Discuss - Ep #1231

[Watching Project]

Robservations #1231

[Lydia]

What a shame that we had to rush through the explanation of the Room curse in just one episode.  It didn't really make sense.  But at least we did get an explanation, of sorts, and there are many things on Dark Shadows that don't make sense.

Nancy Barrett looked great in her 1680 costume, and how amusing it was to see her playing the wife of the Louis Edmonds character!  Maybe she looked a little too great; I couldn't believe Amanda was the mother of grown children.  Maybe Amanda was Brutus's second wife, and the mother of the children had died, but we weren't told that.

Brutus's interest in the occult could have used some amplification.  We're told at the beginning of the flashback that the interest was there, and at the end of the flashback it turns out he has enough power to set a curse on the Collins family.  That's a bit of a jump.  You can pretty much connect the dots from previous storylines in which somebody had an interest in the occult, but we haven't seen it with Louis Edmonds as the character taking an interest, and I would like to have.

Constance was the character who got really short shrift.  Brutus, Amanda, and James didn't change their minds about anything from start to finish, but Constance saw her world turned upside down in the few minutes before her life ended.  Grayson Hall did her best - but I wish we could have had a week in 1680 instead of a day.

And how did it happen that Brutus was the Room's first victim?

[DarkLady]

I also liked NB's 1680 gown. I always thought she was wife no. 2, and probably in an arranged marriage. Brutus looks like just the type who would wear his wives out, if not through constant childbearing (wife no. 1) then by aggravating them to death.

In 1680, Brutus is literally playing with fire by dabbling in the occult. The witchcraft trials were in 1690 and thereabouts. But it's all of a piece with his arrogance that he seems to think he can get away with anything, up to and including murder--or whatever he did to James and Amanda. I'm not sure he was the Room's first victim, but he was probably already insane after what he did in his secret lab downstairs, so it's no wonder he wouldn't hesitate to curse his own family. It's interesting too that he cursed his own bedroom--one wonders if he slept there afterward. If so, it couldn't have done much for his mental health.

And yes, it would have been fun to see more of Constance, especially in that spiffy black and gold period gown. (I'm just a sucker for a really good costume--I loved Naomi's 1795 gowns!)

And one more thing: In parallel time, there seems to be some confusion about when the Great House was built. By rights, Brutus and Amanda should be living in the Old House, not Collinwood, which in RT wouldn't be built for another hundred years.

Brutus also seems to have been far ahead of his time in medicine. Modern, skin-piercing hypodermic needles weren't invented until 1853.

[Joeytrom]

Is there anywhere a photo of that hyperdermic?  I dont remember what it looked like.

Did he kill Constance or just knock her out?  He apparently didn't give her the treatment he gave James & Amanda.

[DarkLady]

Brutus kills Constance, all right--he stabs her to death after she goes at him with a handy knife.

I don't know if there's a frame grab with the hypo, but I remember it was particular nasty looking.

[CTP/FITBs]

Be sure to check out the two game board devoted exclusively to 1680PT! 

[MagnusTrask]

Was Amanda's dress really of the period?   I wouldn't know, yet it seems too opulent, at least for Americans then.  It seems like the following century to me too.

If Collinwood was around in 1680, just think how old the Old House has to be!   This makes me think of the earliest DS episodes, where they talk about 1830 as the construction date for C'wood, and architecturally it shouldn't exist until the late 19th century, so it's at least two centuries too old!   Really though, wasn't Collinwood used because at this point, the Old House set no longer existed?

I like the close-up on Brutus's face when talking to Forsythe about bilking him... his expression says, "I'm far worse than you suspect!"   The Curse itself, though, sounds pretty silly when cast.   

[DarkLady]

Was Amanda's dress really of the period?   I wouldn't know, yet it seems too opulent, at least for Americans then.  It seems like the following century to me too.

It was more or less of the period--not that I'm a costume expert! It is pretty opulent, but I'm sure Brutus would insist on dressing Amanda up if only to show off his own wealth and prestige.

Really though, wasn't Collinwood used because at this point, the Old House set no longer existed?

[spoiler]We will see the Old House several more times.[/spoiler]

[Lydia]

And one more thing: In parallel time, there seems to be some confusion about when the Great House was built. By rights, Brutus and Amanda should be living in the Old House, not Collinwood, which in RT wouldn't be built for another hundred years.

Yes, it is strange that the house is exactly the same whether it was built before 1680 or if it was built in 1795.  The house is the one constant in the show, suggesting that there is a unifying force existing outside all the time bands.  And I don't mean Dan Curtis.