'91 revival series cliffhanger makes "Most Frustrating" list

[dom]

Scroll down to Criminally Unresolved Cliffhangers to fourth entry.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Very nice to see the '91 DS included.    Thanks for posting the link, dom! 

Though as those of us who bought the books for the series know, somewhat like the original series, it was intended that for Season 2 Vicki's memories of the past would be jumbled, so she wasn't going to actually recall that Barnabas is a vampire.

[DarkLady]

Thanks for the great link, dom! It would have been fun to see Roy Thinnes get bricked up.

A lot of my other favorite shows also made the list: The 4400, Jericho, Forever Knight, Pushing Dasies, and even Earth 2.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It would have been fun to see Roy Thinnes get bricked up.

Here's a shot of that from the original '91 series' slideshow:

Ep #12 - Trask: 'Please! No!'

The scene is a hoot and a half. And there's an article that will be posted later in the year that, in part, goes into the filming of it...

( And I love a lot of the listed shows as well - particularly The 4400, Invasion, The Dead Zone, Forever Knight, VR.5, Tru Calling, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Farscape, and Pushing Dasies. In fact, I still hold out hope for that potential PD movie.  )

[DarkLady]

Thanks (I think) for the scary frame grab! I had forgotten that we got to see that happen--I saw the show only when it first aired. I look forward to that article!

Really, a PD movie? 

[The Doctor and K9]

The cliffhanger could have been worse. We could have been left on the gallows with the trap sprung (or however they had it set up) and cut to credits. While the old time fans would have known how it turned out, it would have still been extraordinarily frustrating to be cheated out of the resolution. Instead we were left with a relatively mild cliffhanger, a hint of things to come but following the satisfactory conclusion of a complete arc.

[KMR]

Instead we were left with a relatively mild cliffhanger, a hint of things to come but following the satisfactory conclusion of a complete arc.

I agree.  Although there was that cliffhanger, it was no less of a conclusion that what you might find in lots of movies and novels.  My take on the first (and only) season is that--in hindsight--its primary purpose is to tell Barnabas' backstory.  And as such it is quite successful.  Yes, now that Vicki's back from the past, we're left wondering what she knows (and it looks like Barnabas is also wondering what she knows--now that *as Vicki* she's a part of his past!), but that's not an uncommon type of ending to a story.  What bothers me more are all of the secondary threads that never got a chance for further development:  Laura, Julia's possession by Angelique, etc.

[The Doctor and K9]

What bothers me more are all of the secondary threads that never got a chance for further development:  Laura, Julia's possession by Angelique, etc.

It's been a while since I watched it. I'd forgotten about those threads.

[Uncle Roger]

The Laura thread was left unresolved. As I remember it, Julia went to see Maggie Evans about the possession. Maggie was able to rid Julia of Angelique but Angelique somehow took Maggie over. Maggie/Angelique was in the process of disconnecting Phyllis Wick from live support. The action ran parallel, as Vicki entered the hangman's noose. Phyllis and Vicki were returned to their proper time periods. Maggie seems to have shaken off the possession. Whether that was true would probably have been addressed in season two. I think it's safe to assume that no one gets rid of Angelique that easily.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Julia went to see Maggie Evans about the possession. Maggie was able to rid Julia of Angelique but Angelique somehow took Maggie over. Maggie/Angelique was in the process of disconnecting Phyllis Wick from live support. ... Maggie seems to have shaken off the possession. Whether that was true would probably have been addressed in season two. I think it's safe to assume that no one gets rid of Angelique that easily.

What I always find fascinating when it comes to that aspect of the finale is that, as edited and broadcast, it played differently than it was shot. Prior to the show's run, a long gone (but really great) entertainment program named Preview included behind the scenes footage as part of one of their segments on the show. In it the possessed Maggie suddenly screams "NO!" at a point after Victoria reappears and then Maggie collapses in Roger's arms:

Was that possibly due to Angelique's rage simply overwhelming Maggie - or is it possible that Maggie was intended to collapse because Angelique ended her possession? We'll never know. Especially when the whole incident was cut from the show, so perhaps they'd decided to take things in a whole different direction if there had been a second season...

Also note that Carolyn/Barbara Blackburn did indeed shoot material for the finale even though none of it was included in either the NBC or MPI versions. 

[Uncle Roger]

Without giving too much away, MB, will this be addressed in the slide show at some point?