Discuss - Ep #0809

[Watching Project]

Robservations #809

[alwaysdavid]

In the reenactment Charity is standing right over Quentin and doesn't seem to see him.  The jam faced girl now speaks and says Quentin.  Why isn't she torn to shreds?  And why is the only apparent thing wrong with her a smeared face?  I guess that being a wolf creature is just to much for Charity in her pursuit of Quentin.  He was so much more desirable as a penniless, murderous self-centered alcoholic.   

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:
1. Charity figured out that Quentin was the werewolf.
2. Jamison/Petofi helped Quentin by giving him clues so he could find Trask and Evan's "confession".
3. Tessie saw Quentin when she woke up the last time, was very frightened of him, and died.
4. Charity told Trask that she would NOT marry Quentin, but didn't say why.
5. Quentin stopped Charity from calling the police and told her that Tessie was dead.

I noticed in the repeat in the opening scenes, Tessie was more emotional when she woke up and said, "Quentin". She did a much better job in this episode.

Jamison/Petofi had a really sinister smile. It was rather frightening.

I'm glad that Charity took heed of Quentin's threats and didn't tell Trask about the Werewolf. I like how Charity was cagey when she told Trask she did NOT want to marry Quentin. It was lucky for her that Trask didn't pressure her for the answer.

I found it strange that Tessie's face seemed to be all that was affected by Werewolf Quentin's attack. I guess the other wounds must have been internal injuries. It doesn't seem to me that the marks on her face would have caused her death. 

I like how Quentin sneaked out of the secret room and took the phone away from Charity. He was silent and stealthy.

----- Sally -----

[Roland]

Did Nancy Barrett have a "screaming clause" in her contract while she was playing Charity or what?  I swear, everytime she comes on the screen I have to lower the volume so my neighbors won't think something untoward is happening in my house and sic the cops on me!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Did Nancy Barrett have a "screaming clause" in her contract while she was playing Charity or what?

You'd almost think so! 

[Midnite]

Poor Tessie from New Bedford (doesn't a Forum cousin live there?) had to do the replay without her plum-colored lipstick.  Oh the horror!

There's no sign of a redeemed Quentin here.  The werewolf sought to mutilate her, but it was a human Quentin that left her in the woods, bleeding and exposed to the elements, and that delayed her much-needed medical attention.  The wolf did the mauling, but couldn't it be said that Quentin I-didn't-do-it-it-wasn't-me Collins was responsible for her death?  And as if that's not bad enough, he terrorized Charity to prevent her from speaking about what happened and threatened to kill her if she told his secret.

The presence of a phone on the drawing room table lets us know that a telephone will become important in the ep. (!)  Charity was understandably upset over the idea of marrying Quentin, but the sobbing and hysteria seemed a bit much for someone who is desperate to keep the truth hidden.

And Gregory was suspicious of Quentin's involvement (with good reason!) yet he left him alone with Tessie.  I'm guessing that her death was from traumatic shock.  But I'm surprised that no mention was made of a transfusion to replace her blood loss.  (Not that transfusions had been made safe yet, but they didn't even try.)

Charity to Quentin, at the start of the ep:  "I know. I know."
Same people, but at the end:  "You killed her. You killed her. I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell Father everything. Everything."
Charity Trask, graduate of the Redundant School of Redundancy For the Chronically Redundant

In the reenactment Charity is standing right over Quentin and doesn't seem to see him.  The jam faced girl now speaks and says Quentin.

  on the jam face.  Both things happened at the end of the previous ep, btw.

Did Nancy Barrett have a "screaming clause" in her contract while she was playing Charity or what?  I swear, everytime she comes on the screen I have to lower the volume so my neighbors won't think something untoward is happening in my house and sic the cops on me!

LOL  This time I let my dog outside first, heh.

[IluvBarnabas]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Quentin had intended to take Tessie to Magda...it was Jamison/Petofi who convinced him not to. Granted, Quentin still should have made some effort to help Tessie regardless of the consequences to him, but I'm guessing his possessed nephew talked him out of it for his own good.

I think Nancy Barrett is one of the best screamers on the show. Werewolf or not, I don't believe a marriage would have been in the cards for Quentin and her anyway, no matter how hard she tried to snare him.

[Midnite]

I thought Quentin had intended to take Tessie to Magda...it was Jamison/Petofi who convinced him not to. Granted, Quentin still should have made some effort to help Tessie regardless of the consequences to him, but I'm guessing his possessed nephew talked him out of it for his own good.

Yep, that's what Quentin decided to do with her after thinking about it for a while, and then he discussed it over her with J/P, who told him that Magda wasn't up to the task at the moment and eventually suggested (because Petofi prefers to sound mysterious rather than get right to the point) using the situation to their mutual benefit.  Then Quentin left at some point while J/P headed to Collinwood and with Charity's help eventually talked Gregory into doing something.  All told, Tessie was uncovered and bleeding, and when she was finally taken to Collinwood, Quentin still delayed when asked to notify a doctor.

BTW, I found it amusing later that while Quentin played his music, during the 4th line (the lyrics would be "calling you to me") Charity tells him, "She's calling for you."  

[Lydia]

The jam faced girl now speaks and says Quentin.  Why isn't she torn to shreds?  And why is the only apparent thing wrong with her a smeared face?

I think that probably the werewolf started to attack Tessie and then changed back to Quentin in mid-attack, so that she wasn't killed, and so that she saw the transformation.

As I watched this episode, I was thinking about how Charity's discovery of Quentin's secret seemed sort of gratuitous, harking back to how Sarah led David and then Pansy led Carl to the discovery of Barnabas's secret.  I think that somebody was bound to figure out that Quentin was the werewolf (his tailor, perhaps; the cost of replacing ruined clothes has to have been adding up), but Charity was definitely pushed into this discovery.  She's doing double duty these days, playing host to Pansy Faye at one minute and stumbling over Quentin and Tessie the next, and it occurred to me that maybe the original idea was that Rachel was supposed to make the shocking discovery about Quentin.

Way, way back when the Trasks first appeared at Collinwood, I expressed surprise that Reverend and Mrs. Trask had allowed their daughter to become engaged to Tim Shaw.  Now I'm seeing the light: they never intended to let her marry Tim; they were just waiting out the engagement.  When Reverend Trask intends that a marriage should take place, he doesn't waste time about it.  He married Judith the day that he sprung the idea on her, and now he's telling Charity she's got to marry Quentin by the end of the week.

[alwaysdavid]

The  Tim and Charity relationship just rings false.  They appear to have no affection for one another.  The Trasks should according to character wanted Charity to marry up all along and not settle for an orphan teacher whom they have under their control already.