it's the life in my men!" as the late Mae West put it so eloquently (with thanks to Steve for bringing her up).
Fashion notes first . . .
Millicent's short sleeved dress. I liked this a lot. The stripes, the details around the hem, etc. It was appropriate to the character, the period, what the character was doing, etc. On DS, this is a rare thing. The fact that I, a woman whose idea of dressed up is tailored, ironed slacks, a top that matches, and shoes; understands the function of the costume person better than the costume person on a professionally produced show, is truly scary.
Mr. Mooney's wig. As glad as I was to see Bob O'Connell (and hear him!, but more on that below), where did they get that wig? It looked eerily like the thing Cary Grant wore for his stint in "I Was a Male War Bride."
Suki's clothes. I would like to think that both choices and the order in which they were worn were made deliberately, but I'm inclined to think that they were happy accidents.
The first ensemble was really on the plain side when you look at it closely. I adored the necklace of cameos and the hat, but the dress wasn't all that remarkable. This is not criticism; everything about it worked. The dress let us know that either Suki Forbes was a respectable woman or that she knew how to appear respectable when it suited her. The dialogue and the acting let us know all the rest of it. Putting Jane Draper in something that wasn't overly distracting allowed us to focus on the character.
As for her second outfit. Wow. That hat! My first irreverent thought was that she would have to look carefully at the clearance signs on bridges. My second was that her bonnet was something that the late Queen Mother (or Mae West) might have worn. My third more serious thought was that again, this all worked so well! It was all very much like a conscious parodying of Regency fashion and I loved it!
Josette's best of Orbach's nightwear--yawn. What was with her eye makeup? She looked like she could have done a drag show at one point.
And did no one know how to tie Frid's cravat? The purpose of such things was very much like a tie. It wasn't meant to be a scarf. There should not be inches of bare skin visible between the cravat and the shirt.
Onto the show.
It's probably because I'm a practical, decisive person that I want to throw a brick through the tv when Barnabas and Josette are on the screen--I'll be charitable and say that now, so no one flames me
The drama that is Barnabas and Josette. Forgive me for not caring. I listened to all of Josette's impassioned speeches (KLS has some nice moments during the series; this is not one of them) and all I could think was that this woman is either incredibly stupid or incredibly ill.
Let's think about this for a moment: Before dying, your former fiance promises to come back to you. Okay, I get the grief thing. Terrible loss and grief. Now.
Wanting your former lover to come back to you after he has died is perfectly understandable.
Expecting him (particularly in a way that is going to allow you to be together in a corporeal fashion) to do so is not.
Okay. So he comes back to you. Get the joy. Entirely get the eagerness. But he's dead, sweetie. You saw him die. They fr*gging buried him. He's back now. He's not saying this is a hearts 'n' flowers existence. Wouldn't it even occur to you to wonder? Or to be not a little freaked? A good Catholic girl, even a lapsed Catholic girl, would be hearing that little voice in the back of her head saying that something isn't quite right here.
I don't think it would have required much in the way of writing to handle this better than it was. KLS is not the sort of actress who can make dross sound plausible (there are not a lot of people who can).
As for Barnabas. MAKE UP YOUR MIND! (I had no patience with Hamlet either). Actually, better still, use your mind! I get so bored with the endless soul-searching, particularly as it's all very much surface stuff. I don't see this as existence of a conscience because this is very much how Barnabas acted pre-bite.
Again, I really think they could have done better with this whole part of the story. What might have worked better was to have Barnabas tell Josette he was a vampire. Explain what that entailed, and then to have her ask him to bite her--that would have been erotic (if stupid)--did they do this for the revival series? I can't remember.
Also, this really bothered me. She goes to bed with all those candles burning. Can we say fire hazard? I knew we could. Can we say not plausible? I knew we could. This is the beginning of the end of any attempt at realism for DS. Characters will go into passages and rooms that have not seen human beings (live ones anyway) in generations and there will be torches blazing away. Drives me nuts.
Moving from "The Monk" meets "Mysteries of Udolpho" portion of the show to the "Clarissa" meets "Vanity Fair" section.
I
love the sofa antics of Nathan and Millicent. They were more pronounced earlier in the week, but that competitive scooting from one spot to the other had me roaring with laughter.
It's rather interesting watching ditzy Millicent trying to come into her own as it were. Overcoming her fears of contagion, listening intently, providing a supportive shoulder, "thinking", and all--almost as if she is trying to assume a station befitting that of a married woman. Poor Millicent, she picked the wrong family to try it on. The writing and Barrett's stellar acting really shines through.
Suki Forbes. I have a feeling that she and Jason McGuire would get on swimmingly. I really, really liked Jane Draper's performance. IMDB only lists DS as acting credits for her; does anyone know anything about her?
Was pleased to hear and see Bob O'Connell (what was with the name change though?--Rooney wasn't good enough?) I don't think the man ever had that much dialogue before.
Joel Crothers and Jane Draper were wonderful together. The look on his face more than once was priceless. And then to throw Nancy Barrett into the mix--wow. They made it well worth having to sit through all that angst.
Knowing what is coming still makes me ask the question: what exactly is Nathan intending? He seems to feel something for Millicent that is genuine; even if it's just lust and some amusement, he does feel them. Is he thinking of a future that involves living off her money and just having a good time? When do those plans change?
One of the things that I found so frustrating and addicting about DS is that in the midst of the insanity, every so often something or someone comes along and it's wonderful and true and well done and TPTB don't recognize it when it happens by.
Yeah, they were laughing all the way to the bank just by getting by, but I really have no respect for the writers and producers who can't be bothered to expend the effort to try to do better.
They could have done something more with Draper; why didn't they? Crothers has this one turn as Nathan and then it's back to good, old Joe. Such a waste.
Luciaphil