Discuss - Ep #0844

[Watching Project]

Robservations #844

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0844

[DarkLady]

I was surprised at who actually shot the poor little created guy. His only line was a scream, then poof! He vanished as if he had never been. Charles is appalled at what he's done. Tim offers him a drink and the chance to tell his story. Once again, I try to like Tim again and fail.

Petofi visits Quentin, who is taken aback when he learns that Beth is working for the count. Petofi's main reason for visiting is to tell Quentin to tell Edward to stay away from Barnabas. Barnabas, the count declares melodramatically, is mine!

Tim gets Charles drunk. Charles warns Tim not to tell anyone what he's told him, drunkenly waving the gun in Tim's face.

When Petofi comes down to the foyer, he is pleased to see that the portrait of the "original" Barnabas is gone (but not for long). Quentin explains that Edward had it removed after their recent run-in.

Tim has the nerve to summon Petofi and then keep him waiting. Petofi is annoyed, then astonished when Tim says he knows all about Charles's for manufacturing things. He's even more astonished when Tim says he saw Charles create a person the same way and can do it again--any kind of person, in fact, that Petofi could want. I was surprised that Petofi didn't know the extent of the gift he gave Charles. Tim is more concerned that anything should happen to Amanda--he's still got his plan for Trask to finish.

Barnabas visits Quentin and tells him that Julia is taking care of his needs--Julia rocks!! Quentin tries to get more information from Barnabas, especially about whether he's planning to return to his own time, but Barnabas is vague. After Barnabas leaves, Quentin uncovers his portrait and addresses it: Well, did you find out enough to satisfy Petofi? I doubt it. You don't even make a good traitor, he finishes bitterly as he covers up the painting again.

Welcome, Lady Kitty Hampshire! Although properly she should be Kitty, Lady Hampshire, since the title was her husband's and not hers. But it's fun to see KLS back again and playing a somewhat different role from Rachel. Quentin is the first to greet her and puts the moves on, but for the moment, Kitty is much more interested in the sumptuous mansion she has landed in.

Petofi is so eager for news of Barnabas that he returns to Quentin's room (and saves some production costs too). But Quentin tells Petofi that he learned very little. Petofi declares melodramatically, Barnabas Collins must die! He is sure Julia will explain how to get to the future once Barnabas is dead--although this made no sense to me. Quentin is skeptical of the count's powers until Petofi slashes his (Q.'s) face with a shard of glass. The portrait has a scar, but Quentin's handsome face is unmarred.

Kitty runs into Petofi in the foyer and reacts with loathing, blaming him for her husband's apparent suicide. She dashes out in search of FRESH air, but the count is unfazed. Inevitably she runs into Barnabas and the inevitable story begins to unwind yet again. Sure enough, when Kitty returns to Collinwood she asks about the portrait that should be in the foyer. Oh dear.

[MagnusTrask]

The episode opens with CD Tate's Made Guy, with the camera showing us whatever passes for thoughts in his head... as registered in his face, that is.  He approaches Tim, and I wondered if perhaps he was imprinting on Tim, and wondered if his first word might be "Mommy?" 

We get Tate's story of how he met Petofi in Paris ten years earlier.  I think everyone on DS might be playing older people... Roger Davis would have been a teenager, right?  Shaw and Tate become drinking buddies.  For two or three episodes, we've actually been seeing some different, more human, sometimes more relaxed scenes, rather than just confrontations and plot, plot, plot.  They don't trust each other more when drunk, though, and Tate ends the scene by threatening to kill Shaw.  On DS, everyone seems to threaten to kill others if they do this or that aggregious thing, even if they aren't criminals or killers.  I wonder if it was just more common for people to threaten to kill someone when they got mad, in the 1960s.

Tim reasons strangely.  He thinks that simply by bringing the news of Tate's ability to create human beings to Petofi, he'll profit somehow.  He expects a partnership, just for that.  Tim Shaw, 50% partner in world domination, yet serving no function in the mayhem, just sort of hanging around and receiving riches, just because he told Petofi about Tate.  What an honorable man he must assume Petofi is, someone who'd live up to the most insane agreements...  Tim is a born agent, even if he's no good at it.  His first instinct is to graft himself onto someone else's good fortune.  Petofi is always a few jumps ahead, and puts together that Amanda is a Tate creation in no time whatsoever...

Welcome, Kitty Soames, Lady Hampshire.   She is distinguished from Rachel Drummond by the presence of a mole near the right corner of her mouth. 

Petofi's plan is now to kill Barnabas just to leave Julia on her own, ready to turn to Quentin as her only ally, and blab her time secrets that she doesn't have, except for which hexagram is the good one.  It's a silly plan.  They should have just told Petofi all about the I Ching the moment he asked, of course.  Why not?

If Q's portrait bleeds for him when he's scratched, why did it matter if Beth shot him?  Barnabas meets Kitty in woods, reactivates his Josette fixation.  The circumstances are silly and contrived, but there's something about periodically going back to the Josette thing that I like.  It unites the show across all times, in a way, as Angelique's presence does, giving things a bit of an epic feel.  Or something.

[DarkLady]

RIP Made Guy. We hardly knew you.

Wow, did Beth shoot Quentin BEFORE or AFTER we find out about the portrait? My brain refuses to cooperate.

Nice observation about Tim, MT. He might just be trying to get back some of the wealth that the hand seemed to promise. But he still has his long game with Trask in mind, luckily, otherwise he'd be just an idiot.

If anything, it's probably more common for people to threaten to kill someone now.