Discuss - Ep #0583

[Watching Project]

Robservations #583

[Lydia]

In one of the interviews on the DVDs, John Karlen said that working on Dark Shadows was an emotional feast.  He sure gorged himself today!  It was glorious to watch.  It occurred to me, as Willie was practically having a conniption in his effort not to tell the truth to Maggie, that even if he did tell her, there's no way she would believe him.  After all, he told her a while back that Barnabas was dead, and then Barnabas showed up alive and kicking.

I keep thinking that Willie should offer himself as the life force, but I suppose it wouldn't do.  It is conceivable that if you try to put a male life force into a female body, the female body will reject it and explode or something, and that's not a risk that Barnabas would want to take.

We got the heart-to-heart chat between Vicky and Maggie today that EmeraldRose promised me a few days back.  I sat wondering what single explanation they might be able to think of that would cover both Joe and Jeff breaking up with their significant others.  Some sort of strange new secret men's club maybe.  And I also sat thinking that the Ramse Mostoller - or whoever did today's costumes - fell down on the job today, giving Maggie a long-sleeved, rather heavy-looking dress and Vicky a short-sleeved dress.  I was waiting for some action to happen that would explain why it was necessary to dress Maggie so warmly (no need to ask why Vicky was going sleeveless), but I waited in vain.

[Sunny_Collins]

I very much enjoyed the scene between Vicki and Maggie. 

Just where did Willie get fifty dollars? I can't imagine Barnabas paying him, the work he does for him seems kind of expected, not something that's subject to a salary.

Looking at the situation from Maggie's perspective, Willie's behavior seems highly irrational. She doesn't have any idea of what's going on, all she knows is that Willie is acting strange and telling her to leave town. It's no wonder she didn't heed his advice.

[EmeraldRose]

Yes, indeed, this episode was another chance for John Karlen to shine and revel in the emotional feast. He did an excellent job! It was fun to watch Willie get unhinged in his efforts to save Maggie. I don't blame Maggie for not cooperating with him, because he did sound rather crazy and nonsensical. 

I noticed that the cabinet which held the chloroform was unlocked. I remember Julia locked it a few days ago when he took her red notebook away from Jeff. I guess Julia unlocked it to get something she needed to use (maybe the notebook?) during her preparations for the experiment. 

We got the heart-to-heart chat between Vicky and Maggie today that EmeraldRose promised me a few days back. 

See, I told you! Seriously, though, I also enjoyed the chat between Vicki and Maggie. It's funny how the same reason existed for Joe and Jeff's strange behavior (Angelique, of course), but Maggie and Vicki didn't figure it out. (Well, actually, Jeff's behavior was also due to Adam and the experiment. But still, the similarities were there.)

----- Sally -----

[Lydia]

Just where did Willie get fifty dollars?

The "hottest male" topic is giving me some ideas...

John Karlen!

I noticed that the cabinet which held the chloroform was unlocked. I remember Julia locked it a few days ago when he took her red notebook away from Jeff. I guess Julia unlocked it to get something she needed to use (maybe the notebook?) during her preparations for the experiment.

Once Barnabas had kicked Jeff out, there was no need to lock the cabinet, because nobody untrustworthy had access to the Old House basement, right?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I sat wondering what single explanation they might be able to think of that would cover both Joe and Jeff breaking up with their significant others.  Some sort of strange new secret men's club maybe.

No doubt The Tool Shed Bar & Grill. 

[EmeraldRose]

Once Barnabas had kicked Jeff out, there was no need to lock the cabinet, because nobody untrustworthy had access to the Old House basement, right?

Wrong! Obviously, Willy had access, and he was untrustworthy!

----- Sally -----

[IluvBarnabas]

Willie's actions in regards to kidnapping Maggie were rash and wrong, but nonetheless I can understand why he did it. He didn't want to see her suffering and possibly die just to satisfy one man-made creation's desire for a mate. 

Barnabas did seem almost too much like his old self in this episode. First, he's being all sweet and nice to Maggie just to get her to stick around Collinsport just so he and Julia can use her against her will to be their guinea pig for the life force. Then he makes the moves on Vicki. I know Barnabas loves Vicki, but he tells her it's better that she knows the "truth" about Jeff now rather than later. What a hypocrite! When he knows that forcing Jeff into helping into the experiment was probably the major (but not the only) factor in their break-up.

I've really been disappointed in my favorite male character these last two episodes. Sigh.

[MagnusTrask]

He is his old self.    There was never some big sudden turnaround for him.   Not long before, he was ready to throttle people for not obeying him.    He's improving, but that's all.

[michael c]

i always like scenes between alexandra and kathryn.they seem like real friends.

barnabas is one smooth operator here.so much for the "nice" barnabas the writers had spent so much of 1968 trying to force on us.he takes the opportunity to manipulate two very vulnerable girls,sitting there drinking coffee and minding their own business,with supposedly unselfish offers of "friendship" when that's the last thing on his mind.

what is it with vicki and maggie(and barnabas and nicholas)that makes them see these clowns as kindly older gentlemen friends rather than guys on the make?have they never heard of midlife crisises or trophy wives?

i liked it when barnabas tells vicki she's "looking well" and she modestly replies that she "hasn't looked in a mirror all day" when she's wearing an astounding amount of eye make-up(loscalzo was feeling frisky today).i'm not with lydia however on maggie's attire.i found the brown-and-white glen plaid to be very "junior sophisticates" and rather chic.i used to think that vicki always being in sleeveless was just cheapness on the part of the show's costumers,having her wear the same few dresses all the time,but she actually gets gifted with three new ones in mid-to-late 1968...the green one seen here,a black one and the black-and-white checked one.so someone upstairs must have really thought this was all the character could wear for some reason.

[MagnusTrask]

what is it with vicki and maggie(and barnabas and nicholas)that makes them see these clowns as kindly older gentlemen friends rather than guys on the make?have they never heard of midlife crisises or trophy wives?

I was just a kid then, and I knew only TV, but I do think that we weren't yet in a world that bombarded us with information and news and jokes about the seamiest side of things.    Actually, what few shows did a bit of that, I liked quite a bit, those were the edgier comedy writers, but the down side (I just said "edgier" and "down side" in almost the same breath, sorry) of having a lot of that around is perhaps a sort of depressing total cynicism.    Tune in The Simpsons, and you know you're going to hear twenty or thirty jokes about how cowardly or weaselly or perverted (or stupid, or selfish) so many characters are.

I like the fact that perhaps in 1967-8 it might still have been possible for a middle-aged sophisticated-seeming man to turn up, and even be a "suitor" (do I think I'm in 1897 suddenly?!), without immediate judgment as a sleazebag with a mid-life crisis.    Of course, in reality it was probably more like it is now.

Anyway, some more suspicion on their parts would have been more realistic (and conducive to self-preservation... I'm speaking funny tonight), but I also like open-mindedness and avoiding of pre-judging.   And admit it, Barnabas was good at it...

[michael c]

it was a much more trusting and innocent time...and the girls here certainly took ingenuishness to it's outer limits.

but it's just funny that they outright dismiss the idea that they might be being coveted.

[MagnusTrask]

Wasn't this when the term "free love" comes from (though you could make a case that that was 'trusting'), not to mention, come to think of it, 'never trust anyone over thirty'!?   I have a feeling this was just at the point when lots of people working on shows wanted to put more controversial or realistic sexual stuff in, but no one would let them yet.   Or, to be more focused, if I were to pick any time to call innocent and trusting, it wouldn't be 1968.   On TV, maybe.    Less cynical in reality though, maybe.

[michael c]

forgive me magnus but i'm not following you...

i was trying to find a point of agreement to your previous post.that it was a "less cynical" time where a gentleman suitor might not be "pre-judged".

i read in that perhaps more trusting,more innocent.can you see where i might get that idea?

but whatever,i'm sure 1968 was hell.

[MagnusTrask]

I just took a little temporary side trip into commenting that "free love" come to think of it, had an uncynical more trusting component.   That was a sort of anomaly, or tangent, at least within my little attempt at an argument.