Discuss - Ep #0135

[Watching Project]

Robservations #135

[tragic bat]

They changed Laura's dress!  I'm so glad, for once, and completely excuse this continuity error--one could even imagine that she went into the bathroom and changed clothes because she thought twice about that outfit.  Anyway, so they've sent Laura off to the cottage--apparently a long-standing tradition in the family of stashing various controversial people there.  I wonder what is the history of the cottage?  It was present in 1897, but I don't know if it was also supposed to be there in 1795 and 1840?  But what or whom was it originally built for?  At least by 1897 it had lost whatever original purpose it served--certainly the caretaker didn't live there or anything of the sort.   But anyway she seems oddly unconcerned about the material comforts of the place she lives in--apparently she is so preoccupied with some other purpose...

It's interesting to watch Carolyn meet and interact with Laura.  Clearly she seems to find the drama of the whole thing rather fun. 

[MagnusTrask]

So who do you call to have your things "sent up" from a hotel, I wonder?   Not a moving company.

[alwaysdavid]

It was actually four when I sat down to watch this. David appears to have picked up his aunts habit of looking out the open window towards the sea. Apparently when Mrs J cleaned the cottage she decided to throw out the old cabinets an uncover the fireplace. Laura says she never unpacked, yet she has been here for days and changed clothes and coats  often. Maybe she jus twitches her nose and a new outfit appears.

[DarkLady]

I wonder what is the history of the cottage?  It was present in 1897, but I don't know if it was also supposed to be there in 1795 and 1840?  But what or whom was it originally built for?  At least by 1897 it had lost whatever original purpose it served--certainly the caretaker didn't live there or anything of the sort.

I'm sure those more knowledgeable than I will correct me, but I'm pretty sure the cottage is there in 1795 and positive that it's in 1840. In 1897, Quentin certainly found it convenient. 

As for getting Laura's things from the hotel to the cottage, if Matthew were still alive, Elizabeth would have him drive to the hotel to get them. But if Matthew were still alive, of course, Roger would have to put up with Laura staying in the Great House itself.

Once again, David appeals to the hated Miss Winters to make an excuse so he doesn't have to go downstairs to see his mother. Once he's alone he finally has a good cry. Later, when Elizabeth has talked him into putting on his pajamas, he tells her that only babies cry.

[MagnusTrask]

It's the carriage house, right, so wasn't its original purpose tp be where the carriage driver lives?

[DarkLady]

I think the carriage would be stored on the ground floor, with the driver living upstairs. I've always thought this was the caretaker's cottage, though, and imagined it would be near the front gates of the estate.

And if I remember correctly, a long time from now we will see a different building called the Carriage House.

[tragic bat]

Yes, at the end of Leviathins we see a 'carriage house' that is very different from the cottage--much smaller and less welcoming, too.  So it was there in 1795, but no caretaker resided in it--so I guess we really don't know what or why it was built exactly.  Maybe it was lived in while the old house was being built. 

[MagnusTrask]

Awhile back in 1966, we saw Matthew's place connected to the garage where Roger's car is kept.   So not a carriage house, but a 20th century equivalent?   For a driver or mechanic?

[tragic bat]

That's strange, since...
[spoiler] When Chris goes there to live, a big deal is made of how isolated it is, and that Chris keeps his car parked down at the gate--leading one to presume there is no garage and certainly not one being used by Roger at that point.  But, I guess it's just one of those inconsistancies.   [/spoiler]

[Lydia]

I'm sure those more knowledgeable than I will correct me, but I'm pretty sure the cottage is there in 1795 and positive that it's in 1840.

I don't remember seeing the cottage in 1795; it seems to me that anybody who didn't live at Collinwood or the Old House was given a place that had a more period look to it.  And in 1840, I believe the set was used, but that the occupants did not live on the Collinwood estate, so that it was not the caretaker's cottage.

But if Matthew were still alive, of course, Roger would have to put up with Laura staying in the Great House itself.

I doubt it.  I don't think Laura was ever going to agree to stay at the great house; I think she would have remained at the Collinsport Inn.  The Old House is unoccupied, but I doubt she would have been able to persuade Elizabeth and Roger to let her stay there, although I think it would have been sufficient for her needs.  After all, Maggie said something the other day that indicated Laura doesn't need food or drink, and Laura apparently never unpacked her bags at the Inn, so the lack of amenities at the Old House wouldn't bother her to much.  In fact, I'd be  starting to wonder if she actually physically existed when nobody's looking - but that question was answered today, when we saw Laura alone and in private for the first time, at the cottage.

Carolyn was very much Carolyn today - unable to refrain from talking about Burke, and unable to imagine (or so I'm figuring) surviving overnight without a makeup bag.