DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '26 I => Current Talk '15 II => Topic started by: Watching Project on September 04, 2015, 11:08:07 PM

Title: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Watching Project on September 04, 2015, 11:08:07 PM: Quote from: ROBINV on June 04, 2003, 09:12:27 AM
Robservations #969

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:
Quote from: MagnusTrask on April 02, 2010, 12:26:29 AM
Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 05, 2015, 01:24:43 AM: Grayson VO. Jeb's now in a passable blue suit. Total tangential aside, but I've always been mystified that people look at a standard men's suit, which to me seems to consist of a bunch of random elements thrown together, and think it's somehow attractive. A suit can be tweaked to make it more attractive, but the basics of it are soul-crushingly dull. It's a uniform.

I believe this minister who performs the (real) wedding survives his brief appearance on DS. Who knows though, maybe a truck silently ran him down after he stepped out the door... The wedding music was strange. It's a somewhat "off" version of a standard familiar bit of DS background music, meant to create an unsettled mood, I suppose. I like when they do that.

So Strack recruited Sky. Was he any older than in 1949? Probably not. Too bad we missed another possible flashback with that Garth actor. Sky actually gives this as the reason that he's not released from the Leviathans. Thanks DS, for actually explaining something once in a while... It says "Nice Sky-Barn scene... but why?" in my notes.

When Sky says that Megan's coffin is in the East Wing, that's the very first turning of the plot toward Parallel Time. I caught it this time. I enjoy pinning down the very first second of a storyline. I loved seeing Laura step into Maggie's diner for the first time, in 1967. (I saw those ep's first in 2011.) I played that over and over, pausing it on the very first bit of Laura to appear in the doorway... and to think I'm in late middle age. We're creatures of television fantasy, and always will be...

Anyway, is Rumson just too dufusish to be controlled? He's supposed to protect Megan, not give away the hiding place. Maybe her attention is on Roger (Note-- I now realize she hasn't bitten Roger yet), and she would have needed to make a conscious decision to control Sky, which she never bothered to do, because he's beneath her notice, except at feeding time. She did go out of her way, after all, to tell him to do whatever the hell he felt like, no concern of hers, until she sent for him. She would have had to bother to exercise control. Instead, she frees him, giving him latitude to do anything he wants. Is that the kind of explanation the writers do give us, but which we tend to overlook?

No rice at the wedding, notes Liz. Is rice a good luck charm for newlyweds? PARALLEL TIME! We see Liz and Hoffman a couple of times, and in one, Hoffman seems to come close to swatting PT Liz as she scampers away from her intimidating presence! Mr. Frid plays these scenes too desperately. It's Kaplan who made the actors ham it up, right? It would have been hard to know how to act those lines though, I think. A problem with Barnabas at this point is that he's so totally consumed with frantic curiosity, and curiosity alone. There's no crisis or danger requiring that level of concern from him. At other times, in other situations, his life can be in danger, and he will be considerably more level-headed about it all, and unflappable. Yet this mere novelty of a situation comes along, and it throws him completely.

It was nice how the doors reopened again on their own after PT went away. I mean, the sudden, jarring, flipping open of them made creepy "sense" somehow. They should have always done it like that. It seemed mindless, like an automatic result of an otherworldly phenomenon, not like the Invisible Man casually opened them... By Sam Hall. End.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: alwaysdavid on September 05, 2015, 11:10:40 PM: I notice that Carolyn has her House of Dark Shadows make-up and hair as does Elizabeth.
I thought it was odd Julia was in the house and not invited to the wedding.
So now the Vampire victim can reveal who enslaved them? And then to top it off he tells where her coffin is located. If Willie had been able to do that Barnabas would have been toast in the first days of his story.
The bridal chamber appears to be made up of pieces of Collinwood.

Barnabas opens the door to a room in the East Wing he cannot enter and sees a picture of Quentin revealing that he plays some part in this room. He sees Elizabeth and calls to her, but she can't hear him and then the severe looking Julia comes into the room tipping anyone who has seen "Rebecca" that she is a Mrs. Danvers clone. Elizabeth shuts the doors on a frantic Barnabas and when they open by themselves the room is empty. I like the room. It has lots of detail. I'm not sure what floor it is on.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on September 05, 2015, 11:29:59 PM: Quote from: alwaysdavid on September 05, 2015, 11:10:40 PM
So now the Vampire victim can reveal who enslaved them?

I've always found that odd, too. But I chalk it up to 1) Megan is a new vampire and perhaps her powers over her victims are not that strong yet, and/or 2) Megan just never bothered to exert those powers over Sky because[spoiler]she just didn't care anymore about anything. We will certainly get that impression when we see her in Ep #970.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Uncle Roger on September 06, 2015, 04:18:52 AM: Talk about a quickie wedding! The ceremony is pretty bare bones, even by DS standards. Did Ohrbach's not have a bridal department? Carolyn certainly deserved more. Just the same, the warm relationship between Elizabeth and Carolyn, as well as the genuine friendship between Elizabeth and Julia, gives the episode some real depth.

Sky behaves completely differently that any other DS vampire victim. He was clearly in Megan's thrall earlier but here he's about ready to reveal just about everything he knows (which is more than I thought) to Barnabas. But the Barnabas/Angelique relationship is much more complicated than Sky is capable of processing.

At least Jeb and Carolyn get a decent place for their honeymoon, though a Bates Motel setting might have been fun. It's highly unlikely that Carolyn was a virgin on her wedding night (not the Carolyn I love, anyway) but I think it's a given that Jeb is.

How convenient of Megan to have her casket so close to the parallel time room. The first glimpse of the room caught me completely by surprise back then. Were these women Elizabeth and Julia? And, if not, who were they? I found the visits to the room to be quite interesting, a nice foreshadowing of one of my favorite storylines.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Josette on September 06, 2015, 06:19:00 AM: Quote from: Uncle Roger on September 06, 2015, 04:18:52 AM
How convenient of Megan to have her casket so close to the parallel time room. The first glimpse of the room caught me completely by surprise back then. Were these women Elizabeth and Julia? And, if not, who were they? I found the visits to the room to be quite interesting, a nice foreshadowing of one of my favorite storylines.

It always bothered me that, even when we were very particular about using spoiler alerts as many of us hadn't seen it all, we commonly referred to Parallel Time as one of the storylines. I consider that term in itself to be a spoiler. 1970 PT was one of my favorite stories, too. And these initial glimpses were so puzzling. How could they be there? They had just left the house. They are wearing different clothes and talking about things that don't make sense. It was all such a mystery until the parallel theory was finally explained.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 06, 2015, 11:33:21 AM: I think all the Star Trek viewing kids got the idea of PT right away, though. I wish I could have experienced the idea as a new thing back then, but I couldn't.

I don't think the term "Parallel Time" would mean anything unless you already know about the parallel universe idea, in which case, that's probably what you think it is the moment you see another Liz and Julia.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: DarkLady on September 06, 2015, 02:59:10 PM: I love love love our first look at the PT East Wing! I've always thought Hoffman was one of the great DS creations.

Still desperate to finish off the Leviathan story, the writers have even more characters doing even stupider things.

I suppose that Sky had to blab to Barnabas about Megan's being his vampire so that he could reveal that her coffin was in the East Wing. Very clumsily done, writers. There must have dozens of other ways to do this. Barn and Julia could have figured out that she was a vampire and searched various previously unheard-of parts of the house for her coffin.

Jeb sees the shadow, practically drags Carolyn out of the house. Carolyn promises to phone as soon as they stop somewhere. Jeb practically hustles Carolyn out the door before Elizabeth has time to blink. After they leave, Elizabeth picks up a box of Carolina rice (though in those pre-product-placement days, the brand name was carefully covered) and reflects sadly, We forgot to throw it at the bride and groom--another bad omen.

Very nice little scene as Barn and Julia visit Elizabeth, who is now an empty-nester parent. Julia offers to help her redecorate the carriage house for Jeb and Carolyn, leaving Barn free to look for Megan's coffin.

In an apparent breakdown of the Breen codes (which stipulated that a couple could be shown in the same bed only if one of them had both feet on the floor), Jeb and Carolyn are asleep in each other’s arms. Presumably at least one part of their wedding night has gone without a hitch, and Carolyn has given herself, body and heart and soul, to her father’s murderer. Jeb wakes up and gets (topless--nothing terrible, but he’s no David Selby or Joel Crothers or even Don Briscoe) out of bed, but Carolyn doesn’t stir as he turns on the light. He shrieks in panic when the shadow appears, even larger than before. He wakes up a groggy Carolyn. I’m sorry, he tells her, but we have to keep driving tonight. She senses that something has frightened him and holds him tight.

The East Wing has obviously not been inhabited in quite some time and is a jumble of forgotten furniture and pictures. As Barnabas searches for Megan’s coffin, he thinks to himself, There are so many places to hide. No one has been down these halls for years. He comes on a set of double doors at the end of a corridor and opens them. He is amazed to see a “brilliantly” (according to the next ep.’s voiceover) furnished, even luxurious room, with covers on the furniture and also above the mantel, apparently over a large painting. Like the drawing room in the main part of the house, this room has a pair of large french windows with a couple of steps leading up, and also a window seat. Through an arch at the opposite side of the room from the doorway is another room. We hear a music-box version of a melody that will soon become all too familiar. Dumbfounded, Barnabas tries to enter, but is even more astonished when some invisible barrier seems to block his way. He spots on a nearby table a photo of Quentin and David posed seemingly like father and son, with the inscription Your loving husband, Quentin. Suddenly Elizabeth enters, wearing a very ordinary pink blouse and sweater with a nondescript gray skirt, very unlike her usual glamorous outfits. (The Mistress of Collinwood would never wear anything so casual as separates!) She opens a wardrobe and begins removing women’s dresses, including a pale-blue chiffon Grecian-style sleeveless gown with a sequined waistband. (We will see this gown again.) Barnabas calls to her, but she can’t hear him or simply ignores him. The next moment Julia Hoffman enters, dressed in a very plain, severe dark blue dress with a minuscule white lace collar. Barnabas calls to his dear friend, but she likewise pays no attention to him. What are you doing? Hoffman (definitely not Julia) asks in a freezing voice. I’m clearing out _her_ clothes, Elizabeth says. You will not touch her clothes, Hoffman says as if Elizabeth were a lower life form. _He_ will want the room open, Elizabeth says. Oh, will he? Hoffman asks as if daring _him_ to. You know that, Elizabeth says with a hostile look. It will be _their_ room. She will be back, Hoffman says flatly. When _they_ come back, _they_ will be living here, Elizabeth argues. They will not, Hoffman answers coldly. It is _hers_. It will always be _hers_. She is dead, Elizabeth says with seeming satisfaction. She will be back, Hoffman says as if settling the matter. No one else will ever live here. It will always be hers. She will be back. Elizabeth drops the clothes she is still holding and rushes to the doors. Don’t say that, she says, apparently scandalized. What if the children heard you? Again Barnabas calls to her, but she evidently doesn’t hear him as she slams the doors in his face. Highly confused, Barnabas wonders, What’s happening to me? It must have been my imagination, he decides. He turns to go, but the doors fly open again behind him. When he turns around, he sees that the room is dark and unfurnished. He is able to enter it now, and he steps in as he thinks to himself, Empty! It wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t! What was it?

Elizabeth and Julia return from the carriage house as Barnabas comes downstairs. He is amazed to see them. (Just like a man, he doesn’t even note they’re dressed entirely differently!) Where have you been? he asks. We were at the carriage house all this time, Julia replies. Barnabas tells her, It sounds insane, but I saw just you in the East Wing......
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 07, 2015, 06:48:15 PM: Semi-guilty as charged, DL-- while I certainly noticed that they were dressed differently, I did not notice at all Liz's less formal dress, nor could I have said one thing about how PT Liz appeared, afterward. Hoffman's maid uniform anyone would notice of course...
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Uncle Roger on September 07, 2015, 07:11:17 PM: When I watched this on the original run, it was on a small black and white set, Elizabeth's more plebian wardrobe escaped me. What I did notice that neither character addresses the other by name and they refer to other characters by pronoun only.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: DarkLady on September 07, 2015, 08:49:42 PM: Well, I confess I watched these episodes on the SciFi channel (as it was then called) in living color, so the contrast in PT Elizabeth's wardrobe hit me right away. RT Elizabeth would have considered her downright dowdy.

I love that Elizabeth and Hoffman don't refer to each other by name. We already know they detest each other. And of course all those other pronouns only heightened the suspense!
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on September 08, 2015, 08:42:34 PM: For those playing and/or following the Caption This! and Complete This Phrase / Fill In The Blank(s) games, just a note to be sure to check the 1970PT versions of those boards now that that storyline is popping up in eps...
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on September 08, 2015, 08:49:07 PM: Quote from: DarkLady on September 07, 2015, 08:49:42 PM
I love that Elizabeth and Hoffman don't refer to each other by name. We already know they detest each other. And of course all those other pronouns only heightened the suspense!

Yes, I remember that after I saw this first glimpse of 1970PT I had absolutely no idea what was happening because it seemed pretty clear that the women involved were not actually the Julia and Liz I knew. It was quite fascinating. And I remember that on Monday at school we were all pondering just where DS might be going (though of course, being 13/14-year-olds, we had no clue it was going to be a parallel time band [ghost_nowink]).
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on September 09, 2015, 07:54:09 PM: Another thing I have to say about the 1970PT scene is that I absolutely love some of the expressions on the Julia/Liz lookalikes' faces as they're sparring:

(http://www.dsboards.com/images/ds_0969-1.jpg)(http://www.dsboards.com/images/ds_0969-2.jpg)

And the scene certainly gives the impression that the Julia lookalike has the upper hand over the Liz lookalike (and the Julia lookalike not only knows it, she relishes in it - and the Liz lookalike isn't the least bit pleased about it), which is quite the opposite of what we're used to seeing, which helps to make the whole thing all the more fascinating.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #0969
Post by: DarkLady on September 09, 2015, 11:09:01 PM: Great frame grabs--thanks, MB! PT Hoffman certainly is winning this tug-of-war. Looks like they've been at it for years, too.