Discuss - Ep #0563

Robservations #563

A very Briscoe-licious episode! Now the fun begins. This period of storyline on DS was particularly scary to me as a kid. The vampire element was back in full force, in living color on ABC.  Tom Jennings was merely a stranger to the viewers, but we were all too familiar with his ultimate fate after Nurse Angelique paid a draining visit to his room. And we sensed Barnabas and Julia would be caught up in the thick of it... as they always seemed to be. "Joooooolia!" I can hear that voice now. Sigh.

Does Tom really look that different from Chris based on this episode? Do DS fans notice any distinct differences in the way Don Briscoe portrayed Tom versus the way he assumed Chris, regardless of the obvious character/plot differences (one's a handyman/doomed vampire, one's an aspiring architect-gone-werewolf-groundskeeper)? Thoughts?

Sandor, as I watched today's episode, I was thinking to myself, "So what is it about Don Briscoe that grabs so many fans?"  Because whatever it is, I don't get it.  Nice guy, nothing special.  Care to enlighten me?

Based on this episode: no, there's no difference between Tom and Chris.  I liked Tom before Angelique bit him, as I mentioned before.  He came across as a nice, happy-go-lucky guy.  After the bite, Tom is anguished, and his anguish looks just like Chris's anguish to me.

This is also the episode with the wonderful scene in the Blue Whale in which Nicholas, having arranged for Angelique to take ownership of Joe, starts taking ownership of Maggie.  And once again - just like a year ago - I'm all for Maggie dumping plain old Joe and going for the exciting though inhuman alternative.  I do think, however, that Maggie was hard on Joe.  For nearly two years now he's been Mr. Reliable, and now, just one slip and she's furious with him.  And Nicholas happily fanned the flames by admiring her "sense of self".  Very smooth.

I liked the little black nurse.  I think she's the first good nurse I've seen so far on the show. She was no-nonsense, but you could tell she could be nice to a patient.  It's a pity Julia never saw her efficient way with sedatives; Julia would have hired her as an assistant immediately.

I wish we would have been able to see more of Tom Jennings before Angelique bit him. The very same day he debuted was when he was doomed. When Chris Jennings came on 11 weeks  later, we got to know him a little bit before it was revealed that he was a werewolf. It makes me feel gypped!

Tom's hair was darker, and the area around his eyes was darker than Chris' were. Those were about the only differences that I noticed. I didn't get to know Tom well enough to come to any more conclusions. Oh, I just thought of something... I think Tom's voice was deeper than Chris' voice. The differences would become more obvious and striking in future episodes.

I liked the little black nurse.

I liked her too, Lydia. I may be wrong about this, but I believe the black nurse was the first black person to appear on DS.

I felt sorry for Joe and Tom. It was a shame that Joe was forced to set up Tom's murder, and that Tom was led to believe that Joe would help him.

Nicholas sure did use his charm to woo Maggie away from Joe. It was fun to watch.

But, on a deeper level, I'm angry that Angelique and Nicholas split up Joe and Maggie. They were a lovely couple, and after her "Pop" died, Maggie deserved some happiness with Joe.

----- Sally -----

Nick I feel is the puppit master, it seems like he is trying to control everything.

I wonder where Nick and Maggie go to dinner. Do they take Maggie's car or Nick's.

Maggie is sure not very loyal, I agree look how Joe stood by her.

The women on this show seem a little dense to me.   First, Vickie seems oblivious to Barnabas' true feelings for her, then Maggie falls hook, line and sinker for Nicholas' act.  Neither seems particularly aware of what these men want, even though it is totally obvious to us. 

These writers didn't always write particularly well for most of the female characters. Soon after Art Wallace left many of the women began to lose IQ points - some by leaps and bounds. Was that by DC's design? Was it the times? I don't know. But it's sad...

Of course we've all known people who fell for someone and seemed to ignore all sorts of warning signs, thinking that the 'feeling' over-rides other considerations.   There were also men who thought any woman will fall for you even if you're slime if you have the perfect line which Nicholas basically did.   I doubt those guys became scriptwriters but you never know...

These writers didn't always write particularly well for most of the female characters. Soon after Art Wallace left many of the women began to lose IQ points - some by leaps and bounds. Was that by DC's design? Was it the times? I don't know. But it's sad...

I think this is the reason I loved Buffy,Charmed, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, etc.  SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES

Well, yeah, we all know DS was pretty sexist.  Sorry, but that is true!  And one can have fun imagining Tom Jennings or Barnabas Collins having a nasty surprise if they ever tried biting a certain California ex-cheerleader!

Hmmm...so who was the Slayer during DS?  And why didn't she ever come to Collinsport?  If ever a place reeked of having a hellmouth somewhere, that spot was it!

But I must also say Joe Haskell suffered from what I call "Sulu Syndrome."  Back on the original TREK, Sulu was this great guy.  He was cheerful, friendly, brave, did his job well, etc.  We all liked him!  If we were in Starfleet, we'd want to serve with him!  But--he's a tricky character to write for without simply making him the victim of something or other.  He has his act together in a way Kirk, Spock and McCoy never did.  Hence their characters were loaded with inherent conflict, i.e. story potential.

Some thing with Joe.  Nice guy.  Hardworking.  Loyal.  Kind.  Kinda like Lil' Abner if you think about it.  And perpetually doomed to react.  Not that he didn't do that well--he DID!  But I'm sure the actor would agree that Nathan Forbes was a much juicier role.  Because he could pursue agendas!  And of course the best parts were the folks with internal conflicts--Barnabas, Julia, Angelique, even Nicholas.  Joe, not so much.

Of course the opposite is also true.  No one wants to live next door to the Macbeths.  And wouldn't anyone in their right mind want to steer clear of Collinsport?

Joe.  Nice guy.  Hardworking.  Loyal.  Kind.  Kinda like Lil' Abner if you think about it.  And perpetually doomed to react.  Not that he didn't do that well--he DID!  But I'm sure the actor would agree that Nathan Forbes was a much juicier role.  Because he could pursue agendas!  And of course the best parts were the folks with internal conflicts--Barnabas, Julia, Angelique, even Nicholas.  Joe, not so much.

In a 1982 interview, Joel Crothers described Joe as "too colorless a character."

If you think about it his name even evokes that statement.  I am sure everyone has all heard that old saying  "Oh he is just a regualr Joe." 

TV shows are littered with regular Joes so that the audience will identify.   I never did, I found all that alienating.   JC was probably hindered by the fact that he does not look like a character actor, but I'll bet that's what he wanted to do.

He may have no been viewed as one but seeing him play [spoiler]Forbes[/spoiler] sure proved he was.

i think it's kind of sad that actors like joel crothers and alexandra moltke found their characters to be "dull" and "boring".

i find them to be a very necessary grounding influence on the series.they keep it from going completely off the deep end.

i'm watching the 1968 episodes and it's rather top-heavy with supernatural villianery.at any given moment there are at least three or four monsters running amok.when characters like joe or vicki or maggie show up it's like nice respite for me.

they're nice people and i like them.