Discuss - Ep #0823_0824

[Watching Project]

Robservations #823_824

[alwaysdavid]

I was a little confused.  I thought that Pansy had totally taken over Charity, but it seems that she is still interested in Quentin.  The original Pansy didn't come across as being a murderer. 
The standoff between Quentin and Petofi was amusing.  I thought Petofi had him and then Quentin dropped the Angelique bomb and blew Petofi out of the water.  Great fun.  Where is Angelique anyway? 

[IluvBarnabas]

Got a lot of catching up to do, so forgive me if I don't critique the episodes in order, though I have been watching them in order.

Pansy HAS taken over Charity, but I agree the real Pansy didn't strike me as being a cold-blooded killer either. I also don't recall the real Pansy having even met Quentin either. Yet she's ready to kill to win him. Hmm...

I loved how Quentin tricked Petofi. You could see how furious Petofi was at having been outwitted. Where is Aristede BTW?
Not that I miss the creep, and I do think it probably was wise that he wasn't there or otherwise I don't think Quentin's plan to get Barnabas free would have worked out quite so well.

[Midnite]

Welcome back, IluvBarnabas!

[IluvBarnabas]

Thanks, Midnite!

Have had so many dang troubles with the computer these past few months...hopefully we finally got it back on track. Still watching my DS though.

[MagnusTrask]

Welcome back from me too ILB...  it was always a querstiohn for me whether Charity was actually possessed by the actual ghost of Pansy at these times, or her personality was just altered to become Pansy-like.  I think the latter.   Charipansy doesn't know she's been dead, she knows what Charity knows generally, sometimes she even knows she's really Charity and can snap out of it.

[IluvBarnabas]

Thanks, Magnus.

[EmeraldRose]

Major Milestones:
1. Magda told Quentin about what happened with King Johnny and the fake hand. Quentin figured out that Count Petofi put a spell on her.
2. Charity saw Quentin and Beth together, kissing and talking about the plan to free Barnabas.
3. Quentin and Count Petofi had a standoff - Quentin wanted Count Petofi to release Barnabas. Quentin told him that if Barnabas wasn't released and he (Quentin) didn't return to Collinwood by 1:00, then "Angelique" would deliver a note to the gypsies about where Count Petofi was. This went on for over an hour.
4. Quentin told Beth to take the note to the gypsies, but a jealous Charity/Pansy Faye poisoned her drink and she collapsed, dying, at 12:40. Beth would probably miss the deadline!

The opening segment before the Dark Shadows theme was very short. Magda frantically knocked on the door at Collinwood, and a hand touched her shoulder. (Was it the shortest one ever? If so, that's another milestone.)

I loved the standoff between Quentin and Count Petofi, interspersed with the drama with Beth and Charity. It was great! So much suspense, and looking at the clock. It was very smart of Quentin to lie and say that it was Angelique who had the note.
I love Count Petofi's clock. When I was growing up, we had one just like it! It's too bad I have no idea where it is now.  

That poison sure acted quickly on Beth! She collapsed as soon as she finished the glass.

I think that Charity was possessed by Pansy Faye, but part of Charity's personality remained. It's also possible that Count Petofi made Charity/Pansy Faye more violent when he cast the spell on her.

I agree that this was an excellent episode! Great acting by all!

----- Sally -----

[Roland]

Apparently, Quentin has the ability to walk through locked doors.  When Magda asks him to let her in, he doesn't use a key but simply turns the knob.

Does anyone know why this episode has two numbers?  I always thought this happened when the show was pre-empted for some reason.  But this was just a part of a regular five-episode week.

[Midnite]

Does anyone know why this episode has two numbers?  I always thought this happened when the show was pre-empted for some reason.  But this was just a part of a regular five-episode week.

Maybe to make up for the pre-emption in the previous week when they didn't assign an extra ep # to the subsequent ep, #818.  Just guessing.

[Nancy]

Emerald Rose, I think we should nickname you Milestone Sally.

[EmeraldRose]

LOL, Nancy!   

----- Sally -----

[Midnite]

Thank you, Quentin, for clarifying Petofi's spell for us!  He said it prevents Magda from talking about Petofi as well as saying his name.

Beth is putting some stitches in the earth-toned afghan, which isn't surprising when you consider how often it's loaned out in 1897.

Petofi: "I could kill you in quite a number of other ways, couldn't I?"
Quentin:  "But the gypsies would still find you."
Advantage Quentin!

I was a little confused.  I thought that Pansy had totally taken over Charity, but it seems that she is still interested in Quentin.  The original Pansy didn't come across as being a murderer.

I agree the real Pansy didn't strike me as being a cold-blooded killer either. I also don't recall the real Pansy having even met Quentin either. Yet she's ready to kill to win him. Hmm...

I had an opposite reaction-- I thought the writers seemed to be working overtime to give us Pansy's motivations.  Her interest in Quentin was explained in #819 when she told him that her spirit has been hanging around because of him (and therefore, Magnus, she does know she's dead).  So it doesn't matter that she and Quentin never met in life because it was as a ghost that she became obsessed with him (and who can blame her?).

In this ep, Pansy's inner voice tells us:  "Let's face it, luv, you never really were a headliner, and no one to blame but yourself. When push came to shove you were just too soft, but you're not gonna be soft now, not unless you're ready to lose Quentin the way you lost Carl."  Then she smiles at her image in the mirror and says, "You really are pretty, luv. Far prettier than that whiny little item under the stairs. Well, she won't be whiny much longer, and what a relief that will be for Quentin."  She's deluded in thinking that eliminating Beth will be "a happy surprise"-- er, sorry, make that "an appy surprise"-- for Quentin.

Her monologue presents us with a newly empowered Pansy, but also one who has gone round the bend because of jealousy, and her singing at the end as she drags her scarf over Beth's unconscious face lets us know, if we haven't already guessed, that she is deranged.

The standoff between Quentin and Petofi was amusing.  I thought Petofi had him and then Quentin dropped the Angelique bomb and blew Petofi out of the water.  Great fun.

It was great seeing Quentin get one over on that bloated megalomaniac.

Major Milestones: ...
3. Quentin and Count Petofi had a standoff

Sally, are we no longer getting milestones not already mentioned?

That poison sure acted quickly on Beth! She collapsed as soon as she finished the glass.

It made me think of the boyfriend collapsing immediately after downing his tainted drink in the "Paparazzi" video.  (And Lady Gaga used a poison ring.  Who does she think she is-- Cassandra?)

Anyway, I wonder if Charity used hemlock.  If so, they may have taken "the blood of Socrates" nickname a bit too literally by making it red.

Apparently, Quentin has the ability to walk through locked doors.  When Magda asks him to let her in, he doesn't use a key but simply turns the knob.

LOL  It's no wonder that his werewolf never met a door he couldn't open.

A suspenseful ep!

[Lydia]

Now I know why there was confusion in the Dark Shadows alphabet game over whether we saw Count Petofi looking at the score of an opera.  Today we saw him going over a score that he identified as Harold in Italy by Berlioz, which certainly sounds as though it ought to be an opera, but Wikipedia says it is actually Berlioz's second symphony.

Thank you, Quentin, for clarifying Petofi's spell for us!  He said it prevents Magda from talking about Petofi as well as saying his name.

What Quentin said makes sense, but Magda didn't exactly confirm it, I thought.

Beth's anti-Barnabas tack seems to have worn off.  Or else she's dissembling to Quentin.  She seemed to be determined to follow Quentin's instructions to take the note to King Johnny, however.

I was surprised by the murderous intentions of Pansy, but then I considered the fact that she essentially murdered Charity: I don't think we ever see Charity inhabiting her own body again.  The experience of death may loosen one's principles on the subject of murder, since one learns that there is post-death existence.  There are other characters who were not affected that way, but Pansy's English, you see.

Anyway, I wonder if Charity used hemlock.  If so, they may have taken "the blood of Socrates" nickname a bit too literally by making it red.

I thought hemlock acted more slowly than that.  Socrates took a while to die, and if I remember correctly the usual progress of the poison was described to him beforehand as numbing the toes first and then gradually numbing up through the rest of the body.  But I always defer to Midnite's superior knowledge in medical matters, and I suppose that in the over 2,000 years between the death of Socrates and 1897, somebody might have learned how to cook hemlock up into a faster-acting poison.

[Midnite]

I thought hemlock acted more slowly than that.  Socrates took a while to die, and if I remember correctly the usual progress of the poison was described to him beforehand as numbing the toes first and then gradually numbing up through the rest of the body.

There are different types of hemlock; it's believed that Socrates drank poison hemlock but I doubt that anyone can be sure.  Poison hemlock can cause the ascending motor paralysis you described, but it can merely have a sedative effect on the motor system.  It's all about the dosage, but because there are several unknowns (the part of the plant used, freshness, etc.), we can't possibly know how much poison Beth ingested.  Or even if was hemlock at all because I was just guessing.  

I suppose that in the over 2,000 years between the death of Socrates and 1897, somebody might have learned how to cook hemlock up into a faster-acting poison.

Oh no, don't cook it.