DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '08 I => Topic started by: IluvBarnabas on March 30, 2008, 02:50:46 PM
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I love DS, but there are certain things I have noticed that they do certain plots more than once (SPOILERS of course):
1. Barnabas was bricked up twice, once by Reverend Trask in 1968, again by Lamar Trask in 1840.
2. Julia is bitten by a vampire twice, once by Tom Jennings in 1968, again by Roxanne Drew in 1840.
3. David is possessed and controlled twice by ghosts, first by Quentin in 1969 and later on by Gerard Stiles in 1970.
4. Angelique blackmailed Barnabas into marrying her in 1795, and Quentin in becoming engaged to her in 1969.
5. Angelique dashed Rachel Drummond's hopes of a relationship with Barnabas in 1897, posing as his fiancee, she did the same thing again to Roxanne in 1840, only this time she announced herself as his wife.
6. Two witchcraft trials: Vicki in 1795, Quentin in 1840. Both saved from execution at the last moment.
7. Vicki and Desmond were both wounded while escaping from jail.
8. Vicki gets kidnapped not once, not twice, but THREE times....first by Matthew Morgan, then twice by Adam.
Can anyone think of anything else?
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Laura comes to reclaim her child(ren) twice that we see and another time we are told.
Barnabas see's a josette lookalike and must have her. Maggie, Rachel, Kitty,
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Elizabeth is hexed by Laura and is sent away to a hospital.
Elizabeth is hexed by Cassandralique and is sent away to, well, the morgue.
Judith is hexed by the orders of Gregory Trask and is sent away to a hospital.
Flora is hexed by....hey, wait! Flora doesn't get hexed! What's the matter with those writers - couldn't they come up with something hexing for her?
Gerard
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Flora is hexed by....hey, wait! Flora doesn't get hexed! What's the matter with those writers - couldn't they come up with something hexing for her?
What weren't they thinking!!
[ghost_cheesy]
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There's SO much repetition of plots and plot elements that I need to work hard to try to disregard it in order to keep watching DS. There's SO much of it that it seems to go beyond mere self-plagiarism (maybe), and may be an intentional thing. It may be meant ironically somehow, self-parody, or it might be an expression of this "fate" idea that I'm learning to factor in (I've never thought it those terms).
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This certainly isn't a phenomenon unique to DS. The truth is every soap repeats plots and plot elements. It's the nature of the genre. If one was to trace back the events in any longtime soap character's life, I shudder to think how often they repeated the same mistakes or found themselves in similar predicaments. And if one was to expand that to look for those same elements in the lives of the other characters, they would surely crop up much, much more frequently.
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Guess it's common in many if not most shows, regardless of genre. After all, Ricky is putting on a show, Lucy wants to get in the show, Ricky tells her she can't be in the show, Lucy does some red-headed thing to get in the show and ends up in trouble. Ricky should've just sent her to the hospital; she could've shared a room with Elizabeth.
Gerard
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MB is right. It's not just DS, it's ALL soaps. Nature of the beast, indeed. I can't tell you how tired I am of repeating lines. If anyone watches GH, Carly just had ANOTHER miscarriage, and I'm afraid that if she has anymore, the Guiness Book of World Records will be ringing her. Not to mention how many times Sonny and/or Jason have been shot and come back to life, etc.
But hey, the repetition sure does say a lot about the audience: Either we're really stupid to watch the same stuff over and over again, or we're incrediably loyal to stick with this shows despite this factor.
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poor sam evans...
he suffers debilitating injuries at the hands of both of roger's crazy wives(laura and cassandra).
and both times it involves something to do with one of sam's paintings(note to all collinsport area artists...do not paint a portrait of mrs.roger collins!).
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Another one....
Julia is held prisoner by Count Petofi in 1897, by 1970PT Angelique, and by Angelique RT in 1840.
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note to all collinsport area artists...do not paint a portrait of mrs.roger collins!
Excellent words of advice, mscbryk! [ghost_grin]
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I love DS, but there are certain things I have noticed that they do certain plots more than once (SPOILERS of course):
3. David is possessed and controlled twice by ghosts, first by Quentin in 1969 and later on by Gerard Stiles in 1970.
I can forgive Dan Curtis this because I'm a TOTS fan and so was he! On a short commentary on his version TOTS, he talks about how the story "fascinated and scared the hell out of him." Of course since it was DS, he took the horror, ghosty element and basically disregarded the other factors, but that's ok. :)
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I don't mean to sound as if I was complaining. I just happen to notice that DS had a habit of doing a similar story once.
And yes, I have noticed other shows doing the same thing too.
And I think Brandon hit the nail on the head when he said we must be really loyal to a show to watch some of the same stuff happening again. I know I am.
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we must be really loyal to a show to watch some of the same stuff happening again. I know I am.
Like I said in another topic, soap audiences are some of the loyalest audiences ever. Viewers are known to stick with their shows for decades. And even if they leave for a time, they often come back. (As hard as it might be for some to believe, for about 8 years in the late '70s and early '80s I barely thought about DS. All of my stuff was packed away in the back of a closet, never touched - and when I thought of the show, it was simply as a fond memory. It wasn't until the fall of '85, when I happened to notice that DS was syndicated in my area, that I checked out an episode. And even then I refused to get back into it at first. But every time I had time off from work, I'd tune in. And I guess that was my "mistake" because just over four months from the time I tuned into that first ep I found myself buying a VCR and taping the show every day. And now look at me! Apparently, no matter how hard we might fight, DS is in our blood and refuses to be denied. [ghost_wink])
When it comes to any soap repeating plots or elements of plots, though, the circumstances are rarely exactly the same. There's generally a twist or two that makes things different.
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When it comes to any soap repeating plots or elements of plots, though, the circumstances are rarely exactly the same. There's generally a twist or two that makes things different.
This is true. Even DS showed some variation. Instead of doing a trial with Vicki, we'll do it with Quentin, and for a different type of witchcraft. Instead of doing a TOTS story with Quentin, we'll make up a new character and a different situation. At least we have that to be thankful for.
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There is a problems when they repeat things. They mess thing up. Say one thing one day, another thing the next.
How many times did they mess up the dates 1795/ 1796.
Barnabas, rescuing Julia both time from the Vampire.
Maggie/Josette being attacked by a vampire, Barnabas, and Roxanne.
Judith also did a bricking up of a character by the name of Trask.
People going off to Wyndcliff, or falling off the cliffs, when they were going to leave the show.
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People going off to Wyndcliff, or falling off the cliffs, when they were going to leave the show.
You'd think a railing would be put up at some point... if a new DS happens, one of the first scenes should be Widows Hill, with a HUGE fence and alarm sirens that blow when any movement toward the edge is taken by anyone.... airhorns, flashing lights... and people still manage to fall off anyway! Including the Old House staircase!
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I think a distinction should be made between
A) simple repetition - e.g. two witch trials.
B) development of a theme - e.g. Trasks and brick walls: they go together like murder and mayhem.
C) unavoidable soap opera developments - e.g. wounds during an escape from jail: can you really imagine a break-out going without a hitch?
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You'd think a railing would be put up at some point... if a new DS happens, one of the first scenes should be Widows Hill, with a HUGE fence and alarm sirens that blow when any movement toward the edge is taken by anyone.... airhorns, flashing lights...
[rofl10] You reminded me of a cartoon in a way old issue of WODS. Crowd of women at the bottom of the cliff milling around, and a big sign with a count a LA McDonald's NUMBER SERVED signs.....
Jeannie
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... All of my stuff was packed away in the back of a closet, never touched - and when I thought of the show, it was simply as a fond memory. It wasn't until the fall of '85, when I happened to notice that DS was syndicated in my area, that I checked out an episode. And even then I refused to get back into it at first. But every time I had time off from work, I'd tune in. And I guess that was my "mistake" because just over four months from the time I tuned into that first ep I found myself buying a VCR and taping the show every day. ...
LOL MB -- had to comment because your "rediscovery" of the show was SOO much like mine. Just substitute being curious to see the show straight through since I caught episode one (as opposed to original run, when I came in with the werewoof plotline). And change the year to the summer of 2001....
Jeannie
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How about the fact that Windcliff had to have the WORST security of any hospital in Maine? Maybe the whole country. All those people who just "happened" to escape. And it's funny. You wonder why anybody ever bothered to drive there. It was so much shorter to walk. Maggie, Elizabeth, Amy, 'Tad' & 'Carrie' ALL walked back to Collinwood--without being seen, of course.
And talk about repeating things. How about when you watch your favorite parts over and over? Darned if those characters don't keep making the SAME mistakes no matter HOW many times you tell then what NOT to do. Listen to me! I have the benefit of foreknowledge!
Judy
[9366]
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You'd think a railing would be put up at some point... if a new DS happens, one of the first scenes should be Widows Hill, with a HUGE fence and alarm sirens that blow when any movement toward the edge is taken by anyone.... airhorns, flashing lights... and people still manage to fall off anyway! Including the Old House staircase!
LMAO. That was quite funny and I needed that. The Old House staircase was the best!!
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How many times did someone try to strangle Julia? [ghost_shocked]
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I don't know. I recently started collecting the DVDS as I wanted to start from the beginning so I waited on The Collectors edition's to start being released. Each episode I watch I am reviewing and writing notes about certain nuisances such as this. For example, how many sedatives did Julia pass out from the time she was on the show until our final glimpse of her? As I have said before I am sure the number will be staggering. [faint2]
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The staircase of the Old House and Blair House are the same. Or should I say house by the sea.
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So the Old House staircase has a part-time job to supplement its income? I always knew Barnabas didn't pay anything over minimum wage, and I imagine the staircase has several little staircases to feed and clothe. I wonder where its true loyalties lie - with Barnabas or with Nicholas?
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We only think we see the staircase in two houses at the same time because the Old House staircase from 1897 has I Chinged to 1968 to fill in at the Old House while the 1968 Old House staircase picks up extra money at Blair Evil Plan Headquarters. Whatever happened to honor, to loyalty from one's staircase, I as you? The world's goin' ta heck in a handbasket....
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the 1968 Old House staircase picks up extra money at Blair Evil Plan Headquarters. Whatever happened to honor, to loyalty from one's staircase, I as you? The world's goin' ta heck in a handbasket....
Or maybe it was spying for Barnabas - but just not doing a very good job of it. [b003]
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We are CRAZY!! But one hell of a fun bunch we are!! [ghost_wink]