I'm very pleased to hear this.  Dangerous, unpredictable, and conflicted?  Oh yeah, he can do all that.  

 

Welcome back!

Well, I did get to speak to some of my gal pals as were heading back to NJ and got an earful about the hotel, most of it not good.  Good food but slow to non-existent service, and yikes, really poor security!  And elevators that break down, trapping at least one VIP for a time.

Anyway, Donna Wandrey canceled due to illness.  When the usual show of hands for first-time attendees was requested, more than half the audience raised their hands.  Frid's family was in attendance, and his presentation of the fan choice videos was enjoyable, and (I think) prior to "My Fridean Connections" he gave credit to Nancy Kersey for the research.  He also introduced two of his loyal fans whom he has kept in touch with since the studio days, and who originally helped with his fan mail.

And I heard that "Bewitched Shadows" was an absolute delight, with Peter Mac playing Endora opposite Lara Parker's Angelique.  I would kill to see John Schaefer's Uncle Arthur; maybe next year!!

This was the last ep directed by DC.  I can't say I approve of some of Curtis' choices-- having Trask enter the house through the front doors although we had just seen him in the tower room, playing music that competed with Marie Wallace's singing (as EmeraldRose pointed out), and that seemingly endless glimpse of Quentin sleeping before his dream kicks in.  Okay, one can make the best of the last one.

Jenny to Quentin:  "Don't lock her behind prison walls. Gypsies die in prison."
They don't get last names in the credits either.

I think the logic of the Cain and Abel re-enactment was faulty, to say the least.  As Master of Collinwood, Gregory was able to order Edward to murder Quentin, yet Gregory says it's totally Quentin's decision to never let Edward out.  But if Gregory is in charge, then he could overrule Quentin by letting Edward out himself, and if he's not in charge, then he shouldn't be able to give an order to kill someone in the house.  You can't have it both ways.  Also, Edward refused to sign the paper because he knew he didn't have a son, yet he agreed to commit murder?  So in Edward's rigid mind, killing is just under the right circumstances but signing a paper under false pretenses is wrong?  Out of revenge or out of duty-- whatever Edward's motive was to kill Quentin, I'm not buying it.

ProfStokes' pet peeve rears its ugly head in Quentin saying "you're choking me" while he's being choked.

I kept wondering why the Afghan is around the bottom of the crib.

Did you notice that in the dream, the afghan was swapped for the other, earth-toned afghan? 

During the opening voiceover, Jerry Lacy said that if Lenore died, Chris would cease to exist. What about Amy? The writers forgot about her!

I'm guessing that we're so far into 1897 that anyone who has tuned in since then might have been confused by the mention of Amy's name.  But that's me.

Frankly, I found Jenny's ghost to be fairly ridiculous.  When Quentin and Beth were ghosts, they couldn't even speak and had to communicate telepathically with the children.  Yet, Jenny sashays into the room as if she had just been invited over for afternoon tea, even going so far as to take the baby out of the crib and wander around the room with her (or at least with a bundle of swaddling clothes that LOOKS kind of like a baby).  I realize that ghosts who are summoned - as opposed to those who are just "hanging around" - may, for some reason, have an  ability to speak while the others do not, but at least Julianka had the decency to remain as a semi-transparent apparition hanging in midair when she appeared on the scene.  For me, Jenny is just way too corporeal for a ghost of any type.

Yes, up until this point, Quentin and Beth only spoke in dreams, but we'll see that the rules will change for at least one of them.  Could it also be that Quentin refused to speak and wouldn't allow Beth to either?  I see your point that Julianka was summoned too, but she was pretty unhappy about it, and Jenny seems to have appeared in her place this time out of choice.

Perhaps she wouldn't have been able to do so at any other moment.   Maybe it was the special character of this moment that allowed her to communicate.

I have to agree with this.  Jenny let us know her time was very limited.  Maybe her abilities stemmed from maternal instinct and sheer force of will?  In order to communicate any further she had to appear in Quentin's dream (or was that Quentin looking into his heart? ).

I was bugged, however, by Jenny's behavior.  In death, she's sane, focused, calm, well-coiffed and confident.  And she now has self esteem-- she agreed when Quentin said that Lenore was as beautiful as she, but remember Jenny's "Wasn't I pretty enough?"  WTH?!

The next Fest will be July 16, 17 & 18 at the Burbank Marriott.