Discuss - Ep #0630

[Watching Project]

Robservations #630

[alwaysdavid]

This is the third time I've watched hurricane Betsy and it is just as awful as I recalled from the first time.  Now knowing that Alexandra was pregnant, I can see why she would have wanted out of this episode.  Then Tom Jennings returns which is one of the best of times.

[Lydia]

Betsy Durkin's Vicky is like Diana Walker's Carolyn.  Both are tougher than the original characters, so I like them better than the original characters - but they're both wrong in Dark Shadows.  When Vicky said "Please let me go" (or something like that) as Nicholas hurt her, it sounded wrong, because this tough Vicky wouldn't stoop to implore.

Maggie said that she couldn't imagine Collinsport without Nicholas.  What a perspective!  Here we are, thinking Barnabas is the most important character, or Elizabeth is, or Julia is - but for Maggie they're all beside the point: Nicholas is the heart of Collinsport for her.

What did Nicholas do with the coffin in which Tom was staked?  It was quite a fancy model, and now here's Tom in this cut-rate homespun job.  Tom was a handyman; give him half a chance and I'm sure he could have made something much better-looking for himself.  Bigger, too.  One look at Don Briscoe squeezed into that box, and Jonathan Frid should have never again complained about his coffin being too small.

[EmeraldRose]

This was Betsy Durkin's first episode as Vicki. I remember feeling disappointed and angry the first few times I watched this episode. But now that I've met BD twice at two consecutive DS Fests, I feel a little differently about it. She did a good job, under the circumstances. But I still wish that Alexandra Moltke could have completed the run.

It was strange to see BD playing Vicki. Her hair was shorter and styled differently, but it was the same shade of brown, at least. 

I agree that this Vicki had more spunk. She also was acting rather stupidly, and risking her life by confronting Nicholas. She was lucky that Nicholas did not resort to witchcraft to get rid of her. I admired her spunk.

Wow! Tom Jennings was brought back to life! How exciting! (This couldn't have happened on "Buffy" and "Angel". On those shows, when vampires were staked, they were turned to dust.) Another milestone: This was the first time a vampire was brought back to life after being staked on DS. I couldn't help but laugh at the last scene, when Tom was ululating his tongue! It was so cheesy!  But on the other hand, he really was scary! 

(Does Barnabas look tan to you?)

Yes, indeed, I agree with Robin that Barnabas did look tan! I guess JF went on vacation to a sunny locale! I was happy to see such a fit Barnabas return so quickly. Angelique was indeed in "Hell", because Barnabas didn't have any more of the effects of being bitten by her. He was as strong as ever!

Nicholas sure was disappointed that the Egyptian opal did not predict Maggie's imminent death. But he went along with his plan, anyway. I could tell he had mixed feelings about what he planned to do, though.

----- Sally -----


 

[michael c]

alexandra left in episode 627 and betsy premiered in episode 630.

so assuming the scripts were written at least several days ahead of time on can assume the script for this episode was written for alexandra's vicki or...

was the style and tone of vicki's dialogue and direction changed deliberately to perhaps introduce a "new" kind of vicki?"spunkier" is a word that keeps popping up.

i haven't seen betsy's episodes but everyone says she's very different.

[IluvBarnabas]

Betsy Durkin gets points for her confrontation with Nicholas today. I have to agree she did show a bit more spunk. Why couldn't the writers have done this for Alexandra? It seems to me that Vicki and Nicholas should have had more confrontations between them in regards to Maggie.

On the negative, however, I just couldn't get into the scene between Maggie and Betsy's Vicki. I always loved the chemistry between Alexandra and Kathryn, they were very convincing as best friends. Again, I don't really dislike Betsy Durkin, but I just don't feel she clicked very well with Kathryn. Or Jonathan or Joan either. I suppose that's really my feeling about why she didn't really work out on DS, not only because she had some big shoes to fill but also she didn't really have any chemistry with any of the other actors.

Have to admit though, it was cool to watch Nicholas pull out the stake out of Tom Jennings heart. It was nice to see Tom make a brief return. I might get staked myself for saying this, but I was glad to see he didn't go after Julia again.

[loril54]

BD had big shoes to fill. Betsy was more forceful in here speaking. Alexandra was more soft spoken. Betsy was trying to hard.

It does take some time to build chemistry I think, there was some stiffness on everyone's part. I think that they wanted her to do well.

Vickie was strong and then she went kind of wimpy when Barnabas was there. Is Jeff, sitting in the same jail cell he did in 1795.

[Joy Collins]

Vickie was strong and then she went kind of wimpy when Barnabas was there.

Barnabas does tend to have that affect on women...

Ah, the return of Tom! They obviously took some hints from what they did right the first time around with Tom, because I don't think he spoke a word until an episode or two later when
[spoiler]Barnabas destroys him... again.[/spoiler]
He could definitely be a bit creepy when he was just stalking around quietly.

[JWGucciEnvy]

The new Vickie just made everything feel weird. The writing and the dialogue was all over the place concerning Vicki. I almost felt they could have done without this whole mini-storyline. They could have reworked the plots with Vicki and/or continued their search for a "New Vickie".

Being a fan of soaps, I understand the problems with recasting in the middle of the storyline, but gee...all of it seem awkward.