Discuss - Ep #0576

[Watching Project]

Robservations #0576

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0576

[IluvBarnabas]

It was nice of Roger to offer Jeff a job for Vicki's sake. He's a galaxy away from the Roger of 1966 who wanted to get Vicki out of Collinwood by using his son as the weapon to do it.

I bet that each time Angelique bites Jeff or Joe, she's wishing it was Barnabas. [spoiler] Soon enough, though, she will get her wish to be able to sink her fangs into her one-time hubby. [/spoiler]

Jeff has to turn down Roger's offer, and he can't really give either Roger or Vicki a satisfactory answer as to why. This isn't going to bode well for his relationship with Vicki....I mean he already had to stand her up the other day to work on the experiment or else Adam would have gone after her.

Not crazy about the continuing saga of Elizabeth's fear of being buried alive. And as others before me have said, there is no logical reason why she should still be under the spell. It was Casssandra who put the spell on her, and even though we all knew she was really Angelique, when she died as Cassandra her spell on Elizabeth should have died too, regardless of her being brought back as a vampire by Nicholas.

Can't wait for the second experiment to be over and done with.

[dom]

Love the OV-O.

As mentioned previously, somewhere, we get a new shot of the Old House roof with blazing moon above. New to me, anyway.

Jeff is still wearing his tie and Angelique's reflection appears in the surgeon's mirror. Jeff's no ordinary employee and Angelique is no ordinary vampire. They should have asked each other, "Why are you dressed like that?!"

Davis does a good job with the opening scene. And in the second scene after the title with Parker. These male victims are not so passive. I liked the lead up and second bite - sensual and maybe even erotic and nicely played by both Parker & (especially) Davis.

Roger and Vicki: Started off nicely and then right in the middle of my viewing youtube cancelled the account. It appears DS will not be available on youtube anymore.

[MagnusTrask]

Sorry to hear that dom, for us and you.

ILB-- People keep talking about "Cassandra" as if she's somehow a different person than Angelique, rather than an assumed name, and I see no reason not to think the latter, so your phrase "died as Cassandra" strikes me strangely.   Cass/Ang did die though (again) so you'd think there'd have been at least an interruption in the spell.   Anyway, I've always thought it was too convenient whenever in a horror or sc-fi-ish movie or TV episode, destroying the being who caused a "spell" or something ended the spell.   And if it worked that way, [spoiler]Barnabas's curse would have ended the moment he throttled her in the mausoleum in 1795.[/spoiler]

We get to revisit most of the family in this episode, whicch was nice.   Only David was left out.    Liz picks out the dress she wants to be buried alive in....!   The part of Liz's curse I don't get is Ang appearing in it, now.   It seems unlikely that Vampang is still thinking about and involved with ECS's business right now, popping into her dreams between snacks on Joe and Jeff.   It shows a longer attention span and more of a Protestant work ethic than I'd give her credit for.   Yet that must be what she's doing.  The alternative would be that Liz is summoning up an image of her planted earlier as part of the curse, but if so it would be "Cassandra" she saw.

I liked the dream of Liz's.  Creepy new music, and genuinely moody rather than 1968 frenetic, camp psychadelia substituting for scariness.   

I like Liz with her hair down.   I wonder, though, if this is one of the signals telling her relatives that she's letting herself go, as part of her going 'round the bend....

 

[IluvBarnabas]

[spoiler] In the case of Barnabas, Angelique said he would be cursed for ALL eternity, thereby eliminating the possibility that even her own death would have been enough to cure him. [/spoiler]

That wasn't the case with what Cassandra did with Elizabeth....she never said Elizabeth would have to suffer forever...but then I doubt Cassandra ever really intended to allow Elizabeth to stay in the picture for very long. Oh she loved toying with her, causing her to believe she was Naomi, causing her to think about death and to fear she would end up being buried alive.
But as we saw, Cassandra eventually made up her mind that Elizabeth would suffer the same fate as Naomi.

As to whether Cassandra and Angelique were one and the same or two different people....I'm still out on that one. For the longest time I used to think it was the former, but I'm not so sure now. I suppose if it was, then I guess Elizabeth staying under her power probably shouldn't be as inconceivable as I've made it out to be.

Still I really hate seeing Elizabeth being reduced to this. I really wish the writers could have come up with something better for her.

[DarkLady]

Roger is actually sincerely nice as he congratulates Vicki on her engagement.

Urgh, now we get the whole "buried alive" subplot. Tiresome.

Sorry, I've been insanely busy. But this isn't one of my favorite story lines, even with Nicholas.

[alwaysdavid]

Jeff is rather rebellious under Angeliques control, but another drink from the blood bank makes him more compliant.
The camera is really shaky as Roger walks out of the frame and later as Elizabeth goes through her clothes.

[Roland]

I have mixed feelings about Roger's offering the job to Jeff. Yes, it was nice of him to do so, but it also had an air of condescension to it that was a little off-putting - as if Jeff had no say in what direction his life would take. It seemed rather imperious to me, which is not that surprising coming from Roger. And I really don't think Roger had a right to be as angered by the refusal as he was.

I agree that it's nice seeing so many of the original cast members back together in a single episode. It reminds me that there are times when I really miss the pre-Barnabas Dark Shadows.

[MagnusTrask]

I've wondered if it was this Roger moment that solidified him as Respectable Roger.  Now that I've seen 1966, I watch for some moment when we're sure the irresponsible cad is gone, or rather, now has never existed.