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« on: June 01, 2014, 08:31:26 AM »
One of the best episodes ever. It's Violet Welles' debut, I think. Or did we see her name on a couple ghost-Quentin episodes? It all has a sort of epic air to it. It certainly revalidates Angelique perfectly, in mere moments, after months in 1968 where the character was weakened and made silly. The language in this ep was wonderful to experience. Afterward, it felt as if it had gone on for an hour, not 21 minutes. It's like a film, that's how everyone involved seem to view it, not a soap episode that will be forgotten tomorrow and never shown again.
It starts with Evan, Quentin, and Sandor all just standing there, waiting for their cue to start as it turns out. Never mind... I love their toying with us with the most fleeting, sneaky, teasing glance of Ang's face in the fire, just before the theme starts! How many viewers screamed in delight just then?! Evan seems to have dyed all his hair black for the redo. Well, I can't speak for absolutely ALL of his hair, though I imagine Mr. Hanley as being very thorough...
Ang: "What a lovely night... for the unquiet dead... and the living who seek their help!" I may Google the origin of "unquiet dead"... what a way for Angelique to refer to herself! And how well she spoke the line! Delicious.... There's a classic sort of hightened reality to this scene. You weren't the one we were expecting, Hanley tells her. A personal appearance from the Devil, I suppose he was after... I'm not surprised that Satan delegates. Who's Evan think he is, anyway? Quentin rises to the occasion, with his own very well-written and acted description of himself to Ang.
Also pleasurable for the original audience I'm sure: witnessing Ang smite Humbert, after Nick having dragged Ang through the mud so to speak, for so long! It didn't hit me at first, that's how good these actors are. Humbert is not Nick here, not self assured and powerful. Hanley is a Blair wanna-be, who doesn't stand a chance of becoming Satan's right hand man, and that's why he's a much better character for me.
"If you wanted to avoid trouble, you should never have sent for me!" Perfect.
Did Barnabas materialize right next to Sandor, forging the will, just offscreen? That's Blair's trick! Lots of shifting between scenes in this episode, some scenes last mere seconds... one of the best.