Discuss - Ep #0693

[Watching Project]

Robservations #693

[Lydia]

I love Professor Stokes's explanation of possession to David, because it's so clear and simple.  I was surprised, however, when David didn't remember coming downstairs.  I thought that at that point he had consciousness.
 
Stokes and Julia are good friends these days.  A few months ago Stokes tried to get some information out of Julia about Barnabas and Adam, and Julia didn't give, but now that's all water over the dam or under the bridge. and Stokes seems quite fond of Julia.
 
Chris came across as a cad today.  Now that we know about Sabrina, it seems improper for him to be involved with Carolyn.  Of course, he believed that Sabrina was dead, but that's all the more reason for him to have avoided an involvement with Carolyn.  It's a pity, because they were great together.  And if he could have brought himself to tell Carolyn about his problem, I think she might well have been sympathetic.  After all, she was sympathetic to Adam.

[Midnite]

I'd forgotten that Chris and Carolyn profess their love for each other.  And after he has dumped her!  This is the sort of situation that leads to breakup sex.  <sigh>

I was surprised, however, when David didn't remember coming downstairs.  I thought that at that point he had consciousness.

Short term memory loss caused by the experience, maybe?  I was confused by it too.

The storyline seems to have come to the end of its "Turn of the Screw" parallels, since the book ends with an implied exorcism (though with a markedly different result).

But since when is Stokes a man of God, and why didn't Liz call in a priest to perform the rite?  Some very good lines there:  "Alien spirits, defilers of innocence, persecutors of virtue.."  I would have loved to hear the rest of Stokes' ritual that was drowned out by David's shouts.
 

Stokes and Julia are good friends these days.  A few months ago Stokes tried to get some information out of Julia about Barnabas and Adam, and Julia didn't give, but now that's all water over the dam or under the bridge. and Stokes seems quite fond of Julia.

After she dismisses his inquiry about Chris's odd behavior by simply saying that he has problems, I love it that Stokes smiles and says to her, "That tells me precisely nothing, which I'm sure is what you intended."
 

Chris came across as a cad today.  Now that we know about Sabrina, it seems improper for him to be involved with Carolyn.  Of course, he believed that Sabrina was dead, but that's all the more reason for him to have avoided an involvement with Carolyn.  It's a pity, because they were great together.  And if he could have brought himself to tell Carolyn about his problem, I think she might well have been sympathetic.  After all, she was sympathetic to Adam.

I guess I'm still feeling sympathetic toward Chris despite his personality issues.  He's lonely, dated Carolyn-- who afforded him some permanence by providing him with a job and a home near his sister, and ended up falling in love with her.  Was that really improper?  Good point about Carolyn being sympathetic.  Chris finally found a female he can confide in, but she's more mother figure/savior than potential mate.  (Um, that whole look-alike brother thing aside. )

I think Julia, OTOH, is the one who doesn't come off well in this episode.  She tells Chris that he's not responsible for what happened to Sabrina (but he is!).  She tells him that Sabrina's collapse was nothing to fret about because it was medically insignificant (but how terrifying it must have been for him!).  She suggests that Sabrina's inability to speak is a good thing since it means she can't reveal his secret (that is cold!).  She wants him to chill because he has Barnabas and her to help him (even though they have no actual plan!).  I certainly hope this was all for Chris' benefit and that she didn't actually believe her own hype.

Boy, that was long.   

[IluvBarnabas]

I fail to see how Chris falling in love with Carolyn makes him a cad at this point. He was falling in love with and dating Carolyn for some time before Sabrina came back into his life. He believed Sabrina had been dead until Ned had told him otherwise. And don't forget he DOES break it off with Carolyn after his visit to Sabrina and her reaction to him. I can't help but cut the guy some slack...he has, for the first time, a bit of hope of ending the curse and resuming a normal life, but his past has come back to haunt him to complicate things to the point that he's ready to skip and run before hurting anyone else.

I can even give Julia some slack. I figured she said what she said because she wanted to make Chris feel better, as Midnite said.

[Lydia]

I think that a lot of what Julia said was to make Chris feel better, but I base my opinion on a scene in an episode that comes after this, so I agree with Midnite that Julia came across badly in this episode.

[EmeraldRose]

Ooh! I loved the exorcism! It was so exciting and thrilling! I agree with Midnite: It's too bad we weren't able to hear more of Prof. Stokes's incantations. Prof. Stokes sure was an intelligent man. It was great when he caught David behind the secret panel when he heard the crackling sound of the sugar that David had stepped on. Masterful! I also loved Prof. Stokes's explanation to David about possession - the pencil analogy was ingenious. David really responded to it. It was neat when Prof. Stokes tricked David into admitting that Quentin was there.

I think Chris was the best match for Carolyn and vice-versa. [spoiler]It's a shame they didn't work out.[/spoiler] It's too bad that he was unwilling to confide his secret to her. I'm sure she would have been very supportive of him.

Another thing I liked about Prof. Stokes in this episode was his comments to Julia about Chris and Carolyn having "problems". Funny lines.

The ending scenes of she show, when Prof. Stokes saw Quentin in the mirror, heard Quentin laugh, and saw the curtains catch fire, were very exciting and scary! It was quite obvious that the exorcism failed. 

----- Sally -----

[Roland]

I thought it was a little odd not having Elizabeth present for the exorcism.  I would think she would have wanted to be on hand to supervise the event and help protect and support David, not be upstairs doing who knows what instead.

The Prof. Stokes/David scene was very much cribbed from the final moments in TOFS, since in both cases the adult figure is trying desperately to get the possessed boy to admit the presence of the ghost.