimi her dream involving Drew, telling her of the connection she felt with him. Malcolm tries to interrupt, but Mimi makes it quite clear that his presence is not wanted. “The vampire experiences an even more frightening passage into his new world”. That evening Murdoch is writing in his journal when Karl storms through, telling him that he is leaving, going back to his old life. Murdoch replies that his place is now at Mansbridge. If he walks out that door he will lose any chance of going back, and that the whole point of the Experiment is to give him that chance. The red finally fades from Karl’s eyes, but there is now a bigger problem. Hiding behind a doorway Malcolm has seen Karl, and recognises him. Back in Murdoch’s office, the doctor tells the assembled night students that they need to discuss what just happened, but Karl refuses. In the library Malcolm posts his sighting on the internet. In their room, Sherry and Mimi discuss their families. Sherry asks “Do you think we’re the way we are because we failed, or because our parents failed us?” Malcolm comes in and tells them that he has just seen the football captain from his old school. Mimi asks him if he’s cute, Malcolm replies “No, he’s supposed to be dead”. Sherry and Mimi think he’s delusional and Mimi pushes him out the door. The next day Marian Hackett, an agent from the Biomorphic Predatory Disease Agency turns up to investigate a possible vampire sighting. She tells Murdoch that vampires are real, while he tries to look incredulous. She tells him she is a hunter of what in her mind are nothing but craven, bloodthirsty animals. Watching from the basement, Essie and Merrill warn the others that Hackett is dangerous. Hackett tells Murdoch that Karl Todman has been seen, a local teen who supposedly died of leukaemia a year ago. She asks to interview Malcolm who reported the sighting and Murdoch reluctantly agrees. Downstairs Marty feels that they should kill the agent, but Essie tells him that he wouldn’t even get close. In the library Hackett shows Malcolm Karl’s yearbook picture, asking him if it was definitely who he saw. He replies that Karl once stapled him to a tree and he therefore has no trouble identifying him. Murdoch tells Hackett that Malcolm has a hyperactive imagination; she replies that that is what they used to say about her. In the basement Karl tells Drew about all of his sporting victories at school, and that with a load of college offers he felt he had had his whole life sorted out. Drew remarks that there is no point wasting time on could-have-beens. Karl tells him that he is going home and Drew advises him against it. His friends and family wouldn’t understand, and he would be a danger to them. Drew then tells Karl to get some sleep, reminding him that “it’s the middle of the day. That evening Merrill wakes Drew telling him that Karl is gone. They know that he has gone back to his grave, and she asks Drew to go after him. In Murdoch’s office the three remaining vamps have told Murdoch of Karl and Drew’s departure to the cemetery. He tells them to remain downstairs until he can figure out what to do. There is a knock at the door and the vamps disappear. Hackett is back. She reassures Murdoch that her instruments have not detected any sign of biomorphic infection, but that she is going to check out Karl’s grave just in case. Murdoch stalls her with the offer of tea, and quickly makes a phone call. At Karl’s grave two of his old buddies share a brew and memories of their friend. One of them cuts his finger on the ring-pull and Karl, watching from behind a tree, vamps out. Hearing the strange noises in the bushes, the jocks run for their lives. Karl kneels in front of his grave and tears at the ground, roaring in pain. Drew tries to calm him down, and Karl admits that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, fearing that he is losing his mind. Drew explains about ‘the Chill’, and that it happens to all vampires exactly a year after they are made, calling them back to their graves. Drew tells him about his own experience, and explains that ‘the Chill’ never really goes away, you just learn to live with it. Karl finally realises that he can never go back to his old life. Drew tells him to say goodbye to the Karl that was, “and be thankful there’s a you that still is.” As they are about to leave Hackett shows up with a very large gun. They run as she fires. A police car pulls up and the sheriff arrests her, not believing that she is a Federal agent. Back in the Mansbridge basement, the vampires’ welcome Karl back, while upstairs Hackett returns, warning Murdoch that their paths will cross again. “In truth, vampires and mortals both experience ‘the Chill’. That yearning for what we once called home. That cold memory of a forever lost time and place. And for all of us, there is only the hope of finding a new home, a new family.”
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