Thursday, September 8, 2016

Alternative Plot for Dynasty of Deceit

Having survived reviewing Sarah Stuart’s Illicit Passion and Dangerous Liaisons, this reviewer wondered how the story would conclude if the messed up family were to potter along their way as they have always been. So here’s what the storyline as imagined by this reviewer would look like if the clusterfuck trend continues.


Note of caution: the following is an imagined alternative story line plotted on the basis of two main principles: the characters are messed up and will continue to be messed up and history repeats itself.



And so the story begins...

15 years after the concluding scene in IP, Lisette passes the Book of Hours to her younger daughter, Elise/Elise. The relationship between Lisette and Brian is tensed or troubled. He's always had the suspicion that Lisette doesn't love him as much as she loves Michael, which strains their relationship. Matters are worsened by the fact that while Michael has handed over the reins at Fynn Productions, his influence casts a shadow at work. Feeling frustrated by the fact that he seems to be constantly living in Michael's shadow, Brian grows distant from Lisette.

Harriet is equally frustrated. Seeing Lisette's younger daughter and her half sister, Elise, reminds her of the condition imposed upon her relationship with Kit: No children. She chafes at the unfairness of it all. She decides to break that condition after seeing how a young actress seems to be trying to seduce Kit. She successfully gets Kit to bed but he admonishes her after finding out that she'd stopped birth control. They have a big fight and Harriet storms off after accusing him of not viewing her as an equal ever since he found out about her parentage; that he's imposed the condition because he doesn't think she's clean enough to bear his child. Harriet runs into Brian and both of them drink away their sorrows. And in the course of that, they vent their frustration against Lisette, Lizzie and Kit (who Michael also gave shares/a role in the company) and end up in bed together. They wake up and regret it, agreeing never to tell anyone about their one night stand.

Eight weeks later, Harriet finds out she is pregnant but she's afraid to tell anyone because she doesn't know who the father of her child is. She cannot confide in Lisette because the fact that she had a one night stand with Brian might be exposed and cause everyone greater hurt. Desperate, she turns to Lizzie. Lizzie is in a dilemma and turns to Michael. Both Lizzie and Michael are saddened by how their indiscretions have led to even more complicated lives for their offspring and their grandchildren.

Kit struggles with fending off the attentions of a young actress and is frustrated by Harriet's emotional behaviour and withdrawal. He has been grooming Lisette's younger daughter (Elise) who has inherited her mother’s talent. Elise is worried about the tension at home and blames Lisette for her absences from home and preoccupation with performances and Fynn Production. She's jealous of Harriet whom Lisette seems particularly close to and envies Harriet's close relationship with Uncle Kit whom she idolises because of his artistic talent. She falls in love with Kit and when Harriet is away during the pregnancy (staying with Lizzie, telling Kit she needs time away to think), she takes advantage of Kit's loneliness and seduces him in a way that eerily echoes Lisette's seduction of Michael. Kit is remorseful but his loneliness gets the better of him and he has an affair with Elise.


Harriet finds out about Elise and is furious. Confronting Kit and Elise, having summoned them from London to Kinloch, she exposes the entire sordid family history to all. Lizzie is shocked by the mess that has exploded and tries to keep the whole scandal from Michael whose health hasn't been great since his heart attack. Lizzie herself is having problems because she's been getting more and more forgetful, worsened by the stress from all the scandals which has taken its toll on her. She's diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Realising she might not have the ability to save the family, she calls the family together, including Greta who's been distant since she got into ballet school. Greta has suspected that her family's more complicated than most for some time but hasn't wanted to be involved. She's appalled by the full truth and feels disgusted by Michael and Lizzie, blaming them for the mess the family finds itself in and also the episode with Tyrone which has scarred her. James tries to counsel her and eventually persuades her to forgive and reconcile with the family.

Michael notices Lizzie's deterioration and is grieved by the fact that his wife is slipping away day by day. His anguish is increased by her episodes of delusion where she mistakes him and Kit for Clement and he mulls over the question of how much she'd loved Clement. Yet, after her delusional episodes, she apologises profusely to Michael and assures him that she loves him most. Knowing that she's deteriorating fast, Lizzie writes or records her last words to each member of the family.


She apologises to Kit for not being the best mother ever because he was a constant reminder of the period of weakness that resulted in her having an adulterous affair with Clement and resulted in his birth. She hopes he will forgive her and put his talent to good use. She also apologises to Harriet, acknowledging that there were times when looking at Harriet was difficult because she reminded her of Lisette's and Michael's affair which she had forgiven but never forgotten. She hopes Harriet will escape from the cursed influence of the Book of Hours. And that Harriet’s writing talent provides her a means of expiating her negative emotions. She also apologises to James for her failure as a mother and begs him to keep the family together. She apologises to Lisette and confesses her occasional jealousy of Lisette and Harriet but knows she has no moral ground to condemn them since she cheated on Michael. She exhorts Lisette to take back the Book of Hours from Elise so that its pernicious effects would end. She tells Greta to forget the past and explains why she never wanted Greta to receive the Book of Hours, telling her to find love that will bring her out of the shadows and into the light.


In between the times when Lizzie is busy writing her letters( they become a counterpart to the Book of Hours), more drama ensues. Harriet writes her last novel, in which she weaves an ancient curse haunting a family of female descendants of a member of French royalty and the complicated relationships that ensue in a modern celebrity family. The reaction from a group of beta readers is extremely positive but Harriet makes her agent promise not to release the book till a year later. She seems to be convinced that she does not have long to live. Elise is pregnant, Kit goes into deep depression. Harriet comes to terms with what has happened between Kit and Elise but  refuses to forgive either of them openly. Harriet secludes herself on the private part of the estate and writes feverishly. Harriet gives birth to fraternal twins and dies a few days later after confessing the one night stand and running way upon seeing the devastation on Kit’s face (either birth complications or suicide in the loch).  Lisette is devastated and tries to find comfort in Michael but is rebuffed when she tries to offer him comfort through her body. He puts it plainly that part of the fault for the whole family mess is a result of his mistake and his decision to take matters too far with Lisette.

After some discreet tests, the female twin is confirmed to be Kit's child while Brian fathered Harriet's boy. Kit shuts himself away, refusing to talk to anyone till James brings him something that he found in Harriet’s room. It is the plot of her last novel and a complete script for a musical play based on the novel. Kit tells James he  is devastated but has forgiven Harriet. He vows to make the musical play a success as tribute to Harriet. He looks at his daughter fondly but refuses to care for her and instead begs James to take on the infant out of pity for his two half siblings. James is worried and keeps a watch on Kit. Staying isolated in his room, Kit works on the musical relentlessly. He ignores Elise and Lizzie and refuses to speak to anyone other than James. He writes his final song in the musical and then commits suicide by walking into the loch one early morning while James is passed out from exhaustion. Elise feels she's blamed for Harriet’s and Kit’s death and is resentful, Michael and James give her a dressing down and she breaks down and complains that she's always thought Lisette didn't love her as much as Harriet. Lisette has an emotional breakdown and Brian comforts her, they reconcile and decide to adopt Brian's new son.

Elise gives birth and it's a girl, but she chooses not to save the child (who needs medical help because it is a premature baby) because she doesn’t want tragedy to be overshadow the child’s life. She regrets the influence of the Book of Hours and hands it back to Lisette before leaving to pursue her career, which is ironically launched through Kit and Harriet’s musical play. James and Isla decide to adopt Harriet/Kit's daughter since they only have a son and Isla hasn't been able to have more children.

In the background of this, Michael and Lizzie have been living in an isolated part of the estate and have not been told of all the latest tragedies to hit the family. Lizzie dies in Michael's arms in the middle of the night, he's heartbroken and weeps as he reads Lizzie's letter to him. He realises his love is now gone from the earth and that she loved him most even when she'd lost her memory. He fancies he sees her smiling at him from the window and feels pain in his chest. He loses consciousness with a smile on his face even as a final tear runs down his face. He gives Lizzie a final kiss and they die with their arms around each other.

James and the rest of the family bury the couple in a shared grave. James talks about there having been too many funerals in the family and hugs Isla as they walk back. Harriet and Kit are also reunited in the family graveyard though it's with great trouble because James wants to keep it all a secret. The reclaiming of the bodies is done as part of a rescue effort for the twins (Kit and Harriet) who have allegedly drowned in an accident.

The final scene sees Lisette burning the Book of Hours as the voice of Margaret tells her it's time for her descendants to live their lives without the past hanging over them. Lisette fancies that she sees the faint figures of Lizzie and Michael, young and in love as they once were, hands linked while running into the misty distance.


That concludes the weirdest story line this reviewer has ever written.


Think this reviewer has a future in soap plot writing?

Let this reviewer know what you think of the twisted fantasy plot!

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