Discuss - Ep #0980

Robservations #980

Jeb's dead!   And right at the start of the episode!   How do they know he didn't survive though?   

Here comes Barnabas's latest theory justifying a supernatural jaunt:  Maybe PT will somehow help with his vampirism.  Really, that's all he says.   Why would it help?   A tacet reason may be avoiding killing Sabrina, and just generally giving his RT world a break from his bad self for awhile.   [spoiler]And it worked, considering that the Summer of 1970 was later revealed to have been the only truly happy time that we ever hear about for Collinwood.[/spoiler]   BC may see PT was "unreal" so, plenty of not-quite-real people to feed on, no conscience problems...

Did Sky think Nick's ghost would make him rich again?   Megan knew not to let a good blood-bag on legs like Sky go to waste, at least.   But, the important thing is that Sky's dead.   Two dead weasels in one episode, there's value for money.   And again, the only times Barnabas finds any joy in life are when he's stalking and killing someone he thinks deserves it.   He actually smiles.  I wonder if acting on violent impulses gives a similar boost to his neurotransmitters or something, as feeding does?   This is such a violent death that it's amazing a TV "hero" did it.

Carolyn's dream is awfully funny at the end I think, because Jeb said he was going away, and he leaves by falling backwards unconcernedly over the cliff again!   I imagined variations on this:  He should have perhaps yelled "Goodbyyyyye" as he fell, his vocal pitch dopplering....   Or "Be sure to pick up my dry cleaniiiiiiing..."   He could have pinched his nose with one hand, then crouched and sprung off the cliff as if doing a comedic cannonball into the ocean, possibly yelling "Last one to die on the rocks is a rotten eeeeeeegg" or something.

Note the loud musical score right after Sky is killed, kind of like they are stating to the audience that this is the end of this unpopular story, and separating it from the next one.

And again, the only times Barnabas finds any joy in life are when he's stalking and killing someone he thinks deserves it.   He actually smiles.

My impression was that Barnabas was smiling simply for the purpose of spooking Sky.

I intensely enjoyed the whole Sky-killing scene, even though I have argued for sympathy for Sky Rumson - but my enjoyment had very little to do with lack of sympathy for sky.  After all, I also enjoy the scene in which Barnabas killed "someone" in 1967.

There was a nice little detail in Grayson Hall's performance during her first scene with Barnabas.  They were talking about Barnabas's injection-induced cravings, and Barnabas mentions parallel time out of the blue.  Julia says, "What are you talking about?" in a nice undramatic way.  No light has gone in Julia's head; Barnabas has just uttered what is a complete non-sequitur to her and she can barely register it.  Very nice.

We learned - or anyway, I learned - today that the cravings come to Barnabas in waves, which explains why he hasn't been biting all and sundry.  So that's taken care of.

Of course Carolyn had a dream in which Sky told her he would come back.  We have to set up that up for possible future storylines, so now that's taken care of, too.

And with Jeb and Sky dead and Jeb primed for return, we've cleared the decks for Barnabas to go into parallel time.  I suppose it has to happen, because the majority of the viewers wanted out of the Leviathan storyline, but there were possibilities here in real time.  I would have liked to see those cravings of Barnabas becoming more and more frequent while Julia tried to deal with them - while, of course, she would also be trying to deal with her own feelings of guilt at having herself caused the cravings, even though her intentions had been good.  I would like to have seen Julia discuss with Quentin and Willie the possibility that it would be necessary to destroy Barnabas - and of course, Dark Shadows being what it is, Barnabas would overhear them and move his coffin to a hiding place.  Also, I think life at Collinwood would have been more interesting if Jeb hadn't been killed off.  He knows about Barnabas, and he suspects that Quentin is the original 1897 Quentin.  Barnabas decided to help Jeb because Carolyn loved him, not because Barnabas had any particular fondness for Jeb, and Quentin followed Barnabas's lead.  I can't remember if we ever heard what Julia thought about Jeb most recently.  But Jeb has a lot to learn about being a grown-up, and he probably still has issues with Barnabas.  There are lots of interesting character possibilities here, and they have all been thrown off of Widows Hill - unless Jeb returns, as he conveniently promised Carolyn he would.

Of course Carolyn had a dream in which Sky told her he would come back.  We have to set up that up for possible future storylines, so now that's taken care of, too.

Perish the thought.  But I think you meant Jeb.

Lydia, I disagree that Julia would have had a chat with Quentin about the necessity of destroying Barnabas.  I think, if anything, she would have grown all the more fanatically devoted to him and there might have been a repeat of the dynamic towards the end of the 1967 storyline, only this time with the backdrop of a growing emotional closeness between B & J--whether Lela Swift (who was I think then the de facto head writer) would have taken this into a romantic relationship between the two is hard to know.

I personally think the main drive to move into PT was the need to come up with a way of maintaining production on the series while most of the main actors were working on the movie.  I've often thought that the series might have had a longer life if it had gone on hiatus periodically--I realize that soap operas never go on hiatus, but since when did Dark Shadows follow the rules of others.  This would have give everyone a break from the relentless pressure of producing the show, would have given those who wished to do so the chance to pursue other projects, etc.

I still think that DC was behind pulling the plug for good on the show in March 1971 simply because he did not want to have to deal with another situation like what happened in the Spring of 1970.

G.

But I think you meant Jeb.

Yes, of course I did.  Drat.

Gothick, I daresay you're right about the timing of the parallel time storyline, though there I'm sure there would have have been other ways to handle the absences of key characters within real time.  It seems to me that, with all the time spent at Nicholas Blair's house in 1968, they could have made the movie then and filmed it using the TV series Collinwood.

As for the unlikelihood of a discussion of destroying Barnabas...I'm probably imagining a more extreme situation than you are.

Have afghan, will travel...

Dig the caramel corn necklace Julia is sporting. A leftover from Christmas perhaps?

Barnabas: Do you think I do this by choice?
Yes. Go to the Collinsport Blood Bank, open an account, and make daily withdrawals.

Carolyn should have reined in her wild oats and stuck with Joe.

I love that smirk on Barnabas just before he croaks somebody.

Wow! I wonder how they did that psychedelic background thing in their mouths and nostrils. Way cool. So that's what happens when Julia administers her sedatives.

Holy crap! How long has Barnabas been wearing a pinky ring? Did I miss something yet again?

3/27/70

Jonathan Frid VO.  I was grazing over the Almanac and he didn't do them often so it's nice when he does.  I think that Grayson looks good in green—I think most red heads do.  Nancy B is doing a fabulous job—even better than usual which takes her to Goddess status.  ‘I don't want a sedative!”  One more loose end tied up.  Bye bye Sky “wooden” Rumson!  Grayson’s makeup is very subtle and not overdone. She  looks very good!  Barnabas has once again transcended time!

Barnabas has once again transcended time!

Sideways!

That was well done on NB's part, "I don't want a sedative!”  Very real.

An afghan and some throw pillows are on the drawing room sofa, and a phone is on the foyer table... Once a distraught Carolyn enters Collinwood, you can pretty much guess from the props how the scene will play out.

How was Barnabas able to enter Bruno's house and confront Sky without having been invited in?

Sky and Barnabas talk--

Sky:  "He would have died anyway. He should have died after he destroyed the box and the shrine."
He had a point-- how long could Jeb have gone on living if not for his death below Widow's Hill?  (Can a manifestation drown?)

Barnabas:  "He married Carolyn and she was very happy with him."
I have no doubt that she loved Jeb, but happy, seriously??!  All I remember since their wedding just a short time ago is her fear, pain, guilt, nightmares, crying, multiple threats on her life, and lots and lots of screaming.

Sky:  "Nicholas made me do it."
The devil made me do it-- a line that Flip Wilson would make famous!


Okay, Sky was killed with one bullet, but the sheriff was puzzled because a total of 3 bullets were fired.  Was there a way to tell that those other 2 bullets weren't fired at some earlier time?

Julia's miming at the barrier to PT is hysterical.

How was Barnabas able to enter Bruno's house and confront Sky without having been invited in?

It doesn't seem as if vamps on DS need to be invited in. As far as I can recall, they never made a point of it, and vamps seem to enter all sorts of places without first having been invited in. I suppose that's just one of the vamp legends that DS never enforced...

Barnabas:  "He married Carolyn and she was very happy with him."
I have no doubt that she loved Jeb, but happy, seriously??!  All I remember since their wedding just a short time ago is her fear, pain, guilt, nightmares, crying, multiple threats on her life, and lots and lots of screaming.

No kidding! But apparently we're not supposed to think about any of that. Although, being able to ignore it would practically require that we all have a lobotomy!

Good to see you adding your thoughts to more of the WP MB!

Good to see you adding your thoughts to more of the WP MB!

Yes!

i never did like the Jeb Character. i never did see what Carolyn saw in him. he was well a putz. i also agree with not seeing Carolynn being happy with the guy. we didn't see any of that. true she loved him. but i also think he would have died sooner or later anyways.

& although i think having PT was a stupid idea for them to do. it does make sense for them to have to do it cause of the filming of the films. honestly when it comes to certain characters i think they at the end ruined some of them. i didn't like

them turning Maggie [spoiler]insane. but i am thrilled they didn't kill her.[/spoiler] when Joel C. left the show i didn't like how they also did

that to him as well. & Carolyn seems to have started out as a strong & good character & they to me feels like they ruined her a bit at the very end.  in short i think they made too many mistakes when it comes to certain characters.

i've read on the "IMDB" boards that people say that the show was terrible at the end of it. & honestly, i don't think it was.
although i am curious on how much time they had to finish the show when they got cancelled. there's a fan site which i

dunno if it still exists or even the name of it. that used to be around & it picks up right where the show ends in the present time. i never did get around to reading any of those. but those looks like a good read.