the parallel-time "tease"

[michael c]

i've been rewatching the end of the leviathan storyline and the introduction of 1970 parallel-time...

those first episodes when barnabas first sees the room and it's inhabitants are certainly some of the series' most goosebump inspiring. especially the catty exchanges between "hoffman" and "elizabeth". roger spying "himself" in the room is another very memorable moment and the whole setup is highly mysterious and atmospheric.

but the way that this plot is introduced is somewhat misleading. liz, roger, julia, carolyn and willie are the characters used to set this storyline up. they're the most prominently featured and the implication is that they will be the focus characters...

but we all know how that went, don't we? after the initial setup the main cast departs to tarrytown for the filming of HODS, quentin, angelique(not featured in the movie)and the secondary characters(cyrus, sabrina, bruno, etc.)take over and then they are largely absent for the rest of the time period.

don't get me wrong. i very much enjoy this period and storyline. but having seen it before i'm slightly disappointed knowing that the main collins family will be away for much of it. the sneak peak we get at characters like parallel-time liz, roger, carolyn and company are fascinating and i would love to have seen more of them. at least "hoffman" gets alot of screen time. she's too much fun.

[Gerard]

I agree, and I understand the logistics did create the long absences (although some did show up here and there on the show during the filming of the movie, shuttling back and forth, but that was probably arduous until they all returned after DC said "that's a wrap" at Tarrytown).  My favorite PT characters were Carl and Carolyn Loomis and I wish there had been more of them burning up the scenery.  What were their characters' backgrounds?  How did they meet?  Stuff like that, too.  And how did Liz and Roger become the "poor relations," the glamour gone (it was actually an enjoyable twist, seeing Liz in frumpy clothes and sweaters), relying on the benefits of younger-brother Quentin who apparently inherited virtually everything?  Was Roger ever married?  Did PT Paul Stoddard croak from natural causes or did he and Liz divorce?  There were so many dynamics to explore but time did not allow for it.

Gerard

[DarkLady]

Do we know that Quentin was Elizabeth and Roger's younger brother? I always thought they were some kind of poor cousins that Quentin allowed to live at Collinwood out of the goodness of his heart.

I also liked Carl and Carolyn Loomis. Maybe Carolyn wanted to rise above her mother's station and frumpy wardrobe and hung out at literary and artistic events. She must have married Carl back when he was still cranking out bestsellers.

It would have been fun to find out all the things you mention, Gerard!

[michael c]

i think more than any other characters liz, roger and carolyn are the viewers' "collinwood representatives".

they stand for collinwood with a presence and permanence that the other characters do not. so introducing the storyline through them makes more sense that just having someone like cyrus or buffie(who viewers were not that invested in yet)walk onscreen for the setup. but again it ends up being rather misleading.

[tragic bat]

I agree with you, the initial teasers for PT were very evocative and full of promise, but then it was a long time before we got to really explore the secrets of the PT Collins family.  I definitely found Roger, Carolyn, Will, and Elizabeth much more interesting than the Cyrus and Alexis sideplots that were created to fill in during HODS.  I found those filler episodes to really drag on, personally (what really comes to mind is that episode where they had a pathetic costume party where no one at all showed up--yet we had seen a vast and vibrant Collins family at first.)  I also think that many of the later stories on DS did start out very interesting, but eventually fell back on the same-old.  I would much rather have seen almost everyone survive to the end.  

p.s. Carl is an 1897 name; it was Will Loomis for 1970PT

[DarkLady]

Whoops, I did mean Will, of course! But I agree that this storyline started out with incredible promise that was squandered because they filmed HoDS at the same time. One wonders what might have been if they hadn't done the movie--or at least not then.

[Gerard]

Double whoops!  I also meant Will Loomis (William H. Loomis, to be more precise).  Dang all these time periods!

Gerard

[Gothick]

I love Will's first scene with Maggie Collins.  That whole first week of PT (after the teaser scenes) is just brilliant.

It's disappointing that after the return from Tarrytown, Liz goes back to being like a watered down version of our timeband's Liz--especially in wardrobe. As we see her initially, she looked the kind of spinster or widow lady who would volunteer a lot at the church or a nursing home.   Liz has one line in which she refers to having had money but she gave it to Roger to manage or invest and he lost all of it.  Now Roger and Elizabeth have to rely upon a monthly allowance given them by Quentin.

I'm glad that PT Roger had a consistently defined persona and that we gradually learned more about him.

I think of this as the last strongly told and thought out storyline of the series.  After 1995 it's all downhill, alas.

G.

[michael c]

no matter who joan is cast as on the series at some point she seems to morph back into "liz". she just did haughty and matriarchal so well it's her default. does her wardrobe here go glam again, i forget?

i agree this storyline is the last truly original one on the series before it devolves into rehashes and retreads and teenagers playing with dollhouses.

it is a great storyline it's just that the setup is a bit misleading in terms of who will be the primary players here. although it is set in an alternate timeband it is also set in the "present" in terms of atmosphere. it's not another sojourn into the past and in general i prefer the "present time" storylines so that's another reason i like it.

[michael c]

as few more thoughts about the period and in particular quentin...

as soon as the storyline shifts completely to parallel-time and quentin is introduced as the protagonist the character comes to life(as annoying as parallel-time quentin can be).

in fact in any other time period besides the "present" quentin can easily be written into the lead and the character makes sense. yet in the "present" i always am struck how poorly written and integrated the character seems. he's never given a compelling raison d'etre. to me he just sort of sticks out like a seven foot tall piece of dead wood.

perhaps because by the time her showed up at collinwood as a real flesh and blood character the show had already been on the air for nearly four years. the tone at collinwood had been established and to me he never fits in. he's an awkward presence standing around with julia and liz. i don't "get him".

but in any other period he makes sense. he can be written as big as they want him to be. he's by nature a protagonist and just doesn't work as a supporting character.

[Joeytrom]

I agree about Quentin in the present time being out of place.  They went out of their way in 1897 to make sure he would be around in the present time but then when they get to the present time, they didn't know what to do with him.

Perhaps they should had David Selby play another grandson of his daughter Lenore in the present time and just have him die in 1897 as he did originally.

[Gerard]

That would've been a great idea, Joey!  They could've even kept the new character's name Quentin (and maybe have given him a different last name).  He would show up at Collinwood, the descendent of Lenore, investigating his "lost heritage."  At least there wouldn't've been the "Grant/Olivia" sub-plot, replaced with so many other possibilities.

Gerard

[Uncle Roger]

I would have loved to have seen who Jennifer Evans was going to be parallel to. Was this the part that Marie Wallace was supposed to play? Or a parallel to Olivia Corey or Vicki?

[MagnusTrask]

One of the ONLY interesting things about Leviathans was the interaction with 1897.   I got fed up with muliple Quentins all over the place.   Q in 1970 would fall flat, as just some descendant named Quentin.  but his having lived through all the intervening years, that's fascinating.   Olivia Corey and the cheap-ass limbo reality could have been left out.   Q didn't have much to do in 1969-70, but they could have written him better.

[michael c]

except we never found out what quentin had been doing in those intervening year. the writers didn't even TOUCH upon it. they never bothered.

to me there was nothing fascinating about quentin in 1969-70. the writers threw in the towel. it was as if, aiming the series heavily at the preteen audience by this time, they just thought they could call him "quentin", give him those sideburns, stick in him that victorian room with that stupid gramophone, and nobody would notice how badly he was written or question what he was doing in that house.

just have him fight the monster like he did in 1897 and the kids will come running. a comic book character. lame.