What characters or stories do you like that aren't very popular with others?

[IluvBarnabas]

Here's my two cents:

For characters: Hallie Stokes (and Carrie too). Maybe it's just me, but I thought she was a sweet girl, very likable.

Stories: 1841 Parallel Time. Almost everyone I know personally on a day-to-day basis hates this story, but I personally adored it.

[Gerard]

I enjoyed PT1841 very much.  Actually, I ended up eventually liking it.  What probably first turned me off was no Barnabas (I think it would've made a difference if the character of Bramwell was still the character of Bramwell right down to the Johnny Bravo hairdo, but instead was named Barnabas"Jr."), but once I got past that after a few watchings in reruns, I really developed a strong liking for it.  I thought it returned to DS's gothic roots and had strong and intense characters.  It was also nice to see Josette back, albeit in a more elderly form. 

Other storylines I didn't mind so much (not as much as others) are the Leviathans and PT1970.  The only thing I didn't like so much about the latter was the long absence of so many characters (their alter-egos were busy doing something at Tarrytown during that time).  William and Carolyn Loomis were simply brilliant, the best, IMO, among the entire cast.  I savor every scene they were in.

Gerard

[barnabasjr]

Well, my hair is getting rather long, although i wouldn't exactly call it "Johnny Bravo." "Johnny Jackson," maybe.

I'm deep into 1841PT now, for the first time since the SciFi days, and am enjoying it so much more than I thought I would! I've been fascinated by Melanie, and have been impressed, as usual, by Nancy Barrett.

I REALLY enjoyed the Cyrus Longworth story in 1970PT. As much as I loathed Jeb in Leviathan, Chris Pennock blew me away with his dual performances, despite the makeup snafus. I found it a little stifling to have to deal with so much Sabrina Stuart, but being treated to Buffie Harrington was sweet icing on an otherwise delicious cake.

[alwaysdavid]

I really like 1841 Parallel time also.  I seemed to be the next step in the story  after Barnabas realized he loved Angelique to pair up Lara and Jonathan in a love story.  John Karlen and Nancy Barrett were good together and I was a bit tired of the Faye's by this time so Melanie was a nice change.   

[David]

I think Leviathins begins well.
It's creepy & mysterious.
Troulbe is, it just goes nowhere.
So I like the first half of it.

Ditto, Summer 1970 is creepy & mysterious, especially after the terrifying thrill ride that is 1995.
I just wish there had been more pay-off in 1840.

David

[MagnusTrask]

Stories: 1841 Parallel Time. Almost everyone I know personally on a day-to-day basis hates this story, but I personally adored it.

I'm reappraising everything these days, since I seem to be having an overall shift of perspective that has something to do with age.   

Last time, for the first time 1841PT seemed solid and good, though not the kind of storyline I would have chosen.     My impressions were that they were gearing up for DS to become a different type of program, and 1841PT was the start of this.   I can't characterize what type that would be (yet).    Same exact sets, same actors, same music-- yet the feel of everything was subtly different.   It didn't seem like the stale dregs of DS anymore, but a fresh start for something else.

The music seemed wrong.    It was what they had to work with, though, so moments that weren't supposed to be creepy had the cello and bass viol music going.    I love that music, but if they'd gone on, I wonder if it would have changed.

This new DS is probably not the kind of program I'd have sought out to watch.   I won't say I like it a great deal, but I can tell that it's good, and that they knew what they were doing.   It's just not my kind of thing, so far.

I saw the Olivier Wuthering Heights a few months ago, and now I see where certain elements were taken from, and why they don't make sense in 1841PT.   Still, differences between the two meant that 1841PT wasn't ruined by seeing WH, and actually it helped.    I got the feeling that this was probably not the best film ever made from that novel.

Ditto, Summer 1970 is creepy & mysterious, especially after the terrifying thrill ride that is 1995.
I just wish there had been more pay-off in 1840.

David--- Unfortunately, I think the payoff was 1995 itself, where we see the full extent of the damage.    If we'd seen all those events unfold in 1840 that led to 1995, then those bad events would not have been averted, and the happy ending they were engineering for DS in general wouldn't have happened.   In that case, we'd be hearing even more complaints about DS not having a satisfying conclusion.    I know what you mean, though. 

[Lydia]

I wish we could have had a protracted visit to 1692, or whenever it was that Judah Zachery was beheaded.  It would make such a neat progression - seeing a disaster in 1995, and hoping to avert it in 1970, unable to avert it in 1970, so going back to 1840, another failure in 1840, so back to 1692.  And then, assuming success in 1692, going back to 1840 to check up, and on back to 1970, and then slamming on the brakes so as not to end up in 1995.

Of course that's sort of off-topic.  On-topic:  I like Elizabeth's obsession with death in 1968.  It may be a silly storyline, but it gives Joan Bennett some memorable moments.

[Gothick]

Well, I love the Leviathans story.  I just thought it was an attempt to take the show in a different direction and although it eventually wound up as a trainwreck (mainly due to the curtailing of the original storyline because of all the complaints from fans they received about it), the first six weeks or so are brilliant.  I even enjoy the messy conclusion because of all the wonderful scenes with Nicholas Blair, a top favorite character.

I'm also very fond of PT 1970.  I'm going to be getting the DVDs for the first two months of that soon, and I'm looking forward to revisitng it.  Again, they did something different.  My main problem with it as it went on is that I simply did not find Quentin or Maggie very likeable as characters.  My great pleasures with it are Grayson's Hoffman characterization, Thayer's Tim Stokes portrayal (perhaps his most brilliantly understated work in the entire series), and Paula Lawrence as Hannah.  Lara was really good as an alternate version of Angelique--more ruthless but also even more incompetent with her spellcraft than the original (and given some of the gaffes Ang in our time made, that's saying something).  The Cyrus/Yaeger story never did much for me but perhaps I'll enjoy it more when I revisit it later this year.

G.

[Gothick]

I forgot to mention that another treat in PT 1970 is Louis' bravura work as PT Roger Collins.  I really can't get enough of Roger's bitchy ripostes, particularly when he's needling Maggie--although Maggie is already such a milquetoast, after awhile it becomes tantamount to watchng a bored little boy pulling the wings off a housefly.

G.

[IluvBarnabas]

I so agree that neither Quentin nor Maggie were sympathetic people in parallel time....especially Quentin, the way he threw a temper tantrum over every little thing Maggie did....and she LET him walk all over her too! 

Sheesh, she needed to get a backbone and he definitely needed to grow up.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With Quentin there are all sorts of hints that there is something in his past that troubles him terribly and causes him to act out as he does - and then the cause is ultimately revealed. Unfortunately, there's not even one hint from her past given as to why Maggie often acted like a doormat. But then, there's really no adequate explanation in Rebecca for why she-with-no-name acts the same...

[MagnusTrask]

Some people just aren't tough.

[michael c]

not necessarily "unpopular" but i think one of the most underated storylines is the first laura collins story in 1966.
it's so well written and diana millay is so brilliant in it.she has confrontations with joan bennett and nancy barrett that are all-time favorite scenes for me.louis edmonds and mitch ryan are great here and alexandra moltke's vicki has a very appealing "nancy-drew-ish-ness" during this period that i really liked.this comes very close to being my favorite storyline.

i'm also with those who really liked the leviathan storyline(at least the first two thirds of it)as well as 1970 parallel-time.they both created very unique atmospheres that the show didn't have in other time periods.i also liked that they were stories set in the "present" rather than the distant past.

as for characters the relentlessly slagged victoria...whose supposed "i-don't-understand-ish-ness" is wildly overblown across fandom...remains my favorite character.alexandra brought a sweetness and melancholia to the role(plus she's so darn easy on the eyes)that i find quite dreamy.

[MagnusTrask]

I think AM continued to play VW as an intelligent character, and succeeded to a large extent, even when the scripts did little or nothing to help.   Something about her makes me want to know what she's thinking, even when according to the writers, it isn't very much.

[Garth Blackwood]

I liked the part of 1897 with Charles Tate's odd talent and Quentin's portrait. I find the part lifted directly from Dorian Grey, where the paintaining absorbs all of Quentin's sins/age/curses etc.. to be really cool, especially when we see the portrait again in 1969. My favorite minor character -- Garth Blackwood -- he was only around for a handful of episodes but I thought he was really well done and scary. The history with him and Aristede is cool ...

Since some other people mentioned alternative storylines that never made it onto the show-- I would love to have seen
(i) At least a short flashback into the history of Count Petofi. It was only given anecdotally and doing something like they did with Judah in 1692 would have been cool

(ii) An inkling, at least, of what Quentin was doing between 1897 and 1969. Surely he must have done something more than drink 72 years worth of brandy. Maybe he did some other messed up stuff that made his portrait even more grotesque ... who knows