A lot happens between songs this time.

Raven sits in her bedroom, holding a guitar whose source is unclear but that the script describes as “all she’s got left.” Falco comes in and she starts swinging the guitar at him, saying, “Get away from me.” They continue to have the same argument as always, though Falco does sound much more conciliatory than in the past. She eventually screams, pushes him out of the way, and throws a glass at him before leaving with the declaration, “And now I have nothing. I will never forgive you–NEVER!” He sinks to the floor, defeated by the clear loss of his daughter.

We cut to six months later. Strat is kneeling next to Tink’s grave. Zahara tells him that he needs to go to Raven, because they both need each other.

And then we are back in Raven’s bedroom. She is lying on the floor when Strat “lets himself in” (in the script’s words). I would like to think that he comes in through the door, since that would subtly imply he was allowed in. He apologizes for blaming her for Tink’s death. She apologizes for “causing” Tink’s death. And the song begins.

This recording is something like a hybrid of all of the earlier versions. It’s at least to some extent a duet the way Meat Loaf’s was. It still takes out the guitar solo and many of the fills like Celine Dion’s does. But the synthesizers are toned down to someplace closer to the Pandora’s Box range. And, like most of this show, it has horns added, which are the primary instruments in the short instrumental section where the guitar solo once was.

Christina Bennington sings the entire first verse, first chorus, first bridge, and second verse alone. She gives a great performance. She really hits everything and has the emotional connection that Dion lacks. It also strikes me that she sounds older at this point than on “Heaven Can Wait,” which really fits with her character’s progression to this point.

Then Sharon Sexton and Rob Fowler take over for the second bridge and third chorus. They always sound great together, and this time is no exception. I have to admit, though, that I would kill to hear Sharon just sing this herself.

Andrew Polec and Bennington trade lines back and forth and then sing the last few together at the end, singing more softly as the backing all disappears. They sound good together, but it’s too short to do a lot.

I do really like this version of the song, though I still would definitely take the original over it any time. The Meat Loaf version works more as a changeup than this one, but it’s still good.

Ranking the Versions

1. Pandora’s Box-Original Sin
2. Jim Steinman’s Bat out of Hell: The Musical
3. Meat Loaf-Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
4. Celine Dion-Falling into You
5. Cassidy Janson
   • It cuts the song down into almost nothing and I wasn’t terribly impressed with her voice.
6. Tyce-Hero
   • The spare production actually works and he definitely gets the emotional connection, but he shouts his way through the entire song and something about the piano sounds cheap. I just get this image that it’s a sixth grader with his music class teacher, and I really don’t know why.