DS Ahead of its time?

[jimbo]

An article/blog

http://www.vampires.com/dark-shadows-ahead-of-its-time/

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks so much for the link, jimbo.    I don't agree with everything the writer posits. (But then I rarely do,  And I'm pretty sure he underestimates how many people have actually seen all the DS eps.) But I do agree with most of it - and it's apparent that he could be considered a DS fan. And whether one agrees or not with everything that's written, it's always great to see these types of blog articles get posted.

[Philippe Cordier]

A thoughtful article - thanks for the link Jimbo! (Also, it was good meeting you and "Evan Hanley" at the festival  ).

Isn't the article by our own "Zahir"?

[jimbo]

My pleasure cousins. I enjoy reading these blogs/articles about out favorite show. Of course some of them are inaccurate to say the least and some are good ones like this one although we may not all agreee with everything in the article. It was great to meet you as well Philippe Cordier! I am very sure Evan agrees too.
I did not catch that. I guess it was written by our cousin Zahir. Excellent!

[Gerard]

IMO, the blogger brought up a very point about the whole Josette-reincarnation thing.  In the original DS, in the Barnabas-arrives storyline, there was no reincarnation - Barnabas was smitten by Maggie simply by her similar appearance to Josette; nothing ever indicated that she was the deceased bride's reincarnation (TLATKLS's second character in the 1897 plot was her reincarnation).  When it didn't work out with Maggie, he decided to reinvent his fiance in Vicki, who definitely did not look like Josette.  In in HoDS, from what I remember, it was never explicitely stated that Maggie was Josette reborn - Stokes made a statement that Barnabas thinks she's Josette.  It was until the '91 version that Josette might be reincarnated (this time as Vicki) was more explicit.  But was it ever directly stated that she, in fact, was?  I'm not even really sure about that.  Regardless, the blogger opinied that having Barnabas seeing his long lost honey-bun in another woman rather than her actually being the one-in-the-same was a far better plot devise.  I agree.  Consider the fact that if Maggie was, indeed, the actual Josette, her past-life memories under Barnabas' influence would've surfaced and most likely they would've went off together, coffin-'n'-coffin.  That would've ruined one of the most suspenseful storylines of the series - Maggie trying to survive.

Gerard

[Philippe Cordier]

Yes, that is the point I was most taken with in the essay as well, which Zahir has also brought up in his comparison of later DS remakes (1991 and the aborted pilot) and the original series.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The interesting thing about that point is that DC himself had gone on record as saying the way it was handled in the original series was a mistake - that if the introduction of Barnabas had been better thought out and not written by "the seat of their pants," Vicki would have been Josett'e reincarnation even in the original series (though it was hinted more than once that Vicki may have been directly connected to Josette in some way). And while I often disagree with DC, and while I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to say the way things were done in the original introduction of Barnabas storyline was a mistake because I enjoy how everything plays out, I really do prefer the idea of Vicki as Josette's reincarnation. From a romantic relationship perspective, it enriches the Barnabas/Vicki connection and deepens the whole "love story beyond time" aspect that was central to the '91 series, planned to be central to the WB series had it gone forward, and I wouldn't be at all surprised is planned to be a central part of the Depp/DS film. As DC had also gone on record as saying, the darkly romantic elements of DS are by far what truly make DS DS and are more important than the horror elements. (Though one certainly suspects that he didn't come to that realization until after hoDS.  )