Liz and the agents go to the darkroom, and Liz says that the photos weren't there before. The old landlord, Mr. Williamson, never bothered with old photos except in the junk shop. Williamson's hobby was discovering new techniques about photography. Liz points out a photo with no one in it, and Steel says that there was someone in it once. Sapphire finds photographs of people in the same positions that they were frozen in earlier. Steel tells Liz to find somewhere else to stay and walks off. She goes after him, complaining that they busted in, and Steel points out that her friend disappeared just like Williamson. Liz suggests that the new landlord has a face and she may not have seen it, but Steel doesn't believe it.
As Liz sits down at her makeup table and puts on a wig, the children outside chant. She says that she's never seen the children and they've been there since her friend and Williamson disappeared. Liz tells Steel that Williamson was a very clean man and just liked to talk, and turns her record player back on.
Sapphire looks around and finds an old picture in a frame.
Liz turns the volume up and asks if Sapphire chose Steel's suit. She figures that Sapphire made the record player stop earlier. Sapphire contacts Steel telepathically and says that there are two people in a picture that don't belong. Liz turns back and discovers that Steel has gone. She looks down the stairs and sees the new landlord below, facing away from her. Liz tells him that people are looking for him and the man says that he knows. She asks to see his face, and the landlord turns toward her. and leans out of the shadows. Once Liz goes back to her flat, the landlord's face disappears, leaving a faceless mass.
Steel breaks the glass on the photo frame, and Sapphire warns him to be careful because if he destroys the picture, he'll destroy the people inside. He proceeds more carefully and finds an old newspaper in the frame. They examine the photo with a magnifying glass, and then go out on the landing. Sapphire says that something was there and goes down to where the Shape was standing. Using her powers, Sapphire says that it was stronger than a manifestation . She smells dust, paper, copper, and chemicals, and identifies the chemicals as old developing fluid. Sapphire confirms that it's a man shape, but there was no subject because there was no photograph of anything human.
Steel goes back into the shop, maintaining mental contact with Sapphire.
The Shape tells the children that there's nothing to fear.
Steel finds toys on a shelf and a framed photo of an old city street. Meanwhile, the Shape dons its human face and watches with the Girl. Steel goes back to the landing and tells Sapphire to rewind time to when the Shape was there. Sapphire warns that there's about to be a complication, and Liz comes out of her flat. She says that the new landlord is standing where Sapphire is and he showed her his face. She doesn't know where he is now and isn't interested in finding him.
Steel wonders where the first photograph was ever taken, and Sapphire reports that it was taken in 1826. He wonders if some force could have created a time break in the photograph and has been taken there ever since, and Williamson found it by accident and let it loose. Steel has Sapphire rewind time on the step that the Shape was standing on, and they hear the children chanting outside. The Shape from the past appears as Sapphire struggles to rewind time and hold the image stable. The frame that Steel is holding heats up and he's forced to drop it, and throughout the building photos fall on the floor. Sapphire realizes that it's been trapped in every photograph ever taken, and the Shape can take on any form that it wants.
Pictures fall over throughout the building, including in Liz's room.
Steel tells Sapphire to let him see the Shape's real form. She finally collapses, saying that there's a barrier that she can't penetrate. Steel says that they can find it even if they can't see its real form, and goes into the shop and finds the photos on the floor. Sapphire explains that the Shape will always have its face turned away from the camera or not seen at all. It could be in the room beyond but it's always there. Children outside giggle, and as they leave in the photo they were looking at, the Shape turns toward the camera.
Sapphire and Steel find bubbles drifting through the air, and Steel is behind Sapphire and frozen in a photo. The female agent find two girls on a veranda, blowing bubbles and giggling. The Girl prods Sapphire with her parasol and when Sapphire turns, threatens to poke it into Sapphire's eye.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 12, 2019