Discuss - Ep #1063

[Watching Project]

Robservations #1063

[MagnusTrask]

Whoever does the VO tells us only three people are at Collinwood now.   He speaks as if one of them is Stokes, but I doubt he lives there.   [spoiler]Quentin does, so he's the third.[/spoiler]  Since he goes out of his way to point out that Carolyn is "mad", maybe he shouldn't single her out in that way, and give us the mental state of everyone.   Carolyn is mad, Mrs. J is a no-longer-repressed hysteric, Stokes is sane but crotchety....

Carolyn to Barnjulia at open door of secret room: "I knew you'd come back here."   Great moment.   I love how even in 1995, Julia still pulls out the "I'm (we're) writing a book" story!   No expiration date for that one, I guess!   I wonder if after her disappearance in 1970, everyone referred to her as "That doctor who was writing a book about our family and gave us sedatives."   I'll bet they especially missed the sedatives.   [spoiler]Those who survived anyway...[/spoiler]

This storyline is drawing me in, and it made me wonder-- [spoiler]What would it have been like if they'd spent a full storyline in 1995 as with 1897 or 1795?[/spoiler]   By the way, what's with all the fins de siècle in DS?   What significance is there supposed to be to the end of a century?   DS goes out of its way to time-travel amongst the closing years of three centuries.   Wikipedia talks about degeneration, a great era falling apart.   

They are making things creepier.  For me, this beats flowers and twins, no disrespect meant to those who really like PT.   That blue glow effect is great.   I don't know, but this might be the kind of thing people actually describe seeing.   Points off for the by-now obligatory music-box theme.   You're not allowed to have a music box theme if no music box is in the storyline...

The lifelong Collinsport resident and cop sounds very Midwestern.   ***  It'd be cool if Julia had found in her closet in 1995 the exact same green suit she was wearing... [spoiler]It would have been a spoiler though.   It would indicate that she does make it back to 1970.   But then she presumably gets killed!   Or driven off without her belongings...[/spoiler]    Julia finds her medical journal in that "strongbox" (or fishing tackle box) in the armoir in her room...  Did it actually find its way back there, in the same ineffective, highly-portable metal box, in the same piece of furniture?

End-- Julia's a cheek-clasping fraidy cat again!   Grayson got across credible fear early in the episode; why switch back to the possibly-camp reactions now?  [spoiler]Gerard face!![/spoiler]

[Lydia]

I love how even in 1995, Julia still pulls out the "I'm (we're) writing a book" story!   No expiration date for that one, I guess!

That was fun, and I also liked the business of "A secret room!  Gosh, we had no idea!"

I enjoyed hearing Barnabas refer to the Barnabas of 1970 - himself - as "my father", but it ought to raise some questions in the mind of the unnamed Sheriff (who probably envies Sheriff Davenport for having a surname).  Barnabas can't pass for under 25 (Jonathan Frid can do a pretty good imitation, but Barnabas can't) so where was this supposed Son of Barnabas in the 1960s when Barnabas was a Collinwood, and why did Barnabas never mention having a son, and who was the mother?

Julia's a cheek-clasping fraidy cat again!

Yes, both times when she was spooked - in her room and down in the foyer - it seemed out of character for her.  If Willie had been there, it would have been OK for him to be scared, but I thought Julia was tougher than that.[spoiler]Maybe her susceptibility to Gerard is already showing, but there's no indication that either Barnabas or Julia think she's acting more vulnerable than usual.[/spoiler]

Enter the villain.  We're given a name in the credits, but it doesn't mean anything.  I know from an interview with Dan Curtis that's on one of the DVDs that Quentin's name was derived from the name of Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw.  Is there any particular reason for Gerard's name, or does it just have a villainous ring to it?

By the way, what's with all the fins de siècle in DS?   What significance is there supposed to be to the end of a century?

[Pause for appreciation of "fins de siècle", complete with accent grave.  I'm wondering about that single plural, though.  Is ends of century or ends of centuries better?  It's a toss-up, I guess.]  It might be like pricing something at X dollars plus 95 cents - e.g. $9.95.  We're expected to think: "Look, only $9!" when actually it's closer to $10, and of course the sales tax puts it over $10.  Likewise, 1897 gets us the feel of the 1800s while actually being closer to 1900.  Note: I don't really believe this explanation, even though I can't resist throwing it in.  In the 1990s I felt myself to be solidly in the 20th century.  I knew the 21st century was quite close, and I had read that Jesus was in fact born around 4BC which meant that in 1997 we were already in the 21st century, but it didn't change my feeling.

[Midnite]

Points off for the by-now obligatory music-box theme.   You're not allowed to have a music box theme if no music box is in the storyline...

[spoiler]A carousel music box doesn't count?  [/spoiler]

[MagnusTrask]

[spoiler]A carousel music box doesn't count?  [/spoiler]

Oh... well then, the problem is just too many music boxes...