Back again playing catchup. Very good points everyone has made about the fire scene. Loved the comparison to the "burning of Atlanta" -- but soo much cheezier.
. I know they had a BBC level budget of $1.98 but really...... And Dr. Lang's house? Seems pretty small for a school. Makes you think twice about Charity's line in a previous episode about what a wonderful school Collinwood would make. Wonder if even then there was some idea of them hatching a plot to get at least the house, [spoiler]only Minerva didn't fit into the later picture.[/spoiler]
Magnus, that was one heck of a jump in storyline. 2002 was about the time I first saw 1897 since first run, too. Difference is I had the advantage of having caught it from the first ep of the run the year before. (One of the few advantages to being out of work and jobhunting that year was getting hooked on DS while watching it straight through.)
Yes, Midnight, you would think that Rachel's warning would have been more motivation than sheer spite against Edward, but then, with Laura we seem to be seeing someone even more selfish than even Quentin. Her absorption in what she wants, and it's being all about her, makes me think in terms of a clinical sociopath. Makes one wonder what she was like before the flames took her. Is there a difference in personality, and, if so, how does it evidence? Magda doesn't see it, but Quentin continually refers to it, so is it something other see, or just something he senses based on what he knows happened?
Magda and Quentin scenes are always fun.
They're fencing matches, with each trying not to give the other something that can be used against them. And, unlike the family interactions, each knows the other for exactly what they are, and they are very alike in their greed, elastic morals, and eye out for the main chance. And I agree with Midnight (again):Magda isn't as greedy as she makes out to be. Like everyone else in this storyline, she's more than she seems on the surface. She also likes everyone to think she's worse than she is; I think to play on everyone's worst bigotries toward gypsies. Hmm, thinking about that, it's another thing she has in common with Quentin, who also loves to make people think he's even worse than he really is.
Nice touch that MAGDA is the one who talks the information out of Nora, rather than her uncle. Wonder what made him give in so fast and let her? She did it well, but he's known Nora all her life, so one would think she would trust her uncle more than the strange gypsy lady -- unless perhaps they're trying to tell us something about a lack of a relationship there. Is there anything I'm maybe missing here?
The scene with the urn is great. There's a real level of malice here that you don't see even with his wish to kill Jenny. That seems to be a self defense necessity in his mind; this is something he's truly enjoying. I'm not sure whether it could best be called vindictiveness, revenge or the settling of a grudge, but the sense that comes through is that he wants her to suffer as long and painfully as possible. I've also noticed a similiarity in his attitude toward Laura and his attitude toward Angelique when she was forcing him to do something she wanted. There's a combination of hate mixed with physical attraction there that once again reminds me of Avon and Servalan in
Blake's 7.
Jeannie