On Being on Dark Shadows From The Very Beginning ToThe Very End

[MagnusTrask]

I enjoy the "present time" episodes. but I see you're going to "prove me wrong".

Now that would be a very silly thing to try to do, wouldn't it?  Yes, it's just a personal preference.  All I said was that it was hard for me to understand disliking 1840 so much, not that it was "wrong" to.

DarkLady, fire away please.  Where else are you going to let out those theories?!

Gerard, I think 1971 present-day would have been impossible to show onscreen or continue with, too.

[Gothick]

I loved all the "present day" storylines.  The final one, Summer of 1970, had mythic status for many years in fandom because Worldvision had not released the final year episodes into syndication so everything that happened immediately after the moment when the regular cast were about to return to complete the PT 1970 storyline was known only through the notes and diary entries that fans had saved from the original broadcast in 1970-71. 

The plotting in Summer of 1970 is very jerky but I still think there are some wonderful moments.  To enumerate these would involve SPOILERS but perhaps, if I think of it, I will start a "Summer of 1970" thread to list some favorite scenes. 

One of my favorite moments of all from the period is when Julia confronts Sebastian at the Old House and realizes [spoiler]that he's in love with Maggie.  Grayson plays it all so perfectly, has some great dialogue, and it's a lot of fun to watch Pennock playing off her in the scene.[/spoiler]

Sam Hall's TV guide article suggests one possible plotline that could have been explored had the series done at least one final sequence in 1971.

G.

[BangsnFangs]

Hello, everyone.  I finished watching DS in its entirety about a fortnight ago, and decided to join this forum to celebrate.

I look upon 1840 as the "Marnie" of the DS storylines.  Much like Hitchcock's 1964 film, it's undoubtedly incredibly flawed, but engrossing, enchanting and constantly thought provoking.  It's also integral to the DS mythos in a way that something like 1970PT wasn't.  The actual moment of Angelique's death is logical, ironic and tragic all at the same time, rather like a Shakespearean tragedy.  However, what I take issue to is the lead up to this, what should have been the development of Barnabas and Angelique's newfound kinship.  Now we get a few glimpses of this (the scene where Angelique removes the curse and Barnabas admits that he finally understands his love, and later when Angelique reveals that it is Gerard who in fact is possessed by Judah at Quentin's execution), and they are gems, but there is simply not enough.  In fact, I do seem to remember getting an abundance of Judah/Gerard mind-screwing Daphne, which is neither interesting nor integral to the core mythos of the show.  Although 1840 had some great ideas, it just seemed like the writers were getting a little lazy.

Oh, by the way, I love the Leviathans.  Just want to see where that sits.

[Josette]

Welcome, BangsnFangs!  It's nice to find someone who has newly discovered the show.  Those are interesting comments on 1840.  I happen to be one for whom Leviathan is my least favorite story!

[BangsnFangs]

Thanks, Josette!  And I'm resigned to being in the minority with regards to the Leviathans!

[Uncle Roger]

First of all, welcome BangsnFangs! Secondly, that was a very intelligent, insightful post. Moments like that are one of the things that makes DS so special. I wish there had been more of them.

And, while it isn't my #1 favorite, I have an affection for the Leviathan period as well. It provides Joan Bennett, Nancy Barrett and Dennis Patrick with some fine moments. The scene between Barnabas and Angelique after she has walked out on Sky Rumson is one of my favorite DS moments.

[michael c]

it seems like there are certain "rules" in this fandom. one of them being disliking (or more often "hating") the leviathan period...


but I actually liked it too. at least the first two thirds of it. like most storylines on DS it eventually fell prey to everything-but-the-kitchen-sink storytelling before being abandoned as an afterthought. but the early weeks of it were wonderfully creepy and atmospheric. it definitely had it's own "feel" quite distinct from any other storylines on the series.

and, again, for various personal and aesthetic reasons in general I prefer the "present day" stories.

[Gothick]

I actually wrote a longish thing once called something like "I love Leviathans."  I agree that the first two months are great and the final few weeks--well, it's a wild and woolly ride, with some fabulous moments. 

I know most fans hate the storyline but some claim to love every moment of 1795, much of which I find a colossal bore (basically, every time Peter Bradford was onscreen, and starting halfway through, he was in it A LOT).  My view now as an older fan is that every DS storyline has its pearls and its dross.  I love the entire series because it was so unique and it evolved in such an incredible way.

The whole thing about the "resolution" of Barnabas and Angelique's "love story" in 1840 is another controversial topic, but I'll leave that alone for now.

Welcome to the Boards!

G.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

If the show had been continued in the present, it certainly would've made sense to state that David had been sent off, maybe to an exclusive boarding school.  He was still a bit too young for college, but having him attend a British boarding high school would've worked.  I imagine Hallie would've hung around and they would've found something for her to do since they needed a younger character.  Of course, it would've been utterly ridiculous for her to have a governess.  She could've attended Collinsport High.  Kate Jackson, if she stayed on, could maybe have been one of her teachers.

Gerard

Your point about David going off to some exclusive boarding school is right on the money.  Maybe Roger, being the ultimate snob that he is, would have sent his only son to the decidedly upscale Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts?  After all, both George H. W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush, are proud graduates of that fine institution of patrician learning.  I believe that some of the Kennedy brothers may have also attended this same school.  (Who knows, maybe our current president, Barack H. Obama, may have also attended that tony school during his wide and varied travels across America and literally around the globe during his formative years?)

And, I'm sure you'll agree with me that I'd like to have the voluptuous Kate Jackson as my governess, any day of the week!!!

By the way, you might want to check your personal messages here on this site.  It would be very nice, if not also extremely polite of you, to respond to any of your cousins, who have taken the time and trouble to send you a p.m.

All the best, your cousin and fellow Dark Shadows "kiddie" (who, is now, unfortunately, eligible for AARP membership),

Bob

PS Long live the very zaftig Sophie Baker!!!

[Gerard]

I never, thought, Bob, about having David going, not to some school in Britain, but to that exclusive fong-fong-fong (as the late, great Joan Rivers would call high-falootin' places and mannerisms) school where the Kennedys went.  In an epic novel I started writing when the Harper-Collins reboot got off the ground (and then crashed), I had Jamison Collins visiting the Kennedy summer home in Hyannis Port where he was negotiating with Joseph Kennedy about their smuggling operations of bringing booze into America during Prohibition.  Joseph Kennedy encourages Jamison to start working now on his small son Roger to make him something great.  He points to his own sons and says:  "That one's going to be President some day."  He was pointing not at John Fitzgerald, but at Joseph Patrick, Jr. 

I'll have to check my private e-mails, Bob!  I didn't know I missed one of yours!

Gerard

[BangsnFangs]

it seems like there are certain "rules" in this fandom. one of them being disliking (or more often "hating") the leviathan period...

but I actually liked it too. at least the first two thirds of it. like most storylines on DS it eventually fell prey to everything-but-the-kitchen-sink storytelling before being abandoned as an afterthought. but the early weeks of it were wonderfully creepy and atmospheric. it definitely had it's own "feel" quite distinct from any other storylines on the series.

Yeah, the Leviathans definitely fell apart towards the end, which is a shame.  I think much of this can be attributed to the absence of Dennis Patrick.  Instead, the writers concocted that [spoiler]stupid thing with Jeb Hawkes pushing Vicki off the cliff in 1795, and Peter Bradford wanting revenge, which made absolutely no sense.  We also got a lot of Jeb and that ridiculous shadow.[/spoiler]

But yes, the beginning of the Leviathans was definitely a dramatic shift in tone and direction for the series after the madness that was 1897 (and I mean this in the most complementary way possible; I love 1897!).  I think it plays a lot better on DVD than it did in the traditional soap opera format.  Miss a week and you'd go
from[spoiler]Judith bricking up the good Rev. Trask to being introduced to two entirely new characters
in Philip and Megan Todd, in an entirely new time period, with an entirely new set (the antique shop).[/spoiler]

It certainly would've been disorienting.  Additionally, although the Leviathans moves at a deliberate pace, information integral to the plot is revealed in virtually every episode.  However, the introduction of the
Leviathans brings a creepy, almost alienating quality to familiar characters like Elizabeth and Carolyn.  I also like the "evil" Barnabas we get who's a newly inducted member of the Leviathan cult.  It shows that although he's firmly established as the dark hero of the show through his deeds in 1897, he's still not infallible.

The whole thing about the "resolution" of Barnabas and Angelique's "love story" in 1840 is another controversial topic, but I'll leave that alone for now.

Welcome to the Boards!

Thanks, Gothick!  Trawling through the forum archives, I could definitely see the Barnabas and Angelique resolution is a divisive topic.

[MagnusTrask]

Welcome, b and f!

[BangsnFangs]

Thank you, Uncle Roger and Magnus.  Wow, you guys are certainly a welcoming bunch!

[Josette]

While not a fan of Leviathan as a whole, it does have one of my favorite episodes.  There is the confrontation between Barnabas and Angelique when he first discovers that she is Mrs. Rumson, then her confrontation with Nicholas and finally her confrontation with her husband after she knows the truth.  Three fantastic scenes one after the other.

[BangsnFangs]

The scene where [spoiler]Barnabas finally says goodbye to Josette[/spoiler]is probably one of the most poignant in the series for me.  [spoiler]Angelique getting revenge over Sky was pretty satisfying, too.[/spoiler] It resolved so many of the issues I had with the story.