Dear Dead Abigail

[Gothick]

Is there anyone else there who had to swallow a MIGHTY guffaw at Trask's line about the late Abigail's putatively "kind and gentle face" in ep. 433 (showcased in today's slide show)?  I think I actually let loose a SHRIEK when that snippet of dialogue first passed my eardrums when I finally got around to seeing this part of the show back in the Nineties.

Abigail was one of Clarice Blackburn's most Triumphant creations.  Sheer Heaven for those of us who are fans of character acting.  I adore Minerva, too, but she doesn't get as much notice from fans.  I loved Clarice's humanity in illuminating [spoiler]Minerva's despair when she comes to Collinwood to drop off a jar of preserves and realizes that "dear Gregory" is now courting Judith.  There was a lot of jealousy and bitterness in that scene, but she extracted this unwritten, barely expressed bit of sorrow and loneliness that gave the scene an extra edge.[/spoiler]

Clarice is another one who should have been awarded an honorary Daytime Emmy for her work on the series.

OTOH, the way the scene of [spoiler]Abigail's death was played in the 1991 series STILL has me giggling.  I've been revisiting that show and am looking forward to that episode. Seems to me they crammed about 3 weeks of story into ten minutes or so of air time!  LOL![/spoiler]

G.

[IluvBarnabas]

Abigail was anything BUT kind and gentle, though Trask (and probably Abigail herself) thought she was.

[spoiler]She was insulting and extremely cruel, particularly to Vicki, Naomi, and even little Sarah. (I hated Abigail when she tried to scare Sarah into ratting out Vicki's whereabouts about what happens to "little girls who lie to their elders", the damnation that would befall them.

Plus Abigail struck me as the kind of woman who would NEVER admit when she's wrong...remember she refused to believe Barnabas when he told her it was Angelique, not Vicki, who had been doing all the witchcraft. I think in her warped, misguided mind, to admit she could be wrong about anyone or anything would be to admit she was not a Christian woman.[/spoiler]

I love that scene you mention about Minerva too. I always believed she and Gregory didn't have a very happy marriage, at least at this point of their lives.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Is there anyone else there who had to swallow a MIGHTY guffaw at Trask's line about the late Abigail's putatively "kind and gentle face" in ep. 433 (showcased in today's slide show)?  I think I actually let loose a SHRIEK when that snippet of dialogue first passed my eardrums when I finally got around to seeing this part of the show back in the Nineties.

I definitely did - which is one of the main reasons the remark is part of the slideshow. 

[spoiler]Seems to me they crammed about 3 weeks of story into ten minutes or so of air time![/spoiler]

It's not the case with every episode, but more often than not a single episode of the '91 show covers more like a month's worth of story from the daytime show. But such are the limitations of primetime over the leisurely pacing of daytime.    DC's fears that he would lose the audience if he didn't resort to keeping the pacing of the daytime show to what amounted to a daytime version of breakneck speed were probably unfounded - but, sadly, it's definitely become true in primetime. And with the advent of so many discussion boards for shows, it's probably even worse than it was back in '91. I mean, just look at how many people complain bitterly when they don't get the answers they want as fast as they want them and they think they should get them! Too many writers nowadays are simply not allowed to take the time needed to craft stories in which a satisfying payoff is built over time. So much of the audience is far too impatient these days IMO...

[IluvBarnabas]

That's why I don't like the 1991 show all that much.....in hurrying the plot, Dan sacrificed too much character development, we never really got to know any of the characters all that well.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That's why I don't like the 1991 show all that much.....in hurrying the plot, Dan sacrificed too much character development, we never really got to know any of the characters all that well.

But the fact is that no show will ever have that luxury again.  :-   So we can't really fault any primetime version of DS for not being able to develop character the same way the daytime show did.

[Gothick]

I am revisiting the 1991 series mainly to enjoy Barbara Steele's performance again.  IMNSHO by far the best bits of that show are Steele's scenes with Ben Cross.  Between them they packed *a lot* of subtext into a show that was otherwise poorly scripted and directed.

G.

[Gothick]

Of course, the scene where Barbara Blackburn as Carolyn was [spoiler]eagerly pawing Ben Cross' exposed chest as Barnabas prepares to chow down didn't exactly having me leaving the theatre to grab some more popcorn in the lobby.  LOL![/spoiler]

*wink*

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I am revisiting the 1991 series mainly to enjoy Barbara Steele's performance again.

She has her detractors, but I agree she is great fun to watch. I'm definitely someone who really enjoyed what Steele brought to both Julia and Natalie

the best bits of that show are Steele's scenes with Ben Cross.  Between them they packed *a lot* of subtext

Their scenes are definitely among the highlights.

Of course, the scene where Barbara Blackburn as Carolyn was [spoiler]eagerly pawing Ben Cross' exposed chest as Barnabas prepares to chow down didn't exactly having me leaving the theatre to grab some more popcorn in the lobby.  LOL![/spoiler]

No, the [spoiler]lust/ecstasy factor was certainly played for all it was worth and to great advantage on the '91 show - and not just between Barn and his victims. Just look at what Michael T. Weiss does with his eyelids as Joe when Daphne attacks him!  [/spoiler]

[Sunny_Collins]

Abigail's behavior certainly didn't endear her to me, especially when she was bullying Sarah in to telling her Vicki's whereabouts, but having said that, in a way I pitied her. She was a sad lonely woman who got some sort of strange pleasure at causing others misery. Wrapped in a world of her own making, one wonders if she was all that stable. Clarice Blackburn certainly did a wonderful job of portraying her, and she's my favorite character out  of all the ones she played, with Mrs. Johnson a close second.

[Nelson Collins]

OT - but since we are talking about Clarice Blackburn (mostly) -

[spoiler]I know that Mrs. Johnson came to work for the Collinses after Bill Malloy's murder in order to spy on them for Burke.  But was there any subsequent development of this particular plot thread? For example, Liz finding out or Sarah deciding not to help Biurke after all when she discovered his motives weren't the purest, or did it just fizzle.  Was he paying her for information?[/spoiler]

Mrs. J seemed to become one of the most loyal supporters of the Collinses, at least by the time I first met her in ep 211.

[Alondra]

[spoiler]I know that Mrs. Johnson came to work for the Collinses after Bill Malloy's murder in order to spy on them for Burke.  But was there any subsequent development of this particular plot thread? For example, Liz finding out or Sarah deciding not to help Biurke after all when she discovered his motives weren't the purest, or did it just fizzle.  Was he paying her for information?[/spoiler]

It seemed to me to sort of just fizzle or at least eventually become unnecessary any longer. At first [spoiler]she came to him with information every now and then and I think he was paying her. But soon he was able to get Sam to confess to his part and they confronted Roger and forced his confession. After that it was no longer necessary for her to spy. I don't believe Mrs. Stoddard ever learned that this had been her motive at first for applying for the job.[/spoiler]

Alondra