Discuss - Ep #0791

[Watching Project]

Robservations #791

[Pansity]

Ah, gotten ahead in trying to catch up.  Guess being on enforced vacation due to the car's head gasket repair is doing SOME good.

Comments:

Replay of Quentin entering Collinwood through a wide open front door.  Unlocked is bad enough, but wide open? 
Did anyone else notice he reversed the lyrics?  He said calling me to you, not calling you to me.  I AM QUENTIN, he  keeps saying.  That same deliberate tone that he used with those lines  at the end of the storyline.

HA!  HE sees Minerva!  Damn and Trask comes along.  “No prowler’s going to come on MY property!”  Presumptuous once again – and Quentin’s out the door.  Once again, someone who didn’t see the face didn’t recognize the height , build and clothing.  Oh JL is having way too much fun with this.  On the surface all concerned and worried, yet we have that smirking undertone of satisfaction in Judith’s torment.

LOL Evan is no fool, as he points out, and doesn’t trust Trask not to double cross him.  What a piece of work Trask is.  “But I’m a man of the cloth” with that self satisfied smirk.  Nice bit of character development in Evan’s line :”My poor client. She waited so long to marry – then she got YOU to take care of her”.   Aside from the double meaning there, we see that Evan pities Judith, but his ambitions come first.  Evan has some limits on what he thinks they can get away with.  And we actually get a reference to Carl’s funeral.  From what Evan says, the plan is to convince her that Edward’s the one died, and Carl is still living.

Minerva and the knife again.  Now he hits her with the paper, and insists that she sign it without reading it.  Then  they pull it on her that Edward is dead and Carl is in Europe.  She’s hit her limit and she signs. Oh Trask is gloating all over the place at being Master of Collinwood.  Evan points out this is all dependent  on Judith staying ill, which of course Trask intends on her remaining for a very long time.

Nice touch with her talking about hating snow and not wanting to play in the snow   Carl burying her in the snow?  That I could see, if they were closer to the same age (slight seque here, but does anyone else see kid Quentin conning kid Carl into licking a frozen pump handle in the winter?) but she’d have been the big sister and would have had a shot at getting away from a little kid.   Flashback to Liz here, “don’t bury me in the snow, don’t bury me alive.”

LMAO here we have a ceremony by Evan – and the stagehand running  muttering across the camera frame.  Love the way HAA is so into it that he doesn’t even react.   Stage trained actors are grand and HAA is always wonderful doing these  ceremonies.

Now Judith is even more lost.  It seems she thinks Minerva is  her ladies maid (Finally a reference to a servant who HAD to have existed!) and has dismissed her, then the nonsequitur that Ladies’ maids are hard to find. 

Makes me think of the interesting layers of plot that could have been there had they been able to show all the servants who should have been there – especially  Judith’s ladies maid and  Carl, Edward and Quentin’s valets.  Oh  that could have been a comedy,  with Quentin trying to keep his valet from finding out how fast he’s going through shirts and suits. 

Judith is all disjointed now, and at times makes me think of Ophelia.   Hmm, that line of hers, “she thinks I stole from her”.  Apparently she thinks she stole Minerva’s husband – or she  may just be remembering Jenny’s green dress.   

Trask is as calculating as every, trying to push her over the edge by threatening that Minerva and Rachel and Dirk will be back to haunt her.  Can anyone place the room they’re in?  I could be wrong, but it seems too plain to be the room we saw her in before, yet it doesn’t seem quite right for the tower room(and wouldn’t that be an irony if he stashed her there).

Oh that was dumb of Trask, why would he not work out the terms BEFORE everything went down.   Speaking of dumb, why does Quentin keep going back to Evan for help. He’s proven he will double cross Quentin, and has on more than one occasion.  LOL Quentin actually turns DOWN a drink!   And now we start the game of button, button who’s got the button with the hand.  Quentin just finds it when the nattily dressed fop walks in and demands the hand.

Jeannie

[MagnusTrask]

Ah, gotten ahead in trying to catch up.  Guess being on enforced vacation due to the car's head gasket repair is doing SOME good.

Trask is as calculating as every, trying to push her over the edge by threatening that Minerva and Rachel and Dirk will be back to haunt her.

Quentin just finds it when the nattily dressed fop walks in and demands the hand.

I will send the Hand over to heal your car.   If the mechanic gets in the way though....

One of the very few moments in DS that even now can make me shudder... when Trask threatens Judith with a parade of... ALL THE DEAD.   No one can help her, there's no way out, only she will be able to see them (she thinks)... locked in an asylum, if she tells anyone they'll just keep her there longer.... she's imagining this going on forever.

It's good to see that vain, over-enunciating weasel with the twisty knife walk in, isn't it?   First entrances of characters are the big DS moments for me, and he knows how to enter a room.  

[Pansity]

I will send the Hand over to heal your car.   If the mechanic gets in the way though....

LOL, Thanks, but it might melt my engine like it melted Quentin's face.  And don't mess with my mechanic, I've been using him since the 80s.  Mechanics who are honest, reasonable and listen to women when they explain what's wrong are worth their weight in gold.  (FYI the actual problem was only a worn out gasket.  It's the labor to get the engine out to get to the thing that's the killer.)

One of the very few moments in DS that even now can make me shudder... when Trask threatens Judith with a parade of... ALL THE DEAD.   No one can help her, there's no way out, only she will be able to see them (she thinks)... locked in an asylum, if she tells anyone they'll just keep her there longer.... she's imagining this going on forever.

Yes, that is a nightmare, straight out of a horror movie.  Carnival of Souls just popped into my mind, speaking of hauntings and tormenting by multiple ghosts.

It's good to see that vain, over-enunciating weasel with the twisty knife walk in, isn't it?   First entrances of characters are the big DS moments for me, and he knows how to enter a room.

Yeah Aristede is a lot of fun, and I forgot to mention it, but in a few places his relationship with Petofi called Jason and Willie to mind.  A. is a great character, and he'd be a great fit as a villain in a silent movie serial.  Hmm, come to think of it, that's one cliche they missed.  No one got tied to the railroad tracks in Collinsport.

Jeannie

[alwaysdavid]

The HAA scene was very funny. 
"l'll take the hand, Mr Collins. Now!" was a memorable line and a complete stranger recognizes Quentin and his own family is so unobservant they can not.

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:
1. Michael Stroka made his first appearance as Aristede. First line: "I'll take the hand, Mr. Collins, NOW!"
2. Quentin and Judith both saw "Minerva", but Trask still lied that there was no one there.
3. Evan and Trask proceeded to make Judith even more "crazy" and told her to sign a paper (without reading it) that made Trask the master of Collinwood, then Trask locked Judith in (I think) the Tower Room.
4. Evan performed a ceremony to get rid of Minerva's specter.
5. Quentin hit Evan over the head, knocking him out, and found the Hand. Unfortunately, Aristede arrived and immediately demanded the hand from Quentin.

It's funny that Elizabeth remembered about Carl burying her in the snow when they were children, but we never saw any snow on DS! 

"Minerva" sure had a scary look on her face! She was frightening to look at. It was horrible that Trask suggested that other dead people would haunt Judith.   

It was amusing when, at the beginning of Evan's ceremony, someone ran across the screen exclaiming, "Jesus!" I was impressed when HAA wasn't distracted, and Evan continued on with the ceremony. Very professional!

Evan was smart to not trust Trask and draw up a paper of his own to guarantee that he would get some of the Collins fortune.

Poor Quentin! His gorgeous face isn't so gorgeous now. He's got that pasty face that looks like clay which is peeling like crazy! It's a shame to hide that handsome face. I'll be glad when his face is back to normal.

When Quentin hit Evan over the head with the candlestick, I wondered if he had accidentally killed him. Made me think of a line from the game Clue: "The killer was Quentin, in the parlor, with the candlestick." Quentin hit Evan pretty hard! 

I thought Evan was very inconsiderate of Quentin, as usual, when he refused to admit that he had the Hand and wouldn't explain how his face got back to normal again. I thought it was great when Quentin knocked the drink out of Evan's hand! Very dramatic! 

I am hating Trask and Evan more and more as this story goes along. Everything they do makes them more despicable. 

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

  This ep ends the first half of the 1897 story.  Yay, the halfway point.  And arguably, with the introduction of Aristede, it also marks a major turning point-- one that many fans might consider the point at witch the storyline starts to collapse under its own weight.  

It also has the final appearance of Minerva.  Clarice's future appearances will be too few and far between.

A camera is visible behind Evan in the drawing room.

Edward needs to stay at home more.  I'm just sayin'.

A gun totin' Reverend!

Minerva:  "Does this bustle make my butt look big?"
J/K  

Gregory to Evan:  "Master of Collinwood. With this paper, no one can dispute it."
later:  "I am ... sole guardian of the estate.  Unless your paper has a loophole in it."
Judith was under the influence of a fast-acting sedative when she signed-- one that Greg administered.  I don't know about 1897, but nowadays that contract wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on.

I think the voice that says "Jesus" belongs to Jerry Lacy.  And I hear at least one other female voice and it sounds an awful lot to me like Joan Bennett.

As Judith is led to the tower room, she's hearing voices.  But how interesting that although she mistakes the conjured Minerva for a servant, she believes the woman is warning her to beware of early Spring berries because they might be poisonous.  Since nightshade berries are most poisonous while they're unripe (did not know that til I just now looked it up), is Judith recalling what the real specter of Minerva previously told her, or is the real Minerva still getting through to her now?

Replay of Quentin entering Collinwood through a wide open front door.  Unlocked is bad enough, but wide open?

Hmm, I'm sure Quentin opened it himself both times.
  

Did anyone else notice he reversed the lyrics?  He said calling me to you, not calling you to me.

Thanks!  I noticed it didn't rhyme with falling silently and thought WTH?

Hmm, that line of hers, “she thinks I stole from her”.  Apparently she thinks she stole Minerva’s husband – or she  may just be remembering Jenny’s green dress.    

LOL  I'm glad the voiceover explained that Judith "has a name she feels no right to."  Thank you, Vi.

And Sy Thomashoff is apparently taking a break, replaced by John Dapper.

[Midnite]

I thought Evan was very inconsiderate of Quentin, as usual, when he refused to admit that he had the Hand and wouldn't explain how his face got back to normal again.

Evan did say that it just happened on its own, though obviously he lied about the rest.  But if his face reverted spontaneously, why didn't it happen that way for Quentin too?  Maybe Evan did some hocus pocus to fix it, though why wouldn't he admit that?  He's not one who can control the hand, so it can't be that.  Ack, another plot hole?

[Roland]

Imagine how much of a kick it must have been for Clarice to be able to show up for work and pick up a paycheck without having to memorize any lines!

Pansity - anybody who references "Carnival of Souls" in a post is alright with me!

[Lydia]

I was struck by the voiceover - "In the great house of Collinwood at the turn of the century, two people struggle to find out who they really are."  I don't think the statement was exactly accurate, but never mind; it echoed a question that was asked of me a few months ago, and that still haunts me.

Why did the fake Minerva keep threatening Judith with a knife?  It's a pity Judith didn't take to heart the fact that when somebody tried to touch the apparent Minerva, she disappeared, but I suppose it was too late for such lucidity.  I had never before realized how fast Judith was brought down.  That just doesn't seem right.  But I'm figuring the so-called medicine that Trask gave her must have had some sort of hallucinogen in it.

I remember the end of this episode from when it first aired.  My friend across the street and I were all agog over it.  It seemed so frustrating - just when it seemed as though Quentin's troubles were over, the stranger with the strange name (I noticed it in the credits but had never heard of it before) snatched the hand from him!  And now I don't know why I thought the hand would solve Quentin's problems.  Something to do with believing in happy endings, I guess.