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Messages - Roland

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421
Current Talk '05 II / Re: The "B" Team in Spring 1970
« on: November 04, 2005, 02:55:51 PM »
I think I need to clarify something in my opening post.  I don't dislike the PT storyline per se.  I think the Angelique/Alexis stuff is fine.

I would also like to defend the Leviathon story somewhat.  I think the writers did a good job making Jeb a complex villain.  The fact that he wants so desperately to become a good person because of his love for Carolyn ends up making him a rather poignant figure.  I think that Jeb and Carolyn make one of the only truly "sexy" couples DS ever came up with, and much of that is due to the fact that Jeb is a "bad boy" trying to be good.  There is a real tension in that relationship that is often lacking in the other romances.

422
Current Talk '05 II / The "B" Team in Spring 1970
« on: November 03, 2005, 03:35:46 AM »
I'm currently watching the early episodes of the first "parallel time" storyline, the one set in 1970.  This was the period when most of the "A" players in the cast - Barnabas, Julia, Elizabeth, Roger, Carolyn, Maggie etc. - were off filming the first "Dark Shadows" movie.  As a result, the story is forced to rely on many of the second-stringers to take up the slack.  The only exceptions are Quentin and Angelique, who have prominent roles in this section.  Otherwise, Barnabas is locked in his coffin, Julia (the servant) has been sent away for a "vacation," Maggie has fled to her sister's, and Carolyn, Elizabeth and Roger make infrequent appearances if they show up at all.

Thanks to all this, I'm afraid this section contains what is, for me, the single worst plotline in all of "Dark Shadows" - the Jeckyl and Hyde ripoff involving the repulsive John Yaeger.  That story is sooooooo tedious and boring that I can barely get through the episodes.  I wonder if the show lost a significant percentage of its viewership during this arid period.

I can't wait for the key actors to make their way back and get the story rolling again.

423
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Things to Hate About DS
« on: March 10, 2005, 03:41:12 AM »
It always seemed strange to me that both Vicki and Carolyn knew Barnabas was a vampire right after Vicki's return from 1795, yet they seem to forget it with no real explanation after Barnabas isn't one anymore.  Carolyn just makes some weird comment like "Vicki and I were just too involved with Barnabas' problems," or something lame like that.  And it's never clear when or if Vicki ever forgets, although she fails to mention it again.

It's just weird.

Another, albiet minor red herring:  Willy plants some of Josette's earrings in Maggie's purse.  When she finds them and puts them on, she seems to become possessed.  She does this for a few episodes, then nothing ever comes of it.

424
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Major flaw in the 1897 storyline
« on: March 05, 2005, 02:07:22 AM »
Quote from: Joeytrom on March 05, 2005, 12:13:52 AM
Quote from: Roland on March 03, 2005, 05:44:16 PM
Another weird inconsistency I just noticed. After Julia comes to 1897, Barnabas tells her that Angelique is there. Julia acts surprised, but why should she be? After all, Beth told her that Angelique was engaged to Quentin even before Julia made the trip back to the past. Yikes

Actually, Beth's ghost never mentioned the name of the woman to Julia.

You have a point here, although I'm not sure it's an entirely convincing one.  Actually, we never hear HOW Beth describes the scene since we are SHOWN the scene instead.  I guess one could assume that Beth just said "a woman," although we don't know for sure.  Again, I just don't think the writers did a very good job here.  They left gaping holes in logic where they really didn't have to.

425
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Scariest moments on Dark Shadows
« on: March 03, 2005, 11:39:16 PM »
When I was watching the show in the 60's and 70's, I remember one moment that made me lose sleep.

It was when David and his blonde (girl) friend (can't rmember her name) were in the dark room developing pictures and I think it was the ghost of Gerard who appeared above them - or something like that.  It's been awhile since I saw the scene so some of the details are a bit vague, but I sure remember tossing and turning quite a bit that night.

426
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Major flaw in the 1897 storyline
« on: March 03, 2005, 05:44:16 PM »
Thanks everybody for your welcome and comments.  They are greatly appreciated.

I understand that time travel scenarios are intrinsically incomprehensible and frustrating.  I just wish the writers hadn't made it worse by doing such a sloppy job in this case, since it could have been so easily avoided by simply having someone else kill Quentin the first time around.  Oh well...

Another weird inconsistency I just noticed.  After Julia comes to 1897, Barnabas tells her that Angelique is there.  Julia acts surprised, but why should she be?  After all, Beth told her that Angelique was engaged to Quentin even before Julia made the trip back to the past.  Yikes

427
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Major flaw in the 1897 storyline
« on: February 28, 2005, 12:15:24 AM »
Quote from: Ian on February 27, 2005, 11:10:20 PM
Now this is only one theory of time travel and history, but just keep that in mind. ;)

Sometimes, certain things are said in the present because the time loop (being used as a conscious "being") "knows" that someone travels back in time to correct/change something. That may be hard to understand, but allow me to explain using that as a reference.

[spoiler]Beth's ghost, being dead, is now a part of the time loop. Therefore, she knows everything that happened, is happening, will happen, etc. Since she knew that Barnabas traveled back in time, she knew that Angelique would come back, etc.[/spoiler]

I'm not an expert on knowledge of time manipulation and the like...I'm not Professor Stokes! XD Anyways, I hope that I explained MY views well enough for you. If you still have questions, just give me a little feedback. :)

Ian, thanks for the explanation.  I, too, have sometimes thought of time-travel scenarios in this way.  Still, it bothers me a bit that the writers couldn't just have used one of their 1897 characters and avoided all this.  It wouldn't have detracted in any way from the storyline and it would have made more sense.

I think they did a better job in the 1795 section by clearly showing that Victoria Winters REPLACED someone from that time period so that at least we got a sense that what was happening to her in 1795 had largely happened the first time to someone else (though it doesn't explain why Barnabas when he arrived at Collinwood in 1967 didn't say "Ah Victoria Winters...weren't you the girl who was hanged for witchcraft in 1795?").

Ah..I'm getting a headache.   ???

428
Current Talk '05 I / Re: Major flaw in the 1897 storyline
« on: February 28, 2005, 12:07:53 AM »
Julia99, Yes, you are right.  But if Angelique had been Cassandra in the '60's wouldn't she have known all about Quentin and how he would die?

As I said, time-bending scenarios can be nototriously frustrating.  I just wish the writers would have found a plausible explanation for Quention's death using only characters specific to that time period.  It just feels to me as if the writers hadn't fully thought-out the implications of what they were doing (a rarity, actually, for the DS writers).

429
Current Talk '05 I / Major flaw in the 1897 storyline
« on: February 27, 2005, 10:56:18 PM »
Hi, everyone, I am new to the site and have been watching "Dark Shadows" regularly since about 1967.  I currently purchase the DVD sets and am now kneedeep in the 1897 flashback.

However, I noticed what I consider to be a SERIOUS flaw in this particular part. [spoiler]In one episode, the ghost of Beth tells Julia in 1969 that she killed Quentin when she discovered that Quentin was going to marry Angelique.  Yet, Angelique wasn't even there the first time around.  She's only in 1897 now because Barnabas went back there.  I'm surprised the writers didn't come up with a more plausible explanation for Quentin's death, one that would have not included either Barnabas or Angelique interfering, since neither one was there the "first" time.[/spoiler]

Time-tripping scenarios always have a built-in problem with this, but I would have thought the DS writers would have avoided intensifying that problem.

Thanks for your input.

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