Discuss - Ep #1229

[Watching Project]

Robservations #1229

[MagnusTrask]

Daphne gets to hear that she's just a shadow.   Poor, poor Daphne.  KJ plays it all very well.   My favorite acting may be when you're convinced you can see the character thinking.   This acting is hard to watch, though, because what she's thinking is unbearable.   I can't think of DS scenes before this where we watch a character alone, silent, processing.

Why are the duelling pistols in the Drawing Room?   Why does Forsythe think it's 1680?  It happened after holding the urn, and remembering he gave it to Brutus for Christmas.   I'm sure Brutus was all giddy and grateful when he received a gift.

[DarkLady]

I can't think of DS scenes before this where we watch a character alone, silent, processing.

There must have been a few, but I don't think they were as long as this. We can tell that Daphne has seen almost everything. And yes, KJ does a wonderful job.

Why are the duelling pistols in the Drawing Room?

Maybe this is the first chance Julia had to clean them after Morgan and Bramwell's duel. (I imagine this is one of the chores she would take on for the family honor.) After all, a lot has been happening. But considering that (1) Morgan is possessed by someone who's partying like it's 1680 and tries to kill his aunt Julia; (2) Gabriel is stark raving mad most of the time and tried to kill his own mother; and (3) Melanie may have killed Stella and definitely tried to kill Catherine--well, what I mean is, isn't that just a little bit foolhardy?

Poor Carrie, it seems, is the double for James's sister Amanda.

It's very nice that Julia is so sympathetic to Daphne's troubles--sympathetic enough to make Bramwell suspicious. And kudos to Daphne for standing up to him!

[DarkLady]

Poor Carrie, it seems, is the double for James's sister Amanda.

Whoops, I meant "James's sister Sarah," of course! End of the day, no other excuse.

[Lydia]

When I started to watch this episode, I was in bad mood because of some stuff.  I said, "Work your magic, Dark Shadows," but without much hope.  By the end of the episode, however, I had completely forgotten everything except for Dark Shadows.

Julia tells Bramwell she's not going to lecture him, and then she goes ahead and lectures him.  Typical Julia.  And then she chews out Catherine, even though that's the best possible way to make sure that Catherine goes on seeing Bramwell.  Again, typical Julia.  And - still more typicalness! - her problem with Catherine and Bramwell seeing each other is that it will cause a scandal!  I love the consistency in Julia's character.  Meanwhile, she's very nice to Daphne.  When Julia talked about getting through difficult times, something in her face made me think about the difficult times she herself might have gone through.

Why does Daphne love Bramwell?  She hasn't seen quite the worst of him, but she's seen him behaving pretty badly.  But she still loves him and desperately wants him to love her.  My sense is that she's not going to stop loving him, because she's sort of the parallel time version of 1795 Josette - the good girl, as opposed to the bad girl that Lara Parker plays.  And Kate Jackson makes it completely believable - but I'd like to know a little more about why Daphne loves Bramwell.  It seems to be more than an schoolgirl crush.

Poor Carrie, it seems, is the double for James's sister

I don't think that idea holds water.  Previously, James Forsythe was unpleasant to Carrie, and I figure if Carrie had looked like Sarah, we would have seen him at least thinking twice about it.  And anyway, when James dug up Sarah's skeleton, it had dark hair.  I was picturing Sarah as looking something like Clarice Blackburn, and I shall continue to do so.

It seems clear to me that touching the lottery vase changed James Forsythe's perceptions so that he saw Sarah in Carrie even though Carrie doesn't look like Sarah, and so that he believed he was in 1680 rather than 1840.  That is a very interesting phenomenon, for two reasons.  Firstly, I think of James Forsythe as a non-physical spirit residing in Morgan's body, but this non-physical spirit was mentally changed by a physical connection.  I'm having trouble visualizing that.  And secondly, the phenomenon indicates that the lottery vase is more important than we thought.

[DarkLady]

Well, my only reason for saying that Carrie was James's sister's 1840 avatar (so to speak) was that he addressed her by name at one point. But this was, I think, after he touched the lottery vase--which does seem to have some sort of power over him.

Why does Daphne love Bramwell? He's older and mysterious and more than a bit wild. All of these things would make him very attractive to a very young and naive girl. But yes, she seems genuinely to love him, even though he never treats her with the same gentleness he shows to Melanie. But what would life be without a little mystery?

[MagnusTrask]

Daphne's feelings came out of the time she spent nursing Bramwell after the duel.  All that would have softened his personality somewhat, and any aggression would have been less alarming coming from a weakened bedridden man.   We saw a brief sample of their conversations then, and based on that, I can see how they could have become close.   Besides, we ourselves see a better side to Bramwell even as he blusters about Collinses, don't we?   Maybe she is focused on that.

[DarkLady]

That conversation was a memorable scene, MT! Daphne considers Bramwell a diamond in the rough, I think. But as soon as he was no longer bedridden, he went right back to his previous behavior. That certainly must have been a disappointment to Daphne, but she was prepared to marry him nonetheless.