A Twist on DSFMS

[Patti Feinberg]

I remember when I finally got the whole series, I watched, and was quite amazed w/N. Barrett's acting chops.

Well, I've started re-watching (CUZ I CAN!!), and, I don't see anything, nothing of her closeness with Liz.

Also, I didn't remember faux-Sam being around so long....

I thought within the first 5-6 eps, there were tender moments between Liz & Carolyn....?

Patti

[Gerard]

What I don't get is why a 19 year old felt like she "stuck" at Collinwood.  Why wasn't she in college, or at least taking a couple classes at the local community one?  She wasn't exactly "stuck."  She found enough time to cavort at the Blue Whale and go on dates with Joe.  One would think Liz would've applied pressure for Carolyn to apply herself. 

Gerard

[alwaysdavid]

It was just in either 8 or 9 episodes where Carolyn felt she was stuck because her mother would be alone if she left. That was one of the reasons Elizabeth brought in Vickie to be her companion. It also seems that Elizabeth only expects that Carolyn will get married.  Carolyn also said to Vickie that she feels trapped but she’s afraid to leave.
It would seem that Elizabeth would be training Carolyn to take over. Obviously Roger was cut out and it’s seems with good reason.

[Patti Feinberg]

Quote by alwaysdavid:

It would seem that Elizabeth would be training Carolyn to take over. Obviously Roger was cut out and it’s seems with good reason.

Well said, well said. Never thought of this.

Patti

[Brandon Collins]

I agree that it seemed, early on, that Liz was grooming Carolyn to take over the family affairs in the event Liz was no longer around some day. It makes the most sense story wise. And perhaps that expectation is what left Carolyn feeling trapped, almost like her life was being planned out and she didn't have a say in it's direction. Which also could explain why she rebelled so much in the early episodes (i.e. dating Buzz) and had more of a tumultuous relationship with Liz as time wore on.

[Gothick]

Carolyn's first real act of rebellion against Mother was to dump Joe in favor of dating Burke. That really hurt both Liz and Joe.

Carolyn wasn't all that likable as a character in the original 1966 arc but Nancy was so wonderful that she made Carolyn compulsively watchable. Also fascinating to see how Burke handled himself with Carolyn... he clearly knew he had a tigress by the tail there.

G.

[dom]

I'm not disagreeing but I remember getting the impression that she wanted Carolyn happy (with Joe) and had David in mind for taking over as head of the family. But I also remember Liz trying to promote Joe and raise his pay and he wasn't having it. His dream was to own his own boat on his own terms. I remember Burke making him the same offer. Any chance Liz was gonna have Joe (eventually) run the business while Carolyn ran the house? I really don't think Liz had Carolyn in mind to inherit the whole shebang. She didn't want her to be tied to the family (mis)fortune.

[Brandon Collins]

It's been a long time since I watched the pre-Barnabas episodes, but I do remember vaguely some of what Dom described regarding Liz/Joe/Burke. It's a valid argument to make that maybe Liz was trying to encourage the Carolyn/Joe relationship so that Joe could eventually take over the family business. After all, with as troubled as David was it wouldn't necessarily be prudent for Liz to plan on him making it into adulthood with a sound mind, enough at least to run the business correctly instead of in to the ground.