Discuss - Ep #0355

[Watching Project]

Robservations - #355

[michael c]

the episodes start to get strange here.

in the weeks that run up to the start of the 1795 storyline there are alot of "red herrings" thrown out and plot developments that end up going nowhere.

the hastily arranged "trip to boston" essentially takes both vicki and david out of the storyline for the rest of the 1967 episodes.they don't return until the time of the sceance and then the show shifts time periods.

the scene with maggie(in a bright orange coat!)was sort of random and out-of-the-blue.the gang chez evans takes a major powder during this period.they hadn't been featured in weeks.the business with the dogs howling and maggie fearfully clutching her throat gave the viewer the false impression that maggie herself might well be again in danger.it's kind of filler i think while the writers figured out the machinations of 1795.i wonder if this scene wasn't supposed to subtly "remind" the viewer of kathryn leigh scott before she assumed the mantle as josette a few weeks later.

poor burke gets his final mentions here.after 1795 there is never one single reference to what was once a very major character.the tiresome business with julia's notebook takes over.most of the episodes that follow seem to revolve almost exclusively around barnabas,julia,carolyn and tony peterson.the general tone of the show starts to get quite odd here.

that said i absolutely love the carolyn and julia dynamic here.it's my favorite version of carolyn.she wasn't being especially well-utilized before this and her under barnabas' control makes for great fun.
there is a genius doorframe "get out!!!" moment between the two in this episode that i love. 

[Sunny_Collins]

I really enjoyed Clarice Blackburn's reading of the intro today. Too bad she didn't do it more often.

Carolyn is so creepy under Barnabas's power.

I liked how Maggie vaguely recalled an uneasiness in Carolyn's action of touching her scarf, and of the dogs howling.

Julia was in top form in this episode, when she defiantly tells Barnabas that Carolyn won't find the notebook.

[loril54]

These shows are fantastic. I love the dynamic between Julia, Carolyn, and  Barnabas.  Carolyn and Barnabas working together to get Julia.  Julia knows that her goose is cooked and  she is dancing  as fast as she can to out think them.

Maggie to show up out of the Blue was very strange.  Seemed really out of place.  Carolyn didn't want to let her into the house.

I guess that  everyone else had to get their fittings for the show, and 1795.  Barnabas already had one set of clothes.   GH and  NB didn't really have big parts in 1795. At least that is what I remember.

[Sunny_Collins]

I guess that  everyone else had to get their fittings for the show, and 1795.  Barnabas already had one set of clothes.   GH and  NB didn't really have big parts in 1795. At least that is what I remember.

GH played the countess DuPres, and NB Millicent Collins and they were in the 1795 story line quite a bit.

[Joeytrom]

the episodes start to get strange here.

in the weeks that run up to the start of the 1795 storyline there are alot of "red herrings" thrown out and plot developments that end up going nowhere.

Like the opening voiceover stating that "a dangerous game is about to be played leading to someone's death"

I wonder if they still planned for Julia to be killed off at this point.

[MagnusTrask]

I guess this would be one of those lying voiceovers I talked about earlier.

[Midnite]

I don't see it as a lie.  The remark "a most dangerous game... a game that will eventually end with someone's death" presumably refers to Julia's demise, which surely would have occurred in #363 had a "very, very angry" Sarah not shown up to distract Barnabas while he was close to choking the doctor into unconsciousness.  Before this, Sarah wouldn't commit either way when Julia asked for her protection, yet the latter continued to behave with reckless abandon and foolishly taunted Barnabas about his sister.  (She obviously learned nothing from Woodard when he brought up her name to Barnabas.)

[Lydia]

mscbryk, I enjoyed reading your comments, although I disagree with you about the notebook business: I don't find it tiresome.  As for the utilization of Carolyn, both Sam and Grayson Hall expressed admiration of her acting ability, and that's one reason why I think the Barnabas-bites-Carolyn subplot was Sam Hall's idea.

I found it interesting that Maggie talked about going "up" to New Hampshire.  It was probably a slip-up by New York writers.  But when I was a child in Massachusetts, one didn't go up to Maine, even though it was (and still is, for that matter) north of us.  One went down to Maine, because Maine is downstream of Massachusetts.  And I suppose New Hampshire is upstream of Maine.

Gosh, it was fun when Julia dropped all pretense and Carolyn followed suit.

[loril54]

GH played the countess DuPres, and NB Millicent Collins and they were in the 1795 story line quite a bit.

If I remember correctly GH didn't have a large part like she does have in this story line. GH here in this story is on almost every day. But with the countess this isn't the case.  NB Milcent Collins wasn't really envolved on a daily basis until  Nathan started courting her. the 1795 story was maily  B/J/A

[michael c]

lydia,

perhaps "tiresome" was the wrong choice of word for the notebook business.i do think it gets a bit overblown in it's importance here.the vast majority of the cast is not even involved in the upcoming episodes.

like i said the show hits an odd patch here.one almost gets the impression that there was two sets of writers at work.one finishing out the 1967 episodes and the other laying the foundation for the 1795 storyline to begin.they didn't seem especially concerned in building toward anything permanent in the present because they knew they were about the drastically change the direction of the show anyways.continuity wasn't a major priority.hence the "red herrings"...most of what is happening here will dropped or changed when the storyline returns to the present from 1795.

for lack of a better word in the overall context of the show what's happening in these episodes almost seems "false".they like were just creating filler while sets were being built and costumes fitted for 1795.

a primary example.juila hypnotizing vicki and showing her barnabas in his coffin.this was meant to instill a permanent fear in vicki's subconcience.however later we see that she has no such fear...after 1795 this plot point gets completely dropped.lot's of things like this happen with these particular episodes.

[Joeytrom]

After 1795, David's fear of Barnabas is also forgotten.

[Sunny_Collins]

I agree that the hypnotism scenes with Vicki are mainly filler. I mean, really, how many times do we have to see Julia lead Vicki to the Old House and warn her to stay away from blood-thirsty Barnabas?

[MagnusTrask]

I'm not quite sure where all of you are in the storyline, but it definitely does seem as if they were stalling while preparing for 1795.    Things get dragged out endlessly, and it does seem as if there's a lot of filler.  At several points in DS, it seems as if they were sacrificing the currently-airing storyline, letting it slip, to concentrate on making the upcoming storyline as good as they could.

[EmeraldRose]

Was this the first time Clarice Blackburn read the intro? It was nice to hear it. She did a good job.

The scene when Julia told Carolyn to get out was great! It's a good thing Julia didn't keep the book in that box!

Yes, Maggie's visit did seem odd, but she and Vicki were friends, so it makes sense. I almost thought that Maggie would remember about Barnabas when she saw Carolyn clutch the scarf.

I didn't know that notebook was red until I saw those episodes much later. As a kid, we only had a black and white TV, although I did get to watch DS in color sometimes when I went to visit my sister and her family.

----- Sally -----