DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '26 I => Current Talk '16 I => Topic started by: Mysterious Benefactor on February 07, 2016, 01:22:00 AM

Title: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on February 07, 2016, 01:22:00 AM: Quote from: ROBINV on July 27, 2003, 01:16:09 PM
Robservations #1039

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:
Quote from: Lydia on July 14, 2010, 05:50:11 AM
Re: Discuss - Ep #1039

(http://www.dsboards.com/Grand_Teton_in_Winter-NPS.jpg)
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: DarkLady on February 07, 2016, 10:25:58 PM: Nice pic, but huh? [snow_huh]
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: MagnusTrask on February 07, 2016, 11:07:56 PM: Finally got it. In honor of Roxanne's prominent Grand Tetons.

Thayer VO. They see Roxanne. "So beautiful!" moons Skippy. They can't destroy her! "Because she's beautiful?" Julia inquires. They manage to depict saving her life as a crass self-serving act... I wonder if it's at this moment that the troublesome Maggie infatuation on Barnabas's part ends. In both universes? I'll bet we don't see it again.

Roger is Cy's executor. What a random thing to happen. Welcome, Donna Wandrey. Angelique sets up Bruno with Maggie, and she would have gone for it too, without that interruption.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: Uncle Roger on February 08, 2016, 02:09:15 AM: The hills are alive! Though not with the sound of music.
Julia and Barnabas are in a position to kill Angelique and put an end to her schemes. Until Barnabas gets a look at sleeping beauty and falls for her immediately. He somehow has the idea that if Julia examines her, she will be able to reverse whatever Stokes did. Which Julia refutes. Stokes may let her in the room from time to time but he would certainly be suspicious if a housekeeper tried to perform an EKG. Once again, Barnabas puts himself first. He doesn't have the right to kill her because she's beautiful in a world of ugliness? Stop playing God, buster. You don't have any right to interfere in anyone's life. But you do constantly. I'm with Julia 100% on this. His decision allows Angelique to run even further amok. And all of the nasty stuff that follows including [spoiler]Julia's being held hostage in the Collinwood basement [/spoiler]are a direct result of this asinine decision.
The sudden infatuation with Roxanne comes way out of nowhere and has little credibility. It also damaged the character of Barnabas. He will continue to make incredibly poor decisions based on what he thinks about whatever Roxanne he is involved with at the moment. And he will remain oblivious to the impact this has on other people.
Angelique continues to manipulate Maggie, even setting her up for a rendezvous with Bruno. Maggie is so lonely and unhappy that she is on the verge of saying yes. If Roger had not interrupted, would she have gone with it?
Angelique plays Bruno very well. Even though the Maggie hookup didn't happen, she has cunningly gotten him to call the police about the murder.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: DarkLady on February 08, 2016, 03:17:02 PM: Okay, I get it.

For those who care, the room where Stokes keeps the body has a polygonal window remarkably similar to the one via which young Jamison Collins escaped from Worthington Hall (the boarding school run by the evil Rev. Gregory Trask) in 1897 in our time band. Also, this ep. has eight (count ’em!) characters, a record for Dark Shadows and roughly analogous to a crowd scene in one of those Italian sandal epics.

Welcome, Donna Wandrey! Spoiler alert: The closing credits give us her character's name. Sheesh.

Barn rhapsodizes over Roxanne's beauty, utterly oblivious of how it might affect the OTHER red-headed woman right beside him (and not for the last time, either). Once again, he is thinking with his, um, fangs, and the consequences be damned. He practically wills Julia to examine the woman.

Roger has joined Angelique and Stokes in the drawing room, and tells them that he’s rather annoyed: Cyrus Longworth named him the executor of his will. Though he doesn’t mention the problem that Cyrus left everything to Yaeger in the event of his own death or disappearance, Roger thinks it’s going to be a real pain and wonders why Cyrus didn’t pick Quentin. Stokes reminds him, Quentin doesn’t need the fee that you’ll get out of the estate for your trouble. Roger gets insulted at the (probably true) implication that he actually needs money and leaves in a huff, taking his brandy with him. Angelique remarks, Roger and Elizabeth (brother and sister in parallel time just as in our own) live in a dream world--but not for long. She tells her father, I want you to improve your work. I still mean to destroy every one of the Collinses--except of course for Daniel. (She has finally remembered her son’s existence--or maybe it was the writers.) What exactly are you going to do? Stokes asks. Nothing, she replies. Someone else will do all the work for you, Stokes guesses. Tell me everything. There’s nothing to tell, Angelique says. I’ll simply be an innocent bystander who can’t believe all the evil that surrounds me.

Roxanne has a nearly undetectable pulse, so naturally Barn grabs her hand. Her eyes open for a moment, but it's enough for Angelique to feel that old chill coming over her. Her father/stepfather/whatever leaves Collinwood to investigate, but fortunately he has already consumed the pitcher of martinis.

Julia finally gets Barn to go, and he simply Disapparates just before Stokes arrives. Stokes finds Julia in the room and demands to know why she’s there. After a few pleasantries about how tense they are all feeling this evening, Julia figures out an answer: I was just returning to Collinwood, she says, when I had a premonition. I opened the door with a key that Angelique had given me and found the body moving its hand and with its eyes open. When Stokes doesn’t answer, she wonders, Are we going to start doubting each other, now that we should be friends? Somehow Stokes buys Julia’s story and decides to phone Angelique to make sure she’s all right. When he steps out of the room to do so, Julia heaves a big sigh and shuts her eyes in relief.

Angelique is on the phone, telling Stokes that she feels better. Maggie comes in and Ange takes the opportunity to tell her cheerfully that Quentin isn't back yet. I’ll wait up for him, Maggie decides. I once heard an old saying about how if a couple is quarreling, they shouldn’t go to bed angry. (I heard it was Mae West who said, “Don’t go to bed angry--stay up all night and argue.”) Roger arrives in time to hear this part and tells her, You shouldn’t bother waiting up for Quentin or you may never get to bed. “Alexis” promptly tells Roger to stop picking on Maggie, but Maggie tells her, Please leave me alone with Roger. I can handle him myself. After Angelique complies, he insults Maggie a bit more. She reminds him sharply, This house is mine as much as it is yours. Then she actually orders him to get out and leave her alone. ("I am Mrs. De Winter now.") Your house? I wonder--and for how long? is his parting shot.

Angelique doesn’t just go quietly to her room. Bruno is in his cottage playing the only piece he seems to know when she arrives. After he gets over how much she looks like Angelique (again), he asks, What happened when you went to the police with Cyrus’s diary? But it turns out that she’s done no such thing. Angrily he demands, Why haven’t you called the police to tell them about Quentin? After all, you were willing to pay me five thousand dollars for Cyrus’s diary. She says, Now that it’s mine, I’ll decide when and who to call. I need absolute rock-solid proof that Quentin was the murderer. Cyrus wrote only that he discovered the hatpin in the back of Angelique’s neck after she was dead--not that he actually saw Quentin or anyone else put it there. You have to call the police! Bruno insists rather too violently, gripping her arms and shaking her. Never touch me again, Angelique warns him. She makes him have a brandy, then just to show she has no hard feelings, she tells him, You’re much too young to be sitting around bored like this (i.e., with no sex life to speak of, though of course they couldn’t say that on TV in 1970) when one of the female residents at Collinwood would welcome your attentions right about now. I heard her say this afternoon how attractive she thought Bruno was and wondering why he has made himself so scarce. It takes Bruno a little while but he finally figures out she means Maggie. She is much more innocent than she seems, Angelique assures him. Oh, Bruno, she laughs, what makes you so irresistible to Quentin’s wives? Bruno considers this seriously, then replies, I don’t know. I guess we have the same taste in women. Bruno goes to Collinwood in hopes of scoring, leaving Angelique at the cottage.

At 9:10, the innocent Maggie is pleasantly surprised to see Bruno. She’s glad of his company (at first). I’m spending too much time alone here, she tells him. He tells her quite a bit about how wonderful he is (almost in so many words). I admire your self-confidence, she says ruefully. I don’t have much myself. Roger walks by the doorway and decides to listen in. He’s just in time to hear Maggie say, I don’t have any talents. Bruno replies, Not even for loving? Maggie turns toward him in surprise, and he says, Oh, yes, you do. I can see it in your eyes. You not only have a talent but you have a need for someone who appreciates it. As Bruno grabs her, Maggie hears someone at the door and calls out Quentin’s name. But it’s only Roger, who tells her, You’re lucky it wasn’t your loving husband after all. Then he strolls off, chuckling. Maggie wants Bruno to go after Roger and tell him that nothing happened, but Bruno only says, Who cares what Roger thinks? and grabs for her again. This time she really screams and backs away.

Sometime later, a disgruntled Bruno returns to the cottage to report that he has struck out. Angelique tells him (1) he moved too fast; and (2) Roger ruined things anyway, and he probably can’t wait to tell Quentin. As with the rest of his problems, Bruno immediately blames Quentin and declares that he’ll call the police if she won’t. Angelique tries to get the phone away from him, but he shoves her aside rather rudely. However, this time she smiles with satisfaction as Bruno tells the police, “I need to report a murder.”.....
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on February 08, 2016, 08:15:13 PM: Quote from: MagnusTrask on February 07, 2016, 11:07:56 PM
Finally got it. In honor of Roxanne's prominent Grand Tetons.

Exactly! And you've even gotten the Grand Tetons right! Practically since day one of Ep #1039 becoming available again in March of '93, many fans have referred to the display of Roxanne's rather ample endowments as "The Grand Tetons!!"

Quote from: Uncle Roger on February 08, 2016, 02:09:15 AM
The hills are alive! Though not with the sound of music.

Love it!! [rofl10]

Quote
Once again, Barnabas puts himself first. He doesn't have the right to kill her because she's beautiful in a world of ugliness? Stop playing God, buster. You don't have any right to interfere in anyone's life. But you do constantly.

Amen to that! Although -

Quote
The sudden infatuation with Roxanne comes way out of nowhere and has little credibility. It also damaged the character of Barnabas. He will continue to make incredibly poor decisions based on what he thinks about whatever Roxanne he is involved with at the moment. And he will remain oblivious to the impact this has on other people.

- I honestly think the decision not to kill Roxanne because she's so "beautiful" (and see what I had to say about that last time around):
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on July 14, 2010, 04:27:37 PM
When Barnabas speaks of her beauty...
is perfectly in keeping with his character. It's not very often, if at all that Barn makes rational decisions based on logic. As we've often said, he doesn't think with the head on his shoulders - his brain is located in the head that's decidedly south of his shoulders and located in his pants!! [snow_rolleyes] And time and time again those sorts of decisions not only get him but others into trouble. But he just keeps repeating them...

Quote from: DarkLady on February 08, 2016, 03:17:02 PM
Barn rhapsodizes over Roxanne's beauty, utterly oblivious of how it might affect the OTHER red-headed woman right beside him (and not for the last time, either).

Yes, the way he'll repeatedly go on like that in front of Julia is unforgivable. But then, with Barn all too often it's all about him and how he's feeling and reacting and to hell with those around him. Except for rare instances (none of which come to mind at the moment - but they must be out there) he gets a great big F when it comes to being considerate of others' feelings.
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: Uncle Roger on February 08, 2016, 08:55:49 PM: Honestly, I never expected to be comparing Barnabas to Russ Meyer. If a relationship had developed between the two of them after she had been rescued from the lab, it would have been a lot more credible. I don't dislike any of the Roxanne characters but I don't really see any chemistry there.
Yes, he is also immediately taken with both Rachel Drummond and Kitty Soames but there he is responding to the resemblance to Josette, so I found that easier to accept.
He is once again incredibly insensitive and oblivious to Julia's feelings. But that is consistent to the character. I know that there are a lot of fans that want to see them live happily ever after. But the basic concept of DS seems to revolve around them not getting together.
Be careful of what you ask for. Because it may not turn out to be what you want after all. Remember Moonlighting?
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: MagnusTrask on February 10, 2016, 11:24:37 PM: Quote from: DarkLady on February 08, 2016, 03:17:02 PM
Also, this ep. has eight (count ’em!) characters, a record for Dark Shadows and roughly analogous to a crowd scene in one of those Italian sandal epics.

LOL, DL. "Sandal epic", I'll have to remember that.

It's certainly true that often we're better off not seeing all the stuff we want to see. 1897 involves tons of backstory squeezed into this or that offhand line of dialogue. We've already "seen it" in our imaginations; seeing it onscreen would be redundant and boring.

See how DS gets us thinking! Remember, waking up Roxanne thwarts Angelique just as well as killing Roxanne. Granted, they can't do it instantaneously, as they could have slaughtered her instantaneously. The time gap involves risks, and resulted in Q's arrest. But since they know she might wake up, since keeping her under is a problem for Stokes, it makes her a person with a life, not just a breathing cadaver. Sorry if I'm going all Star Trek on you all right now...!

The delay cost Bruno his life. I'm not weeping tears over that... We can't help but feel for Julia though. Skippy just goes on and on about his romantic fantasies, with her standing right there. No wonder that in the heat of the moment, Julia comes down on him for switching plans based on looks. She's a doctor, though, for Chissakes...
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: DarkLady on February 11, 2016, 07:26:19 PM: Quote from: MagnusTrask on February 10, 2016, 11:24:37 PM
It's certainly true that often we're better off not seeing all the stuff we want to see. 1897 involves tons of backstory squeezed into this or that offhand line of dialogue. We've already "seen it" in our imaginations; seeing it onscreen would be redundant and boring.

One of the things I love about the DS universe is that it is never fully explored. I love being able to figure this stuff out for myself.

Quote from: MagnusTrask
See how DS gets us thinking! Remember, waking up Roxanne thwarts Angelique just as well as killing Roxanne. Granted, they can't do it instantaneously, as they could have slaughtered her instantaneously. The time gap involves risks, and resulted in Q's arrest. But since they know she might wake up, since keeping her under is a problem for Stokes, it makes her a person with a life, not just a breathing cadaver. Sorry if I'm going all Star Trek on you all right now...!

Not at all! Great Star Trek reference!

Quote from: MagnusTrask
The delay cost Bruno his life. I'm not weeping tears over that... We can't help but feel for Julia though. Skippy just goes on and on about his romantic fantasies, with her standing right there. No wonder that in the heat of the moment, Julia comes down on him for switching plans based on looks. She's a doctor, though, for Chrissakes...

"Skippy" [snow_laugh] [snow_laugh] [snow_laugh]
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: MagnusTrask on February 13, 2016, 07:50:07 PM: You should come by the captions boards, DL! Every so often, an old screen capture is dredged up, where we started calling Barnabas "Skippy", but then forgot about it, and when we revive one of those threads, we get in the mood to start calling him Skippy again!
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: DarkLady on February 13, 2016, 10:00:40 PM: That's really funny--I'll have to stop by!
Title: Re: Discuss - Ep #1039
Post by: alwaysdavid on February 14, 2016, 01:23:00 AM: Barnabas plans to kill the life force are thwarted by himself taking one look at her and falling in love with the Beauty and forces a grudging Julia to admit that also. He will take steps to bring her back to life. Yesterday's warm moment wa obviously a set up to have poor Julia's hopes crushed once again. Maggie meanwhile is going around I what must be a housecoat looking like it's made of crepe paper.