Discuss - Ep #0851

Robservations #851

Tate loses him ability to paint.  Will this mean that is bargin with Petofi is over? 
Quentin's plan to be witht he woman he loves the most is stopped by Angelique.  Will he let her kill Amanda horribly and painfully?   What would be the point?  If she's dead then he has no reason to leave.  So, Amanda must be gone for good. It seemed that she was a more important and longer part of 1897 in the original run, but I'm guessing that her line delivery made each appearance more notable and thus more memorable and now I can say not in a good way.

As I said in my previous post, [spoiler] Amanda will be back, unfortunately. [/spoiler]

I honestly wished that Quentin had allowed Angelique to carry out her threat against Amanda. Not only would we be rid of Amanda forever, Angelique really wouldn't have anything left to threaten Quentin with. Then again, there IS Beth, but does Quentin even think of her anymore? He might not even care about her anymore, seeing as she tried to kill him.

So now Petofi has taken away Tate's ability to paint great. To Tate, losing this ability may be the end of the world to him, but he's gotten off with a slap on the wrist in contrast to Petofi's other victims: Petofi's possession of Jamison then possessing him with the spirit of David, kidnapping Julia, then tried to have her killed twice, possessed Charity with Pansy, caused Edward to believe he was a servant, ordered Barnabas' death, set Magda up to be killed by King Johnny and so on and on.

Some may feel sorry for Tate, but I can't say I do. He knew that Petofi must have wanted him to paint Quentin for a reason, so it should have occured to him he'd be pissing of Petofi as well as Quentin by taking the portrait.

I don't think we're intended to think of Tate's punishment as a slap on the wrist.  After all, Tate sold his soul - or something of the sort - for the talent that Petofi gave him and for what that talent would bring him, and now he has lost it.  I was surprised to see that he couldn't sketch at all.  I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but I can at least manage a stick figure, and I believe that if I went to art school for a few years, I would come out of it with the ability to draw a reasonably straight line.  There are techniques you can learn for that sort of thing.  But I suppose if Petofi can make Magda unable to say his name, then he can make Tate unable to draw altogether.  I find it hard to feel Tate's loss because he never struck me as having much of an artistic sensibility in the first place, but I understand that within the story this should be tragic for Tate.  But I felt worse for Sam Evans when Cassandra blinded him.

Thayer David was very busy today.  Just about every time there was a knock on the door, it was Petofi.  At one point at the show I started feeling that there was an unseemly amount of hustle and bustle, but I daresay that was just me being tired.

Again I like Tim.  As far as I can tell, he's really trying to do his best for Amanda, and I can fully understand his belief that Quentin isn't good for her.

Tim said that Amanda lived alone in New York, and that nobody ever came to see her.  So maybe she wasn't a prostitute, or maybe she was just good at keeping her men from seeing each other.  If she wasn't a prostitute, then how did she support herself?

I always thought they should have explored Tim and Amanda's relationship a bit more rather than pushing her and Quentin together.

Tim and Amanda are interesting together, but now that I'm older I'm a bit more cynical towards his concern for her. I can't tell if he truly is concerned about her welfare, or worried he won't be able to use her any further to get Trask.

Major Milestones:
1. Count Petofi got Quentin's portrait back from Tate. CP then asked Tate to draw his ideal woman, but she did not appear. Then, CP punished Tate for taking the portrait by taking away his drawing ability.
2. Quentin lied to Angelique that he was going to Boston, but CP told her the truth and gave her Amanda's brooch. Angelique threatened Quentin with the brooch and a pin, saying she would kill Amanda if he got on the train to New York to look for her.
3. Angelique pressured Quentin into choosing a wedding date for them to get married.

I think that maybe Count Petofi's ideal woman was roaming around somewhere. After all, when Tate drew Amanda, she didn't appear in the room, either - she appeared on the streets of New York City. Count Petofi was cruel to Tate when he took away his talent.

When Quentin threw Tim out, Tim ran into the wall and made the mirror shake. This was evidence that the walls weren't as sturdy as they appeared!

That brooch had a huge role in this episode. Amanda wrote a note and left it and the brooch for Tim to find. Tim brought them to Collinwood to show to Quentin. Count Petofi stole the brooch and gave it to Angelique. Angelique used it, with a pin, to threaten Quentin that she would kill Amanda. The brooch should have been mentioned in the credits!

I think Tim grew to love Amanda and he was genuinely concerned for her welfare. We saw glimpses of the old Tim in this episode.

Quentin was up against a formidable foe. Angelique, up to her old tricks, had the upper hand against him. Poor Quentin!

----- Sally -----