Discuss - Ep #0375

[Watching Project]

Robservations - #375

[Sunny_Collins]

One of my favorite moments in DS, Barnabas teaching Ben to write the alphabet, it's so neat! It shows us just how kind and generous he was, and that he respected a servant enough to educate him. 

The countess is excellent, she knows she's difficult and demanding, and she's proud of it.

[MagnusTrask]

One of my favorite moments in DS, Barnabas teaching Ben to write the alphabet, it's so neat! It shows us just how kind and generous he was, and that he respected a servant enough to educate him.

On the surface it may not seem as if DS is "about" anything in particular, but the statements are there as an undercurrent.      Everyone has value, and the most (seemingly) ignorant or lowly can be far more decent than their "betters"... also, don't settle for the role others have put you in, and no one's too lowly to learn and better himself.

Part two of this message comes when T. Elliot Stokes shows up at Collinwood.    Barnabas can see his influence on Ben in his descendants, 175 years later...

[Lydia]

Josette is perfection.  When Jeremiah tells her he went to Barnabas to spill the beans, she doesn't cry or complain, and she doesn't scheme to make Barnabas believe that Jeremiah was lying.  She says: "You had to."  What integrity and courage!

After having seen the worst of the Countess Dupres the other day, we get to see the best of her today.  I am always enchanted by her line to Josette about having to live for the rest of her life with the furniture to be chosen today.  Hers is a quite a different world from ours.

I keep thinking: "Ben, is there no way you could get the message through to everybody?"  But he's not very bright - a kind soul, but not smart - and anyway, who would believe him?

On the surface it may not seem as if DS is "about" anything in particular, but the statements are there as an undercurrent.     Everyone has value, and the most (seemingly) ignorant or lowly can be far more decent than their "betters"... also, don't settle for the role others have put you in, and no one's too lowly to learn and better himself.

I suppose that's the corollary to one of the things I like about Dark Shadows: a character can go from good to evil in a second, and you don't have to worry about whether the change fits that character; all you have to do is get somebody to throw a spell on him.

[MagnusTrask]

Short version of my post that was just obliterated.... Ben is very much not ion that camp of forced, unbelievable change of personality.    He had more sense and awareness than most others around him, and more willingness to step outside the ignorant backward role that he was put into, given BCs encouragement--- and the message of Ben means nothing if his literacy, and his descendant being brilliant, is implausible, which it isn't at all, to me.   

[Lydia]

I didn't think that Ben's personality changed; I was just thinking about change in the overall scheme of things.  But I'm not sure how willing Ben was to step outside of his ignorant background.  Whose idea was it for Ben to learn to read - his or Barnabas's?  Ben might have been just going along with Barnabas because Barnabas was kind to him.

Of course, it turns out later - much later - that Ben kept a diary - and, now that I think of it, that does seem implausible.  We never see him becoming particularly comfortable with writing, and I have trouble imagining him using writing for anything more than the bare essentials.  I'm not trying to say anything bad about Ben here - but learning to read when you're an adult must to be head-splittingly difficult.  My general impression is that if you don't learn to read music when you're young, you never really become comfortable with it, and reading words would surely be in the same category.

[MagnusTrask]

I'm sure learning to read IS much more difficult when older, but not excrutiatingly difficult.    There are 26 letters to memorize.   Once you do that, those mysteries known only to his betters started to open up bit by bit, and I can see that as being very encouraging and motivating... it might even have seemed to be a way to show he's as good as Joshua.

I'm teaching myself to draw at a later age than Ben.

I'm sure Barnabas had to convince Ben that he could do it, and that it would help him.    Ben was limited by his background but everyone is.    BC got the ball rolling and Ben gradually was self-motivated.   I think.

Stories about underdogs who are underestimated by everyone but turn out to have greatness or at least competence in them are my favorites, such as I Claudius.   Anyway, Ben seems to be the sane one, surrounded by insanity.   The only implausible thing for me is that Ben would bother writing a journal or history where he dances around and avoids the biggest thing that ever happened to him, Barnabas and his curse.   Why write it at all?

[loril54]

I just thinks that Ben doesn't know how he is going to use what he is learning.  Also he doesn't want to do things above his station.   I am glad that Jerremiah came in when he did and not Joshua. Joshua would have been upset with what Barnabas was doing.

I did  like Josette earlier today when she wanted to let the chips fall. But I didn't like the way that she didn't tell Barnabas what was happening.   Wouldn't things have been better if people talked about what was happening. Then Barnabas could have done something about it.

Angelique,  where does she find the time to do all the things that she does. Josette must no ask a lot of her.

As I watched this show, I thought about Julia and how she would have loved Barnabas to be gallant to her, the way that he was to Natalie.  I also liked the way that Natalie was great to cover and handle things for Josette.   I just think how fast things are happening in the show.  What has it been only 4 for 5 days since Josette has arrived.  Barnabas' and Josettes' family history.  I wish they would have shown more of the family dynamics.

[Lydia]

I did  like Josette earlier today when she wanted to let the chips fall. But I didn't like the way that she didn't tell Barnabas what was happening.   Wouldn't things have been better if people talked about what was happening. Then Barnabas could have done something about it.

I don't think talking would have helped.  At this point, anybody with any sense (except for Natalie, who thought of Angelique as boring) thought the idea of witches was ridiculous.  (It reminds me pleasantly of my own family.)  The assumption would have been that Josette was genuinely finding that she preferred Jeremiah to Barnabas.  This wouldn't surprise Barnabas, since he couldn't believe his own luck in winning Josette in the first place.  Josette herself knew that that wasn't what was going on - but I think she believed she was losing her mind.

Angelique,  where does she find the time to do all the things that she does. Josette must no ask a lot of her.

She's got the good old-fashioned American work ethic down pat.

[EmeraldRose]

I loved the scene when Barnabas was teaching Ben how to write. It shows how humane and kind Barnabas was in 1795. This was a far cry from the Barnabas of 1967.

I saw Sam Hall say in a recent DVD interview that Grayson was not good when the scene ended with her facial expression. A good example of this happened at the end of this episode! But the acting was great, otherwise!

----- Sally -----