I Have Tilted in an Anti-Bradford Direction

[MagnusTrask]

I'm afraid I must announce that as of today, I have turned against the character of Peter Bradford, after having lukewarmly defended him for several years.   Once the witch trial starts, he (and I'm repeating my WP remarks here) turns into one of those intolerable, insufferable yappy little dogs who are always nipping at your heels, under the delusion that they're really pit bulls.   Arf, grrr, yap, bite, nip bark.    He gives being the good guy a bad name.   I almost want Trask to tie him up with whatever's handy, a curtain maybe, and kick him thus disabled roughly to the floor, in the corner of the room.   A Vicki conviction might seem like a small price to pay for this.

We'll see if Dirk and Tate can be tolerable to me when 1897 rolls around in the Watching Project again.

[michael c]

look out...


Bradford is by far his most tolerable characterization. avoid ned stuart at all costs.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Bradford is as good as it gets, sadly.  I don't dislike the character himself nearly as much as what the writers made Vicki as a result of him.  By the end of her tenure, she became less tolerable than Bradford at his worst. 

[Lydia]

So, Magnus, you like Bradford in his personal capacity but dislike him in his professional capacity?  He's still very new at the job.  Give him a few decades of experience, and maybe you'll change your mind.

[MagnusTrask]

It's not that I think he's a bad lawyer.  I mean, I do, but what grates is how he speaks and acts once the trial starts, not lack of competence.   Yip, yap, grrrrrrr, arf!! arf!!  Nip, bite, grrrr.

[Gothick]

I personally thought Dirk was the best RD characterization.  I always found Peter/Jeff a crashing bore.  CDT just pisses and moans endlessly, and then, there's Ned Stuart.  UGH.

One of my favorite moments in all DS is in hoDS, [spoiler]when Jeff is trying to talk Maggie out of her Josette-trance and Willie, after letting him natter on for a moment or so, conks him out with something large blunt object.[/spoiler]

G.

[David]

Peter is the most incompetent defense attorney ever. He should have just hung Vicki himself!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm afraid I must announce that as of today, I have turned against the character of Peter Bradford, after having lukewarmly defended him for several years.   Once the witch trial starts, he (and I'm repeating my WP remarks here) turns into one of those intolerable, insufferable yappy little dogs who are always nipping at your heels, under the delusion that they're really pit bulls.   Arf, grrr, yap, bite, nip bark.    He gives being the good guy a bad name.   I almost want Trask to tie him up with whatever's handy, a curtain maybe, and kick him thus disabled roughly to the floor, in the corner of the room.   A Vicki conviction might seem like a small price to pay for this.

Welcome to the club, Magnus! 

One of my favorite moments in all DS is in hoDS, [spoiler]when Jeff is trying to talk Maggie out of her Josette-trance and Willie, after letting him natter on for a moment or so, conks him out with something large blunt object.[/spoiler]

I love that moment as well. And oh, if only someone had done the same to any number of his characters on the show! 

My fantasy ending for hoDS is actually that after[spoiler]Jeff woke up he was horrified to see that he was too late, Barnabas had already turned Maggie into his vampire bride, and she attacked and drained Jeff to nothing more than a dried up husk!  [/spoiler]But unfortunately that wasn't the way they went in the script. 

Peter is the most incompetent defense attorney ever.

Just one of the many reasons we created this back in 2006:

In fact, based on Peter's lawyering skills, or should we say lack thereof, back in August of 2003 we'd rechristened him Bozo Bradford.   

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I personally thought Dirk was the best RD characterization. ...

One of my favorite moments in all DS is in hoDS, [spoiler]when Jeff is trying to talk Maggie out of her Josette-trance and Willie, after letting him natter on for a moment or so, conks him out with something large blunt object.[/spoiler]

I will be seeing Dirk again shortly, considering that I'm coming up on 1897 in my viewing.  I think what bothered me most was his relationship with Judith and this:

Dirk: "What am I going to tell them."
Barnabas: "That you saw no one here!"
Dirk: "Oh that's fine...  What am I going to tell them?"
Barnabas: "That you SAW NO ONE HERE!"

But Barnabas yelling at him like that was probably the next best thing since there was no head-clonking on the show itself.

[David]

 

HA! Love it, MB!

[michael c]

I suppose we'll never really know what hideous combination it was of the directors asking davis to act in the broad and loud "DS style" and his own personal brand of belligerence...


but the combined result was almost always loathsome.

[Gerard]

I can picture Vicki, taking Peter's hand, looking deeply into his eyes, and saying:  "I'm falling in love with you.  And if you love me, will you do this one thing for me?  Go side with the prosecution.  At least then I'll have a chance."

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hey, gang,

Do you think that Mr. D. (or any of the other DS alums) ever logs onto the Dark Shadows Forums to read what DS fans are discussing/opining about the show or, more to the point, him/them? (And if he does: Oy vey!!!)  

Bob

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Some have definitely checked out the forum. We've not heard that RD is one of them, though.