Idle Thoughts--Send in the Clowns (4/21 & 4/22)

Fashion notes first . . .

Like the cap on Roger (although it's the same type of cap those little old men where--you know, they drive Buicks at about 15 MPH and can't see over the steering wheel). Not so crazy about the mismatched shades of olive.

David. Where do we begin? Shampoo. It's a good thing. Dirty is never, IMHO, an acceptable image. Then there are his clothes. I begin to see why the kid is constantly being possessed. With dorky outfits like that who the hell else is going to play with him? It's kind of amusing though, the Leviathan scholar, wears clothes that Bobby Brady would have vetoed.

As fashionable as the ultra-mini may have been in 1969, I look at the vast expanse of Carolyn's legs, made more extensive by the beige shoes, and then I look at her super short yellow fuzzy coat and it somehow gives me the impression that Carolyn let he house clad only in a bulky pajama top. Somehow . . . somehow, I don't think that was the intended effect.

Again with the plaid on Liz. Really, really not a fan. And that hair How many cans of Aqua Rock do you think they used? I do like the touch of having her wear the leather gloves. Kind of gives a nice effect when Liz was being super bitch.

Olivia managed to carry off the bright orange pantsuit. Scarf was a nice touch.

Okay, onto the show . . .

I mentioned this on the Current Talk board, but while I could see the phrase "my most precious possession" possibly being applied to very small children, autographed beer coasters, that antique moss-covered, three-handled credenza, the unabridged, unexpurgated memoirs of Lemony Snicket, or whatever, it seems particularly inappropriate to refer to a grown woman as such.

I am really enjoying these traditional soap opera scenes. Roger and Carolyn's set-to was quite good, well acted, and fairly well-written (even if some of the back story wasn't consistent).

It's really too bad that DC couldn't have sprung for an actual baby, or failing that, a sack of potatoes. Because the doll couldn't be less realistic.

Part of the reason I think this plot succeeds is because of the character of Carolyn. Aside from her emotional and familial issues (thank you, Liz and Paul), her relative inexperience and naivete is the only thing explaining why she's still even talking to Megan and Philip let alone "working" for them.

When I look at Megan and Philip and their erratic behavior, I think, "no way, jose. I would have been out the door in about five minutes." But that's me. I've worked (as I suspect most of everyone here has) my share of jobs, dealt with my share of "eccentric" employers. After you've done that for a little bit, maybe gotten burned at least once, you learn to recognize the danger signals from miles away. You learn to set the boundaries. But Carolyn has clearly never worked a day in her life. She doesn't know what's expected. She's doubting her instincts and she's sticking around. And it works. If they'd tossed Maggie in there, it wouldn't have.

Okay, when Liz came into David's room and he was smirking to beat the band, who else had the thought that he looked more like he was sneaking a joint or some ciggies than deciphering the Leviathan mysteries?

I was quite fascinated to see Elizabeth "the Ice Queen" Stoddard rip into David there "we'll have to get you some friends your own age." I'm trying to decide if this was a)bad writing (since Liz and David always had a close relationship or b)positively inspired. I'm inclined to go with the latter.

Man, there is a fanfic in the relationship of Liz and Paul. It screams to be written.

Speaking of which (well, Liz and Paul), another nicely written and performed scene on the part of Bennett and Patrick. I get a real sense of their characters as a couple: a bitter, dysfunctional couple, but a couple nonetheless.

Man, Liz is on a rolll here. First she got all snippy with David, then she practically ripped Paul's head off and then she went after Megan.

I loathe Olivia. Oh, how do I count the ways. What kind of a person (and please don't tell me, well, she's an actress. I have friends who are actors and I assure you they aren't that vain) travels with framed 8x10 glossies of themselves???

She's really the Deanna Troi of DS. That is, a character who works well on paper, but in the execution is just kind of flat and unnecessary. Yeah, yeah, she's supposed to be one-dimensional because she's vain. Not making me care about her anymore.

If Hitler hadn't inspired the late great Spike Jones to pen Der Fuhrer's Face then the Leviathans surely would have. The master race they are so not.

I know nuns who lie better than these jokers. "That's the radiator making those sounds" Uh huh.

Creepy dream there. Not a big fan of clowns (I share that with Xander Harris) and that fat suit was toooo weird. Liz's bad trip. Again with the drug imagery?

And once again, Barnabas gets behind the wheel and someone nearly loses an eye. I realize it was intentional, but it's like every time the man drives, there's an accident. Coincidence? I think not.

The one that got me was from David -

QUOTE:

"Why can't we have any fun anymore?"

Huh?!!!!  When did they ever?!!!!

Wonderful comments from you, Luciaphil, as always.  Sadly, I have far too many pictures of myself and my pals from the late Sixties (2 years younger than David H) to read his 1969 wardrobe as anything other than that most unlikely suspect on the set of DS--realism.

And at David's age, I was maladjusted enough that I did hole up in my room a lot of the time poring over ponderous tomes.

Your comment about the history of Liz and David's relationship reminds me of that heartbreaking scene from May (I think) 1967 when Liz is planning on jumping off Widow's Hill and she says goodbye to David. There were several scenes like that underlining the strange bond between these two--orphans in the storm.  Something clearly had gone terribly wrong between them at this point, and that's just sad.

There are some remarkable moments in this storyline.  Joan's Ice Bitch performance in this part is one of them, for me.

Gothick

And once again, Barnabas gets behind the wheel and someone nearly loses an eye. I realize it was intentional, but it's like every time the man drives, there's an accident. Coincidence? I think not.

Please stop! I cannot be laughing like this at work! Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the second Barn leaves the Old House, someone dies. In fact the only people he could never kill were the ones living under his own roof!

Maine Girl

I liked the cap on Roger too. Somehow he can pull it off okay and still look good.

As for the Todds relationship with Carolyn, Im with you on this one.  After the crummy way Megan has talked to Carolyn you'd think she'd be out of there in a minute.  I guess you're right about this being her first job but I somehow can't imagine the old spoiled Carolyn from way back when taking this nonsense from anyone.  She seems to have mellowed out a bit as she's grown older.

And that baby!!  They could have used one of crazy Jenny's dolls for goodness sakes and it would have seemed more lifelike than what ever it was they used under that blanket!


That's funny about Barnabas!  That man should just stick to walking whenever possible!!  Somehow he and cars just don't mix!!

Thank again Luciaphil.  These are great and I always look forward to reading them![thumb]

Cassandra

Loved your comments.  I agree, there's a story there - Liz & Paul.  Will you be writing one for us?  Just love your writing.  I haven't watched last weeks episodes yet so I'll be sure to take note of the clothes.  I think I had some similar back then.  Hearing about Oliva Corey's orange pantsuit makes me want to rush out & buy one.

Lynn

As fashionable as the ultra-mini may have been in 1969, I look at the vast expanse of Carolyn's legs, made more extensive by the beige shoes, and then I look at her super short yellow fuzzy coat and it somehow gives me the impression that Carolyn let he house clad only in a bulky pajama top. Somehow . . . somehow, I don't think that was the intended effect.

Very true.  When I look at some of the clothes she wears sometimes its hard to imagine that we actually wore clothes like that!

Deb

And once again, Barnabas gets behind the wheel and someone nearly loses an eye. I realize it was intentional, but it's like every time the man drives, there's an accident. Coincidence? I think not.

Barnabas + cars = unmixy things.