Which character would you love to give a good hard smack in the face?

[Josette]

Well.. yeah, I think the same thing... but we would require some adjustment time ourselves.     If we really found ourselves in 1795... really... it would be a hell of a lot more jarring and hard to take in than it was for Victoria I think.     Sure, you can see there's a pattern, in one character after another looking like familiar people, but you don't get used to something THAT crazy very fast.    You don't start expecting it.     You don't get blase, and think, oh sure, that guy looks just like Maggie's father, big deal...

I can understand her surprise and shock or whatever reaction she had as she saw all these familiar-looking people, one after the other, but after the first one or two instances, I would think she would learn to keep her thoughts to herself and not tell THEM about it!

Also, if someone from the past (like the real governess) came to their future, they clearly would be at a big loss.  But, someone going back in time presumably knows at least some things about those times.  And, Vicki was a teacher - she presumably had a good bit of knowledge of earlier American times.  After her initial shock and disorientation, it should have been a lot easier to comprehend how they would think, and the inventions they wouldn't know about, etc. and to act accordingly.  She might not have been able to pass perfectly, but surely she could have fit in better than she did.

[Pansity]

I can understand her surprise and shock or whatever reaction she had as she saw all these familiar-looking people, one after the other, but after the first one or two instances, I would think she would learn to keep her thoughts to herself and not tell THEM about it!

Exactly my point -- and my aggravation -- on that one, Josette.  OF COURSE, she would be shocked and bewildered, but the sensible Vicky who was sceptical and reasoning about so many other things at present day Collinwood would have had the presence of mind to keep her thoughts and opinions to herself while she tried to reason her way OUT of where she was.  NOT just spout off random thoughts one after the other.  Before Vicky got dumbed down, she tended to keep her own councel a lot of the time while she thought about things.

Also, if someone from the past (like the real governess) came to their future, they clearly would be at a big loss.  But, someone going back in time presumably knows at least some things about those times.  And, Vicki was a teacher - she presumably had a good bit of knowledge of earlier American times.  After her initial shock and disorientation, it should have been a lot easier to comprehend how they would think, and the inventions they wouldn't know about, etc. and to act accordingly.  She might not have been able to pass perfectly, but surely she could have fit in better than she did.

ANother of my pet peeves with her conduct.  SHE KEPT TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT THINGS THAT WOULD HAPPEN WHEN SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT IN THAT TIME IT WOULD MAKE HER STICK OUT LIKE THE PROVERBIAL SORE THUMB.  She needed to blend in and observe -- and she made no real attempt to do either.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

While it's probably true that within the 1795 storyline it seems pretty stupid for Vicki to be continually telling people that they look like someone else, we should probably try to remember that it was mostly a necessary device to clue the audience in to the fact that the present-day actors were now playing different roles in 1795. It wasn't unusual for people to only tune into their soaps for about 3 out of 5 shows a week, so the writers felt it was necessary for Vicki to have the same reaction to each new character simply because some members of the audience might have missed her reactions to the previous characters.    Though it probably wouldn't have hurt if at least once or twice she thought her reaction to herself rather than simply blurting it out. 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Gee, I'd like to see the following Dark Shadows characters get walloped:

Count Petofi

Jeb Hawkes

PT Quentin Collins

[MagnusTrask]

I think slapping is only for the annoying and weaselly, rather than for the all-out villains, who require something with extreme prejudice.

Victoria.... I'm in the middle.    She was clearly very thrown by it all, as we would be, but would have dummied up somewhat sooner than she did, being intelligent.

I disagree about a modern-day person having all this awareness about past eras and how people thought back then.   We have a bit of perspective that could help, but probably we have even more distorted ideas that would foul things up.   Over the course of my life, I've witnessed an increasingly silly and more distorting popular culture that even gives us warped ideas about eras I've lived through.     Victoria would be smarter about it all than the average person, since she's pretty well-read, I'm guessing.

[Jackie]

Just about all the main characters at one time or another:

1. Barnabas more than once... how he treated David, Willie, Julia AND Dr. Woodard early on.  Actually he needed a good staking from what he did to Woodard!
2. Angelique... she really needed to get a life away from her obsession with Barnabas!
3. Roger... do I need to say more?
4. Carolyn especially when she was whining!
5. Vicki when she constantly turned a blind eye to Barnabas! She wouldn't love him but she acted like she did. That girl got "stupidier" with every passing episode. 
6. Julia whenever she blindly followed Barnabas' commands that were dangerous [mostly what happened with Dr. Woodard]
7. Those Leviathan brats... don't like any of them.

I'm sure there are more but that's all for now.

[Alondra]

For this I could list a thousand examples but I will confine myself to one per storyline.

Pre Barnabas storyline Carolyn for [spoiler]how she ran after Burke and made a fool out of herself over him in spite of the fact that she was warned over and over that he was only using her. Laura for wanting to burn her son.[/spoiler]

Early Barnabas storyline: Barnabas himself for [spoiler]how he treated Willie, Maggie and Julia. How he expected Maggie to just give up her existence to be a different person.[/spoiler]

1795: Angelique for [spoiler]how she used innocent people to get her revenge on Barnabas, killing some, making others sick, and expecting Vicki to die for her crimes. There may be a tie here with Trask and Nathan Forbes who were utter creeps.[/spoiler]

Adam storyline: Cassandra for [spoiler]the dream curse[/spoiler] Also Nicholas and Adam himself at times.

Werewolf and Quentin's ghost storyline: The ghost of Quentin.

1897: Gregory Trask, the fiend, for simply existing, along with all the rest of his heinous deeds! Others include Aristede, Petofi, amongst others.

Leviathan: Sky Rumson for [spoiler]his hypocrisy, expecting his wife to be honest with him while he hid secrets from her. [/spoiler] Also Bruno but I always hate Bruno!

1970 Parallel time: Angelique for [spoiler]murdering Alexis and taking her place, tormenting Maggie, and murdering Will Loomis.[/spoiler]

1995: The ghost of Gerard Stiles for being so darn ugly, and for [spoiler]forcing Julia to betray Barnabas. Though it led to that sweet "Never without you" scene[/spoiler]

Summer of '70: Ghost of Gerard, and Roxanne the vampire for [spoiler]biting Maggie out of jealousy over Sebastian[/spoiler]

1840: Judah Zachary for [spoiler]possessing Gerard and causing him to be a little bit more wicked than he already was, Gerard for already being wicked. Samantha for being such a nit and choosing Gerard over Quentin which makes no sense![/spoiler]

1841 parallel time: Brutus Collins for [spoiler]cursing his family. What a bozo brain! Morgan for being an obnoxious jerk, and Catherine for marrying him for his money rather than marrying the man she truly loved.[/spoiler]

I guess it's hard to confine myself to only one per storyline lol!

Alondra

[Evan Hanley]

Wow!!! Barely ne1 said nicholas blair needed a slap. Iam sure every one by now knows that humbert is my fav actor on ds, and i love all his characters. But as much as i luv him he did deserve a smack or 2. especially when he was charles dawson he was such a rat. lolll especially when him and quentin were going at it in the court rm when quentin was on trial for witchcraft. Humbert was amazeing as charles dawson. The number 1 person who needed a smack everytime she spoke was julia hoffman!! my god did she get on my nerves. david also did a deserve a slap as well. I think even Elizabeth needed a slap 2!! especailly during the my fav period the levithins and before was buried alive.

Evan

[Alondra]

Wow!!! Barely ne1 said nicholas blair needed a slap. Iam sure every one by now knows that humbert is my fav actor on ds, and i love all his characters. But as much as i luv him he did deserve a smack or 2. especially when he was charles dawson he was such a rat. lolll especially when him and quentin were going at it in the court rm when quentin was on trial for witchcraft.

Oh don't think that just because no one said Nicholas, Evan or Charles that we don't think they deserved a good slap every now and then. I was trying to confine myself to only a few and you see how that worked out. Really just about everyone deserved a slap every now and then even my sweet Willie Loomis before his change, especially when he [spoiler]asked Sam if he had ever painted Maggie in the nude, though he didn't use those exact words we all KNEW what he meant![/spoiler]

As for the HAA characters, and I love HAA as an actor and think he's quite handsome, the one thing I think I'd give Nicholas a slap for is for the way he [spoiler]changed Adam's thinking. Adam was under the good influence of the Professor but when Nicholas got a hold of him he changed Adam's way of thinking and changed his personality. He didn't care about Adam other than that he wanted to use him and Eve to create these slaves for his master. I guess one can't judge him for being so evil since he was a devil worshipper, one can't expect any less.[/spoiler]

I can't offhand think of an incident in which I'd slap Evan Hanley, since even when he [spoiler]called up the devil he got Trask which was too perfect. I had to laugh and when I'm laughing I am not in the mood for slapping.[/spoiler]

As for Charles Dawson, he was [spoiler]under the control of Judah Zachary and had to do his bidding.[/spoiler]

Now if we had seen HAA play a good character? I don't know. He was so good at playing the bad ones!

Alondra

[Jackie]

I can't offhand think of an incident in which I'd slap Evan Hanley, since even when he [spoiler]called up the devil he got Trask which was too perfect. I had to laugh and when I'm laughing I am not in the mood for slapping.[/spoiler]

I can think of an incident where I'd slap Evan Hanley and GOOD.  [spoiler]After meeting Trask and being blackmailed by him for practicing black magic, Hanley brainwashed Tim Shaw into killing Trask's wife, Minerva.  After the poisoning, Hanley showed up and removed the spell from Tim and then accused him of killing Mrs. Trask.[/spoiler] IMO that give good reason to slap him real good.  [/color]

[loril54]

1 Angelique she needs to go through a slap machine. 
2 Barnabas for going after the SYT's all the time. 
3 Julia for giving into Barnabas all the time I would have loved to see a good verbal fight.
4 The writers and the Lela Swift for non developement of charactors.  Deciding that Barn loved Angelique all along. 
5 The worst story line, The Leviathans why did it go on so long. Bad. 

[Midnite]

The BB codes for Size, Bold, Italics, Underline, and StrikeThrough work only on text.  They will not change the visual characteristics of graphics, including smilies.

[Alondra]

1 Angelique she needs to go through a slap machine. 
2 Barnabas for going after the SYT's all the time. 
3 Julia for giving into Barnabas all the time I would have loved to see a good verbal fight.
4 The writers and the Lela Swift for non developement of charactors.  Deciding that Barn loved Angelique all along. 
5 The worst story line, The Leviathans why did it go on so long. Bad. 

True on all of the above, except the last one, really the Leviathans was not so bad, at least not the last time I watched. I did find it rather interesting this past time, though it will never be my favorite storyline.

As for Evan Hanley, [spoiler]well he was being blackmailed by Trask but as someone on one of the groups pointed out, he could have found a way out of that, maybe putting the poison in a drink for Trask. We don't know whose bright idea it was to use Tim this way, I suspect Trask since Evan didn't even know Tim before this. Trask was the plotter in all of this and Evan just went along with it. I blame Trask more than him since it was Trask's wife who was being killed. I hate Trask with a passion.[/spoiler]

Alondra[/b]

[loril54]

As for Evan Hanley, [spoiler]well he was being blackmailed by Trask but as someone on one of the groups pointed out, he could have found a way out of that, maybe putting the poison in a drink for Trask. We don't know whose bright idea it was to use Tim this way, I suspect Trask since Evan didn't even know Tim before this. Trask was the plotter in all of this and Evan just went along with it. I blame Trask more than him since it was Trask's wife who was being killed. I hate Trask with a passion.[/spoiler]

I think it was the move the Manchurian Canidate, Staring Frank Sinatra 

[Lydia]

I would very much like to have seen somebody give Nicholas Blair a good hard slap, because I'm sure his reaction would be so much fun to watch.  "Very good, my dear [So-and-so]!  I didn't know you had it in you!  If that's what you like, I can offer you a number of interesting career options, all of them very lucrative..."