Steam – Sixth Night

The sixth performance of Steam was improvised on 1/21/12.

Episode Summary

The Parliament building in London lies in rubble. In its midst: the wreckage of the mighty airship Victoriana, brought down by Sigma, the cyborg leader of the nefarious Black Cloaks.

Ship’s engineer Joshua Mew and Lady Electra Spencer stumble out of the wreckage. They both feel not only an emotional loss, but a strangely spiritual one. Joshua insists they must leave the ship to see if it can be repaired, though Electra is curiously reluctant to do so.

Wilhemina Wyldeheart and her partner Kit, who thought they’d left the Victoriana back in Russia, are stunned to have seen it plummet out of the London sky. Wilhemina had sworn off the ship and its Captain, Hamwich Leon, but it seems that fate insists they remain together. And yet the ship is crashed! Wilhemina fears for the fate of the crew.

Wilhemina is happily reunited with Adelaide McKenna, her friend from back in Richmond. Though she survived the wreck, Adelaide reveals some tragic news: her father back in Virginia has passed away, and she must return to tend to her family textile business. Captain Roger Rogér, former captain of the Victoriana, offers to fly her back across the Atlantic. Wilhemina, newly open about her magical abilities, offers a protective spell to shield them on their way.

The mechanical parts of the Victoriana discuss their own fate while the crew is away. With Sigma having taken part of the ship’s soul, “Vicky” realizes she must transfer part of herself to another living creature to stay alive. She realizes that Lady Electra Spencer, who stayed onboard as the ship wrecked, is meant to serve this role.

Back in London, Lady Electra is suddenly overcome with an intense need to return to the ship. Yvette intuitively realizes that Electra has more than one person inside her; she is “pregnant,” not with child, but with the soul of the ship.

Lady Electra then shares her own dark secret with Yvette. As an 11-year-old duchess, she was raped by a family servant, who left her unable to have children and effectively abandoned by her family.

Being spiritually united with the ship is the first time in her life she’s had such a relationship. Before the Lady can return to the ship, however, they’re accosted by the Prime Minister’s guard and ordered to his offices.

Captain Hamwich Leon and the mysterious Randy observe the repairs to the Victoriana. Hamwich reveals that he knows Randy’s true identity: Barnaby Jones, an acquaintance from years past. Barnaby admits his identity and reveals that Hamwich broke his sister’s heart… a sister now dead. “You think that everything you do has no consequence,” says Barnaby, “but one day it’s going to come back.”

Just then, Wilhemina Wyldeheart walks back onto the Victoriana, a ship to which she’d vowed never to return. She slaps Hamwich—twice; she’s furious that he never came to her aid, while he responds that he’s done his best. Finally Wilhemina’s strong front breaks, and she embraces Hamwich passionately. He calls her his “baby girl.”

In London, Lady Electra and Yvette are escorted in to see Prime Minister Fitzpatrick. He’s aware that the crew of the Victoriana is deeply involved in fighting the Black Cloaks, and reveals that the British government has formed its own organization, called The Hand, to battle it. The Prime Minister demands her assistance, holding the crew members of the Victoriana in ransom; but Electra turns the tables, insisting he will only receive her help if he “plays nice.” He grudgingly agrees.

Lady Electra then receives a visitor from the opposing team: a Black Cloak appears and insists that she come alone to their steam-powered factory in the center of London. Electra is yet again adamant not to leave the ship to which she is now bound, but Victoriana tells her she must go.

Across the ocean, Adelaide McKenna and Roger Rogér arrive at her family’s estate and textiles factory. Adelaide is reunited with an old friend, Steph, who shares a surprise. It seems that Adelaide’s late father was manufacturing black cloaks. Then an even bigger surprise: Adelaide says “I know.”

Joshua Mew recalls the first time, five years ago, that he set foot on the Victoriana. As his first ship, Joshua knew that he wanted a true connection to it; and so he threw open the main boiler, and tossed in a small bauble containing the “essence” of his deceased wife, Sarah. With that, the Victoriana whirred to life and became a living thing, unique among airships. We now know why it is that Joshua can communicate with the ship so intimately, why the Black Cloaks have such an interest in it, and why the ship needed Lady Electra to continue living.

Wilhemina and Hamwich arrive separately at the Black Cloaks’ factory, which is what drew Wilhemina to London in the first place. They see Electra approaching the front gate, and Hamwich begins to twitch strangely in response.

Inside, Electra meets a Black Cloak who demands possession of the “baby” inside her—her connection to the Victoriana. Electra won’t go down without a fight, however; she battles the Black Cloak valiantly, and is rescued at the last moment by the sudden appearance of Kit! Glowing, Kit uses her magical powers to disintegrate and absorb the evil Black Cloak into herself. They escape the evil London factory together, only to encounter a shocking new threat: Captain Hamwich Leon!

Kit has pieced the mystery together: before fleeing the Victoriana, Sigma turned Hamwich into a Black Cloak! Only halfway in control of himself, Hamwich stalks toward the Lady Electra. Wilhemina refuses to believe the news. “Not him!” she screams.

Electra races to the controls of the Victoriana, and powered by magic, its various pieces rise into the London sky of their own accord. Hamwich is on board as well, however, and so Wilhemina Wyldeheart makes a sacrifice to rescue them all: she embraces Hamwich and teleports them off the ship, destination unknown.

The crew is safe, but Electra’s union with the ship becomes complete. Her body slowly converts to metal, and she physically disappears into the machinery of the Victoriana as it rises over England. She awakes amongst the parts of the ship, and realizes that she now is one with them.

Yvette Cloud is livid at the apparent loss of her friend. She verbally assaults Joshua Mew, who she insists should have known this would happen. Joshua knew Victoriana had a soul—he’d placed it there himself—but had no idea a person could be pulled into it. Yvette despairs at the loss all around her, though Joshua points out that Electra still lives within the ship. No matter: Yvette swears vengeance against the Black Cloaks.

What is Adelaide McKenna’s relationship with the Black Cloaks? Why has Barnaby Jones been lurking on the Victoriana? Will Lady Electra Spencer ever be seen in human form again?