Discuss - Ep #0795

[Watching Project]

Robservations #795

[Pansity]

Wakey wakey Quentinkins.      He’s transformed back, but finds himself prisoner, tied to a chair (with the obligatory torn shirt) in some unfamiliar place with stone walls.  Footsteps come down the stairs to where he is.  Aristede, again – who once again has lost track of the hand.

And down comes the pendulum (obligatory Poe mini plotline and, given the time it was shot, probably by way of a Batman cliffhanger).    We fade into the credits with a nice shot of the horrified Quentin, who sees the pendulum descending over a table, and  knows it doesn’t mean anything good.  

Barn finds Ang in the drawing room, Risky.  Oh LOL she tells him how risky it all is, and his reaction is that he can get away fast enough.  She has to point out to him that it’s not HIM she’s worrying about, but herself.  Doesn’t think of that, does he – only whether HE is in danger.  

He wants the hand to give Julianka – but Angie won’t give it.   Barn is in one of his “its all about ME” periods, and decides that the whole purpose of Ang’s deal with Quentin was to spite him – no concern for Quentin at all.    Interesting – she says she does care for Quentin , feels “strangely sorry for him”.  

Barn and Ang are at it again – he always assumes the worst with her, accusing her of never having felt sorry  for anyone in her life.  She gives it right back, pointing out he never acknowledged she had feelings. (I would guess this includes him dumping her so coldly after their affair, which of course was the catalyst got the whole thing started.)

She’s making deals again.  Now it’s she’ll give him the hand IF he doesn’t interfere in her plans for Quentin (makes you wonder what she knows about how the history originally played out, and how much a part she was in the original events.  Is this HER way of trying to fix the damage Barnabas did to history, or is she just thinking of Quentin as a convenient way to keep her status with the family? )

A neat factoid to keep in mind with the pendulum scenes is that Mike Stroka claims (I thnk I saw this on one of the Anniversary tapes from a Fest), that both he and Selby went up on their lines somewhere in one of the  scenes, then basically ad libbed it from whatever point that was, on.  Story I remember is they knew the basics, but winged it on the actual dialog.

Funny, the way Selby played the terror before the credits, it gave the impression that he knew or suspected what Aristede intended.  Now he asks questions that  imply he doesn’t know what is up, and though, resisting, isn’t really fighting as you’d think he would had he pieced it all together. (Guess he didn’t read Poe any more than he read Dracula. )  Now Quentin gets to use the so far used by about every character  statement : “you’re insane”.  Yeah, telling him he’s insane is really going to change his mind about what he’s doing.

Note where on Quentin’s body the pendulum is positioned.  I remember it moving at least once or twice as they cut back and forth to the scenes.  

Barnabas  has brought the hand and Julianka, not being stupid, insists on seeing it.  JF made a nice blooper recovery here.  He tripped over the words then got out the right dialog about curing the curse.

Interesting fact comes out here,  Julianka says that she could count on one hand the number of people who understand the hand and know how to use it.  Does that mean she isn’t the last hope after all, that there is another ?

So much for help.  Julianka was there only for the hand.  Barnabas keeps trying to talk her into it, but used everything but a reason that might have helped: the half gypsy children affected  by the curse if it’s not removed.  He keeps playing up the benefit to Quentin, whom Julianka has no reason to care about –but doesn’t even mention the children, whose plight might have moved her.  He just goes straight to offering her money.  Probably insulted her by doing that –but I don’t think that would occur to him.  He doesn’t think much more of gypsies than Edward and Judith do.  And to prove it, when she turns him down, he goes to his usual approach – scaring her with his vampire powers.

Aristede knocks on the French Windows, and whatever it is, Angie looks like the cat that ate the canary when she goes out to meet him.  Ah, now we find out why Aristede came up with the elaborate plan for Quentin.  Somehow  he found out (must have been eavesdropping, since it’s not  been told to anyone yet) that Ang is engaged to Quentin.  So, he is using Q to get the hand from Ang.  He is enjoying milking it out and tormenting her with the news that he has a half hour to live, and “he’s already started to die”.  Cut to Quentin about to get cut by the pendulum, which now seems to be over his upper chest.

Anyone else wonder how Aristede set up such an elaborate mechanism in a few hours?  He also doesn’t seem the type for so much manual labor.

Tune in next week, same Bat time, Same Bat channel.  

Jeannie

[alwaysdavid]

I remembered the pendulum as much bigger and menacing and here it is this tiny little thing not coming very close to it's intended victim.

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:
1. Quentin was only a werewolf for part of the night, and then he transformed back into the Quentin we know and love, with his handsome face restored.
2. Evidently, offscreen, Victor used his influence to take the Werewolf to the mill. At the mill, Aristede tied the newly transformed Quentin to a table under a swinging blade, and gagged him, too. Aristede then told Angelique that she had 30 minutes to return the Hand to him or Quentin would die!
3. Barnabas used his vampire powers to hypnotize Julianka into using the Hand to heal Quentin's curse.
4. Angelique didn't respond when Barnabas summoned her, so he had to come to her at Collinwood.
5. Quentin got a clue from Aristede when Aristede told Quentin that the "pit and pendulum" drama was part of "our" plan. Of course, Quentin didn't remember Victor leading him to the mill when he was a Werewolf, so he was unaware that Aristede and Victor were working together.  

JF made a great recovery when he said to Julianka: "You must get that... cure that... uh, that curse immediately." It was fun to watch.

I think perhaps Barnabas felt jealousy towards Quentin when Angelique told him that she was wanted to get together with Quentin.

She’s making deals again.  Now it’s she’ll give him the hand IF he doesn't interfere in her plans for Quentin (makes you wonder what she knows about how the history originally played out, and how much a part she was in the original events.  Is this HER way of trying to fix the damage Barnabas did to history, or is she just thinking of Quentin as a convenient way to keep her status with the family?

I think in the original 1897 storyline, Angelique got together with Quentin; however, she was not trying to "fix" history by making this deal with Barnabas. I think she just wanted to get with Quentin to keep her status in the family.

I enjoyed watching Barnabas hypnotize Julianka. It was neat that he was able to do that. Julianka was changed instantly into being subservient to Barnabas.  

The end of this episode was really exciting, with the swinging blade getting closer and closer to Quentin, and he was helplessly watching in terror! Another scene I remember from when I originally watched this as a teenager.

----- Sally -----

[EmeraldRose]

Oops! I did it again! Two paragraphs in my above post were really about Episode #796 - the following episode. If I could remove them, I would. It's too bad we only have a short time to modify our posts. I'm surprised Midnite hasn't corrected me. I must be more careful. I sincerely apologize.
----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

If I could remove them, I would. It's too bad we only have a short time to modify our posts.

It's no prob, Sally.  You took care of the trickier part of reposting.  Ideally, every post is read promptly by a mod, and it wouldn't be helpful if posters were editing hours, or as in this case, days later.

I'm surprised Midnite hasn't corrected me.

As you see from my last posting, my viewing/reviewing is still in the 780s.  

[MagnusTrask]

Those rare throwbacks such as myself who are still VHS-oriented will never get episode numbers into their heads, since ep #s aren't indicated on tapes ... we will always get confused as to what happened in which episode, at least until video format brain surgery....

[Midnite]

I hear you, Magnus, but in the main topic for every one of these posts is a link to the corresponding detailed summary by RobinV...

[EmeraldRose]

I usually read Robservations before I post here. The times when I screwed up my posts were when I just skimmed over them.  Robservations really helps! 

Thanks for fixing my post, Midnite! So, you're behind on the Watching Project, too!? As Michael Jackson (RIP) would say, "You are not alone".

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

No, I'm not alone.  It's unfortunate that there's been no discussion yet for the last 2 1/2 weeks of eps.  (The last member reply [just 1] was for #800, and today's ep is #813.)

It's also too bad, not to mention weird, that the participation was better for that dreary Adam storyline. 

[EmeraldRose]

I love to participate in the Watching Project! However, it takes me a long time to post, so there isn't enough time for me to catch up quickly. Although I'm a slow poster, anyway, because I'm such a perfectionist and I like to use a lot of Smileys, I'm behind with my replies now basically because 1897 is my favorite storyline. (Apparently, it's the favorite of others, too, most notably Pansity/Jeannie.) It takes me a long time because I read the Robservations, the replies and my notes before posting. Also, I seem to be the "Milestone" poster, which takes me a while to get straight. As of right now, the last episode I actually watched for the Watching Project was Episode #804. I'm more behind with my posting than with my DS watching, even though I'm behind there, too. I don't want to get too far ahead with my DS watching because I'm more likely to get the episodes mixed up that way when I get around to posting my replies.

The reason why the Adam storyline, at least for me, had more timely participation was because it wasn't as popular as the 1897 storyline.   Also, the 1897 storyline was much better written, with character development, etc. Quentin is a much more popular character than Adam. Quentin is my favorite character! There wasn't as much to write about during the Adam storyline. I think it's a testament to how great the 1897 storyline is that the posts are so far behind. Another thing contributing to the lateness of replies might be that it's summertime, and maybe people have other things to do out in the world instead of spending all day posting here.  

Maybe there could be another break to help people catch up? Just a suggestion.

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

Wait a minute ... Right before Angelique used the hand on Quentin, causing him to transform though the moon wasn't full, we were shown that it was 11 on the clock at Collinwood.  Here, we learn that it's the same night and Quentin has transformed again and awakened after being in the underground room for less than an hour.  We also hear a clock strike as Aristede and Quentin are conversing... 11 times-- proving yet again that time really does stand still at Collinwood!

It appears that bits of the set used as Dirk's hiding place, including the walls, were reused.

Aristede to Quentin:  "I don't take any pleasure in all of this."
I love the grin on his face as he says it.

Angelique to Barnabas (after ignoring his latest summons):  I saw no reason to return to Collinwood to continue an argument."
The poor dear was disoriented.  She was at Collinwood already.

Please, I'd like to see Julianka try to cut out Barnabas' heart!  Why'd he let her get away?  Come to think of it, Aristede also backed off when she pulled out the knife.  That tiny girl intimidated both a vampire and an assassin.  But Barnabas' confrontation with her in the woods, his staring eyes illuminated, was very effective.  Her parting line to Barnabas, "You do not understand what [the hand] means to us" made me think no, empathy for anyone outside of his immediate focus is not in Barnabas' repertoire.

I heard someone whispering at the start of Barnabas' and Julianka's scene, just after Angelique left to meet Aristede.  Lela Swift, maybe, saying something about a cord??  And I'm guessing DD blew a line here-- after Barnabas told Julianka that he couldn't bring Quentin to her until the following night (since Angelique's backfired attempt complicated things), she said there wasn't a full moon tomorrow night.  Shouldn't that have been a full moon tonight?

Quentin nearly got a haircut as he lowered himself onto the table.

A neat factoid to keep in mind with the pendulum scenes is that Mike Stroka claims (I thnk I saw this on one of the Anniversary tapes from a Fest), that both he and Selby went up on their lines somewhere in one of the  scenes, then basically ad libbed it from whatever point that was, on.  Story I remember is they knew the basics, but winged it on the actual dialog.

That's very neat.  I wonder if it's the part where he has Quentin get on the table, starting with Stroka's desperate glimpse at the teleprompter.  The rest seems to flow strangely from there.

Interesting fact comes out here,  Julianka says that she could count on one hand the number of people who understand the hand and know how to use it.  Does that mean she isn’t the last hope after all, that there is another ?

[spoiler]Nope, she's the only one who knows how to use the hand to cure a werewolf.[/spoiler]

And Pansity, I think Barnabas didn't try explaining about the children because of her statement, "I care nothing about reasons."

Is this HER way of trying to fix the damage Barnabas did to history, or is she just thinking of Quentin as a convenient way to keep her status with the family?

I think she just wanted to get with Quentin to keep her status in the family.

Angelique hints in this ep that she has plans for Quentin, but she won't reveal the real reason behind their engagement for quite some time.

[MagnusTrask]

Angelique hints in this ep that she has plans for Quentin, but she won't reveal the real reason behind their engagement for quite some time.

I have a feeling absolutely no one knew the reason at this point!

[Midnite]

I have a good feeling about your feeling!   

[Lydia]

I just love Aristede, but he always seems strange to me - so carefully suave, but deriving pleasure from things like a Pit and the Pendulum setup.  He comes across as somebody who would disdain such childish things, but he loves them.  And Michael Stroka's performance doesn't reconcile that for me.

It's interesting that Barnabas didn't have to bite Julianka; his hypnotic eyes did the job, just as they did with Nora.  But there are others whom he has to bite in order to subdue them.  How does he know which is which?

I remembered the pendulum as much bigger and menacing and here it is this tiny little thing not coming very close to it's intended victim.

I wouldn't call it tiny, but I did have my doubts as to whether it would kill Quentin.  It seemed more likely to me that it would get stuck on Quentin - rather like some Dark Shadows fans.