Discuss - Ep #0191

[Lydia]

Robservations #191

[Lydia]

Good performance by David Henesy.  Poor David Collins, torn between his Collins side and his Murdoch side.  It made me wonder if what we saw at the second séance was some sort of shell that David Radcliff had shed.

I liked Elizabeth's doctor.  It seemed unlikely to me, however, that he would be in such close attendance on Elizabeth, rather than there being nurses to keep on eye on things.  Maybe that's what Collins money buys, but I say Collins money should be buying nurses, too.  Here's what a nurse will do that a doctor won't: pull Elizabeth up when she slides down the bed.

I felt, as I felt the last time I watched this storyline, that it would not have been a bad thing if David Collins had gone into the fire with his mother.  There's a huge religion - i.e. Christianity - based on the idea of happiness following suffering.  The phoenix idea doesn't seem so different from that, except that it happens over and over again.

In the end, Laura noted that it was too late for David to come with her into the flames, but it didn't seem like the end of the world for her.  So apparently she wasn't required to bring David along, and i conclude that it was out of love for David that she wanted to bring him.

[MagnusTrask]

Warm enough now, David?   First mention of the Sun by Laura, and the only connection she's made to Egypt, except that according to DS at least, the phoenix story comes from Egypt.   (I mention this because of 1897.)   The Sun's not on fire, it runs on atomic fusion...

Hi, Liz.   I wonder if they keep her supplied with fresh fake eyelashes in the hospital.

Back to Laura.  Diana Millay can't help but gasp in response to some offstage noises during her big, climactic scene, but gets back on track.   David H looks out corner of eye at teleprompter.   Can't they do retakes for the most important scenes like this?

Joan Bennett is very, very good.   She makes the event matter more than any other actor.   As for the very end, I know they never would have allowed onscreen a long, excrutiating version of this scene, showing how bad it really would have been.   That's probably for the best.   Still, it lightens the climax to nothing when they have Laura's burning go by in a nanosecond.   However, we know it can't possibly be that bad for her, not like it was for D Radcliff, right?   She's the magical being, David R wasn't.

My tentative idea of all this is that Laura can be reborn, but the sons can't.  She does love them, but she's crazy, and loves them so much she convinces herself they can come along for the ride.  David Radcliff doesn't seem to have crossed.   And does Phoenixland exist?

[DarkLady]

The doctor says that Elizabeth's pulse and heart rates--whatever that means--are increasing. But Joan Bennett is wonderful in this episode. She really shows everyone else how it's done.

Nice work by young David Henesy too. Because of his trance (or whatever), he can't hear Vicki calling him. But possibly with Josette's assistance, he does hear his aunt's cries, and that snaps him back to the present. The poor little guy faces a terrible choice and witnesses real horror.

I also liked the cross-cutting in this episode as we switch back and forth between Elizabeth struggling to speak and David in the fishing shack.

I know a lot of people are interested in the details of Laura's Phoenix-hood and what powers she has, but I'm content just to let the story happen. I was skeptical at first, but by the end the writers and the cast made it pretty convincing.

[MysticScribe]

I liked the idea of the cross-cutting, but I think the show's live-on-tape format limited its effectiveness. If they'd had the luxury of editing and re-takes, it would have been tighter.

Vicki, Laura and David had a lot of repetitive dialogue that grew too tedious for me and raised several questions. Why didn't Vicki try to break or pry off the boards on the window? Why didn't she remind David of the people who cared about him, his family and Burke? Why didn't she tell him that his protector, Josette, had warned and guided her to the shack? I'm sure the gruesome details of what happens when you're burned alive were verboten under ABC's S&P policy.

I really liked Joan Bennett in this episode, very enjoyable performance. Coming out of her catatonia, Liz's first thought was of David and his safety, a nice contrast to Laura's seemingly destructive interest in him. If you want to get analytical and philosophical about it (which I admit I'm prone to do), you could say it shows that one needs more than maternal love to be adjusted and healthy. Liz's familial love was selfless, while Laura's maternal love was seemingly self-serving and literally smothering.

[DarkLady]

Good point, MS. But I don't think Laura's love was at all maternal but was entirely selfish. She wanted David to go with her only because she didn't want to go alone. I don't think she is necessarily evil but simply without any morals whatever.

But as you point out, Elizabeth's first thought is of Davd and the danger that he's in. That seems much closer to maternal and selfless love to me.

[Watching Project]

FAREWELL, LAURA COLLINS!

This ep marks the final appearance of Diana Millay as the present day Laura Collins.

[MagnusTrask]

Why didn't Vicki try to break or pry off the boards on the window? Why didn't she remind David of the people who cared about him, his family and Burke? Why didn't she tell him that his protector, Josette, had warned and guided her to the shack?

I think it's hard under those circumstances to construct an argument.   Rightly or wrongly, you're always saying to yourself, no time for speeches, just get him out NOW.  So you keep saying just come out, you'll burn to death... which really is the perfect argument.   Or one would think so, even if it isn't.   Things were too tense, noisy, and overwhelming for a case to be listened to, anyway.   As for prying away a board, maybe she tried out-of-frame.

If you want to get analytical and philosophical about it (which I admit I'm prone to do)...

What, that's something to be apologized for?   Please get that way as often as you care to.

[MysticScribe]

You're absolutely right, Magnus. In such a harrowing situation, Vicki's only thought was to get David out, simply stating what would happen if he stayed, but not wanting him to panic. I guess I'd make a lousy governess during a crisis.

Your encouraging the over analyzing is a kind indulgence.

[MagnusTrask]

You're absolutely right, Magnus. In such a harrowing situation, Vicki's only thought was to get David out, simply stating what would happen if he stayed, but not wanting him to panic. I guess I'd make a lousy governess during a crisis.

Well, she didn't seem to making much headway for awhile.   The burning-up-hurts argument didn't seem to be enough...

Your encouraging the over analyzing is a kind indulgence.

Not at all.   Thinking should be celebrated and encouraged.

[Watching Project]

The Robservations caps for this ep have been posted. 

[alwaysdavid]

Elizabeth is thrashing around and screaming David and fire so it appears she has some link to  David that is provided by Josette maybe as she is the one seemingly keeping people informed of David's danger. Laura burns to Phoenix land in front of David.

[MagnusTrask]

Odd that I just sort of bought it, when Liz was reviving herself to protect David, because she knew it was the big moment, without my knowing or caring how.   I didn't think about Josette, and I think Boston just might be beyond her reach.   Maybe we have some instinctive sense of a possibility of things like this happening in the real world, in extreme, extraordinary circumstances.   Or it was JB's acting that sold it to me.