DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '13 I => Topic started by: Watching Project on June 15, 2013, 04:42:47 PM
-
Robservations #480
And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:Re: Discuss - Ep #0480
-
Barnabas decides he doesn't want to find out just yet if he's still impervious to (lead) bullets, so he hangs up the phone. But he still refuses to let Lang harm Jeff, who now is wearing a white shirt.
The following exchange answers some questions in earlier ep. discussions. It also sums up Julia's character to a T:
Barnabas swears Julia won't do anything to jeopardize the experiment because, as he tells Lang with modestly lowered eyes, Julia cares for me. Unfortunate, but she does. I knew that already, Lang replies, but Julia is too inquisitive. She will pry and pry until she finds out everything. I think we should go ahead and just tell her everything, Barnabas insists. Her feelings for me will make her even more trustworthy.
Yes, Barnabas is still a user, but he still wants to save Jeff's life--for Vicki's sake.
Julia is horrified at Jeff's tale of Lang's doings. But she really shouldn't be after spending all this time with the Collinses! She goes to the lab to see for herself. She uncovers the patchwork, still-headless body and screams hysterically, despite all the horrors that she has already seen--and in some of which she has participated. The two men rush upstairs. Lang tries to tell her what a wonderful experiment it will be. Julia is horrified that Barnabas still wants to go through with it. You’re mad! she exclaims to Lang. Some might say so, Lang answers with grandiose unconcern.
Julia agrees to Lang's proposal of "just one more death"--for Barnabas's sake, but then she changes her mind. She leaves behind her handbag--a sign of her extreme agitation--when she locks herself in the study and utters possibly the very best closing line in an episode!
-
Really? What was the closing line DL?
Barnabas didn't know he's mortal now? Julia shouldn't be that shockable or panicky. I mean, I always imagine her as being pretty steely. It's unpleasant to go back to DS after forty year old memories of these characters and see Julia losing it even more than average person off the street would.
-
She sobs, Operator! Get me the police, quickly! Quickly!
-
Barn & Lang recruit Julia to help remove the threat posed by JClark. She’s to erase his memories via hypnosis. Before she does, JC tells her everything. Julia checks his story out and is mortified to discover it is not fiction. Barn tries to convince Julia to join the party and nearly succeeds. But at episode’s end, Julia locks herself in Lang’s office and phones the operator to call the police.
Afterthoughts: Jeez, Hall really gives it her all…and the Julia I came to know as a young fan is born. Very comforting. Okay, yeah, Powell’s no Spencer Tracy, but Frid; he is really off his game lately. Oh, and I’ve decided that I like Julia’s medallion. If not busting in on the shenanigans, I expected Cass/Ange to at least follow Julia knowing she was canceling to tend to Barnabas. I chuckled when JClark asked Julia not to tell Vicki ‘any of this’ (I murdered a woman and am criminally insane, but don’t tell my prospective girlfriend. / Oh, okay Jeff, I won’t mention it.) I do very much like Julia & Barn’s struggle with choosing good over evil. There’s been some good writing but the acting isn’t rising to the occasion.
-
I think Clark ought to be able to look at himself, and within himself, and see that [spoiler]he can't be a psychotic killer. He may have no memory, but he can observe his own present feelings, desires, principles, and impulses. It's hard for most people to defy medical "authority" though....[/spoiler]
-
Yeah, but there's always something kinda awesome about watching Grayson Hall chew the scenery -- she's such a smart actress that you KNOW it was an intentional choice. She knew she could go big, and baby, that's just what she did!
-
I've probably done a fair number of posts where I start out complaining about a performance or plot point, and then over the course of writing the post I figure out why it might have been good and well-thought-out, after all, as with my Julia hamming it up complaint.
-
Julia likes Cassandras honesty and seems sincere. It would seems that she would be at least a little suspicious. Julia has her gloves in hand and pocketbook and they figure prominently in the episode. I keep getting distracted watching what she was doing with them. Julia gets the scoop from Jeff as she hypnotises him and luckily the lab is on the second floor so she can scurry over there and gasp at seeing a dead body as if she had never seen one before. Then she screams hideously at what she calls the madness.
-
Yeah, but there's always something kinda awesome about watching Grayson Hall chew the scenery -- she's such a smart actress that you KNOW it was an intentional choice. She knew she could go big, and baby, that's just what she did!
Honestly, after the past few episodes, I'm surprised there was any scenery left for her or anyone else to chew. The acting has been off-the-charts lately - and not in a good way.
On the other hand, no actress ever did more with a pair of gloves than Grayson. Julia at her best.