DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '14 I => Topic started by: Watching Project on April 10, 2014, 05:08:47 PM

Title: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: Watching Project on April 10, 2014, 05:08:47 PM
Robservations #678

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:
Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: MagnusTrask on April 10, 2014, 07:42:31 PM
Don Briscoe VO.  B&J find Chris on the floor of his cottage... is he alright? asks Barnabas of Julia... if he was alright, he must have chosen to nap on the floor, but never mind...  I always take notice of Julia's mention of atropine here.  Atropine caused my eye disorder in 1983.  Barnabas: "He must live!  Not just for our sake, but for Amy's!!"  It's important to Chris too! 

Terry Crawford gets lines!  And before D Selby does.  Beth apparently now has the power to speak, and to appear... but not both at the same time.... unless it's in a dream or vision.  David: "I didn't think grownups ever got up early!"  A joke for all the unprivileged, working people who had to show up bright and early at ABC each day, I suppose...  I noted that David's now not the least bit nervous about being interrogated by Barnabas alone in his bedroom!
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: dom on April 10, 2014, 07:51:47 PM
I thought Barn locked Chris in the Mausoleum?
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: MagnusTrask on April 10, 2014, 08:14:36 PM
This ep is after his first night in the Mausoleum.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: dom on April 10, 2014, 08:28:03 PM
Thanx, Mag.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: DarkLady on April 11, 2014, 07:08:39 PM
This episode adds to our medical knowledge as Julia informs us that atropine is the antidote for strychnine. It strikes me that strychnine is rather an old-fashioned poison. Maybe Quentin hasn't had access to the latest medical research.

Once again (another nice bit by JF), Barn shows his kinder, gentler self as he kneels beside the unconscious Chris. He muses sadly, I don’t blame you. How often, such a short time ago, I would sit in the Old House and doubt that I would have the strength to get through another night and wonder if it wasn’t best to die now.

The dream where Beth appears--and speaks!--to Amy is very well done. Maybe Beth can appear and speak at the same time, even if only in dreams, because she is a force for good.

Barn astutely makes a connection (if not THE connection) between Beth's Victorian-era gown and the werewolf curse.

Poor Amy is in tears as she assures Chris that nothing wlll happen to him again. Meanwhile, David is desperately trying to reach Quentin on the candlestick phone. He gives Quentin a real talking-to! But Quentin evidently is angry that his will has been thwarted.

To David, the short distance between the Great House and the cottage is a hike. At least he's not afraid of Barnabas any more. He tells Barn, I wish people would never get sick. So do I, Barnabas agrees. I think I might become a doctor, David says, but before he can enlarge on this interesting vocational choice, Amy comes in and greets them both. Barnabas tells David to get dressed. I'll go down and tell Mrs. Johnson to set a place for me, he says. Daylight and breakfast too!

Amy tells David, I want to talk to you for a few minutes. How can I get dressed then? David asks crossly. Just a few minutes, Amy promises. Barnabas leaves them alone. What do you want? David asks bluntly. You sound just like Quentin, Amy complains. I don't mean to, David says. I don't want to! I know why Quentin won't let me play the game anymore, Amy tells him. Why did you let him hurt Chris? David denies having anything to do with it, but Amy says, I know Quentin tells you everything he's going to do. David protests, I didn't know Quentin was going to do that! Amy says, I think you did know and that you tried to talk Quentin out of it. I know it! she cries. Why are you lying to me? David doesn’t even ask how she knows. His face twists with fear as he asks, Amy, does Quentin ever scare you? She nods vigorously. What will we do? he asks. Are you afraid of him, too? she asks. Yes, he replies. I'm going downstairs, she says, to tell Mrs. Stoddard about the game. You can't! David warns her. You don’t know Quentin the way I do! You don't know what he’ll do to us! It's the only way to stop him, Amy insists, and you won't stop me! No one can! she declares. David calls her name, terrified, but she marches out the door before he can stop her.…



Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: MagnusTrask on April 12, 2014, 04:57:18 AM
When Barnabas says, "... and you can't stop me.  No one can!" ... I always think he means : "No one can stop me because I'm a vampire."  So it's odd to hear tiny Amy say it.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: dom on April 12, 2014, 04:50:56 PM
I guess with Amy it is sheer determination.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: Midnite on April 12, 2014, 04:55:43 PM
This episode adds to our medical knowledge as Julia informs us that atropine is the antidote for strychnine. It strikes me that strychnine is rather an old-fashioned poison. Maybe Quentin hasn't had access to the latest medical research.werewolf curse.

Strychnine poisoning causes violent and immediate symptoms, which is probably why the DS writers used it in this scene-- and they're in good company: it's a plot device used by Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and many other authors.  Norman Bates is said to have used the poison in Psycho, too.  But then DS used dramatic license with the cure.  Strychnine poisoning has no antidote, and atropine would be useless.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0678
Post by: DarkLady on April 14, 2014, 04:58:47 PM
Wow, Midnite, I'm sorry to hear that! And here I thought I could just rely on atropine any time I accidentally ingest strychnine!  [easter_grin]