Discuss - Ep #0493

Robservations #493

I understand that Adam was a completely unexpected event in the lives of Barnabas and Julia.  But what in heaven's name did they have to do that was more important than helping him get accustomed to Willie and to his new home?  Whatever Julia was doing in the drawing room at Collinwood certainly looked as though it could wait.  And couldn't they have done a little bit to make that dungeon pleasant?  Gone to a toy store and bought a mobile or something?  Painted the grimy bricks a nice cheerful color? Bought pretty pink blanket for the bed?  That scene in the beginning with Barnabas, Julia, and Willie brought up a memory that I would prefer to forget.  Exactly the same situation, except that instead of Adam there was a puppy.  The puppy was eventually put to sleep on the grounds that it was vicious.  Twenty years later, I'm practically in tears, sitting here thinking about that puppy.
 
And that's all I have to say about today's episode.

Exactly.   I just saw an old 70s movie-of-the-week about apes turning on researchers, though you don't know it's apes until the end.   Robert Culp walks into a room full of experimented-upon apes in cages only twice as big as they are, the apes are all screaming, and we the audience as well as Culp are probably meant to wonder, "What has the apes all upset?"   He was certainly puzzled.  They're in tiny cages, the reason's obvious, or should be.

Too often, this society's solutions to problems are to stick people into boxes and make them "useless".   Aboriginal populations and desert reservations, one example.    Prison is another.   Clearly the Adam-in-a-box tactic had absolutely no future in it.   It could not go anywhere, it could only deteriorate and/or explode.

I felt sorry for Adam during the beginning of his storyline. He was just like an overgrown baby, and wasn't treated very well at all. He was understandably attached to Barnabas, who didn't do much to appease him. Barnabas and Julia should have stayed with Adam longer, and Adam should have been in a much more appealing (and humane) room.    It was poor judgment to appoint Willie as Adam's keeper. That was a pretty dumb idea for Willie to smoke in front of Adam.  I don't blame Adam for attacking Willie; Adam didn't know any other way to react to his pain. I agree with Lydia, Adam's surroundings could at least have been made more pleasant - paint on the wall, toys to play with, a nice blue blanket, etc. I marvel at Robert Rodan's acting prowess - he made an excellent overgrown child!

----- Sally -----

Pink blanket, blue blanket.... how about at least a multi-colored afghan for poor Adam to liven up that dingy cell?!!

It was as if Adam represented Barnabas & Julia's unwanted love child - and it's not as if B & J had to marry to save the family honor. Now that would've been a fun plot twist.

I always enjoyed the chemistry between Grayson, John Karlen, Frid and Robert Rodan in these early "Adam" scenes. These shows were filmed in New York on May 9th and 10th 1968.  Lots going on outside the Collinwood fantasy world. No wonder it was hard for the actors to remember their lines at times.

I agree that it was poor judgment on the part of Barnabas and Julia to leave Willie alone with Adam...especially since Willie obviously didn't want to do it. Maybe Adam could sense Willie's reluctance, I don't know.

And yes it was incredibly stupid of Willie to smoke in front of Adam. But why didn't Barnabas and Julia tell him to bring something to do while he was watching Adam (something that wouldn't hurt Adam) like a book or a radio or something? I don't think it was fair of them to expect him just to watch Adam and be bored.

This episode was filled with more "idiot plot" points than almost any installment of DS I can think of.

The first, of course, is Barnabas and Julia's leaving Adam in the hands of a terrified and incompetent Willie.  Utterly unbelievable.

Then we have the seemingly effortless acceptance of Willie back at Collinwood, depite the fact that the people there know only that Willie is the madman who kidnapped Maggie Evans. 

And why does Mrs. Johnson go searching for David on the terrace when he is the very person she has spent the whole day trying to avoid?  It's possible that she was falling victim to her irresistable urge to talk to him, but the almost cheerful, nonchalant way in which she calls him just doesn't ring true in the context. 

Also, Julia seems unnecessarily dense and clueless as to what is causing Mrs. Johnson's distress.

All in all, not a very sterling episode.