Discuss - Ep #0715

[Watching Project]

Robservations #715

[Lydia]

The title of this topic is missing the usual 0 - it says 715 instead of 0715.  Any chance of correcting that?

I can't fathom Magda.  I don't know if she's being honest with Rachel or not.  I don't feel that she is, but I can't quite see my way to a motive for sending Rachel to the tower room.  Maybe that's all part of Magda being Magda - even when she's being honest it seems as though she's lying.
 
I love the midnight fire.  But would I love it if I hadn't read and adored Jane Eyre, or would it just seem like a pointless occurrence?  And I wish to take this opportunity to say that if Dan Curtis had cribbed from Gilbert and Sullivan, I would have loved that, too.  Or was Josette's occasional descent from her portrait in the first year a token G&S crib?

Why was it that only Beth and Rachel heard Edward?  And why was Beth fully dressed?  All I can figure is that Rachel's bedroom was closest to Edward's and that Beth was mooning around near Quentin's door.

[IluvBarnabas]

Watching this episode as a child, I was thinking that Edward must have had reason for disliking whoever it was that set fire to his bed long before they tried to burn him to death. Now it angers me to hear him say how he never had any sympathy at all for [spoiler] poor Jenny, the culprit, and also Quentin's wife. She did turn out to be a gypsy later on, only adding to Edward's disgust of her but he didn't know she was a gypsy during the time she married Quentin. I always wondered why he and Judith never liked Jenny, was it because she was a singer? [/spoiler]

Really poor excuse for not liking someone, if you ask me.

I also felt that Edward could have been kinder to Beth. She did save his bacon after all. I guess empathy just isn't in Edward's nature.

I think Rachel does need to stop being so nosy. When it comes to the Collins family, the family with a million secrets, it doesn't always pay to know every secret, as Barnabas once said.

[Midnite]

Everyone lied in this episode!  Beth, Edward, Rachel (her "not look to the past" speech makes me wonder if she has become corrupted), and I think even Magda.

I can't help but think that Barnabas has greatly influenced these events.  Previously, he told Magda that Rachel is in danger from his own formidable enemy and assured Magda that she wasn't, and he asked her for an amulet to protect against a witch.  Then he told Rachel that the amulet would protect her from harm.  Next, Magda saw Rachel wearing it.  So (I think) Magda's entire reading was a sham based on this information.  By her reaction, we can tell she had no sense that anybody was in the tower room until Rachel told her.  She tells Rachel the amulet will protect her against a "she" who wants her, which I took to mean that Magda assumed it was Barnabas' enemy-- the witch-- that is in there.  So she doesn't think she's putting Rachel in harm's way, but does think she's making herself (once again) indispensable as a prognosticator.  We also have Rachel believing that whoever is in the tower cannot hurt her.  Once again, Barnabas has inadvertently (?) caused the past to change.

Doesn't the fact that Jenny (we heard her name a couple of eps ago) escaped mean that Beth really didn't lock the door?  We didn't see her leaving the tower, so I'm imagining that the only explanation Beth could give was that she was exhausted (everyone wants to stop the poor dear from going to bed and actually sleeping ), and that the only reason Judith didn't fire her was that she would be nearly impossible to replace.  It looked like Edward had the fire under control before Beth arrived, so I'm not sure I get how she saved his bacon.

I don't know that Edward hates Jenny because of her past so much as he's angry at having to deal with the high costs of the whole mess [spoiler]left behind by Quentin.[/spoiler] I don't just mean financially, but that lives and reputations are at stake.  (With Edward, it may be hard to say which of the 3 is more important to him. )  Nice red herrings by the writers with the mystery, btw.  I suspect it's the reason they recently had Barnabas ask Edward point blank about his wife-- so we could see and remember his angry reaction.  Even with Edward's vague question about his brother, clues to the "secret behind the locked door" seem to be pointing elsewhere.  Bravo!

it doesn't always pay to know every secret,

OMG, yes!  What bugs me most about Rachel is her sense of entitlement.  You're the hired help, sweetie; the family does not owe you an explanation.

[Lydia]

So she doesn't think she's putting Rachel in harm's way, but does think she's making herself (once again) indispensable as a prognosticator.

Oh, of course.  Once again I forgot to consider Magda's desire to reinforce her image as a seer.

[Midnite]

Oh, of course.  Once again I forgot to consider Magda's desire to reinforce her image as a seer.

Oh, I could very well be wrong.  I'm just having way too much fun tying events together, which is only possible because the writing for 1897 is so tight.  I've lost track of how many times I've watched these eps, so this time I'm looking carefully at the dialogue and small events and finding a purposefulness in them, though sometimes their significance isn't apparent til a later time.  Also, how great is it that information slowly trickles in instead of the lots and lots of exposition we sometimes see in other periods?  (I'm looking at you, 1840!)

And for once, the writers seem to be aware that a little Angelique goes a long way. 

Even more than before, I believe 1897 is brilliant.

[michael c]

i agree that angelique works best when she disappears for awhile and then pops up unexpectedly like a bad penny.it's more fun that way.

and rachel's snoopiness seems to be par for the course.when the collins family invites houseguests and/or hires domestic help one can bet that everyone will come out of it worse for the wear.

[Lydia]

and rachel's snoopiness seems to be par for the course.when the collins family invites...hires domestic help

That's the sort of thing that should be covered in the interview.  "Do you have any intellectual curiosity, Miss Drummond?"  "Oh, yes, Mr. Collins, I'm just brimming with it, and I encourage it in my pupils!"  "Next, please."

[MagnusTrask]

Perhaps they should have placed a box in front of Ms. Drummond during the interview and said, "This box contains a secret of your employers' that they would very much like you not to know."   Then they just sit there waiting to see what Rachel will do, with a stopwatch.    She'd last seven seconds, I say, before ripping it open.

[Midnite]

LOL, Lydia and MT!

Coming up, there's a line from Dirk to Rachel [spoiler]when he rescues her--[/spoiler] something like tell it to Miss Judith because I don't want to know.  It's definitely the exception and not the rule, especially for this generation's hired help.

[Pansity]

Why was it that only Beth and Rachel heard Edward?  And why was Beth fully dressed?  All I can figure is that Rachel's bedroom was closest to Edward's and that Beth was mooning around near Quentin's door.

Or maybe the poor thing slept fully dressed cause everyone kept waking her up to DO things?  Even for the Upstairs/Downstairs generation of servants with 14 hr days minimum,  they expect long hours from Beth.

Good point in previous posts about the writing being tight, and information coming in bits and pieces the way it really would.  The writing of this storyline is for the most part excellent.  I love the steals from Jane Eyre, etc.  Bits and pieces from classic pieced togehter the right way is what makes it all work so well.  But I find myself wondering, with present education being what it is, DO people get the "in jokes"the way they were originally intended to, or being the younger fans are less literate, does it go right past people?

My inner authenticity nazi is running and screaming at the anachroinism of print and colored sheets and bedding in the 1890s. And Rachel's nightie and peignoir do NOT seem like the thing for an innocent young ingenue in the 1890s.  (Though Edward's nightshirt was perfect.)

AH, I spotted the dress that Quentin's ghost gave Maggie  -- the one that later ended up in the fireplace.  It's one of Rachel's that she was wearing in the morning. Interesting that it managed to get into a trunk in Collinwood and stay there for all those years.

Jeannie

[Midnite]

AH, I spotted the dress that Quentin's ghost gave Maggie  --

Because I don't want you to think your question was ignored...

Re: Discuss - Ep #696

[Pansity]

Thanks for  the research and the screen cap of dress -- and letting me know over here that you'd posted it.  .  I know you -- or MB or Dom -- would never ignore a question.    I don't get over here as often or as consistantly as I'd like, but I always recommend this board to newbies because all the moderators are so friendly and welcoming -  but are very savvy about making sure no one behaves badly to ruin that atmosphere. 

I was just power watching yesterday, and not looking back to see new replies anywhere. With the insanity at the job, and leaving for DC Wednesday morning, I just wanted to get in as much watching and posting I could this weekend. It's probably a vain hope with the work situation lately, but I wanted to at least make a dent in getting caught up to where everyone else is on the watching project.  How can I let it go by without trying, being that 1897 is my absolute favorite storyline ( though the pre-Barn episodes have become a close second).

Jeannie

[Midnite]

Thanks for the kind words.  I'm thrilled you took the time to watch and join in.  Have fun in DC, btw.  Are you seeing the final performance?

[Pansity]

The kind words are more than deserved.   

Thanks for the good wishes about the trip.  After the emergency projects we've been sideswiped with lately at work, it's a mental health vacation.  Always lots of things to see and do in DC, so I'm staying 6 days this time: Wednesday to Tuesday.  Needless to say my siamese twin the camera is coming along again.  Don't want to take up bandwidth with it, but if anyone wants to see gazillions of pics of DC from the last trip, I posted them on albums on Facebook (which apparently has NO limit on the amount of free photo storage you can use).  Anyone who is interested can feel free to PM me here and I can send links that can be accessed even by people without a Facebook account.  FYI I'm Pansity Collins over there.

Yes, I have a ticket to the final performance (front row center <G>).  That was the original plan: see previews and then the finalized performances  to see what, if anything, got tweaked.  Heck of a price difference between B'way and DC, so it's not as extravagant as it sounds.

I just hope that DC knows what they're doing on snow removal, so there's no issues with parking in the hotel lot.  They got almost as much as NYC did (and I shovelled about 6 in or more before work, then had to scrape more off when I got home from work).

I MIGHT be getting on from there, IF the hotel wi fi works.  I'm staying somewhere different this time (rate changes made another location cheaper), so not sure until I get there how this place will work out.

Jeannie