The Case of the Disappearing Adam

[rainingwolf]

I've just finished the Adam story and have begun the werewolf sequence. It suddenly dawned on me what became of Adam---it was the magic shirt! All through the story he wore The Green Sweater. Now I always thought it strange that he went into Prof. Stokes bedroom never to be seen again, but on watching it this time, it was obvious; When he put on the plaid shirt Prof. Stokes gave him, THAT was the reason he disappeared. How could he be Adam without The Green Sweater? So we can absolve the poor Professor of any ill-doing, and blame Adam's demise on The Magic Plaid. Mystery solved.

[michael c]

i don't care how it happened but i have never been happier to see a character go than i was adam.

in my opinion he,and the ever expanding cast of disposable monsters that came to dominate the show in 1968,was the worst thing that ever happened on the series and the day of his departure was indeed a fine one.i'm glad they didn't even bother to give this idiotic character a propper send off.

i've only seen these episodes recently.i skipped ahead when i first watched it through because i hated the storyline so much i just didn't care how it ended.there were some high points and fun moments but in general adam,nicholas,eve and tom jennings sucked all the oxygen out of the room.for me they took alot of the magic and fun out of the proceedings.it was too campy and hard to take seriously.i love angelique but by late 68 and her stint as a vampire i was glad to see her get a break.

funny but once these characters are gone they're gone.they'd dominated the program for nearly a year but when their reign is over they barley get a mention.once the quentin and chris jennings storylines take off the show takes a decisive shift and all of that becomes history.

the show feels like it returns to what it truly is...a gothic mystery centered on the collins family as opposed to a sci-fi schlock-fest...with the commencement of the quentin storyline.it's like a breath of fresh air.it feels newly energized.i love these episodes seeing them for the first time.

[adamsgirl]

I admit the storyline had lots of flaws, but Robert Rodan did a masterful job as Adam. Also, the whole disappearing act was handled so sloppily, it left too many loose threads. Adam and Barnabas were supposed to have this connection wherein whatever happened to one, happened to the other. So, I always wondered, [spoiler]when Barnabas once again became a vampire, did that mean Adam did, or did it mean Adam was dead. If Adam wasn't dead, then Barnabas couldn't have reverted to being a vampire, right?[/spoiler] So many questions with no answers! It was frustrating and still is. Even worse, once Adam went into that bedroom of Stokes', there was never a mention of him again (at least, that I can recall).

[Midnite]

Adam is mentioned in #1043 & #1050.

[Gothick]

Hey MSC, my congrats on finally getting through those late 1968-early 1969 episodes.  There are some real gems in there.

One of the moments from that period that really intrigues me, even though it more or less falls flat, is the scene where Barnabas has to explain to the Betsy Durkin incarnation of Vicki about Vampire 101.  I kept waiting for the character to go:  "Wait ... didn't you have fangs at one point and give me these really, REALLY weird-ass hickeys?"

G.

[Doug]

I have always believed that Adam left Collinsport and traveled over seas to Asia.

[Khantael]

As I've never been able to watch DS on TV (except by DVD), and probably never will be able to as I highly doubt a UK channel is going to pick up a 40 year old American show (though the remake was on Scifi channel), I've only ever seen the end of the Adam storyline (aka. the episodes at the beginning of volume 11 DVD), and I find it really hard to watch and really bad. (And I prefer old TV shows to modern ones!) In this case, while I'd normally be annoyed by the lack of sendoff, I was quite happy with it as it meant that storyline was finally over and done with.

As an in context explanation... hmm. I'd prefer to think Stokes was keeping a black hole in that room.

I suspect that Stokes really sent Adam packing secretly - I mean, he wasn't exactly liked by other characters. So secretly that even the audience didn't get to see it!

[Janet the Wicked]

i don't care how it happened but...

What she said.

[MagnusTrask]

I agree with mcsbryk.   Adam started out interesting when he was non-verbal, but his very presence screamed "gimmick".   We've done a vampire, so let's shoe-horn a Frankenstein monster into Collinsport.   This was the time when DS should have been about Barnabas's transformation and adjustment to being human.  That would have been real, and affecting.   We should have had many moments such as that one when Lang threw open the curtains, with Barnabas re-experiencing everything that had been denied him for centuries.

Instead, they thought they had to resort to manufactured "conflict", in the form of the same blunt, uninteresting threats being issued by Adam day after day, week after week.   This was high-school creative-writing-class writing.   Remember, you must have "conflict", they'd tell us.... so students would turn in paper after paper of people arguing over nothing!

The moment they turned the spotlight on Adam off, when he takes refuge in Stokes' house, that's the moment his story becomes interesting.   His education and maturation are worth showing, not his threats and hostage-taking.

[michael c]

well put magnus,

i think adam would have bothered me less later in the series' run...sort of a last gasp.

but coming on the heels of the show's high points and plunging it into the abyss was a bummer.despite all the "gimmicks" the show actually works best as a character study.

and it went on waaaay too long.

[MagnusTrask]

i think adam would have bothered me less later in the series' run...sort of a last gasp.

Yes, it does seem like exactly the kind of thing a show would pull out and use at the end, after it had run out of ideas and was struggling to stay on the air despite that.

[Gerard]

I, too, have voiced my negative opinion in other threads about the whole Adam thing.  I think it would have been more interesting to start the story the way they did, with Barnabas receiving that transfussion from the Mad Dr. Lang (MDL) and it cures him (maybe it kicked in with the vestiges of Julia's attempt at a cure remaining in Barnabas' system), but in the process the MDL discovers what Barnabas was.  The MDL, in turn, tries to find some way to utilize Barnabas, or at least his blood, for some nefarious thing, such as developing immortality, and this pits Barnabas and Julia against him.  They could've thrown in Cassalique and her dream curse trying to screw the whole thing up for good measure.  So now you've got the MDL vs. Barnabas and Julie vs. Cassalique vs. the MDL and that would've been good enough without having a lumbering thingamajob.

Gerard

[Lydia]

Maybe the problem with the Adam storyline is that, with all the non-human beings running around, there isn't any real reflection on what it means to be human.  Dark Shadows doesn't have much in the way of philosophical pondering (think what it would do to the ratings!) but you do get the occasional glimmerings.  There's enormous opportunity for glimmerings here, but I don't remember seeing much light.

[IluvBarnabas]

I have a love/hate thing going on for the character of Adam. I liked him when he was still in his childlike state, learning to talk and such ("Food....friend...") and found his unrequited love for Carolyn sweet but sad seeing as she didn't return his feelings. But once he went into his "I want a mate no matter how I get it" phase I all but learned to despise him. He wouldn't listen to anyone (except Nicholas) and couldn't be reasoned with (even Professor Stokes couldn't get through to him).

Adam lasted as long as he could on the show. Not that I'm not curious as to what became of him once [spoiler] Barnabas got turned back into a vamp by Jeb Hawkes later on. [/spoiler]

[MagnusTrask]

Since YouluvBarnabas, you must also luvAdam... When YouhateAdam, do you also hateBarnabas, IluvBarnabas?