#3: "Descent Into Darkness-Blackout! (Part 2) (Episode 11)"
HPDrummerman: While "Blackout! (Part 1)" saw Serpent Sister Margaux "Python" Holt getting shot by Anaconda while protecting Mamba (Lucy's Serpent handle), and as memorable as that episode was, it was the second where we learned about Python's back story from her days in Detroit and when she first met Joslyn, who had been mentioned in a previous episode. We also learn about how she first encountered Violet and Patty and how mean they were toward her (part of that sequence was used for "The Road to New Love (A Prequel)" and when she first met Cobra, Anaconda, and Rattler, the Serpent Sisters. Here is a clip from the moment she met Joslyn…
1st Clip from "Descent Into Darkness-Blackout (Part 2)"
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
FOUR YEARS AGO
In a rough area in Detroit, where there were projects all around, a 7 year old Margaux Holt sat on the stoop of her townhouse. She was playing with her dolls when she heard a sound like someone crying. She went to investigate where the sound was coming from. Just on the side of her stairway sat an even younger girl crying. Margaux looked in on the girl.
"Excuse me," she said. "Why are you crying, little girl?"
"Nobody wants to play with me because they think I'm a baby!" said the girl through racking sobs.
"I'll play with you," said Margaux.
"Y-y-you will?" asked the girl now wiping her eyes.
"Sure," Margaux replied. "I know how mean kids can be. I would like to play with you. My name is Margaux. What's yours?"
"I'm Joslyn," said the girl.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Joslyn. You're not from around here, are ya?"
"No," Joslyn replied. "I'm originally from Lansing, the capitol of Michigan."
"Well, Joslyn, I can introduce you to some great guys. They will play with you as well. If anyone's a friend of Margaux Holt, they're a friend of theirs as well." And young Margaux took her new friend Joslyn to meet her friends.
End of Clip
HPDrummerman: Another key scene is from Python's unforgettable funeral. This was a turning point in the PEANUTS canon, as Violet and Charlie Brown finally make peace with each other as Violet vows never to tease him or hurt him in any fashion again.
Linus: Are you going to include my speech, HP?
HPDrummerman: Of course.
2nd Clip from "Descent Into Darkness: Blackout! (Part 2)"
A few days later, the funeral for Margaux "Python" Holt commenced. Her family was there, as was most of the school, as well as some of Peppermint Patty's classmates, out of respect. It was a sad day for all. Lucy hadn't uttered a word during the service, but she shed a few tears during the service. When they got to the cemetery, all of the kids lined up to place white roses on her casket. White roses were her favorite flower. Snoopy, dressed in a military-style uniform, along with Woodstock and his bird friends who were dress similar, was first. After he placed his rose, Snoopy gave a salute as did the birds and they walked away. Charlie Brown and Frieda were next, then Peppermint Patty and Franco, Marcie and Hans, Linus and Eudora, Franklin and Melanie, Sally, Pig Pen, and Patty and Ox. When Violet and Shermy came up to place their roses, Violet broke down immediately. She felt a lot of guilt over how she treated Margaux and remembered her words to her when she apologized to her:
"If you are sorry for what you've done in the past, apologize to those other folks you've wronged, too."
After being comforted by Shermy, Violet walked over to where Charlie Brown and Frieda were standing. She finally said, "Charlie Brown, I want to apologize to you for how I treated you over the years. I don't know what possessed me to act like that towards you and some of the other kids. I know now that I was hurting you and making you feel bad when I should have been building you up. I just hope you can forgive me." Violet started bawling again. Shermy hugged her. Charlie Brown was in disbelief. Here was the girl, that wasn't Lucy, which caused him the most grief in his life thus far apologizing to him with tears in her eyes.
"Violet," said Charlie Brown, "I don't know what to say. I do forgive you. Apology accepted. But I'm curious. What brought this on all of the sudden?"
"I talked to Margaux before, you know," said Violet. "And I also apologized to her for how I treated her. And she told me that if I was truly sorry that I had to make peace with all of those people I made miserable, including you. And I want to make peace with you, Charlie Brown. I will never hurt you again."
"Well thank you, Violet," said Charlie Brown. "As I said, I accept your apology." And Charlie Brown and Violet hugged each other. Frieda and Shermy smiled. Something good actually came out of this tragedy.
Lastly, the three remaining Serpent Sisters would lay their roses on the casket. First it was Cobra, then Rattler, and finally Lucy with Rerun, who looked even more grief-stricken than his older sister. Then finally, Margaux's mother walked up and laid her rose on her daughter's casket, and hovered over it crying. Lucy walked up and comforted her, also shedding tears. Linus stepped up to the podium at the foot of the grave and began to say a few words.
"I only knew Margaux for a few weeks," he began. "But I knew how much she meant to my sister. After a certain incident we won't talk about here, Margaux was the one who reached out to my sister and became her friend when everyone else had pretty much turned their back on her. She made my sister happier than I've seen her in months. And sure, it may have been originally part of an initiation into a 'group', but they became closer. And to Margaux I want to say thank you for being in my sister's life. Thank you for being nice to me and my brother. And even though you can't fulfill your promise to help Rerun with his treehouse, your friends Cobra and Rattler promised they would do it in your place.
"Even though we all hurt from this tragedy, we must continue on. The world doesn't stop because something bad happens. I am reminded of Genesis 8:22 which reads:
'As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.'
"And that's what we need to do. Don't cease in living our lives. Endure and muddle through. I know this hurts right now, but it can get better. It WILL get better."
End of Clip
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