V.C. Andrews’ Dawn Part 3: Twilight’s Child – Dawn comes back to Cutler’s Cove in 1975. Mrs. Boston (Tanja Dixon-Warren) is glad to see that Dawn got her baby. Dawn (Brec Bassinger) introduces Boston to her daughter Christie. Jimmy (Khobe Clarke) and Dawn learn that the others decided not to reopen the hotel until Dawn returned. She will have to learn how to run the hotel. Clara Jean (Elyse Maloway) approaches Dawn to say she got her bastard back. Dawn warns her not to call her daughter that again. Clara tells her not to get too settled thinking she owns this place because there is always another shoe to drop. Once Clara leaves, Dawn remembers how Lillian treated her when she first arrived.

Dawn gets to work trying to improve and run the hotel. Randolph (Jason Cermak) catches up with her moments later to say he has found out how to save the hotel money. Dawn suspects something is wrong with him. Jimmy finds her outside and learns she has concerns about running the hotel. Dawn thinks she can give their daughter a better life if she can get the hotel running like it should. She suggests they can get Fern back too. Jimmy thinks she’ll have the place running like a machine by the time he gets back. Dawn asks if he can convince the army they don’t need him. When Jimmy pops the question, Dawn quickly says yes. Dawn approaches Laura who introduces her to Bronson Alcott (Matthew James Dowden). His bank holds the mortgage on the hotel.

Dawn tells Laura (Miranda Frigon) that Randolph has been behaving strangely. Laura notices the ring on her finger and learns about Dawn’s engagement. She isn’t happy about that because Jimmy doesn’t have a penny. Bronson argues that the heart sometimes knows better than the mind. Laura is adamant that Dawn will get married and have a real wedding. Dawn panics when she sees Mrs. Boston holding the baby. Once she calms down, Mrs. Boston admits she believes she’ll be able to handle being a mother and businesswoman. She doesn’t know much about Bronson Alcott, but she knows that they went way back. He went away around the time Clara was born. Jimmy returns. Dawn argues that was the longest month in human history.

He is back for good. They go to bed and Dawn wants to have sex. Jimmy thinks they should do one traditional thing since they’ve waited this long. Dawn finds out that Randolph has hurt his hand. He talks about his mother still being alive. Dawn tells Philip that he needs to see a doctor because he isn’t right in the head. Philip was hoping they could have a fresh start. Dawn admits she didn’t tell Jimmy what Philip did because he would kill him. Dawn takes the baby to see Tricia (Corey Woods) who reveals that Michael Sutton got fired from his last Broadway show for being drunk. Laura interrupts to tell Dawn to get her dress on because it is time. Randolph loses it when he is told his mother is dead.

He storms off and refuses to begin without mother. Laura refuses to give Dawn away. While Bronson walks Dawn down the aisle, Randolph walks through the woods alone. Randolph walks out into the water until he is submerged. A funeral is held for him. Jimmy and Dawn finally go to bed together. Later, Dawn says it seems like every bit of happiness she has had gets undercut by some tragedy. In 1984, Christie joins Dawn in bed early in the morning. Dawn goes to the doctor and learns she is perfectly healthy. She doesn’t believe that because she can’t get pregnant despite trying for years. The doctor surprises her by saying she is pregnant. At home, Laura suggests throwing a party to celebrate. When Dawn says no, Laura gets upset and says she always shoots it down when she tries to do something nice for her.

Bronson asks Dawn if he can speak to her in private. He would like to help Dawn get closer with her mother, but Dawn doubts that’ll happen. Bronson believes Laura is frail. Dawn admits she finds it odd that Randolph wasn’t in the ground for two weeks before Laura agreed to marry him. He reveals that they were engaged before she met Randolph. His sister got ill so he had to tend to her needs before his own. Laura lost her patience with him and married Randolph. Bronson says her mother never seduced her grandfather because there was nothing consensual about it. He forced himself on her. Lillian had Dawn taken away because her existence was a painful reminder of William’s betrayal. Dawn believes her mother should’ve told her.

Laura and Randolph were never intimate again after that. As for Clara Jean, she isn’t Randolph’s daughter either. Instead, Bronson is her father. Bronson says Dawn doesn’t want to have regrets if she wakes up and Laura is no longer there. When Dawn returns to Jimmy, he says their dad worked with a private investigator and they managed to find their baby sister. They get to meet Fern (Piper Scott) moments later. She is with her parents, Mrs. and Mr. Osborne. They talk briefly before Mr. Osborne tells Fern to wait for them out front. Then, he tells Dawn and Jimmy not to contact Fern ever again. That night, Jimmy says he can’t get it out of his head how that guy talked to Fern.

Dawn believes Fern can carry her own. They’re going to have to learn to be thankful that she has a home with a mother and father. Jimmy goes out to fix the tarps on the shed. Clara confronts Dawn to ask what she did with all of her things. Dawn says mother lives there now because Clara only comes once in a while. When Dawn tells her to leave, Clara punches her in the stomach. She continues hitting her while telling her that she should’ve stayed gone. Philip arrives and pulls Clara away. Jimmy checks on Dawn who goes to the hospital. Dawn learns that she was attacked by Clara Jean and they lost the baby. There is no permanent damage so she can still have kids. No one knows where Clara Jean went. Tricia visits to check on Dawn.

Tricia does her best to cheer Dawn up. Once Dawn gets home, Laura tries to smooth things over with her. Jimmy shows Dawn their new house. Dawn can’t believe he did this for her. They’re surprised to learn that Fern has visited. She reveals that she found her birth certificate so she knows who they are. Fern doesn’t want to go back because her father does bad things sometimes. Dawn tells Jimmy to call the lawyer. Fern plays with Christie. Dawn interrupts when Fern begins talking about the liquid bottles in the pantry. Philip introduces Dawn to Betty Ann. Dawn is shocked to learn that they’ve eloped. Betty Ann mentions that they look the same now that Philip got her to dye her hair. Once Betty goes inside, Philip tells Dawn that he never told her she used to be his girlfriend.

Dawn says she was never his girlfriend. She scolds him and threatens to remove him from his position. Back inside, Dawn learns money is missing and Fern has been helping out at the front desk. When she confronts Fern, she is asked why she hates her. Fern claims her father accuses her of things she didn’t do all the time. Dawn promises that she won’t tell Jimmy. Fern warns her that she’ll hate her forever if she breaks her promise. She denies taking the money before leaving the room. Later, Jimmy breaks the news that the Osborne couple will stop fighting them for Fern. Dawn hears Fern arguing with Christie and says she can think of a reason or two that they wouldn’t want her back. As Dawn looks through the boxes, she notices that some of her stuff has gone missing. Jimmy believes she is going to blame Fern so he wonders why she is always the first suspect.

Dawn claims she is pitting them against each other. They continue arguing about it. Dawn thinks about it down by the water. Betty comes outside crying because of Philip. He is acting strange and disappearing at night. Betty tells her how she followed him and he crawled into her old bed. Dawn hopes to find a rational explanation for that. She tells Betty that it is probably just nerves. When Dawn returns to the bedroom, she notices her perfume and other stuff. She confronts Fern because she is gambling with older men. When Dawn grabs her arm, she thinks about Lillian. Dawn apologizes to Fern who curses her. Jimmy apologizes to Dawn. She tells him that she found her stuff and it wasn’t Fern.

Jimmy says he is going to have a surprise for her when he returns. Philip visits Dawn in the middle of the night. He is drunk and aggressive. Dawn tells him to go home and sleep it off. When Philip tries to rape her, Dawn smashes him in the head with a picture. She tells him to get the heck out of her house. He eventually leaves. In the morning, Dawn cooks with Fern and Christie. Jimmy comes in with Gavin who is his dad’s son. In private, Jimmy tells Dawn that their dad’s parole wouldn’t let him cross state lines. One night, Clara Jean returns. Dawn warns her that she could have her arrested. Clara thinks she’d wanted to hear her out before calling the police. Clara says the property won’t be hers for long.

Her friend Charlie is a businessman. He suggests the whole thing can be settled with a cash component. They think Clara can take over because Randolph was next in the line and Clara is his natural daughter. Dawn breaks the news that Randolph isn’t actually her father. She tells Clara about Bronson Alcott. Later, Dawn tells Jimmy that she just got off the phone with the principal at Fern’s school. They said Fern is being disruptive in class and not finishing her homework. Dawn tells Jimmy that he has been making excuses for Fern for too long. Fern interrupts seconds later and learns what the principal said. She promises Jimmy that she’ll do better before he tells her to start by doing her homework.

Dawn learns that Fern has been reading a magazine about a girl being abused by her stepfather. Then, she tries to get Fern to admit that she made everything up. Fern says they were so mean to her. Jimmy argues that they were her parents so they have to say no sometimes. She doesn’t have to go back, but she needs to start behaving. Dawn gets a call from Michael. Dawn takes Christie to meet him moments later. In private, she reminds Michael that Christie won’t know he is the father and never will. They talk about what happened between them. Michael admits what he did was wrong, but he fell in love with her. Michael has fallen on hard times so he was hoping Dawn could lend him some money.

When Dawn doesn’t want to help, Michael threatens to go to court to try to get custody of Christie. Back at home, Dawn imagines Lillian asking why she’d even think about paying that man. Lillian believes it was a waste of suffering if Dawn didn’t get anything the way they mistreated her. Dawn meets Michael. She wants assurance that he won’t keep blackmailing her if she gives him the money. Michael says he isn’t dumb enough to put anything in writing. Dawn thinks about not paying him at all. Mr. Updike interrupts and reveals that the conversation has been recorded. Before Dawn leaves, she gives Michael a fake dollar that her daughter made for him. Clara tells Charlie that Dawn ruined her life. He wants her to drop this because he is getting sick of it.

Clara nearly pushes him over the edge. Charlie says Dawn beat her because she is smart and Clara isn’t. After he tells her that she is nobody, Clara falls over the edge. Charlie calls her name although she is likely dead. The family holds a funeral for her. Dawn tells Jimmy that she has one last ghost to get out of her head. She visits Luther because she wants to see Emily. Luther reveals that she poisoned herself by accident and died. It bothered Charlotte a lot more than it bothered him. They go inside to speak to Charlotte. Dawn says the place has been dead for too long so Luther should make it look like it used to. Luther asks if Dawn would care if he moves in so he can be closer to Charlotte.

Dawn agrees and offers a monthly stipend. Charlotte thinks they’ll be okay without it. As they leave, Dawn tells Jimmy that she survived Emily and Lillian. She thinks she is better for it. Later, Dawn says she needs to cherish the people that bring her happiness and continue to be forgiving. Jimmy thinks they have everything so he isn’t sure they need a child of their own. Dawn says he is going to be a daddy.

 

Twilight’s Child Review

Twilight’s Child was a decent addition to the Dawn series although it felt a little dull at points. The performances are decent enough so it is fairly easy to care about the characters and what they’re going through. The story is pretty solid considering this is based on a successful book series.

Each part probably didn’t need to be an hour and a half, but they haven’t been boring to this point. Dawn’s journey has been interesting as she has gone through one turmoil after another without giving up. This part introduced new characters including Fern who seems to be a problem for Dawn and Jimmy.

It created several things to look forward to with Dawn being pregnant once again. Overall, Twilight’s Child was just as watchable as the previous parts. It scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of VC Andrews’ Dawn can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.