Discuss - Ep #1201

[Watching Project]

Robservations #1201

[Lydia]

There was a suggestion in the discussion of one of last week's episodes that Bramwell was intended to be the villain of parallel time 1841.  We can now be sure that that's not the case, because Catherine has stated that Bramwell is not a coward.

Morgan has been sure since he was very young that he would go into the Room.  Gabriel is sure that he'll be the one.  And from the way Quentin is acting, I figure he is sure he'll be the one.  Each one of them has grown up believing himself to be doomed.  Three glass-half-empty guys.  Nature or nurture?

Catherine wants to be the heroine who makes the Room and the lottery go away.  Morgan said she would bring life to the house, and that's how she sees herself.  But things just aren't that simple in the Dark Shadows universe.

When Catherine prepared to go home to get Daphne, I thought to myself, "Walking in the woods at night - not a good thing at Collinwood."  But in this parallel time, the danger is inside the house, in the Room, not outside.  Stretching that thought beyond what it can hold...I'm sure Catherine had a nice unforced walk to the Old House, and that Bramwell was as soft-speaking on the way as he was when we saw him just outside Collinwood.  It wasn't until they got inside the Old House that he started to use force.

[DarkLady]

Good idea about that walk to the Old House, Lydia. I'm sure it never occurred to Catherine until they got there that Bramwell had anything in mind besides a nice quiet chat. Maybe that's all he did have in mind--until Catherine gave him an argument.

We hear the ritual lottery formula--or a variation of it--for the first time.

Despite his handsome blue coat, Morgan seems to be not only a bully but sexist as well. I suppose he figures that with two such strong women in the house (his mother and aunt) he has to throw his weight around somehow. I'm not sure that Flora really means it when she says she has nothing to live for now that Justin is dead. She's the only one who can keep the "boys" in line.

I think it's an interesting touch that the study really functions as the "boys"' common room. I wonder if there's a room in the house where Gabriel doesn't have a stash. He seems to be the coward in PT, but he doesn't strike me as an out-and-out villain.

The painting above the narrow iron bed shows a ship, with nearly bare poles, struggling in a tempest. Hmmm.... Wonderful final scene! It's hard to tell whether Bramwell is angrier with Catherine than passionate about her. Under the circumstances, I would have to say it's about even. I love to see the sparks fly between these two headstrong people!

Almost everyone in the real-time DS Universe had to learn the hard way that it's highly unwise to dismiss the supernatural. Will the same apply to PT?

[MagnusTrask]

Is Bramwell's abduction of Catherine a PT twist on Barnabas's Josette mania, and imprisonment of Maggie?   Are we supposed to be afraid of the same thing happening?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Interesting question. But it never came across to me as that at all. Bramwell desperately wants Catherine to admit her true feelings for him - feelings she already has but is denying. Unlike with Barnabas and Maggie, it's not a case that Bramwell wants Catherine to be something that she isn't or to say and do things that she doesn't feel. And that probably becomes obvious in the next ep.

[MagnusTrask]

It only just occurred to me too, MB.  I thought they may have meant just for the cliffhanger to be seen that way.   It's obviously not that way by the next episode.   I think this about 1201 partly because of the scary music, but again, they go on to use that in many unscary situations later.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That piece of music is certainly meant to promote heightened dramatic tension, but I'm not quite sure if up to this point it's been used exclusively in scary scenes.

I honestly can't remember exactly when it was introduced. Something makes me think '68. It was definitely around in '68. And I can't really picture anything from '67 where it was used. So, it may be part of a bunch of new music that Bob Cobert wrote for the show in '68...

[MagnusTrask]

Cello/bass-viol based music, low strings, mean horror to me, or at least deep, sombre menace.   Paul Backmaster who orchestrates sometimes for Elton John (especially the first albums) and did the soundtrack for "12 Monkeys" also uses this sound, in the more dark, sombre, very moody songs.  I didn't take note of the particular bit of music in that scene, but Cobert low strings say horror to me.   If the same passage were to be re-recorded with higher strings, as in regular violins, it might have a very different mood for me.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree that that particular piece of music should only be used to signify horror.