Discuss - Ep #0776

[Watching Project]

Robservations #776

[tragic bat]

These episodes strike me as a strong turning point away from the 'wives' storyline of 1897.  Jenny, Laura, Minerva, Pansy, and Rachel are all killed.  But Ironically, this new period begins with a different engagement, - not the 'pretty young wives' that Laura said Judith was terribly jealous of, and not a marriage between other young girls--as Charity's engagement ends, Rachel is unable to marry Barnabas, and soon Angelique [spoiler]throws up her hands and leaves him.[/spoiler]  Indeed, this time when one of Judith's brothers brings a girl home, it is completely circumvented, as it is only [spoiler]Judith who becomes a wife, even though she finds this triumph incredibly dubious, and she vanishes for a long period. [/spoiler]   I started right here (the beginning of Collection 15) in my recent viewing of the second half of 1897; when the wives leave in place of bachelors and one in particular, Count Petofi who prefers to surround himself with attractive young men.  From now on, no matter if crushing non-consensual engagements or sincere pledges are made, no one will marry well, or badly, no one will be a governess, and villains will not be gotten rid of so easily as Dirk and Laura were.   

I know some people despise Rachel for not doing more to get out of her situation, but I think she did all she was capable of doing after being so traumatized by that school and learning so long to be subservient to those terrible Trasks.  I just hope that those poor children were sent some place nicer when[spoiler] the school closed.[/spoiler]

[alwaysdavid]

RD mauls the pillar since there are no women in the scene with him.  They also gave him some big fangs.  His make-up reminds me of the vampire women from second series. 
It was very surprising to see that Rachel died.  Her story seemed to never really go anywhere after Barnabas seemed to forget she looked like Josette.
Should Edward have been more prepared to go vampire hunting?  And how weak must he be to struggle to lift that thin little lid of the coffin.  I guess being waited on by all those servants we never see has taken it's toll.  Then he cuts it pretty close on staking Dirk who has quite a bloody death.   Two deaths in one episode.

[Pansity]

This is interesting.  We have a glimmer of rationality in the middle of Dirk’s Laura monomania.  He is actually accepting that Barnabas COULDN’T , rather than WOULDN’T restore Laura to life.

Apparently Rachel is helpless to the very end  She sees a gun in Judith’s hand, Judith tells her she’s sorry, and Rachel just stands there frozen like the proverbial deer in the headlights.   Seems to me most people would have at least tried to make a break for freedom just about then.

Ironic counterpoint that Tim is the one to find Judith and the messily shot Rachel, as Judith goes on in her mind controlled haze.  Do any of you medical people out there have an opinion on Rachel’s wound?  Just as an informed layman it seems they’re trying to imply  from the location of the bloodstain that she was shot in the chest. Is it plausible that she’s conscious and able to communicate so well -- and for so long?

OI VEI we’re back to Edward the gullible.  Now instead of trusting Barnabas for no apparent reason, he’s moved on to trust Trask for even less apparent reason – and hanging on every word Trask says against Barnabas   The thought hit me that maybe Grandmama had the right idea skipping over Edward for Judith.  Trask seems to be the only one able to play Judith for a fool whereas everyone seems to be able to play head games with Edward.

I’m still goggling a bit about Rachel’s ability to hang on.  She’s taking longer to die than Camille.  And AGAIN, no Magda or Sandor to come around and find out who’s in the house hollering for Barnabas.  Barn  might be better off with Pinky and the Brain for his guards. 

Got to give Edward points for courage, if not brains.  He followed Judith knowing that would take him to the vampire, and he’s quite prepared to do whatever it takes to kill the vamp and save Judith. Though alwaysdavid raises a good point that he was singularly unprepared for someone who was going vamp hunting.  And LOL about the problem he had raising the coffin lid.

Hasn’t he got that stake positioned a bit low, though?  Seems closer to the liver to me.   Must give RD points where they’re due, he does a dying vamp very effectively.

Jeannie

[alwaysdavid]

Rachel's death brought to mind the intro to a June Carter Cash song "Tall Lover Man"  where she talks about how long it takes to kill off the man in the song. 

[MagnusTrask]

OI VEI we’re back to Edward the gullible.  Now instead of trusting Barnabas for no apparent reason, he’s moved on to trust Trask for even less apparent reason – and hanging on every word Trask says against Barnabas

I don't think Edward trusted Barnabas at all after Barnabas had had the effrontery to save his children's lives in a suspicious way.   The seed of suspicion had been planted and if it seemed as if Barnabas's story worked, it was only because Edward needed to move on to other matters at the time, and had no way to pursue his suspicions.   I think that when Trask came along with his ideas, Edward was given an excuse to revive those doubts.

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:
1. There were two deaths in this episode - Rachel and Dirk. Was that the first time this happened on DS?
2. There was nobody guarding the Old House for Barnabas.

This is interesting.  We have a glimmer of rationality in the middle of Dirk's Laura monomania.  He is actually accepting that Barnabas COULDN’T, rather than WOULDN’T restore Laura to life.

It's too bad that Dirk didn't change his mind about having Judith kill Rachel, since he realized that Barnabas COULDN'T bring Laura back to life. Such a tragic death for such a not so bright character.  

I'm still goggling a bit about Rachel's ability to hang on. She's taking longer to die than Camille. And AGAIN, no Magda or Sandor to come around and find out who's in the house hollering for Barnabas. Barn might be better off with Pinky and the Brain for his guards.

I was amazed at how long Rachel lasted, too!   She lasted all day! I noticed that, too, about nobody being there at the Old House to guard Barnabas during the day. (The explanation will be revealed in Episode #778.)

When Dirk called "Juuudith!", it reminded me of when Tom called "Jooolia!" Another funny scene was when Edward was staking Dirk, and it was too low!  

Speaking of Edward staking Dirk, those certainly were exciting!   I agree, Dirk's end was pretty gory for DS.

----- Sally -----

[EmeraldRose]

Oops! I posted too soon before noticing my mistake. I meant those certainly were exciting scenes!

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

Wonderful post, tragic bat.  I hope you'll continue to share your observations about the storyline in these topics.

The amount of time Rachel clung to life doesn't bother me.  But I agree that her behavior is absurd.  With a GSW to the chest, she should be in shock from internal bleeding-- in short, Rachel wouldn't be telling the story of her life.

That aside, I thought it was a nice and touching moment that before her death, Rachel happily talked about her father coming for her.  I bet others here have heard similar stories about someone who, in their final hours, spoke of seeing a loved one that had previously passed away.

Dirk to Rachel:  "He was supposed to have her here by dawn."
Now that line made more sense than his wording in the previous ep.  Not total sense, but this is Dirk we're talking about.

When he spoke to Judith from the coffin, we see the reason fangs are usually put in just before the vampire goes in for the bite.  RD wasn't speaking clearly through those big fangs (lol, alwaysdavid) and seemed to especially have trouble with the Ms.  So it seemed silly to have him keep repeating, "Come to me."

I think that when Trask came along with his ideas, Edward was given an excuse to revive those doubts.

At first I was thinking that Trask was a superfluous character in this ep, but you've explained his purpose quite nicely.

There were two deaths in this episode - Rachel and Dirk. Was that the first time this happened on DS?

Off the top of my head, [spoiler]Ben murdered both Natalie and Nathan[/spoiler] in the 1796 redux.

I noticed that, too, about nobody being there at the Old House to guard Barnabas during the day. (The explanation will be revealed in Episode #778.)

If you mean the absence of Magda and Sandor, we already know they went to Boston to find King Johnny.

[EmeraldRose]

Off the top of my head, [spoiler]Ben murdered both Natalie and Nathan[/spoiler] in the 1796 redux.

I forgot about that. Fortunately, I posed it as a question, so I was at least right about the two deaths in one episode.

If you mean the absence of Magda and Sandor, we already know they went to Boston to find King Johnny.

Nope, that's not it, Midnite. [spoiler]We see in Episode #778 that Barnabas's coffin is in the Secret Room at the Mausoleum. I think it was moved there in Episode #770, when Edward looked in the basement and found it empty after Jamison told him he saw the coffin.[/spoiler]

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

Ah, got it.  I thought we were talking about why M & S weren't around when Tim showed up.

[Lydia]

I like the way Dirk was slowly revealed to Judith when he called to her - first the coffin appears, and then the coffin fades to reveal Dirk.  But I don't understand how Dirk was able to call to Judith.  Apparently it was before sunset, so shouldn't Dirk have been in his dead state?

Yesterday I expressed surprise that Dirk hadn't done more damage to Edward, and today I see that Dirk was a fool to go so easy on Edward, because now Edward has staked him.  If I ever become a vampire, I'll know better than to make Dirk's mistake.

Poor Rachel.  First she is given beauty when brains would have been more helpful, then her parents die (or whatever - I can't be bothered to check), then she's abused by Trask, then she's abused by Trask some more, and then the actress playing her wants to go to Africa, so she's got to die before she's gotten any fun out of life.  Some people just can't catch a break.