...to get him/her to like the show, which episodes would you choose?  A friend of mine wants me to watch his new Charmed DVD with him, but I told him he'd have to watch a little DS beforehand.  So, which episodes should I pick?  I'm leaning heavily towards 1897, but I'm not sure:  there are so many good episodes!

So I've been watching the 1795 storyline for the fifth time or so, and I just thought of something:  [spoiler]when Peter unlocked Vicki from her cell so she could get the family history book, why didn't they just escape right then and there?  Why didn't they run off to some hiding place or high-tale it to Boston?  Vicki should have known what with Peter's incompetence as an attorney (he wasn't even one yet!) and Trask's and virtually everyone else's determination to see her hanged that she would be found guilty.[/spoiler]  Poor Alexandra Moltke...playing such a stupid caricature of the wonderfullness that was Vicki.

Well, I just got the new Dark Shadows DVD, which features the first chunk of the Leviathan plot, and I must say that I'm overwhelmed by the intensity and over-all creepiness to this storyline.  I had seen it before (2 years or so ago), and then I thought it was kind of cheesy and boring, but now...yeah, I know it falls apart soon after [spoiler]Jeb comes along what with all those stupid additions like Peter Bradford's ghost and the death of Victoria Winters, but right now it's fresh and interesting.[/spoiler]  So, what are your thoughts on this often-hated era of Dark Shadows?

I've been watching the Laura plot in 1897, and I've been wondering about her past.  Jamison, Nora, Quentin, and even Edward all have remarked that Laura seems "different" and/or "changed"--was she always a phoenix or did she somehow become possessed/transformed into one in that fire in Alexandria?  I haven't seen the original 1966 Laura storyline, so I don't if this has been addressed before.

Well, I've just gotten a hold of the latest DVD collection of this show--it features the last 30 or so episodes of the 1897 plot as well as the first few of the Leviathan story.  I was wondering if we could discuss the various aspects of this long, magnificent era of the show.  Here's a little survey I've cooked up:
     Which part of 1897 is your favourite?
Early (Barnabas' I Ching-ing to the past, his introduction to the family, Edith's secret, Rachel Drumond and her romance with Barnabas, the summon of Angelique, the return of Laura, etc.)?
Middle (complications with Trask and the death of Rachel, the Curse on Quentin, the Hand of Count Petofi, the arrival of Miss Faye with Carl and his subsequent death, the discovery of Barnabas' secret, Petofi's arrival with Aristede, Jamison's possession, etc.)?
Late (Quentin's painting, Charity's possession, arrival of Lady Kitty, Amanda Harris & associated dullness, Quentin and Angelique's engagement, body switcheroo, Julia's adventure in the past, Barnabas' "death," fading into the portrait, etc.)?
     Which character do you find the most engaging/interesting?
     Which character impels you to fast-forward?
     Which romantic pairing do you favour?
     Which couple makes you gag everytime they appear on screen?
     If you could change one aspect of this storyline, what would it be?
     Would you have wanted it to go on longer (knowing what comes next...)?
     Who was best dressed?
     "" most funny?
     "" best looking?
If you can think of any more, please post if you will.  Now I'll answer my own questions in the following post.