the witchcraft nonsense in 1840

I think that the 1795/96 witchcraft trial would've been more plausible if the characters (meaning, especially, the judges) would've stated that witchcraft was no longer a crime and Vicki/Phyllis could not be tried for it.  However, they could be convinced that murder, and the use of witchcraft for that end, is a crime.  That would've provided a nice twist.

As for the whole 1840/41 witchcraft/murder thing, feh.  It was just a lazy way on the part of the writers and producers to simply rehash.  They could've at least kept out the whole witchcraft thing and focused on Quentin I being a murderer based upon evidence, circumstantial or not.

Gerard

1840 came as such a surprise to me when I was finally able to watch the entire series during its second run on the SciFi channel more than a decade ago. The prelude to 1840—the Summer of 1970 and 1990 Parallel Time--caught my excitement, and 1840 engaged my imagination from the start; my interest never flagged from that point on through the end of the series. It always surprises me when people complain about the inconsistencies of the summer of 1970 or, now, the implausibility of 1840, since implausibility could be said to characterize the entire DS series. And I've never minded that the series left so many loose ends rather than providing neat, satisfying answers to the many tantalizing questions that came up, beginning with Victoria Winters' unknown parentage. As viewers, we sometimes expect and demand neat answers and closure, but as in life and art, those answers and closure are often never to be found.

I loved the characters of Desmond Collins, Flora Collins, and Leticia Faye, as well as the house they lived in. The look of this time period was unique, as each of the time periods (1795, 1897) also was, as far as sets, costumes, and lighting. The idea of Rose Cottage and the mystery surrounding it was one of my favorite things about the entire series. One of the most moving moments in the entire series for me was seeing the aged Ben Stokes living at Collinwood with his granddaughter, and Ben's eventual reunion with Barnabas.

Gerard, I thought, was one of the most intriguing characters on the series: a man of the sea with a hidden past who is acceptable as a gentleman in polite society, displaying social graces and musical accomplishment; was he actually evil, or merely an opportunist as Leticia says at one point? Why was he singled out by Judah Zachary to be his victim of possession? Were they kindred spirits? It's interesting, too, how he has three identities: Ivan Miller, Gerard Stiles, and Judah Zachary.

The mysteries presented in this sequence (what happened in Bedford, for example) and the occult aspects were among the best in the series, in my opinion. 1840 was reminiscent of some of the better aspects of 1897 yet wholly original in how the material was approached and played out.  For example, the possession of the children recalled similar happenings in1897, but the details were very different.

The notion of beheading seemed far-fetched but thematically linked Quentin's trial with the events of Judah Zachary more than a century earlier. The living head had to be one of the creepiest aspects of the entire series and touches on mythological stories, as did the ritual mask donned by Gerard.

The claimed implausibility of a trial for witchcraft taking place in 1840 is explained legally: a deadly mix of local hysteria mixes with the fact that the witchcraft laws remained on the books—it would be fascinating to find out if that actually was the case anywhere in New England at the time. The body of a child was exhumed and beheaded in New England around 1850 as fear of vampirism swept the local countryside, and that's just one of many historical 19th century cases (see my posting elsewhere of a link to the current issue of "Smithsonian" magazine). If the beheading of a child's corpse could happen, a trial for witchcraft in a small town is not quite so absurd. As with all of the storylines, there are weaknesses; personally, I did not care for Kate Jackson at all, yet thought she was surprisingly good in "Night of Dark Shadows."

As with all of the storylines, there are weaknesses; personally, I did not care for Kate Jackson at all, yet thought she was surprisingly good in "Night of Dark Shadows."

Kate's work in NODS was sensational, IMHO. Although I can't recall any specifics about her performance on the series (haven't seen her eps since original airing, and I'm only up to #116 on the DVDs), what I do recall from anything I've ever seen her in shows her to be a master at her craft. I don't think she's received the recognition she deserves.

true they do offer some rather hasty explanation as to why such a trial would be occurring at such a late date. but still it feels like a real stretch.


i think for me the one of the main problems is the courtroom scenes simply grant too much screentime to two characters i do not care for. i find any and all manifestations of the reverend trask to be the most grating and obnoxious characters to ever hit the series. and storylines that revolve around quentin bore me to tears.

for that reason these are difficult episodes to get through.

I'm with you, Philippe! I loved the whole mystery of Rose Cottage as well as its cozy little interior. Also, I read somewhere that JB said that Flora was her favorite character.

For me, the low point of 1840 was the zombie pirate attack on Collinwood. That scene was so bad it was embarrassing! 

For me, the low point of 1840 was the zombie pirate attack on Collinwood. That scene was so bad it was embarrassing! 

What happened to those zombies after the attack?  Did the sheriff put them out of their misery with a gunshot to the brain?  Did George Romero put them under contract?  Did they end up working for Haliburton?

Don't get me wrong.  I love zombies as much as vampires.  Zombies destroying Collinwood, in my humble opinion, was a neat concept (finally, they again had more than five characters doing an episode).  But what happened afterward?  Wouldn't that have made the national news?

Pirate zombies was a great idea.  It was like when they had a movie about Nazi zombies on Elvira.  She commented that the producers didn't want to just rehash another typical zombie movie, so she said that one of them came up with the idea:  "Hey, let's make them Nazi zombies."

Gerard

Wouldn't that have made the national news?

I'm sure I read somewhere that Walter Cronkite had a "no zombies" clause in his contract.

The first 1995 episodes where Julia and Barnabas find themselves in a deserted, ruined Collinwood are some of the creepiest moments in the show's history. But the zombie scene has to be one of the lamest.

I love those first 1995 episode! So atmospheric! And Julia and Barnabas have such an interesting conversation! It more than makes up for the silly zombies.

In fact, the whole 1995/1970 story line with its big mysteries is one of my faves, although I know I'm in the minority on that. 

DarkLady, I actually love 1995/Summer of 1970 too.  Even though it is at times repetitive, there are some incredible moments.  Mad Carolyn in 1995 is one of Nancy Barrett's finest hours on the show.  We were on vacation during the 1995 period back during the original broadcast in 1970 and that has always given a certain special quality to those shows for me.  I never saw them until the actual year 1995, in fact, if I remember aright.

In 1970, there are so many haunting elements... the night of the sun & the moon ... Gerard's green flag ... Daphne's heavy lilac perfume... the oppressive sense of evil that Julia senses whenever Gerard is near... the weird appearance in town of Sebastian and Roxanne... it's all kind of surreal because a lot of it is never really resolved, and then when 1840 starts up the story goes in a direction quite different from what we had been led to expect.

G.

i liked the 1995 sequence very much as well. parts of the "summer of 1970" worked for me but somehow it's where i started to drift away from the story.


visually 1840 has a great look. as someone pointed out it's unique to the time period. lots of pretty violets and blues.

maybe it's more a personal burnout on the whole thing than the specifics of the story. who knows.

I think it's less personal burnout and more storyline burnout.  When I finished my most recent run of the series (the first time I ever watched from the first episode to the last episode), I thought I was over it... for at least a year.  Less than a month later, I popped in my Revival DVD.  And shortly thereafter, I started the original series again.  It was refreshing going back to the basics:  Liz, Roger, Vicki, Carolyn, David.  It had a certain believability to it, something that is completely absent from a good part of the series.  It contained the essence of Dark Shadows.

After so much craziness and off-the-wall plot twists, I think one is bound to want it to be over, just as the writers probably wanted it to be over.  At certain points, it ceased to be what made it so great in the first place.  It started to mimic itself - think Adam and Eve.  But it was able to get back on track every time.  1840 is another time period where it starts off with great promise and then really goes off the deep end - Leticia Faye, the Headless Body, the Possessions.  After so many ups and downs, it becomes overwhelming.  You still love the actors and the music and the setting.  But you just can't take the unevenness in the stories anymore.  And you need it to end. 

That's one reason I feel 1795 succeeded.  (Peter Bradford and some of the witch trial not included.) It knew where it was going.  It was relatively concise.  It had great characters who were headed towards a certain end.  It had purpose.  So many storylines lost that initial purpose, though.  And that is where I think the problem lies.   

Here's a list of what people found wrong in this topic with 1840.  (I thought of starting a poll: “Which problem was the real sinker?” but I did not care to be so negative.)  I'm not including complaints about the 1970 lead-up to 1840, and I'm not including complaints that don't seem to be shared by more than one person.

Witchcraft trial: implausible, and done already in 1795
Character reruns:
    Trask
    Quentin
    Pansy/Leticia Faye
Questions from the 1970 lead-up remain unanswered.
Too many unsympathetic characters

So, the bulk of the problems seem to be related to rehashing of ideas and of characters.

My impression is that this storyline was produced when Dan Curtis was losing interest in the series, and when Lela Swift was taking over storyline management.  Maybe while Swift was still new at this particular job, she fell back on the old established routines, but once she got more comfortable in the job, and could run a storyline from its beginning, she started to be more creative.  After all, whether you like parallel time 1841 or not (and I love it!), it isn't chock-full of warmed-over ideas the way 1840 is.

I thought about making a list of what people like about 1840 as well, in order to be evenhanded, but I thought this was enough for one post.  Maybe some other time...or maybe somebody else will do it.

Nice going Lydia! I liked your list.

IMO, I liked how Barnabas and Julia became closer in 1840...go figure. LOL It wasn't a major part of the storyline, but one can seem glimpses of it in 1840. Again just IMHO! I am a known Barnabas and Julia shipper, so don't knock me too much. lol
The end of 1840 always makes me want to throw a shoe into the TV, because I cannot for the life of me believe Barnabas' declaration of love for Angie. But then again, I am a Barnabas and Julia shipper, so as I said don't knock me around too much. lol

Love you guys, no matter what your opinion is, and love this thread!