Author Topic: Discuss - Ep #0523  (Read 1132 times)

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Discuss - Ep #0523
« on: August 16, 2013, 04:22:46 PM »
Robservations #523

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:
Re: Discuss - Ep #0523

Offline MagnusTrask

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2013, 04:39:52 PM »
Trask laughs!  I wonder if Lacy had to experiment with how to do it, trying on laughs till it felt right, or just went with an off-the-rack maniacal one...  You don't usually think of Trask laughing.

Jeff Clark's back, with an actual explanation that makes sense as to where he's been and what he's been doing, in case we care, which we don't.   He definitely is Bradford, since he recognizes Trask.

Blair finishes with Tony Peterson (yes dom, it seems as if he should have been gone a long time ago), then is off to investigate a million trees for signs of Angelique.
"One can never go wrong with weapons and drinks as fashion accessories."-- the eminent and clearly quotable Dark Shadows fan and board mod known as Mysterious Benefactor

Offline DarkLady

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2013, 06:44:16 PM »
I believe this is the first time we see HAA make his trademark eloquent hand gestures, so useful in spell-casting. But eventually Trask decides he’s been questioned for long enough and brandishes a cross. Nicholas recoils in suitable horror, averting his eyes. Trask makes his escape, laughing triumphantly. I'm sure JL had much more fun playing Trask than Tony.

Fun interchange with Carolyn and Vicki as they discuss Nicholas: Carolyn comments, If Lucretia Borgia had a brother, I suppose Cassandra could have one too. Vicki comments softly, You don’t know how right you are.

The ease with which Nicholas hypnotizes poor Tony highlights (once again, and if it were necessary) the dangers of smoking.

Welcome back (I suppose) Jeff/Peter.

Offline dom

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2013, 06:34:45 PM »
What an interesting episode. Blair is one confident dude. HHA does well. Anyone cornfused about Trask? We were led to revile him but it seems that in some ways he is now on the good side of things. Our not getting to see Blair meet the family is weird to me. Good old Carolyn as per usual talks to GD much. And Vicki hasn't met Blair yet? Liz is in the hospital? I feel like I've put in the wrong tape. Everyone looks good today, nice print by the way. Your correct DL, Tony is a hypnotists dream - though Blair seems to have strong powers. He sort of reminds me of Petofi except that Petofi seemed to have no weaknesses (as I remember). I guess Vicki never went to Portsmouth or maybe she did? Jeff - still annoying - 'nuff said. Hopeful Vicki, poor deluded dear. I got goosebumps during the Trask/Vicki/Jeff scene in the drawing room. Yeah, Trask is definitely going through a redemption cycle. Anyone hate him less now? I guess this proves that he really did believe in what he was doing in 1795. Oh, about the eloquent hand gestures, your comment immediately brought up the image of the Dark Shadows trading card of Blair making hand gestures.

Offline MagnusTrask

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2013, 07:08:43 PM »
I never doubted that Trask believed in what he was doing.   That doesn't make him a good guy, it makes him a self-deluded hypocrite.    Note that the other characters are openly accusing him of this point-blank, on camera, whereas it was more indirect or implied in 1795.   I think the point of view of the show is that he's "accidentally" on the right side of things, this time.   His shamelessly self-flattering obsession about battling "evil", and assuming the right to act as the hand of God, just naturally leads him to go after Ang.   He didn't "reform"; he was just pointed at the correct target this time around.  And you know he's got to be seething over having been tricked by Ang and made a fool of, in 1795.   There's nothing pure oor noble in any of this.
"One can never go wrong with weapons and drinks as fashion accessories."-- the eminent and clearly quotable Dark Shadows fan and board mod known as Mysterious Benefactor

Offline dom

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2013, 08:03:51 PM »
I remember thinking at times (by the writing and Lacy's portrayal) that Trask wasn't interested in truth but just trying to put another notch on his gun. Witch or not, convict Vicki - at times that is. I was always wishywashy about it. It made him seem more evil to me but I honestly think that I routinely confused knowing that witches don't exist with the fact that they did obviously exist on the show. And I think that the other characters behaving as though there was no such thing as witches helped my fence-sitting. Who's to say that all his witch convictions weren't merited? Even after Barn knew that witches exist he still labeled Trask a charlatan because he got this one wrong, and that's because Ang used witchcraft to make it so (regardless of Abigail's assumptions). Why be so against Trask if witches did exist and he got rid of them. Why is it so self-righteous and hypocritical?

Offline MagnusTrask

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2013, 08:39:25 PM »
We're talking about the kind of hypocrite who doesn't know he's a hypocrite.   He wants to get witches, that's a genuine desire, but unbeknownst to himself, his deeper, stronger motivations for all this are career, self-aggrandizement, and self-love.   So he gets sloppy about his work, harrassing people with insufficient evidence, because emotionally, nabbing people and being the perfect gpodly hero matters more than fairness.    He's also an egotist who assumes he makes no mistakes.   He also may have bitterness about other things that he vents in his work.

This goes on in the world all the time.   Saying someone's "sincere" isn't necessarily saying very much.   Brainwash yourself to believe whatever you do to people is holy, and there you have a form of sincerity, because he has successfully convinced himself.

The louder Trask's voice is, the more he feels the need to convince himself again.   He's trying to make his beliefs true through sheer volume.   
"One can never go wrong with weapons and drinks as fashion accessories."-- the eminent and clearly quotable Dark Shadows fan and board mod known as Mysterious Benefactor

Offline DarkLady

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2013, 04:10:30 PM »
Interesting discussion! And dom, thanks for the Nicholas trading card!

Offline dom

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #8 on: August 18, 2013, 09:23:58 PM »
You bet. Thanx for sparking a fun/nostalgic memory! I loved my DS cards.

Offline alwaysdavid

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #9 on: August 21, 2013, 02:30:26 AM »
Vickie has a noticably bad reaction to Nicholas Blair. Good thing they never play poker on the show. Nicholas reveals he is an attorney which seems an apt profession for him.  I wonder if he keeps it up? 
Jeff returns. Ugh!  Gone three weeks and not even missed. Then Trask comes to Vickie to warn her of the devil and Jeff knows Trask.
you know there's a whole wing that's closed off all the time; the west wing, I go there lots of times

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2013, 04:14:50 AM »
Good thing they never play poker on the show.

I think a seance would be a sort of Collins poker game...
"One can never go wrong with weapons and drinks as fashion accessories."-- the eminent and clearly quotable Dark Shadows fan and board mod known as Mysterious Benefactor

Offline Robot_Quentin

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2013, 01:17:58 AM »
Magnus, the Collins' probably play bridge AND poker with tarot cards!! :-)


---time for a new quote I think.
Robot_Quentin: "I've never watched the last episode, so the show never ended for me."

Offline DarkLady

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Re: Discuss - Ep #0523
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2013, 02:53:07 PM »
Good quote, RQ!