Discuss - Ep #0786

[Watching Project]

Robservations #786

[Taeylor Collins]

VO: Nancy Barrett

Are those red roses by the hand?  I can't wait until Selby stars using his own “burns!”  YUMMERS!  Not the burns—he attached to them!  LOL I am shameless aren't I?

Is the Forest of Ashdon(sp) based on anything that we know of?? 

I have to point out that this transformation was probably the worst one so far.  The two images didn't mesh well.  However, this is live television and the early days of FX’s so I will forgive them of their transgressions! 
“DIVINE PROVIDENCE!”  Indeed and that is all I have to say about that! ICK!

Nancy's brows are really bothering me.  I am not a certified makeup artist, however, Midnite and others who have seen my work can probably tell you I can paint a face. It's very much an art form.  I am not tooting my own horn, well maybe a bit, but I know my stuff when it comes to makeup.  Her brows are distracting me.  I need to put up my myspace page again so people can see me in my female impersonation years!  The makeup artist has used a very dark pencil to draw over her blonde eyebrows to make them more prominent but it looks off!  The blond brows are shining through!  If they we're thinned out it would have worked fine.  Oh well…things like this bother me! LOL 

Magda is such a good match for Gregory.  I love that she calls him on his shit!  Love her irreverent attitude toward the so called “Reverend!”

Nancy Barrett is one heck of a screamer!  The must have stopped tape because the scene suddenly shifts to them walking up stairs and then she is in bed food!  For some odd reason I am not recalling this scene from previously viewing! 
Oh Yay! Quentin licked his lips!  It's the little things in life that I enjoy!
I really enjoyed this dream!  I think a milestone maybe due Sally.  This is the first time Shadows of the Night has been played with lyrics, correct??

We have discussed “hottest kisses” on Dark Shadows and I think that Nancy and David probably have my vote.  They always look comfortable and authentic in my opinion!

As I said before, this episode seems really unfamiliar!  Loved the trippy effect transitioning out of the dream!
PS. I always used Microsoft Word to type my reviews up and it suggested I changed am to is!  It's weird sometimes! The program suggests that I change it to this: For some odd reason I is not recalling this scene from previously viewing!  CONFUSSED!

[Taeylor Collins]

Sorry for the DP, however, the above is my 1400Th post! YAY FOR ME! And to think I was nowhere near this a year ago! I love this place and all of my wonderful cousins! 

[MagnusTrask]

Happy 1400!

I too want to know about the Forest of Azhden (?), the unicorn, and all the mysterious backstory detail that must have come from Violet Welles.

Your grammar correcting thingie is throwing a nutty, or it's changing the English language all on its own.

[Midnite]

Unless MS Word is the culprit, I cannot wait to reach this point so I can see Charity wallow in bed food.

[Taeylor Collins]

Sleep deprivation is the culprit on that one!  Sorry guys...a good laugh though!~

[alwaysdavid]

It was very obviously not the same hand in the chromakey.  The red candles were a nice touch in the Old House reminded me of home.  I wonder why they don't use white?  If it's due to color tv or the set designer, like my mother, hated white?

The Trask family entering Collinwood with the smug looks on their faces was good fun and then Magda's counterplay to Trask's threats to send her away until she reveals her knowledge of the nightshade was equally satisfying.  Anytime Trask gets knocked down a peg from his self imposed pedestal is worthwhile.
Charity's dream seemed conjured up to get people to buy the DS LP to hear David Selby and it obviously worked because over the years I've seen lots of them in thrift stores. 

[Pansity]

Oh, oh I'm falling behind again.  

Comments on the comments:

Alwaysdavid:  I agree about the noticeable difference in the hands.  You could be right about the dream being marketing for Shadows of the Night. Any incredibly trivia minded person happen to know anything about the release date of the album to compare it to the episode date?

MIdnite and Taeylor:  LOVE the BED FOOD.    

Magnus and Taeylor:   Blame the grammar thing on Word.  Its idea of grammar is sometimes from another planet.   I too, want to find out all about the tantalizing backstory that they're teasing us with.  

Taeylor:  Congrats on the 1400 posts.  You've been a busy guy -- and even more credit for doing it in such a short time with non fluffy posts. Yours are always interesting and add to the discussion.  I agree, Nancy B is a great screamer.  As much as I like Joan Bennett, her screams are not convincing.  Nancy is GREAT.  I also agree about her kisses with DS being very hot stuff, and their great chemistry.(And this from a big fan of Quentin and Beth.)  I thought since seeing the shows in 03 that they missed a bet at the end [spoiler]sending him off to find Amanda Harris instead of sending him off with Charity.  Their chemistry reminds me so much of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow: witty and bawdy, both scoundrels no better than they should be.[/spoiler]

On to my comments:

Back to the hand, which now looks like overly dry clay. Quentin's scared of what it will do to him, after it made Evan look that way.  (LOL we know he means in general, but you can't help wondering what part of that is vanity and possibly losing his looks.)  He's pretty scared too, even starting the transformation he's more scared of the hand than the transformation.

We learn a new detail about the curse: the pain always stops just before the transformation.  (I repeat what I said last time:  why didn't Magda try to do it in the cellar, with a door that locks from the outside.  Of course, WolfieQ might know about the path to the beach, but still it would have been an ATTEMPT to contain the wolf.)

Charity and Daddy in the Drawing Room.  Isn't it convenient that he will have no time to deal with Worthington Hall, what with his new responsibilities.  And Carl's been dead HOW long and he's already throwing Charity at Quentin. (Wonder what, if anything, he knows about Q & B at this point, or whether to him that's just immaterial.)

Here's another case of we know why the show did it, but it doesn't make sense in the context of the story and time.  We had the showdown between Magda and Trask (with Edward).  So now she comes to the front door, he lets her in THEN challenges why she was there.  If she needed Beth, how much better to hide everyone's secrets would it have been if Magda went to the servants entrance to ask for Beth.  Much quieter, better chances of success, and less chances to run into Edward or Trask.

LOL prayer by Mama's grave indeed.  I'm betting, even though they think Barn's spell is broken, that Charity is going to see if he's around.

Great shot by Magda once again.   Kudos to her once more as one of the brightest, if not THE brightest character in the storyline. (at least until Petofi shows up.) She was taken by surprise, but she had her ammunition primed and ready.  Or maybe she DID go in the front for this very reason, hoping to have Trask order her out so she could make sure he knew that they couldn't be ordered out.  Then again, we're back to the excuse Edward used when they caught on to his story: who would the police believe: a Collins or a gypsy.

And its WolfieQ in the woods again, waiting to strike, curled up on the rock like the White Rock soda mermaid.   NB is a great screamer.  Nice lead in, her scared to death, Magda taking her up to the room (it seems another sign that she's not as tough as she wants people to think,  We don't see her trying to find out what Charity knows about the wolf, so it seems genuine compassion). Now Charity has a chance to pump Magda about Quentin.  Seems she's had her eye on him for a while, Barnabas notwithstanding. She knows nothing about him, so it must be just the famous looks again. From here we go to Magda and the Tarot reading, warning Charity about the man who is the Tower of Destruction; "evil, bad".  Anyone else wonder whether Magda rigged the reading to warn her off Quentin?

Another funky dream. The Charles Randolph Greene version of Quentin's Theme.LOL wonder if him licking his lips was that nervous gesture you see Selby do from time to time, or whether it was intended as a bit of business when he sets eyes on her in her nightie.  He does it a couple more times as he looks at her, too.  Now we go into the Shadows of the Night spoken version -- but the intonation is slightly different than that on the record. Speaking of the record, did anyone else play that track so many times as a kid that it had as many pops and crackles as a REAL gramophone cylinder?  

Back to the Greene version as they kiss and part -- and you hear the growl of the wolf. Nice segue.

Cut to the woods and the beartraps -- and WolfieQ trying to grab the constable by his neck and pull him into the woods.  This wolf is getting some brains, and has more than I remember in the 68 werewolf.  He doesn just rip the officer's throat out as he stands, he tries to pull him into the underbrush before he does it. (Not to mention what Midnite has mentioned about his talent with doors and doorknobs.)

CRUNCH goes the beartrap, and the wolf howls.  Is it just me, or does it sound less like a wolf howl, and more like a prehistoric creature out of a Jonny Quest cartoon?

Jeannie

[Taeylor Collins]

I thought since seeing the shows in 03 that they missed a bet at the end [spoiler]sending him off to find Amanda Harris instead of sending him off with Charity. Their chemistry reminds me so much of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow: witty and bawdy, both scoundrels no better than they should be.[/spoiler]

I agree so very much Jeannie!  I loved the chemistry between David and Nancy!  Actually my first short story which appeared in an old Christmas fanzine dealt with Quentin & Charity [spoiler](possessed) by Pansy Faye.  It was set during Christmas and Quentin came back to 1897 Collinwood and he turned out to be a very different character with his love finally setting Pansy's spirit free and him and Charity having a bright future! A very NON Dark Shadows ending![/spoiler]

Thanks Jeannie for all the nice comments.  Sometimes I think people may think I am shallow because I am obsessing over Quentin but it's just all in good fun!

PS.  I love Jean and Clark's movies!

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:

1. The Hand didn't prevent Quentin from becoming a werewolf.
2. Trask encouraged Charity to pursue Quentin.
3. Magda blackmailed Trask into allowing her and Sandor to stay - she also "read" the cards for Charity and warned her, indirectly, to stay away from Quentin.
4. The first time "Shadows of the Night" (Quentin's Theme) was performed on DS with music and lyrics.
5. The first time Charity and Quentin kissed, albeit in a dream.
6. The first time Quentin and the Werewolf were both together in the same room.

Nancy's brows are really bothering me... Her brows are distracting me... The makeup artist has used a very dark pencil to draw over her blonde eyebrows to make them more prominent but it looks off!  The blond brows are shining through!  If they we're thinned out it would have worked fine.

I also noticed that. Her heavy brows were driving me crazy! I'm glad that someone else noticed her brows and was bothered by it, too.

I really enjoyed this dream!  I think a milestone maybe due Sally.  This is the first time Shadows of the Night has been played with lyrics, correct??

I really enjoyed this dream, too! Yes, I believe you are correct. I listed this above with my milestones.

...the above is my 1400Th post! YAY FOR ME!

Congratulations, Taeylor! You're about 100 posts ahead of me!

We learn a new detail about the curse: the pain always stops just before the transformation.

This wasn't a new detail for us, Jeannie. I remember that Chris also said in 1968 that the pain always stops just before the transformation. I think he may have said it to Joe, Barnabas and/or Julia.

Anyone else wonder whether Magda rigged the reading to warn her off Quentin?

Yes, I wondered about that, too. Sounds like something Magda would do.

Speaking of the record, did anyone else play that track so many times as a kid that it had as many pops and crackles as a REAL gramophone cylinder?

Yes, I did! I used to play it all the time!

You can obviously see the difference in height between Quentin and the Werewolf.

Charity's dream was really romantic. I loved it! Quentin's voice was so sexy, and he looked really dreamy. That kiss was really passionate. It was neat to see Quentin and the Werewolf together.  

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

Quentin to Charity:  "Our destinies are guided by a strange wheel of fortune; don't you remember Magda telling you that?"
No, I don't.  The cards in Charity's reading were Strength, The Moon, The Lovers, The Hanged Man and The Tower of Destruction (the last 3 inverted).  No Wheel of Fortune.

Regardless, I thought Magda's interpretation wasn't bad for a DS reading.  At least Gordon Russell made the effort to look up the meanings of individual cards (reversed or not) and to consider their locations in the spread and how they related to the surrounding cards.

As for the Shadows of the Night dream, I cannot stand it.  I find it pedestrian and sappy.  But that's me, and I'm glad Sally loves it.

And you can see the wolf squatting behind Quentin's chair as the stuntman awaits his cue.  Ugh.

Are those red roses by the hand?

Big mums, I think.  They stood out for me too.  Would they die if Barnabas were there?  And is that why they usually didn't have flowers at the Old House?

Nancy's ... blond brows are shining through!

I hear you, Taeylor!  And Grayson's natural color shows through in the shock of hair that's combed over her Magda wig.  I agree about the sloppy transformation FX, too.

And there’s wolfie on the rock again, doing his imitation of the White Rock mermaid

And its WolfieQ in the woods again, waiting to strike, curled up on the rock like the White Rock soda mermaid.

Pansity, I didn't follow you the first time, but now that you've added soda... I think I get it now.  Maybe.  She's not a mermaid (she has wings, so, a fairy?), but I definitely see the similarity in her pose as she looks down from the rock.  Anyway, is this icon the one in your simile?-- http://activerain.com/blogsview/1098018/the-whiterock-beverage-company-history-in-waukesha-county-

The policeman who was close to becoming werewolf food (I'm still giggling over Taeylor's "bed food") was played by John Miranda.  He's not credited in too many places for it (this ep has no closing credits), and if he is his name is usually spelled wrong, but I'm positive he's the same actor who has an IMDb page of multiple guest roles.  There's a photo of him on this webpage (top right image) when he had a starring role playing Sweeney Todd the year after he got his first TV job on DS (and there's no mistaking that it's the same nose): Bloodthirsty Butchers (1970)

[Midnite]

DS fan Kosmo tells me that the White Rock trademark girl (see above) is Psyche, the Goddess of Purity.

[Roland]

If Charity were to marry Quentin, wouldn't that mean that she and Trask would then be in-laws in addition to being father and daughter?   
 

[Lydia]

Yes, Roland, I thought about the weird in-law thing too.

Who is packing up the children and sending them home from Worthington Hall?  Mrs. Trask and Dorcas Trilling are dead, Tim Shaw is no longer at the school (or so I assume), and the self-styled Reverend Trask and Charity have moved into Collinwood.  I suppose there must be other staff at the school, but as usual we didn't see them.

Great shot by Magda once again.  Kudos to her once more as one of the brightest, if not THE brightest character in the storyline. (at least until Petofi shows up.) She was taken by surprise, but she had her ammunition primed and ready.  Or maybe she DID go in the front for this very reason, hoping to have Trask order her out so she could make sure he knew that they couldn't be ordered out.  Then again, we're back to the excuse Edward used when they caught on to his story: who would the police believe: a Collins or a gypsy.

The police might not believe a gypsy, but now Magda has proven her guess that Trask was involved in Minerva's death.  This knowledge might be useful to her later on.  The more Magda knows about what's going on, the better job she can do at reading the Tarot cards and the crystal ball.  And I'm sure she's smart enough to keep an eye out for Trask now that he is aware of her knowledge.

I was surprised to see that Charity consented to let Magda read the Tarot cards for her.  Tarot cards are unquestionably unChristian.  Charity's horizons had been widened by Barnabas, and she has been badly frightened, so I suppose you could argue that she would be more open to new ideas, but I still can't see it - just as I can't see Pansity's amusing thought that when Charity said she was going to pray for her mother she was actually planning to have a look around for Barnabas.

As for the Shadows of the Night dream, I cannot stand it.  I find it pedestrian and sappy.

I've always hated that dream too, and not only because it's pedestrian and sappy.  I don't understand why Charity should have any psychic sense at this point.  Did the reading of the Tarot cards (and by the way, thanks, Midnite, for confirming that the wheel of fortune wasn't in Magda's reading) do something to Charity?  It has always bothered me that the words of Quentin's song (which I've never liked) come from Charity's dream - but did she get them psychically from Quentin?  I can't remember if we ever hear them outside of the dream.  I like the ending of the dream, with Quentin sinking obliviously into his music while the werewolf threatens Charity - but how did Charity make that connection?