Return to Sender, Part I: The Other Letter To Holly

6/24/2015

The "Dear" wasn't the only thing off about Holly's letter.

Oliver's letter to Holly.

I probably don't need to remind you about the consternation it caused in Postable nation. We remember it well---or at least what we could read, or tediously attempt to translate in it---and only just now had our fears put to rest about its contents.

So I don't think it was any surprise the confusion the letter caused for the most discerning fans, the least of which was the "Dear" that preceded "Holly" in From Paris With Love, but was not present in what I like to call "the original letter".

I spent a lot of time with this letter...

...and this is all I got.

I spent a lot of time with that original letter. Enough to transcribe part of the first paragraph based on screenshots from "The Treasure Box." It took a lot of Googling to predict sentences based on word configurations, and a lot of attempts to sharpen the images to make the text as clear as possible. You can see what I came up with below, which is by no means complete:

"Holly,

So much time has passed since we last shared a moment. I p[]...much in fact. But I periodically? [find] myself in circumstances which [cause?]... my gentleman like ways and......tested to my very...

I have placed...of my very...after..."

No wonder Postables lost sleep over this letter. It reveals absolutely nothing about Oliver's heart at the time, it's simply an introductory paragraph!

But the tone this letter seems to take ends up being MUCH different than the final version, even from these first few lines. It seems to me that this letter might have alluded to Oliver's evolving feelings towards Shane, hence the "circumstances" in which his "gentleman like ways" might be tested. I distinctly see the word "gentleman", as it's one of the last visible words in the shot, but I NEVER heard it read in the final letter.

Try comparing this direction with that which the final letter took.

Since I lack the equipment to grab the video, I've transcribed the letter below based on the dialogue from the film:

Dear Holly,

So much time has passed. And there is so much to say and perhaps little time left to say it. I currently find myself in a position where my life may be at risk. There was never a better example of that than the night we met.

I suppose I should not have been surprised. I have a feeling that from the day we met, you began leaving me.What I knew of the world could never compete with your dreams of discovering it for yourself, of traveling the uncharted course, of living the bohemian life of artist and poet.

If you have left me behind forever, I will accept that. But if you regret your decision and simply do not know how to find your way home, then come back. I am here willing to try again, to see your dreams through your eyes.

Until I hear from you, I remain faithfully.

Oliver

Shane and Rita attempt to decipher the damaged text.

Oliver's time in the rain badly damaged the letter.

If you take the time to compare the two, even that first paragraph takes a sharp divergence in tone AND content from what was originally written. It makes you wonder where it was originally intended to go.

Here's why where the original letter still matters to me:

@TVFanoftheYear @SSD_TV @hallmarkchannel While we shot those scenes in the vault I was actually writing a letter to Holly.
— Eric_Mabius (@Eric_Mabius) June 16, 2014

Yep, because that original was Eric writing his own letter to Holly---one we'll never get to read.

The difference in content obviously doesn't matter now that this chapter of the story is closed. And I think we can all agree that's a good thing!

But I know for sure that there was another version of that letter to Holly floating around that went unused---one that Eric wrote while shooting those vault scenes. And because I'm a lot like Shane, the curiosity about what Eric wrote is still killing me a year later! To make matters worse, Eric might have had another take on where Oliver was at in his personal growth at that time, a view that's now lost to Postable history. I kind of like to know where actors see their characters going and how it might be different from the person who created the character.

But, hey, I'm just an obsessed fan.

Did you know Eric wrote a real letter to Holly in the vault?

Still Curious,
~C

8 Comments

Judy

6/24/2015 05:10:16 am

Thanks for covering the letter because we all know the#postables are pretty observant fans and we all share Shane's curiosity! Another great article....do we have to wait 24 hours for the next one😯?

Diane Van Ove

6/24/2015 05:23:18 am

You can be sure that was the first thing I noticed about the letter - "Dear" Holly. There was no "Dear" in the first letter and that said volumes to me about where their relationship was - from Oliver's point of view.

It's interesting that Eric was actually writing the letter as they were filming. His point of view about his character's situation.

The other thing I noticed was that the original letter seemed to be at least two sheets of paper. The one in FPWL was a single page.

I wonder if the original letter is still around some where and if we might ever see it.

In any case, like you, I am glad that that chapter with Holly is closed. And that spring is coming. <3

Julie

6/25/2015 11:27:06 am

I had a hard time believing that the letter we heard in From Paris with Love was the same letter from Treasure Box. I have a hard time believing that the Oliver we saw in that episode would've told Holly to come back & he'd try to see her dreams through her eyes, then think of Shane while reading Katherine's & Jonathan's letters. It was a complete nonsequitor. Did you also notice that there was more dialogue from shane regarding the letter than was actually aired in Treasure Box? I think history needed to be rewritten in a way to make it more plausible that Holly would read the letter & come home. That was an awesome catch, BTW.

Hope

7/10/2022 10:34:40 pm

I had similar thoughts. When I originally do FPWL, I loved it and quickly bought it on DVD. When I was rewatching the episodes, I noticed the letter in Treasure Box and compared the letters from both movies. It really bothered me that the “dear” was added and somewhat affected how I viewed the movie after that.

Diane Van Over

6/25/2015 12:54:46 pm

When I first saw "The Treasure Box" and Oliver said that situations like that gave clarity, I thought that he realized that, were he to die in that vault, he needed to say those things that had been left unsaid because of the way Holly left.

I imagined him asking her to forgive him for not being the husband he should have been. For wanting her to share in his dream so much that he stopped listening to hers. For not taking the dance lessons for her while she was still there.

Do I imagine him saying good-bye ? Yes and no. Oliver's commitment to marriage would have prevented him from just saying good-bye. If he survived, I think he would have wanted to see her one more time, at least, to say face to face, "I'm sorry." He hadn't tried to reach her before and now it may be too late. But if she really wasn't coming back, the gentleman in him would have let her go. Oliver once said in episode 3, "Love desires more for the beloved than it does for itself." So, if leaving and living in Paris was what his beloved Holly wanted, then he would want that for her too, even if it meant heartache for him.

But as he wrote, and Shane sat down to play her little word game and then as they read the letters, his thoughts were filled with Shane, not Holly. It was as if the letter he'd wrote was forgotten by the time they finally got out of the vault. And I think it was why Oliver hesitated mailing it. Did he really want her to come back ? What if she did and wanted to reconcile ? What about his love for Shane ?

I did notice one thing that Shane said that was added to FPWL. She said something like, "You think we're going to die..." That wasn't in the original episode.

Helen

1/11/2016 07:01:31 pm

Yeah, I don't like it when a show's history is changed, especially in these days of box-set binges!

I could accept either that (a) Oliver's feelings changed between writing his letter / reading the '08 letters or (b) that he re-wrote the letter before posting it - but obv not both as that just would not work. Continuity is pretty good on SSD eg Rita's owls / Shane's necklace but there are a few (mainly visual) errors that become slightly irritating on re-watches! Plus Norman's adoption revelation was a shock after him previously mentioning his ancestors (pilot) and also the fact he looks so much like his 'cousins'. But how dare I criticise SSD - the best TV show EVER! This show is such an answer to prayer x

Amy Watson

5/31/2016 06:53:29 pm

Very interesting; more proof that one NEVER knows what is in the mind of Martha Moonwater, not even the actors. I'd love to sit down with Eric and ask him if he wrote where he THOUGHT Martha may take it; or if he was even campaigning for closure. :)

Elizabeth

3/12/2018 03:21:19 pm

I'm new to this website/Postables family as of Feb '18 when the new SSD came out. I'm enjoying reading through past blog posts and reading your insights (and one in the comments!) to get myself caught up with all things SSD.

As I read this post, my instant thought was that he rewrote the letter. I often will start a letter somewhere (at work, church, dr's, wherever I have a few min and something is on my mind) and either finish it or rewrite it when I get home. I can make my thoughts more clear and add or cut out parts as needed. I believe Oliver would do the same with a letter of this magnitude. Just a thought.

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Return to Sender, Part I: The Other Letter To Holly

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