Discuss - Ep #0318

Robservations - #318

I really liked this show and the fact that is was in black and white. I think that effects were greater it was like an old time Monster movie. Barnabas likes to threaten to strangle Julia.  I just have one question if the stone walls are so thick I reallly wonder if  you could hear the sound. But if you couldn't hear the sound that would be no fun.

Julia losses Maggie as a patient,  Sarah shows her effect with Barnabas, as Julia says A little girl can stop him. This is when he said no one can stop him. Great show, Great acting. The best in Black and White.

Good storm today.  I suppose they use the same thunder tape over and over again, but I never notice it being the same.  Is it on the big CD set of Dark Shadows music?  And of course kinescope always helps when you're doing a storm.  I sometimes wonder about the whole black and white atmosphere thing.  As far as I can understand, it's purely a result of the fact that black and white photography preceded color photography.  If it hadn't - i.e. if movies had been in color from the very start - would we associate black and white with suspense?  And what about the imperfect sound?  It's purely a subjective thing, but it works for me.

I had a weird feeling when Barnabas and Julia were fighting at the end of the episode - as if a seesaw had tilted in a new direction.  Granted, there have been good scenes involving Barnabas, Julia, or both of them before, but today for the first time Barnabas and Julia seemed like the focus of Dark Shadows.  The center of the crystal was found.  Oh, well, it's wonderful what unexpected thoughts you can get when a woman rushes through a door as if chased by wild horses.

I always think that final line of Julia's is unnecessarily malicious - "Nothing on this earth can stop you, except one little girl."  But maybe Julia has earned the right to be malicious.

I just have one question if the stone walls are so thick I reallly wonder if  you could hear the sound.

Joshua's contractor gypped him and gave him a hollow stone panel even though he paid for a solid one.

So Dave got angry with Julia and took her off Maggie's case.  It's about time!  Good for him!   Of course, this does not bode well for Barnabas - Maggie could remember what Barnabas did to her, and Julia would be less likely to be able to hypnotize her again.

It was exciting at the end when Sarah stopped Barnabas from killing David!  Sarah won't let anything bad happen to her friend.

It was cute when David made a blooper and called Dr. Woodard Dr. Hoffman - and quickly corrected himself! 

Great episode!

----- Sally -----

Black and white is effective for several reasons, I think.

One, it creates an otherworldly, heightened-reality quality that lends itself well to the macabre and the supernatural.

Moreover, it creates a darker picture so that shadows become deeper and more menacing.