Discuss - Ep #0757

[Watching Project]

Robservations #757

[Pansity]

YAY first post!  I know I won't get to watch, much less post tomorrow (late project at work. I'll consider myself lucky if I'm out by 9PM), so hopefully this will at least keep me from falling further behind.

Grayson voiceover.  We pick up near the end of the scene in yesterday’s climax, but shot from a different pov:  we see Laura hand with stake in it poised over the open coffin, but can’t see Barnabas IN the coffin.

Laura’s hand raises to strike – and Angelique of all people  “perhaps you’ve heard of me” grabs the stake from Laura and shuts the coffin.  MEEEOW the claws are out, as Ang recalls her memory of Laura’s portrait in Jeremiah’s room “looking arrogant and rather wooden in your riding habit”.  Interesting, Angie seems very vulnerable in this scene.  Her actions cue Laura in to the fact that she cares very much about what happens to Barnabas.  Laura is very manipulative, trying to play Ang by telling her she is a failure as a woman because Barnabas won’t love her by choice.  When that doesn’t intimidate Angelique, she shows her flames to demonstrate her powers then leaves.

Finally we see Magda, upstairs, oblivious to the fact that Barnabas was almost a shish ke bab until Angelique tells her what happened in the basement.  Magda, it seems was at Jenny’s grave when she should have been on guard duty.
Angelique is determined to protect Barnabas, and she has a cunning plan.  Magda is somewhat less than thrilled about being ordered to go fetch Quentin, however.  But Angelique is her match “Since Barnabas is in danger everyone will do what I tell them to do—INCLUDING YOU….”

Now we have Quentin in the drawing room with a Brandy (but no Colonel Mustard and no gun).    He’s wearing a smoking jacket I could swear I’ve seen on Barnabas before.  Oh, our boy is three sheets to the wind and then some.  No more booze in the bottle, he has a hissy and throws the bottle on the floor.  He’s all unkempt, with his stock undone and shirt partway open (DOWN TAEYLOR  ).  Selby does a great drunk.  He plays it like a friend of mine, 2nd generation NY theater, explained to me  long ago that a GOOD actor does drunk:  he’s not playing it as a man trying to be drunk.  He’s playing it like a man who is falling down drunk, but desperately trying to appear cold sober.

 Ooh that set is wobbly, the banister shook like mad when he grabbed it.  Needless to say Magda is the last person on earth he expected or wanted to see when he wobbled over to open the door.  He’s a scared little boy, trying to yell and pretend he’s tough, but he’s so scared of Magda that he keeps backing away every time she gets near him.  Love the dialog: “I refuse to lie down and die” and Magda’s retort “But you’re having trouble standing up.”  And AGAIN with the “I’m going to KILL you” as he lunges at her.  Love him falling flat on his face on the stairs.    She didn’t even have to try to avoid him.

Really great scene.  As much as Magda hates Quentin, that’s not all that’s there, she seems to have a lot of contradictory feelings all going on at the same time.  She points out, quite rightly from the shape he’s put himself in, that he’s destroyed himself, even without her help. She knows how Jenny loved Quentin and tells him how it would break Jenny’s heart to see him the way he is now.  Drunk as he is, that hit home as hard as Jenny’s knife.  I think he’s too drunk to censor his words or try to manipulate her by faking it, so when he remembers how Jenny loved him and he loved her, that’s probably real regret, even if there is self pity there.

For her part, I think she might be having regrets on some level too. There’s  probably some pity when he begs her for the sake of the fact that he really did love Jenny and she him, to end it by removing the curse.  We’ve seen that Magda is a kinder hearted person than she wants anyone to know she is.  But as she points out, if removing the curse would bring Jenny back, she would (interesting when we find out later she flat out CAN’T).  But it can’t so she won’t.  LOL she’s back to treating him like a bratty little boy.  Quiet and listen!  Nice touch when she’s explaining  what Quentin needs to do, the bits of business Selby does, making it look like Quentin is concentrating VERY hard and trying to kick his brain into gear. 

Quentin seems to have put himself together reasonably well, and he manages to make halfway coherent sentences even if he IS nursing his head.  Angelique must see that he’s out of it, she’s being very patient, for her.  Wonder if that line of hers about  having someone harm Barnabas being like “having someone pierce my heart with a knife” was intended to be a deliberate crack at Quentin.  We don’t get a reaction shot to judge by. Ang keeps pushing it though, until Quentin is pushed to telling her he’s not sure he can revive his interest in Laura to be any help.

Interestingly enough, his reply isn’t nasty words or misdirection:  its simple truth. “Look at me.  Do I look like I’m in any shape to help ANYONE?  Can’t you see I can’t even help myself.”  This piques Angelique’s interest and she wants to know what he has to help himself against.  For some reason, he decides against telling her about the curse, and says he doesn’t know.  Maybe not the best decision, because now she’s ticked off at his refusal to help, and guarantees him that however bad this thing is now, with her as an enemy it will be far worse.  Using his head for once, he realizes she WILL carry out her threat, and gives her the information she asks for on Laura.

Angelique points out that Magda must help steal the scarab with Laura’s lifeforce.  If  she doesn’t do it, Barnabas may find out that Laura endangered him and he’d kill Magda.  Now here’s a rich irony.  QUENTIN of all people tells Angelique that they can’t kill Magda, then blurts out about the curse.  Funny thing, Angelique doesn’t seem to have known, and isn’t curious, insisting “I can’t get involved in that”.  It’s rather amusing watching Angelique referee between Magda and Quentin, essentially telling them to stuff it and do what she says until she gets Barnabas out of danger.

Angelique as always, gets what she wants (except Barnabas).  Magda is at the cottage convincing Laura that she’s on her side, and only wants to control the way Barnabas dies, making sure she and Sandor aren’t implicated.  Ok, this is a new one, silver bullets for vampires.  Coming from Magda, is this the trap it seems to be. And why FIVE silver bullets?  Most revolvers have 6 chambers, not to mention whether it takes multiple bullets to do the deed.

And here we are again in the Old House, with the Book of the Dead, and Angelique in place of Charity as well as Quentin in place of Barnabas.  Quentin’s scared of the ceremony  and the “angry ancient gods”  (made me think of Lovecraft’s Old Ones). Angie and another  of her little dollies in another fireplace.  And Quentin, really getting into the incantation like an old time revival preacher.

Now we have dueling ceremonies to court the old Gods, as Laura begs intercession to crush her enemy….   

Jeannie

[alwaysdavid]

We learn that Quentin loved Jenny when he first met her and from the expression on his face he seems sincere.  Laura is very loose with the equipment that keeps her alive and in power just as Barnabas is with his coffin.  The last scene where Laura appears to be melting as the episode fades out was a fun effect.

[Midnite]

For once, they didn't give away the surprise by having Lara Parker do the voiceover.  Oh, what a fabulous first meeting between Ang and Laura!!!

And it's GAME ON.  We now have Team Phoenix headed by Laura that includes Dirk, its weakest link, and Ra, who by now must surely be on his last nerve.  After its most valuable possession, an urn, was placed on the injured reserve list, a scarab was brought in as a replacement but was unfortunately fumbled away.

On the opposing side, Team Vampire is captained by Barnabas (but only at night) and includes a witch at the height of her powers, a "Madame Gypsy Witch Hag," and a dabbler, plus minor players Charity and Sandor who were drafted against their will.  Team V's most valuable possessions are a pocket edition of The Book of the Dead, a wax poppet, and the newly captured scarab.

But Laura scored big by getting the last word in this confrontation:  [while strolling past Angelique after placing a wall of flames in her path to prevent her from leaving first] "I must warn you that I am not without powers.  And it's good to see that you are not without fear."

One more quote--
Laura:  "The Collins house has always held unhappy women."
Word.

Ok, this is a new one, silver bullets for vampires.

Though not new for DS.  It has come up a handful of times already, with the first probably being the scene between Joshua and Barnabas near the end of 1795.  It's not new to 1897 because we did learn that Barnabas was vulnerable to silver during one of Quentin's rituals that included Jamison.

And why FIVE silver bullets?  Most revolvers have 6 chambers, not to mention whether it takes multiple bullets to do the deed.

Early Colt revolvers chambered 5 bullets.  (Kudos to Violet Welles for that and for the marvelous dialogue in this ep.)

[Pansity]

LOL Love Team  Vampire and Team Phoenix.  .  Your comment on Ra is oh so true.  Not to mention the fact that I got the mental image of the Ra from Stargate, totally pissed off with the glowing eyes. 

I must have mindwiped about the silver  and not tied it in with silver bullets , though I did remember the bit with Jamison that you mentioned.   

Early Colt revolvers chambered 5 bullets.  (Kudos to Violet Welles for that and for the marvelous dialogue in this ep.)

Nifty bit of trivia about the 5 chambered Colts!  That's one of the things I love about the writing in 1897. They do come up with odd facts every so often that are just throwaways, obscure yet are totally period to the point where only someone knowing that odd bit of trivia would GET how right the reference is.  Congrats on such a catch!  I never knew that!

Jeannie

[Taeylor Collins]

 We now have Team Phoenix headed by Laura that includes Dirk, its weakest link, and Ra, who by now must surely be on his last nerve.

I almost spit out my wine! LOL  I pictured Ra getting pissed. FUNNY Midnite!  I needed that!! 

Laura:  "The Collins house has always held unhappy women."
Word.

I love that line too.  And I love that you said WORD! 

VO: Grayson Hall

All right for Angelique!  “I’ll relieve you of these and we will talk!” HEE Once again, I love seeing all these different supernatural natural creatures duking it out.! Lara looks gorgeous per usual! 

The hearth is looking rough. It needs some cleaning. "Where are those confounded servants??"

Why hello Quentin…I like David’s Selby natural “fangs”.  Tom Welling (of Smallville) fame reminds me somewhat of David.  He has the dark hair, blue eyes, and fangs.   

Grayson has very nice teeth. GH is on target today. She is truly on her game.  I love the fact the DS employed so many close-ups catching all the endless emotion!  I wonder if David is reading the script in the Book of the Dead?  I enjoy his rituals; he plays them with such conviction and verve. Love the music during this sequence as well!  It looks to me as there was an obvious “stop camera” cut as it panned to the fireplace. Did anyone else catch that? Or did my tape jump?

G R E A T episode!

[EmeraldRose]

This was the first time Angelique made a poppet that was colorful, i.e. orange.

Barnabas was obviously not in his coffin at the beginning, when Laura was attempting to stake him. OK, so we know that Magda was visiting Jenny's grave, but where was Sandor? There was no mention of where he was. I like how they filmed Laura's "stake scene" from a different POV. Hooray! Angelique saved the day again! I loved the battle between Angelique and Laura. I think Angelique's powers trump Laura's.

Ooh! Quentin was handsome in this episode! I loved his messy hair! I think he got a haircut. His sideburns were obviously fake, but looked great on him! Yes, indeed, Selby does play a great drunk!

Angelique was fearless, and very protective of her man! She wouldn't take "no" for an answer from Quentin and Magda.  It was pretty sly of Magda to tell Laura the truth about how to kill Barnabas with the silver bullets. (But, five of them? Wouldn't just one suffice?) It was just a ruse to get Laura out of the room, so Magda could find the scarab. Pretty dumb of Laura to be so careless about the scarab, since her life depended on it. 

I loved hearing Quentin's incantation! He did it so well! Chilling! I also loved the special effects of Laura's face melting. I think they did that by putting vaseline on the lens.

This show was long. There were no credits, just the "Dan Curtis Productions" screen.

----- Sally -----

[Lydia]

Like others, I think Laura was careless with the scarab.  Why didn't she keep it in her pocket?  I remember reading Period Piece, by Gwen Raverat, a granddaughter of Charles Darwin.  It's about life - her own life in particular - in Victorian times, and there was a chapter on the horrors of wearing Victorian clothing.  But, she said, there was one good thing: Victorian clothes had loads of pockets.  So why didn't Laura use one of those pockets?

I've always felt that David Selby did the incantation from The Book of the Dead wrong.  Quentin, hungover as he was, would never have put that much enthusiasm into it.  Never mind; it was glorious, so who cares?

I loved the way Magda said "Angelique" when she was talking to Quentin - with that drawn-out nasal N.

Grayson has very nice teeth.

Yes, I was noticing that myself today, and thinking that they didn't seem right for Magda.  Grayson Hall should have painted some brown stains onto them.

We learn that Quentin loved Jenny when he first met her and from the expression on his face he seems sincere.

Well, we learn now that he believes that he loved her then.  I don't think that's proof that he loved her.  I'm not saying he didn't.  I'm just saying that love and lack of love can be difficult to pin down.

Interestingly enough, his reply isn’t nasty words or misdirection: its simple truth. “Look at me. Do I look like I’m in any shape to help ANYONE? Can’t you see I can’t even help myself.” This piques Angelique’s interest and she wants to know what he has to help himself against. For some reason, he decides against telling her about the curse, and says he doesn’t know. Maybe not the best decision, because now she’s ticked off at his refusal to help, and guarantees him that however bad this thing is now, with her as an enemy it will be far worse.

I don't think there's any good decision on whether or not to tell Angelique about the curse.  Sure, not telling her annoys her - but, on the other hand, getting Angelique involved in any issue is always an iffy proposition.