Poltergeist: The Legacy: Song of the Raven

"It's not nice to taunt those in a position of weakness, Warden. That sort of act bespeaks of an unhappy childhood."

- Raymond Corvus

"Song of the Raven" is the first episode of season four of Poltergeist: The Legacy. Directed by Garner Simmons, it first aired on Showtime on March 19th, 1999. In this episode, convicted serial killer Raymond Corvus develops the ability to transfer his soul into the body of a raven. From within prison, he sends the raven out to murder those responsible for his imprisonment. Rachel Corrigan is called in to testify to Raymond's mental health and wrestles with the notion that her assessment could lead to his execution.

Synopsis
From within his prison cell at San Quentin, Raymond Corvus transmits his soul into the body of a raven. The raven flies to the home of Mendocino District Attorney Horace Favor and kills him by gouging out his eyes with his beak. When the deed is done, the Raven flies back to Corvus' cell window.

At the Legacy house, Derek, Nick and Alexandra read about the bizarre killing. They call to mind the M.O. of Raymond Corvus, but as Raymond is still in prison, they rule him out as a suspect. Nick wonders if it could be the work of a copycat killer. Derek sends them both to the victim's home in Mendocino to learn more.

Meanwhile, Derek has an appointment to meet with Avery Cotsworth, a fine arts collector of Sumerian antiquities. When he arrives there, he meets a reporter named Megan Torrance, who is desperately trying to get a meeting with the reclusive Cotsworth. Derek catches Megan trying to use his name to get an interview, so he asks her to accompany him.

When Derek returns to the Legacy House, he finds his colleague Rachel Corrigan in a state of frustration. Rachel tells him that she has been requested to testify as to the state of mind of Raymond Corvus. She learns that Derek arranged for this meeting because he needs to determine if there is a connection between Corvus and the more recent murders. Rachel is outraged, since she now has to miss out on spending some quality time with her daughter. Rachel goes to interview Corvus to make an assessment of his sanity. She asks him if he understands what is going on and that he is scheduled to be executed. Raymond is very cool with her, and tries to set her off balance by going into a lengthy description of the execution procedure. He further tries to intimidate her, by telling her about her own life. Rachel wonders if he is playing up being crazy in order to escape a death sentence. Raymond wonders why she never asked him about the murders that were committed outside the prison. Rachel doesn't believe that somebody would be willing to carry on Corvus' work on the outside. When he returns to his cell, Corvus sees a raven at his window. He whispers the name "Rachel Corrigan" and indicates that she is the one who shall set him free.

Meanwhile, Nick and Alex continue their own investigation. They visit the Mendocino morgue where the coroner shows them Horace Favor's body. They also learn that several more people have been murdered recently - all of whom, were involved in the trial of Raymond Corvus to some extent. They compile a list of people involved in the trial and learn about a young woman named Jennifer Hollybrook. Jennifer was one of the jurors during the trial, but was excused from the case early on. Nick wants to learn more about her.

They visit Jennifer's beach house and ask her about the trial. She tells them that she asked to be excused from the jury because of the way Corvus had looked at her. She was so frightened that she refused to go on any further. As the two Legacy members leave, Jennifer's boyfriend Jeffrey Sandor approaches the house. He asks her what Nick and Alex wanted, but she says nothing.

That evening, Raymond calls the raven to his cell once again. He infuses the bird with the power of his soul and sends it out into the night. The raven finds Jennifer Hollybrook walking towards her car. It attacks her and kills her in the same fashion as it did the others.

Derek meanwhile has a meeting with Megan Torrance. They get to know one another a little better, and an attraction begins to develop between the two of them. As they are about to kiss, Nick calls Derek on his cell phone to give him an update on the Mendocino investigation.

The next day, Rachel returns to San Quentin for a follow-up interview with Corvus. They begin to discuss the nature of his crimes, but Corvus remains aloof, manipulating Rachel's emotions with his startling commentary. He deduces that she has a young daughter, and makes a few pointed comments about what he would like to do with her. This instigates a violent reaction in Rachel and the guards have to restrain Corvus who begins laughing. Rachel leaves the room in a state of extreme duress. Derek meets with Nick and Alexandra at the Legacy House. Nick reveals how a black raven feather was found at the scene of each murder. Derek does not believe that these murders are the work of a copycat killer, nor are they being committed by an accomplice to Corvus. Rachel corroborates the theory, indicating that Corvus is too much of an egomaniac to allow anyone else to share his spotlight. Derek does some research and tells the others about the Chiapassi, an extinct Native American tribe who once practiced the art of soul migration - the ability to transfer a person's living soul into another body. They wonder if Corvus somehow learned this talent and has been using it to commit the murders himself.

Later that evening, Rachel is in her office when something breaks through the window and attacks her. It is a large black raven. Derek hears her screams and busts through the door, but the would-be killer has disappeared. Rachel is clutching her throat and exclaims that it was Corvus. Although this would be impossible, Rachel insists that it was him because "...it smelled like him". Meanwhile, Megan Torrance manages to score an interview with Raymond Corvus (against Derek's advice). She visits him in his cell and Corvus appreciates the work she has done on other famed serial killers such as the Son of Sam, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. He asks if Megan will be present during his execution and she says yes. Following several cryptic comments, Megan gets the impression that Corvus will somehow survive his own death.

At midnight, Raymond Corvus is brought down to the execution room where he is to die by lethal injection. He is seemingly in good spirits and makes wise cracks to the attending physician and priest. He even plays dead for a moment just to get a rise out of them. Megan is present in the observation room and watches as they execute Raymond by way of lethal injection. What nobody seems to notice however is that Raymond has a tattoo of a raven on his right arm. Upon his death, the tattoo disappears.

The next day, Alex and Nick decide to attend Jennifer Hollybrook's funeral. As the service concludes, they find her friend Jeffrey Sandor sitting off to the side feeding pigeons. He thanks them for coming to the service and Alex asks if he will be all right. Jeffrey responds by saying that he is a survivor. Neither of them notice that Jeffrey now has the tattoo of a raven on the inside of his wrist.

Notes & Trivia

 * Part 1 of a 2-part episode.


 * Kristin Lehman appears in the credits, but does not appear in this episode.


 * Actor Jeff Kober, who plays Raymond Corvus played a similar character on the WB Network television series Charmed. In the episode "The Power of Two", Kober played Jackson Ward, a serial killer on death row, whose soul escapes imprisonment to seek vengeance against those who captured him.


 * Corvus is also the Genus name for the common raven.

Characters
In alphabetical order


 * Avery Cotsworth
 * Avery Cotsworth was a scholar of ancient Sumerian relics and a patron of the Natural History Museumin San Francisco. A known recluse, he rarely entertained visitors and never granted interviews. However, he did agree to accept a visit from his old colleague, Doctor Derek Rayne.


 * Doctor
 * The doctor was a Mendocino medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Horace Favor. He provided information about the nature of the man's death to Nick and Alex.


 * Father Norman
 * Father Norman administered the last rites at Raymond Corvus' execution. Raymond made a wise crack remark to the doctor and took slight offense when the priest referred to him as "son".


 * Jeffrey Sandor
 * Jeffrey Sandor was the boyfriend of Jennifer Hollybrook. Following the execution of serial killer Raymond Corvus, Corvus' soul transferred into Jeffrey's body.


 * Jennifer Hollybrook
 * Jennifer Hollybrook was one of the original jurors at Raymond Corvus' trial. During the trial, he stared at her so intently that she dropped out of the jury pool. Years later, Corvus possessed the body of a raven and sent it to murder her.


 * Megan Torrance
 * Megan Torrance was a reporter who became involved in the Raymond Corvus copycat murders following her introduction to occult scholar Derek Rayne. Megan had an interview with Corvus shortly before his execution and was present when Corvus was killed by lethal injection.


 * Raymond Corvus
 * Raymond Corvus was a convicted serial killer who developed the ability to transfer his soul into the body of a raven. With this unique power, he was able to avenge himself against those responsible for his incareration.


 * Warden Taylor
 * Warden Taylor was the warden of San Quentin prison. He was present for the execution of Raymond Corvus.