Discuss - Ep #0639

[Watching Project]

Robservations #639

[Joy Collins]

The Quentin storyline is officially underway. This calls for a cheer!

This episode has great introductory scenes for the story. Very nicely done!

I love Amy, I really do. Denise Nickerson was such a good actress. She and David were wonderful together.

We all know that, throughout the course of the series, there have been several Collins ancestors mentioned that we never see and who don't seem to have been very important. Is it possible that we have a link (unintentional, of course) here? While taking Amy through the West Wing, David tells her about Thaddeus Collins, who lived during this Civil War. Could this possibly be Thad? If he was, say, thirteen or fourteen in 1840, that would put him at thirty-something during the Civil War. Anyone else notice this?

[Midnite]

 

Is it possible that we have a link (unintentional, of course) here? While taking Amy through the West Wing, David tells her about Thaddeus Collins, who lived during this Civil War. Could this possibly be Thad? If he was, say, thirteen or fourteen in 1840, that would put him at thirty-something during the Civil War. Anyone else notice this?

There are a couple of recent discussions about it, most recently mid-topic in "Lets talk about the dumbest things the writers ever did" on the CT '08 I board, which also contains a link to another discussion that starts here:

...as I recall it, when David and Amy are exploring the West Wing in December of '68, they pass a portrait of a mutton-chopped gent of the 1860s and David solemnly informs his new friend that this is Thaddeus Collins, an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.  I realize I'm imputing WAY too much power of recall to the writers but I like to think of Thaddeus as the child Tad grown up and doing his bit during the War Between the States.

[Nelson Collins]

This is a great episode for new viewers to hop aboard.  Not too much story baggage to bog things down.  This is the storyline I have been waiting for to try to start watching regularly again and contribute to the Project.

[pointless aside]When I first saw DS in syndication, the local station showed from Barnabas' arrival to 1795 to Vicki's return and the introduction of Lang and Angelique's portrait.  Then the station took it off the air because of ratings!  Years later, I caught some of 1897 on Sci Fi (right around the time Count Petofi showed up) before my satellite service when kablooie.  Now I have the whole series on DVD and I still haven't got through a whole viewing of it.[/pointless aside]

The creature Liz describes is unseen and the scarier for it.  Amy is adorable, but a little strange at the same time - staring at Liz with those big soulful eyes.  I like that she and David strike up a rapport right away.  She isn't afraid of the dark and is intrigued by the idea of ghosts....

I like that the store room is dusty and cobwebbed, but when Amy finds the phone it looks like it's just been freshly dusted.  The lighting is great too especially on Amy's face when she talks on the phone the first time.

"hello, what's your name?"  All very innocent at first but I actually did get some shivers down my spine watching that scene tonight.

I have a little "aww!" moment whenever she says "Quen'in" 

Julia tells Elizabeth that the sedative she gave her will start to work quickly, but some time later, she is still wide awake enough to shoo David and Amy to bed.  I suspect either the sedative was not as strong as Julia thought, or with all the drugs she passes out, everyone is starting to build up a tolerance to them!

[Taeylor Collins]

Nelson it is always great to hear about one's ferver and love for a certain storyline.  My legal pad has a lot because I love this episode!!

I suspect either the sedative was not as strong as Julia thought, or with all the drugs she passes out, everyone is starting to build up a tolerance to them!

Laughing my ass off! That was funny!!

Grayson voiceover again!! As A Hard Act To Follow says and her being on the show all the time was Dan's doing. Dan must have truly loved Grayson!    And I don't think she did too shabby with the fans either!    Amy Jennings of course has wondered onto the property and  saves Elizabeth.  Just what DS needed [spoiler]another tragic/ancestor/supernatural creature who is cousin of a DS ancestor!   And it was magic![/spoiler] Mrs. Stoddard thought it was a wolf dressed like a man.  How funny is that to think of!   Julia OF COURSE gets a sedative.  My lord she has been handing them out left and right for the last few eps.  I am suprised anyone can walk around!! There is a blooper when Mrs. S and Amy are talking a crewmember can be seen!  Poor Amy!  We see Amy and David travel to the WEST WING where Adam was kept for quite a while.  I think the storyline transitioned really smoothly.   Nelson I wrote in my "notes" they see a portrait of Thaddeus Collins and he was in the Civil War and I thought along the same lines as you.  The kids are great actors.  Grayson and someone else apparently watched two child actors rehearse a scene and said "Fourty if a day" to the other costar. I think that was in one of the POM PRESS books!   I wouldn't be suprised if it was DH and DN!   This is some really great storytelling!  I think the show is starting to enter into it's creative peak and we get our first mention of the Q man!   YAY! YUM!  We find out according to Mrs. Stoddard that Quentin went to France and never returned!  I wish they would have rememberered this [spoiler]and wouldn't have made him another cousin from ENGLAND![/spoiler]  Nice shot of the windows with rain as it creates a very atmospheric show!!

[MagnusTrask]

I have a little "aww!" moment whenever she says "Quen'in" 

David does it too!  It drives me nuts!

[Lydia]

Julia tells Elizabeth that the sedative she gave her will start to work quickly, but some time later, she is still wide awake enough to shoo David and Amy to bed.  I suspect either the sedative was not as strong as Julia thought, or with all the drugs she passes out, everyone is starting to build up a tolerance to them!

The same sort of thing happened the other day, when Julia gave Vicky a sedative and then Vicky was up for hours shrieking that she felt Jeff's presence.  Maybe the reason Julia is so free with the sedatives is that they're just placebos.

This is a purely magical episode.  David and Amy seemed like real children exploring an old house.  Suddenly I remembered exploring an old house with my siblings and friends, a house that the parents of my friends had rented.  We found a secret passage!  Or anyway, we thought it was secret.  Thinking back on it now, I suppose it was just the area under the eaves.  I hadn't thought of that in years - decades, perhaps - until I was watching David and Amy today.
 
There was one particular line of Elizabeth's that I liked.  Julia was explaining to her that Amy was Chris's younger sister who was staying at Windcliff.  Elizabeth casually said something like, "She told me her name, but I didn't make the connection."  Suddenly a recap for occasional viewers became a natural conversation.
 
Having been to a David Selby talk/autograph session recently, it was terrifically easy for me to imagine Quentin's voice enchanting Amy through the telephone - but that's cheating; I'm not supposed to have heard his voice yet.

[Nelson Collins]

As A Hard Act To Follow says and her being on the show all the time was Dan's doing. Dan must have truly loved Grayson!    And I don't think she did too shabby with the fans either!

I'm sure the fact that her husband was one of the main writers didn't hurt either! 

Nice shot of the windows with rain as it creates a very atmospheric show!!

I wasn't sure if the leaves where just shiny or wet, but I noticed that too, and it was good to actually see some precipitation!

[Taeylor Collins]

I'm sure the fact that her husband was one of the main writers didn't hurt either! 

Wellllllllll  A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW debunks that myth.  According to the book, Grayson had been gone for a while and Dan was really aggravated because she hadn't been on the show. He was like "Where the f**k is Grayson?" It's during 1840!  She and Sam hadn't told Dan that she quietly went in for an eye lift.  And he told Sam to tell her to never mess with her face again without consulting him or never leave again without his permission!!  All this was told to help debunk the myth that Grayson was on the show more because of Sam.  And Grayson actually got the job on the show before her husband. It's a great read, I suggest it to any DS fan!

But you have a right to your opinions.  Just wanted to throw that out there.

[IluvBarnabas]

I loved the rapport between David and Amy. I think it's about time that David FINALLY had another child to be around with. True, he did have Sarah there for awhile, but Sarah was a ghost and Amy's a real, living, flesh-and-blood child.

I also loved Amy's encounter with Elizabeth. It's a good thing that Amy showed up when she did or Elizabeth might have been a goner.

I think Elizabeth was right when she said Amy's presence scared the animal away...probably because [spoiler] Amy is the werewolf's little sister and I guess even werewolves know that killing one's family member is a no-no. [/spoiler]

[Nelson Collins]

Taeylor, I seem to have upset you and I apologize.  Please understand that my comment about Sam and Grayson was a light-hearted one, and it was never my intention to suggest the only reason she was on the show was because of Sam.

I certainly agree that DC was VERY loyal and enthusiastic toward his colleagues and therefore wanted them around.

[Taeylor Collins]

Nelson my dear did I come across that way?  I hope not.  Please try to take in account that emotions are not expressed correctly on a forum.  I wasn't upset or angry in the least. I just wanted to lay out some facts that were in AHATF.  I just thought the book was great because I too thought Grayson probably worked more because of Sam until I read that book.

I PROMISE, I wasn't hurt or offended in the least.  I hadn't though another thing about it since the post!  If I came across like that I am sorry.

Also when I was talking about Dan asking where the F Grayson was, I was using his words.  So there was no malicious intent behind my retelling of the anecdote in the book.

I am very laid back Nelson and it takes A LOT to make me mad or hurt my feelings!   People having differing oopinions isn't something that makes me mad.    

[Lydia]

even werewolves know

Werewolves know it, but vampires don't, eh?

[IluvBarnabas]

werewolves know it, but vampires don't, eh?

Apparently not. I forgot all about [spoiler] Barnabas killing Carl in 1897 [/spoiler] when I wrote my post. And wolves are the ones who are supposed to not know any better. What's Barnabas' excuse?

[alwaysdavid]

This was my favorite storyline as a child.  Now I notice that some of the props in the long closed West Wing are more modern than the furnishings in the used portion of the house.   I really liked the atmosphere that they created in Amy's room with the fire, furnishings, and window.  I also think that Liz's willingness to take in the little orphaned girl may have been due to guilt about another girl who grew up in a foundling home.