Grant Douglas/Quentin Collins

[Uncle Roger]

Me? Not on your life! But it seems to be a genetic trait that the Collinses are drawn to people and situations that would further complicate their lives.

[BangsnFangs]

Sorry, this is a few days removed but I couldn't help putting my two cents regarding the whole Quentin thing.  Quentin's a tragic figure and the best way to finish with him at the end of 1897 would be to see him wandering off into the bleak distance, condemned to roam the world for all eternity never to return to Collinwood.

If Quentin were to return in 1969 it would have to be for a compelling and logical reason which made narrative sense.  Unfortunately there's nothing much in DS circa 1969 which makes narrative sense (which is part why I love it).  Instead what we get here is what essentially what amounts to a hapless retread of the Jeff Clark/Vicki storyline.  Having Quentin return as an amnesiac is nothing more than a half-assed copout.  We've been through so much with this character during 1897 and now the writers decide to hit the reset button!  (Maybe this was just a DC thing but I don't want to place the blame on one individual.)  Okay, he starts to regain his memory with the whole Amanda thing but he's still a shell of his former self.  And as for Amanda... Donna McKechnie comes across very well in interviews but I find her very wooden and un-engaging as Amanda.

Perhaps if Quentin had played a more active role in the storyline I could buy his presence in present time a little more but he doesn't -- he's just sort of... there.  It's as if DC were trying to sell the idea that Quentin was a core member of the present day Collins clan, as integral as Roger or Carolyn or any of them -- all in a very short span of episodes.  But Quentin's just too much of a rebel to fit in that easily.  It's a serious misstep in this section of the show, in my opinion.

[michael c]

that's what drove me crazy too...


one minute he was a total stranger. the next he was a core member of the family mentioned on par with Roger and Liz. after 1897 I always felt like the character was being forced on the viewer.

and after Selby had played the character as such a wonderfully malevolent ghost in 1969 and womanizing cad during the first half of 1897 once they tried to make him "nice" (or whatever the heck he was supposed to be) he was as dull as dishwater.

they took all the "juice" out of Quentin. and then having Selby essentially play the same character for the rest of the series didn't do him any favors either.

[michael c]

I've always felt Quentin's stratospheric popularity within the fandom has much more to do with Selby's good looks and charisma than anything the character itself actually brought to the story.

[BangsnFangs]

Yeah, Selby's natural charisma is really the only thing keeping those later Quentin characters afloat.  The writing certainly did him no favours.

I've always thought that if they took real time and care with it, there would have been a way to successfully integrate him into present time but the show was going at such a rollicking pace at this point so they simply couldn't fit it in. 

But Quentin had already become an icon by this stage so the sideburns and dark good looks were really all that was needed -- at least in DC's eyes.  It's a shame really because the character deserved so much better.

[michael c]

if they had returned him to some of his more roguish ways during the later time periods/storylines it might have been much more successful...

but as it stood each successive "Quentin" was duller than the last. 

[DarkLady]

I think they tried to make 1840s Quentin a little different. He is described [spoiler]as a "man of iron" and also was the architect of the Stairway through Time. And having him deposed and almost executed by Gerard/Judah was a new twist.[/spoiler]

[michael c]

to me he seemed the same as all the others. nothing really distinguished one from the next...


I guess 1970PT Quentin was angrier and more belligerent (and wore louder sports coats).

[Uncle Roger]

Having Quentin embrace "family values" was extremely out of character, as his relationship with the 1897 clan was dysfunctional and rather combative. The contemporary Quentin has very few of the roguish qualities that made his character stand out. It's unclear what, if anything, Quentin does for a living. Roger worked at the cannery.Carolyn worked at the antique shop. And Quentin?
Bangsnfangs, I certainly agree with everything you say regarding Amanda Harris. The character is pretty much a nonentity. Donna McKechnie is quite talented. She wouldn't have had the career that she's had if she wasn't. But she is sorely miscast as Amanda/Olivia. But she was very young and inexperienced and Dark Shadows was not the proper vehicle for her to use her gifts as a dancer.

[michael c]

while the rest of the cast got to play new and different characters in each of the time periods I got the impression DC was "afraid" to give Selby another role to play.

so even though they are technically supposed to be different people the various "Quentins" are supposed to represent the same thing to the viewer. if you rooted for Quentin in 1897 you're supposed to root for him in 1840 even though it's actually a different character. but it isn't.

they just glued the sideburns on and told him to act the same. it was more an exercise in "branding" than character development.

[MagnusTrask]

All this is over-stated, I think.  This time around, I'm much more drawn in by present-day Quentin, pre-Parallel-Time.  Having him be the cad of 1897 would not have been interesting.  That would have been throwing Q back in where he doesn't belong.  1969 Quentin was more worldly, more mature, and more empathetic from all those years of experience.  He's very centered and grounded "now", and while that doesn't scream out excitement, it's great storytelling and acting.  It's subtle.  It would be great storytelling if they'd pursued it and fleshed it out further, that is.

Up to the start of PT 1970, everything about Quentin does work and make sense.  Of course he has a perfectly good reason for showing up at Collinwood shortly after Barnabas returens from 1897.  Quentin has known this would happen at around this time for 70 years.  Would you be able to stay away?  How could you not witness this trick of time for yourself, and not greet the time traveller on his return home?

The amnesia creates some mystery which unfortunately isn't totally resolved, but it's not embarrassing.  Once he regains his memory, of course he's going to help Barnajulia.  They're all too busy Leviathan-fighting to build up a life or recent backstory for Quentin.  He doesn't seem to be living at Collinwood pre-PT.  Still living out of a suitcase at the Inn. 

Post-PT, I agree with what everyone's said.

[BangsnFangs]

That does make sense, Magnus, but my problem with it personally is that it isn't fleshed out enough and, amongst all the craziness, is a little too subtle.  Toss that unconvincing romance with Amanda into the mix and there's just too much working against him.  If his story arc following 1897 had had a little more polish and direction to it then I definitely would have had a greater investment in a wiser, world-weary Quentin, which made sense considering everything he'd experience up until that point.

[Gothick]

I thought 1970 PT Quentin had some interesting moments, as did 1840 Quentin.  In both cases, there was an attempt to re-boot the character, but then in the insanity of churning through the episodes, they quickly went back to a kind of loveable rogue default for the character.  The same thing happened with Joan Bennett's roles, apart from Judith who did get to pull out quite a few stops.  I love Judith's final series of conversations with "dear Gregory."

G.