Nicholas - "Excuse me, sirs, but I'm a representative of the Red Devil vacuum cleaner company and I'm selling worthless bags of vacuumed dust and dirt to help send poor orphans to Hell."

Stories: 1841 Parallel Time. Almost everyone I know personally on a day-to-day basis hates this story, but I personally adored it.

I'm reappraising everything these days, since I seem to be having an overall shift of perspective that has something to do with age.   

Last time, for the first time 1841PT seemed solid and good, though not the kind of storyline I would have chosen.     My impressions were that they were gearing up for DS to become a different type of program, and 1841PT was the start of this.   I can't characterize what type that would be (yet).    Same exact sets, same actors, same music-- yet the feel of everything was subtly different.   It didn't seem like the stale dregs of DS anymore, but a fresh start for something else.

The music seemed wrong.    It was what they had to work with, though, so moments that weren't supposed to be creepy had the cello and bass viol music going.    I love that music, but if they'd gone on, I wonder if it would have changed.

This new DS is probably not the kind of program I'd have sought out to watch.   I won't say I like it a great deal, but I can tell that it's good, and that they knew what they were doing.   It's just not my kind of thing, so far.

I saw the Olivier Wuthering Heights a few months ago, and now I see where certain elements were taken from, and why they don't make sense in 1841PT.   Still, differences between the two meant that 1841PT wasn't ruined by seeing WH, and actually it helped.    I got the feeling that this was probably not the best film ever made from that novel.

Ditto, Summer 1970 is creepy & mysterious, especially after the terrifying thrill ride that is 1995.
I just wish there had been more pay-off in 1840.

David--- Unfortunately, I think the payoff was 1995 itself, where we see the full extent of the damage.    If we'd seen all those events unfold in 1840 that led to 1995, then those bad events would not have been averted, and the happy ending they were engineering for DS in general wouldn't have happened.   In that case, we'd be hearing even more complaints about DS not having a satisfying conclusion.    I know what you mean, though. 

"No matter how much Cassandra begged, and even though they were sisters-in-law, Liz was adamant that she didn't want to accompany Cassandra to the Rockport Sunshine Spa and Retreat to share their two for one special on an intimate wig rejuvenation treatment."

In each storyline or time period, the characters start out mean or deceitful and get nice over time.    That includes the "present day", from what I've heard about 1966.    I was surprised to see early 1897, finally, and Quentin and Roger were both thinking about killing Judith, even if only for a few moments!    Carl even had a mean streak.    They nicen all the characters up, then kill them all off!

Another wonderful bonus for Trask #1 is that being a ghost means that his phony God-given powers now work!   He really can slay witches single-handed.   He must feel more righteous than ever!    Except, you know, for the fact that he's not in Heaven yet!

Take a bottle of the best champagne to the most improbable spot you can think of with a Steed surrogate, uncork (carefully so that it doesn't make too loud and vulgar a pop), and then get called into action before you can really relax and enjoy your birthday.   Oh, alright, you can have a whole day off....

Perhaps there are more unexplained events in 1840, but if so, these just intrigued me further.  In fact, I've said in the past that I think the DS writers consciously left loose ends and ambiguities, which I think is one of the distinctive aspects of DS as a whole that give it texture and interest (not to mention longevity).  I'm not one who needs everything spelled out or wrapped up in a neat package.

(1897 spoiler below)


I've been coming to think this way in the past few years, partly because of posts on this board, I think.   It's hard at first not to see the show's point of view as being what protagonists say onscreen-- but when you remember that real life situations aren't spelled out verbally by real people experiencing them (who are often all clueless as to the meaning of what's happening), this helps one to see DS differently.   I think it was something someone said about Quentin's reaction to seeing Carl's body in front of Barnabas, that got me thinking this way-- the idea that Quentin wasn't free to speak honestly about it in front of the relative he now had an extra reason to fear.... and he can't discuss it with other people either.   

If Q was going to voice his real attitude for the sake of the viewers (and exposition), he'd have to have talked to himself when no one else was around, which would have been silly.    So we have to put the pieces together ourselves, and that's good training for watching DS and for life in general.

I don't mind loose ends or ambiguity so much, but outright contradiction of established facts I do mind, as with Edith at the end of 1840.    Still, I've whittled down those to three or four items, and that's not so much more than in other eras.

I'm fuzzy on the whole Java Queen business.   Was there any connection between this ship and the one Q and Gerard were on?     If this was just some ship Ivan Miller was on many years before sailing with Quentin1, why did it crash right at the Collins estate?    When was that crash?   Did Quentin have any connection to that ship at all?

I'm thinking it was extreme foresight on Ivan's part, storing away some proto-zombies for the right moment he foresaw many years later, when he could try to take over the estate.     

I'd appreciate someone pitching in to help explain this.... I know we can just throw up our hands and say it's 1840 so it won't make sense, period.... but I've already satisfied myself on some points I thought would never make sense.    I'd like to see how far we can get.

One should never have humble opinions.

Did I really say that?   I don't remember that post, and it's a shame, because I'd kind of like the feeling of being that full of myself....

Beatles......

Quentin-- You Never Give Me Your Money
Liz-- I'm Only Sleeping
Sabrina-- I Want To Tell You
Roger-- Drive My Car
Jeb in Leviathan form-- You Won't See Me
Judith-- Think For Yourself
Garth Blackwood-- Run For Your Life
Burke-- I'll Get You
Tim Shaw (to Petofi)-- I Want To Hold Your Hand
Petofi-- Come Together (because he did)
Ned Stuart-- I'm A Loser
Vicki-- What Goes On
Julia-- Julia?
David, dreaming-- Birthday
Everyone to Carolyn during Jason McGuire-- Your Mother Should Know
PT Alexis and/or Ang-- Two Of Us
Gregory Trask-- I Me Mine
Duet, Willie Loomis and Jeff Clark-- Dig It
Anyone vacationing at Windcliffe (sp?)-- It's All Too Much
Every character who had to race across town at warp speed on foot because the scripts demanded it-- The Long And Winding Road



I would like for anyone or everyone on DS to sing "I Am The Walrus".   I'll hazard a guess that I'm not alone in this (now that I've mentioned it).