Discuss - Ep #0880

Robservations #880

Another bricked-up Trask.  Greg's windows are shuttered.  He is hopelessly trapped.  Quentin comes home and is infomed he is to use the Green Room and the West Wing is closed and locked forever.  She doesn't realize that in the future she will have an extremely resourceful nephew living at Collinwood.  Greg tried the phone but Gets static and when it does ring its a vengeful Judith and Greg's pleas fall on deaf ears.  "Will this room be my grave?"
Aristede is hiding in the lair and King Johnny's wife appears and becomes another no name victim to Blackwood in his pursuit of Aristede.  Apparently Magda was right that gypsy women have little value as her name is less important than she is the widow of King Johnny. Where is Magda?

 

I've just been reading updates to the discussion of episode 839, when it became clear that Quentin wasn't going to walled up his room...

Discuss - Ep #0839

...and now we've got Trask walled up in Quentin's room instead of Quentin, and it occurred to me: was this only the first time that 1897 got tampered with?  I'm thinking that it is only right and proper in the Dark Shadows universe that it should be a Trask that is walled up.  After all, getting walled up is what Trasks do.  So maybe in the original 1897, Trask was walled up, and then somebody travelled in time from...take your pick what year...and Quentin was walled up instead, and space and time stopped canoodling long enough to give a gasp of horror (I hope Grayson Hall played either space or time) and scramble to put things right, so what is happening now is that things are being restored to the way they were in the first place.

Judith got a huge stroke of luck when Garth Blackwood came to Collinsport and started murdering just about everybody he saw.  That made it very plausible that Trask was merely another one of the victims, so nobody would look any further.

How much money did Quentin leave in that drawer in his room?  It looked like a lot.  He's not a rich man, so I'm thinking he would have gone for it, if he hadn't been sure that he would have found out more that he wanted to know about Trask's disappearance.

How strong is a wall that is one brick thick?  And how long does mortar take to dry?  I refuse to believe that Trask could not have broken down that wall somehow.

There was a gravestone for Carolyn Collins Stoddard in the cemetery.  I'm trying to remember when that would have been used, but coming up blank.

so what is happening now is that things are being restored to the way they were in the first place.

Fascinating!

IIRC, the gramophone can be spotted in the drawing room, and since it was not walled up with Gregory, the kids would not have found it inside the sealed room.  Based on that alteration to the future, I think we can assume that the skeleton wasn't wearing Quentin's clothes either when they found it.

There was a gravestone for Carolyn Collins Stoddard in the cemetery.  I'm trying to remember when that would have been used, but coming up blank.

It was behind door #4 during her version of the dream curse. 

I think we can assume that the skeleton wasn't wearing Quentin's clothes either when they found it.

But I don't think it was Trask's clothes, either, because I remember the skeleton was wearing a red vest, most unTrasklike.

It was behind door #4 during her version of the dream curse.

Thanks, Midnite!  I thought it must have been the dream curse.  I still don't remember it, but I'll take your word for it.

How much money did Quentin leave in that drawer in his room?  It looked like a lot.  He's not a rich man, so I'm thinking he would have gone for it, if he hadn't been sure that he would have found out more that he wanted to know about Trask's disappearance.

Oops.  The teaser for episode 881 gave me another reminder of how unreliable my memory is.  It wasn't Trask who found money in Quentin's drawer, it was Aristede who found money in a drawer at the old mill.  But it still seems clear that Quentin suspected Judith of having engineered Trask's disappearance.

But I don't think it was Trask's clothes, either, because I remember the skeleton was wearing a red vest, most unTrasklike.

Sorry, my fault.  I meant that if we could see how the room looked in 1969 after the past had been changed, the gramophone would not be there and the skeleton would be wearing clothing that was different from what we saw originally.  I'll shut up now.  

Again, Judith rocks as she has given Trask his comeuppance. I loved how she gloated to him that she has closed off the west wing forever. Trask's stunned look was equally satisfying to watch.

Trask thinks Beth's ghost will go to Quentin and tell him of his predictament. Even if she had...what makes Trask think that Quentin would even want to help him? He hates his guts. Very stupid of Trask to rely on Quentin as his potential savior, with the bad blood between them.

Quentin knows that Judith has something to do with Trask's disappearing act, but again Trask is the last person he'd ever shed tears over.

Well, maybe second to last. Aristede approached him in the cemetery, maybe hoping Quentin would help him out. Like Trask, why does Aristede think that Quentin of all people would want to lend him a helping hand? Especially since it was only a very short time ago he threatened him with a sword to his throat.

Garth Blackwood is indeed a killing machine. In one night, he's killed Evan Hanley, King Johnny's Widow, nearly strangled Quentin before finally catching up with his prey. He is one man who strongly believes in the death penalty, and not just for murder. Anyone even suspected of harboring a fugitive should be put to death in his eyes.

Perhaps had Trask turned on the Victrola, he would have been soothed. NOT! Heh, heh, heh...

I agree with Lydia. Fresh mortor. I would have at least attempted to push my way out of there.

I have always wondered about Quentin's true feelings for Beth. This episode confirms my belief that he did, indeed, love her.

Trask thinks Beth's ghost will go to Quentin and tell him of his predictament. Even if she had...what makes Trask think that Quentin would even want to help him? He hates his guts. Very stupid of Trask to rely on Quentin as his potential savior, with the bad blood between them.

Nope, Trask doesn't think that-- it's just that this is absolutely his only chance to contact the outside world, and if there's even a one in a billion chance that Beth or Quentin will help, he has to try.   

I love the darkly absurd DS moments, such as Beth's ghost appearing in Q's room by mistake because no one kept her up to date on the sleeping arrangements.   It would be clumsy as straightforward drama but it's great as... something else.   The end of Lamar Trask has the same quality.