Discuss - Ep #0162

[Watching Project]

Robservations #162

[MagnusTrask]

John Lasell hems and haws, forgetting lines, while camera is on Moltke's face registering an expression of "Is there anything I can do to help?"   But no, she can't.   Probably JL is thrown by all the out-of-sequence shooting lately.

Nice, the changing of Josette's portrait to Laura's.   I empathize with her frustration in trying to find a plain, obvious message which will actually reach David.   But I suppose David's natural reaction to the painting would be "Well, you don't expect me to take it literally, do you?"

[Joeytrom]

I think they had John Lasell appear in every single episode until his last one.  That must have been hard for someone new to a series.

[spoiler]I liked Dr. Guthrie and wish they had kept him on the show.  Imagine him dealing with Barnabas! For a character who was made the one of the centers of this storyline for a couple of months, you never would have known he ever was there if you didn't see the Pre-Barnabas episodes.  When I first read the episode summaries of this period years ago, I was surprised how prominently he was used and then never mentioned ever again.[/spoiler]

[DarkLady]

I also liked Dr. Guthrie--he represented a widening of the boundaries of the claustrophobic Collins universe.

After Dr. Guthrie solemnly promises not to be too scared, David grants him the privilege of a guided tour of the Old House. Finally David mentions Bill Malloy ("He's scary!) and Josette ("She's sad"). Josette has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink in her efforts to warn David. Has she finally succeeded this time?

[Lydia]

Vicky was awfully unprepared when she went to see Laura.  She should know from experience that Laura does not accept lame excuses.  The smart thing for Vicky to do would have been to write down beforehand what she planned to say, but that's a lesson I learned long after I was Vicky's age, so I guess I can't blame her for not doing it.

Of course, if Laura thinks she can't mop up the floor with Vicky by simple force of personality, she'll employ supernatural methods, as she did with Sam and with Elizabeth - so maybe it was smart of Vicky to act like a pillow missing half of its feathers.  But I just can't believe that that was Vicky's predetermined plan of action.

Dr. Guthrie took his glasses off when he talked to Vicky in the drawing room, and I wondered what sort of prescription he had.  Also I wondered if John LaSell felt more comfortable with the glasses off.  And I looked at his unbespectacled face and wondered: What sorts of offbeat roles could he play?  It's hard to imagine him as a hippie, but if I had seen Roy Thinnes only as Roger Collins, I never could have imagined him as Reverend Trask.

[MagnusTrask]

The smart thing for Vicky to do would have been to write down beforehand what she planned to say, but that's a lesson I learned long after I was Vicky's age, so I guess I can't blame her for not doing it.

Me, I can't appear not to be an idiot unless I'm online, where I can take as much time as I need with a point, reviewing, re-wording, editing...  I find "real time" brutal as far as real communication.

... maybe it was smart of Vicky to act like a pillow missing half of its feathers.

I chuckled.  Then I tried to imagine just how such a pillow might act!

What sorts of offbeat roles could he play?  It's hard to imagine him as a hippie, but if I had seen Roy Thinnes only as Roger Collins, I never could have imagined him as Reverend Trask.

I can imagine JL in those 60s roles which are supposed to be offbeat, even counter-cultural-- but no one involved understands any of that, so he just comes across as Dad pretending to be a hippie.   There was no such thing then as a convincing hippie on TV anyway...

If he were more convincing as this academic, I'd guess that he could take on all sorts of varied roles.

Guthrie is a likeable enough character, but then he's written to be.   It's a very straightforward, no-frills sort of likeability, though.   Elliot was a lot more interesting, and a ghost and witch battler has to be interesting, I think.   The pursuit would make one more interesting over time, despite oneself, I'd think.   Maybe if we'd seen more of Guthrie, vying with one supernatural foe after another, he'd have loosened up a bit, and become more refreshingly chaotic.   But would John Lasell have been able to play him?

[Joeytrom]

At last years DS Festival in Brooklyn, fans were asking Jim Pierson about DS cast members who havent yet appeared at conventions.  I should have asked about John Lassel as he is still alive.

His voice reminds me of Everett Ervett Horton (sp?).

[DarkLady]

Here is the link to the IMDB entry on John Lasell. They give a birth year of 1928, so he could still be alive, though quite old by now. He's done quite a bit of work, it seems.

[Lydia]

Oh, so John Lasell played Helen Keller's father?  I wonder if he assumed a Southern accent for the part.

[alwaysdavid]

The spiders seem to have been extra busy since Vickie was held hostage. It seems that the Old House has the ability to add a nd detract from the debris at will.