The Hand You're Dealt - Recap

Audrey accompanies Duke to Haven High School. He wants to introduce her to his babysitter, Vanessa Stanley, on the day the Colorado Kid photo was taken. He suggests that things should be left in the past, and Audrey takes offense at the fact that he didn't tell her he was in the picture 27 years ago. Duke admits it was unfair, and agrees to get Vanessa to talk to Audrey. However, he warns her that he doesn't remember anything from the day the photo was taken. When they get to Vanessa's office, Duke is stunned at how attractive Vanessa is now. Audrey asks her about the photo and Vanessa explains that she doesn't remember the events of that day either. Afterward, Duke offers to help Audrey find the photographer who took the photo.



A few hours later, Vanessa finishes meeting with two students, Matt and Xander, who were fighting. As they leave, Vanessa gasps in pain. Meanwhile, the principal, Charlene Manning, finds Matt and Xander fighting again and separates them. She then goes to see Vanessa and points out her intervention didn't work, but Vanessa appears to be in a trance. When Manning touches her, Vanessa snaps out of her trance and apologizes. Manning sends her home and Vanessa runs after her, calling her on the cellphone. She warns that the police can't help her and runs outside as Manning gets into her car. Vanessa watches as the car explodes.

Later at the station, Nathan suspects foul play in the explosion, but Audrey dismisses it an accident. Julia Carr, now working as a doctor and replacing her recently-deceased mother, agrees based on the autopsy report. Nathan doesn't think it's an accident and insists on asking around. He suggests they do it together but Audrey refuses. Julia asks Audrey if she wants to have a drink together and talk as outsiders. As Audrey goes, she offers Nathan a high-five and he realizes once again that he can feel his touch.

Later, Audrey returns with coffee and insists there's nothing to the explosion. Duke comes in, much to Nathan's chagrin, and Audrey admits she forgot to tell him she was going with Duke to talk about the photo. Nathan tells her to take some time off and she reluctantly goes.



Duke takes Audrey to the home of Morris Crane, the photographer. At first he appears to remember what happens. However, when Morris starts ranting about lobsters and taking off his pants, they realize he's lost his mental facilities. Audrey calls Nathan, who admits he hasn't found anything yet. When she suspects something is wrong with him, he hastily denies it and goes back to poking himself with a plastic fork. He's unaware that Vanessa has come to the station. Duke calls her and invites her to dinner at his restaurant, but Vanessa sys that she can't. She then turns around and leaves rather than approach Nathan.

Julia and Audrey have their drink and Audrey admits that she admired Eleanor. Julia agrees, and notes that her mother lived and tied with the Troubles, and she never gave an inch. She then offers Audrey the autopsy notes on the Colorado Kid, and explains that Eleanor handled the case. Julia figures that her mother was waiting until Audrey proved herself.



Vanessa runs to the Haven swim club and tries to get in, but the staffer informs her that it's closed. Inside, the student from the school, Xander, is picking another fight. The other kids leave and Vanessa arrives at the door, but can only watch as the water starts boiling and Xander is scalded to death.

That night, Audrey and Nathan arrive at the pool and Julia admits that things like a boy scalding to death in a public pool were why she left Haven. Audrey insists on eliminating the normal causes first, but admits that it must be another Troubled and they plan to start the investigation at the high school. Nathan shakes hands with her and Audrey notices that he seems to be reacting, but he passes it off.



The next morning, Nathan has one of the boys from the pool, Brian, brought in to describe the woman he saw at the pool when Xander died. Duke notes that Audrey misses his appointment with him, and notices the sketch artist doing a sketch of someone who looks like Vanessa. Rather than say anything, Duke quickly leaves.

Audrey and Julia go over the files and find a number of incidents of mysterious fires.

Duke invites Vanessa to the Grey Gull He gives her a quick tour, and she asks if it's true that he's a smuggler. Duke evades the question and tries to talk about her, and Vanessa quickly leaves. As she goes, she bumps into several men who just entered the bar. She winces in pain and Duke comes to help, but she tells him he can't do anything and leaves.



At the sketch, Audrey returns and they show the sketch to the staffer, and he identifies the woman as the one at the pool. Audrey realizes that it's Vanessa, and that Vanessa got upset after Audrey asked her about the Colorado Kid death a few hours earlier. They go to her home to pick her up and find Duke there. He explains that he went there to find Vanessa, but she already left. The sketches show guns and explosions. Audrey finds a list with over a dozen people, and the names of Manning and Xander are crossed off. Duke insists that Vanessa couldn't be a killer, but Nathan warns that people change. The next name on the list is Matt, and Nathan remembers that he was one of the witnesses at the pool.

Matt is riding his bicycle to a neighborhood party, unaware that Vanessa is following him He goes inside and Audrey and the others arrive and capture Vanessa. She insists that she needs to save Matt, and then winces in pain again. Once she recovers, Vanessa tells them that there's a propane tank at the party and it's going to explode.

Inside, Matt approaches one of the girls, Cheryl, but she insults him and Brian attacks him. Nathan and Duke arrive, spot the propane tank, and throw it into the pool a few seconds before it explodes. Nathan confronts Brian and takes him away to protect him. Meanwhile, Vanessa explains to Audrey that her "gift" is that she sees the last thing people see before they die. She doesn't know if Brian is the next victim, but she knows that all of the people on her list will die, and she doesn't know why. Vanessa feels another burst of pain and explains that she can't change anything, and that she's seen her own death in a mirror.



The group goes back to Duke's bar, and Vanessa explains that the pain is worse just before someone died. When Carlene touched her the previous day, Vanessa got a vision of her dying but was unable to stop the explosion. Audrey and Nathan assure her that they believe in her, but Duke isn't so sure. Vanessa insists that she can't stop any of the deaths, but Audrey promises that they will.

The group goes back to Vanessa's house and she shows them her notes of people being engulfed in flame. Vanessa asks to speak to Audrey in private and explains that she's starting to remember some of what happened 27 years ago. She tells Audrey that she was on the beach that day because she foresaw the Colorado Kid dying. Audrey explains that stress triggers a Troubled's affliction, and blames herself for upsetting her. Vanessa believes that her gift is from God and that she has to do something.

Inside, Nathan talks about fate and comments about how he met a woman he could feel her touch. Duke assumes he's talking about Jess, and Nathan tells him to forget it.

Vanessa tells Audrey that she remembers her vision of the Colorado Kid being killed by a man with a pale arm and a tattoo on the forearm.

Nathan and Duke examine the drawings, and Duke insists that life is a movie with no plot. At that, Nathan realizes that everything Vanessa has seen is from a movie. The kids show a movie outside at Dockside Green, and Vanessa explains that Matt is the one who runs the equipment. They remember that Matt was at the school, the pool, and the backyard party, and figure that he's the common thread.



As the sun sets and the movie begins, Audrey and the others arrive at Dockside Green and start searching. The group splits up and Vanessa goes with Audrey. She explains that Matt has an explosive temper and he eventually loses his cool.

Matt approaches a girl, Cheryl, and offers her an umbrella against the rain. She rejects him and bursts of flame suddenly start up. Audrey grabs Matt while Nathan and Duke get the attendees out. Matt realizes that he caused the fires and it's awesome. Audrey tells him to choose and warns that he will end up under arrest as a murderer. Unimpressed, Matt says she can't prove anything and burns her hand, freeing himself. He runs to the screen and Vanessa runs after him. An explosion sends her flying back and Duke runs to her side.

Nathan and Audrey draw their guns, but Matt makes them too hot to handle. Audrey has an idea and tells Nathan to back up. She then starts taunting Matt, calling him weak and worthless. He ignites more fires but Audrey turns and walks away, and Nathan goes with her. Furious, Matt screams at them in fury... and literally explodes in a fit of temper. Audrey realizes that she killed him, but Nathan assures her that she saved everyone else.



Duke hears the ambulances approaching and tries to reassure Vanessa. She realizes that she's dying and tells him that she doesn't want to live with the gift. Duke insists there is no fate, but with her dying breath she tells him what she saw of how he dies.

Later, Nathan, Audrey, and Duke meet with Julia at Duke's bar. Audrey still blames herself for getting Vanessa killed, but Julia and Nathan both assure her that she can't obsess about things they have no control over. Even Duke agrees with Nathan for once. Audrey asks Duke what Vanessa told him, and he explains that she told him how he will die, but not when. Vanessa told him that a guy with a tattoo on his forearm will grab Duke's face and kill him. Audrey realizes it's the same vision that Vanessa had of the Colorado Kid's death. Nathan draws the tattoo, the one they saw on a body. Duke is relieved until he realizes that there could be more people with the same tattoo. Duke vows to find them before they find him, and figures they're all on the same team now.



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