Bleeeeccccchhhhhh

[LoveAtFirstBITE]

  I'm sorry but this current storyline makes me vomit with rage.   I realize it's a transition from 1995 to 1840, but parts of it couldn't be more coma-inducing (IMHO).
  So we've got two kids who are hanging out in a *mysterious* playroom at ages 12 or 13, easily amused by a carousel and dollhouse.  David's got a new friend who is a bit more the jittery sort than Amy.  Where are those sedatives when you need them?  They are encountering two ghosts, one good, the other evil (stop me if this sounds familiar), and periodically falling under possession.
  Then we have the grown-up bunch.  They got an advantageous head start by a list of clues that Carolyn left them in '95.  An unfinished horoscope of Elizabeth, who turned her nose up at these kinds of things before but is suddenly a believer.  They keep looking at the thing over and over for more clues that they can't seem to find.  Over and over Julia researches for Rose Cottage, which they can't find out about either.
  Then we come to the dumbing down of Quentin Collins.  He smells lilacs every time Daphne is around, which brings us to:  Why is she doing this to Quentin??  Why does she seem to want him one minute and not the next?  What is the point of luring him to her and then not saying a thing?!?!?  Why why why??  I know that the writers didn't know quite what to do with him once they left 1897, but this in my opinion, was the absolute worst they could do with him.
  Finally we come to the two key players here.  Barnabas and Julia are all set to sound the alarm when Gerard strikes, but they can't get anyone else into the act, since there isn't much to go on so far.  And it's not just because of a lack of bathrooms at Collinwood.  They fail to realize that the others are not acting quite like usual.  Quentin is becoming more evasive and withdrawn, and Liz just stares at them and speaks in a drone, accusing them of wanting to disrupt things around the household.  They haven't yet picked up on any of this!  Not to mention that Julia continually feels "the presence."  You'd think that by now at least Barnabas would be getting wise to this kind of stuff.

  I haven't seen some of these episodes, so if anything I've mentioned has been resolved or addressed, please tell me.  I've thrown my hands up at this point.
  The only good thing that seems to have happened is that David and Hallie are employing useful arts and crafts skills which will guide them well throughout their lives.

[Luciaphile]

It's not just you. I had intended to start writing my column again but every time I try it's all I can do to get through the episodes without giving up in disgust. None of the characters act like themselves, and the logic of the plot is non-existent. It really feels like I'm underwater when I watch the show.

Plus WTF is going on with Chris Pennock's cow collar medallion thingy?

[Raineypark]

...... WTF is going on with Chris Pennock's cow collar medallion thingy?

ROFLMAO....gasping for breath.

  I wondered what THAT thing was supposed to be myself.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

I watched all the episodes through one time.  I'll watch the episodes during my favorite storylines and then skip these episodes and others I don't care for.  I think some of what's going on is resolved.  But
[spoiler]one thing that I found annoying was that the children, who were so so important before going back in time, suddenly become total nonessential characters.   [/spoiler]

[ProfStokes]

I completely agree with you. LoveAtFirstBite!  This storyline is the most atrocious of them all, IMO.  I'm not even watching the show at this point because, as I explained to a friend yesterday, "Everybody is running around like they've been lobotomized!"

Sample episode
*************
Elizabeth: Everything is perfectly all right.  Enough of this nonsense about a disaster! I don't want anyone to frighten the children.

Hallie: Oh, David, I'm frightened!

David: Don't be frightened, Hallie.

Hallie: David, what are we going to do?

David: We'd better do whatever Gerard tells us to do.

Hallie: I'm so frightened!

Quentin: The lilacs!  Daphne!  Oh, God!

Julia: Barnabas, time is running out and we're no closer to solving the clues.  What are we going to do now?

Barnabas: I don't know, Julia.  Why don't you tell me about the rabbits again?
*************

Adding the new vampire does create some fresh excitement, but otherwise, the characters and situations are ridiculous, dull, and repetitive.  After the spooky brilliance of 1995, I was deeply disappointed by this mess.

ProfStokes

[Gothick]

Julia's couture provides the *only* source of excitement for this viewer during the current storyline.

G.

[Carol]

Arts and craft skills come in handy during those long months at Wyndcliff Sanitarium/Rehabilitation Center for the Criminally Insane/Resort Spa for Mindless Imbibers who see Dead People.
Pearl one, knit two.

The only good thing that seems to have happened is that David and Hallie are employing useful arts and crafts skills which will guide them well throughout their lives.

[A.I.Collins]

Hey Guys!

  Adra here.I think that something may definitely be wrong with this little transition from 1995 to 1840.It seems that lately...I have been laughing a lot while watching these episodes.I guess that says something right there.This little storyline is hilarious.It seems that all the scenes with David and Hallie are funny.Those children are a hoot.And...what did you all think of Carolyn(Leticia) giving a concert with one person in the room.I swear,Dark Shadows can be so funny at times.As someone mentioned earlier,I find it funny how Daphne can summon Quentin but then when he gets to the room,she says nothing.This is all somethin' else.I can't wait to see what 1840 is going to be like.I'm also awaiting the arrival of Virginia Vestoff as Samantha Collins.

Just some of my opinions,

Adra

PS..Am I the only one who finds Gerard's menacing glare kinda sexy?

[scout75]

What I find totally exasperating is that fact that Barnabas goes on about the clues and the impending doom at Collinwood, yet he is hardly ever there to help out; instead, he spends his evening hours brooding over Roxanne Dru.

It really aggravates me as well when past events and the lessons learned never come into play for characters. David, for example, had a ghost for a best friend and was Ghost Quentin's prime target for most of his revenge plot. Yet David acts as though he's never had any experiences with ghosts.

Maggie is attacked by a vampire and displays the same kind of behavior from when she was under Barnabas' thrall, and the connection never occurs to her, or anyone, besides Julia.

Same with Elizabeth, who left her house when it was possessed by Ghost Quentin, but you'd think all that bad craziness never ever happened...

[Julia99]

it's all a mess. . as Steve said the only high point was Julia swinging her butt into the Drawing Room yesterday. . .Oh and when she gets to PT. . the "insane" man trying to strangle her!

[Birdie]

I kind of like the fact that Julia is bossing everyone around including Liz.  I get a hoot out of how she has taken control.  Not that it is doing any good.

Birdie

[Philippe Cordier]

I haven't been able to see the recent episodes since I no longer have cable, but my memory of the Summer of 1970 sequence is very different from the comments here.  It's possible that I would find a second viewing disappointing, but my memory is that I found the entire arc of 1995 through 1840 the most fascinating and complex storyline DS ever did.  The tantalizing clues that no one could quite grasp or hang on to as they were fulfilled one after another was one of the most suspenseful sequences of the series I remember, and also one of the most disturbing since the characters were helpless to do anything to stop the wheel of fate ...  the powers of evil surrounding them were truly inexorable ...

I'd be hard pressed to find a storyline where characters didn't act inconsistently or apparently forget information that ardent viewers such as ourselves know so well.  Certainly these things are irritating, but they're pretty much par for the course throughout much of DS.

I would disagree with the comment about how David should be remembering the haunting of Quentin.  It was my understanding that the past had been changed in 1897, and that therefore the haunting of Quentin never took place in the present day.  As far as Quentin being dumbed down -- in what storyline wasn't he?  Just as an example of some of the silliness that DS often left us with was Quentin going to the cave to stake Barnabas (which wasn't so long ago, but I can't remember the storyline!); for some reason changing his mind, but -- very obviously and too stupidly to be believed -- dropping the hammer and stake before running out of the cave, which Pansy Faye then found quite handy ...

The baffling behavior of Daphne is part of the mystery, as is the inappropriate behavior of David and Hallie, who are under the thrall of evil.  The futile efforts of Barnabas et al. to make sense of the puzzle gave me a sense of hopelessness, a bleak nihilistic outlook that I felt, upon my first viewing, was incredibly effective.

[Julian]

Dumbing down characters is one thing, but why is Quentin acting so.... for want of a better word...whipped.  You'd think he was some youth of fifteen or sixteen who'd never had a girlfriend before instead of a man with a rather impressive romantic resume.  Yet he's acting like some love sick calf over Daphne.  As for Gerard's facial expressions, it seems to me he needs a good dosing of metamucil.

[Luciaphile]

I'm trying to think how to put this.

It's like all of the characters are on some kind of mind-altering substance--not the same one either; it's like everyone of them are taking different kinds of drugs. Some of them are coming down from the high. Others are higher than the flag on the fourth of July. Others are just starting to get looped.

Logic and reality have not only left the building; they've departed the state.

The dialogue and the plot are that insane.

[onyx_treasure]

I would disagree with the comment about how David should be remembering the haunting of Quentin.  It was my understanding that the past had been changed in 1897, and that therefore the haunting of Quentin never took place in the present

Hi Vlad,
     When Quentin is introduced as Grant Douglas, everyone remembered him as the Ghost (including Amy and David).  Later, Quentin gives the explanation that he is a descendant of Quentin thus like Barnabas is welcomed with open arms.  So, I guess technically speaking no one should remember a haunting that never took place but that is not what the writers worked out.