i'm nearing the end of the "summer of 1970" episodes and thus the end of my little excursion to collinsport,maine.

for whatever reason i just can't do the 1840/1841 stuff right now.it's not even that specific to those storylines but after having spent the last four years watching this thing from episode one i'm feeling the burn.in the last year alone i've watched 1897,leviathan,1970 parallel time and now the final "real time" episodes.so another seven months of time travel stuff is just not a place i can go at this point in time.plus this is all starting to get so far away from what i first started watching the show for.

that said not feeling obligated to keep watching this thing progressively from beging to end i have the luxury of going back and re-watching some favorite storylines.some of which i haven't laid eyes on in years.

as much as i adore the fountain pen plot i'm not sure i could really handle the first year in it's entirety again.the laura collins story will be a must as will the jason mcquire storyline.i love the early barnabas episodes but i don't think i could watch the weeks that maggie was being kept prisoner in the basement of the old house.too stressful.but the rest of 1967 is my favorite part of the show and it will be a treat to see it again.i'm really looking forward to seeing 1795 again too(having watched it over two years ago).i can't handle the adam plot in it's entirety again but there are parts of 1968 and the dream curse i'd like to see.as for the quentin hauntings and 1897 i watched those too recently and it will be some time before i feel like a re-do.

so my question is are there parts of the show you can't re-watch?that you just have no interest in ever seeing again?

p.s.who knows a year from now i might get a hankering for something new and end up watching the 1840 stroyline but just not now.

like mysterious i always spell it "vicki" because that's the way kathryn leigh scott spelled it in her books and since she was "there" i figured she was a good source.

also on a strictly asthetic level i find that the double "i" spelling looks prettier than the "ie" or "y" variations.

for some reason i always end up spelling it "wyndcliff".

does anyone know if they are saying that this will be the "last" fest?

remember they said that three years ago with the brooklyn fest and then the next year they called it something else.

are they saying either way or not at all?

last night as i was watching the progression of this storyline i was startled when there were a few references to the long forgotten miss winters.

[spoiler]when barnabas is trying to find out if david in possessed he asks him a few questions that david would know the answer to.he asks him about his mother(the never mentioned laura!)and about who his governess was before maggie.

later when hallie needs to find some contemporary clothing for daphne she digs up some "ridiculous" cloths that once belonged to a governess there.a "victoria something".[/spoiler]

a rare nod to a departed character.usually once they're gone they never get mentioned again(laura,burke,joe,sam...).

perhaps it's just this unrelenting heat that's got me crabby but there are some continuity gaffes here that are very jarring.for instance...

[spoiler]when maggie is bitten by "an animal" carolyn reminds her that there were similar attacks in town about "a year earlier".perhaps i'm forgetting something but the last time i recall unexplained attacks was during the tom jennings/angelique storyline of 1968.[/spoiler]

then...

[spoiler]when gerard summons carolyn to the playroom he does so using the theme from josette's music box.which if you think about it really had no signifigance for her(maggie and vicki being it's recipients).
later when she performs her "recital" it's pansey faye's theme.[/spoiler]

call me cynical but i feel as if this was an attempt to remind viewers of two of the show's most popular storylines at a time when the ratings were in decline.

speaking of that music box does anyone remember what ultimately became of it?the last time i recall seeing it barnabas had mrs.johnson throw it into a cardboard box full of sleeveless dresses to be stored in the basement when vicki disappeared into the past.

buzz,

i just saw that episode recently myself and i did notice that quentin called joan bennett "elizabeth".i haven't seen 1840 but i do know that bennett's character there is called "flora".

funny,i noticed something else during these episodes.i haven't heard "liz" in a long time.barnabas,julia and quentin call her "elizabeth".carolyn calls her "mother".david calls her "aunt elizabeth".maggie,mrs.johnson,hallie,sebastian and others call her "mrs.stoddard".

then it hit me that roger is not present during this storyline and he is primarily the one who called her "liz".it's sort of a brother/sister thing.most of the other characters speak to her more formally.

i've never seen a single piece of contemporary d.s. memorablia that i wanted.

bobble heads?underpants?an eight year old x-mas ornament?who wants that junk?

aside from the videos and dvds the merchandising table from mpi is always a sad lot at the fest.

i can't believe that the writers themselves didn't see the similarities here to the quentin hauntings of 1968/69.
sometimes i feel like i'm having deja vu when i'm watching this.

another problem with the storyline here is that both david and hallie are too old for it with it's talk of playrooms and dollhouses.they're constantly refered to as "children" even though they seem more like young teenagers.