August 23rd - The MOST Celebrated Date In All Of DS History!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, my fellow cousins - the MOST celebrated date in all of DS history has finally arrived in the forum's retrospective of DS episodes! More significant than Vicki's arrival in Collinsport. More significant than the first mention of Josette. More significant than the first appearance of Josette's ghost, the first seance, or the first spell cast! Even more significant than the first appearances of Angelique and Quentin and, yes, even Barnabas put together!! Of course I'm speaking of the date [spoiler]

THE silver filigree pen - the single MOST important prop in all of DS history - was first introduced!!!!

 [/spoiler]

Let us bow our heads and give thanks that DS was blessed with such a monumental event taking place. And then let's party  with an abandon like no other event in the entire history of DS, nay, in the history of the entire world could possibly deserve!

[Gothick]

MB, darling, have you been nipping into Roger's brandy cabinet again?

playfully, Gothique

[AndreDuPres]

I think a more important episode would be the one in which that black-lined, quilty-patched afgan (the one seen on Maggie's couch on today's 1968 episode stills) first appeared...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I think a more important episode would be the one in which that black-lined, quilty-patched afgan (the one seen on Maggie's couch on today's 1968 episode stills) first appeared...

No, no, no, no! That afghan is a mere pretender to the throne. It simply sits around in scenes purely as set decoration. It can't hold a candle to the silver filigree pen! No, no, no, no!! The silver filigree pen figures prominently in the action for episode after episode after episode after episode, changing hands, disappearing and reappearing, prompting searches and anxiety and angry confrontations - and even a police sting operation. No, no, no, no! I defy anyone to name another inanimate prop on DS that is so central to the action. You won't be able to because, quite simply, there is no other!! Not even the animated Hand of Count Petofi or the Head of Judah Zachery can hope to compare. They are forever consigned to live in the silver filigree pen's shadow, never to know the awe the silver filigree pen has inspired in generation after generation of DS fans across the world!!

I ask you, has there ever been or will there ever again be a storyline on DS as exciting as the one involving the silver filigree pen? Let me answer that for you: NO! The genius of that storyline simply knows no bounds. In fact, we should all take this opportunity to share what was no doubt a singularly glorious event when we were lucky enough to experience the silver filigree pen storyline for the very first time...

[spoiler]And if anyone is actually taking any of this seriously, well, what's wrong with you? Haven't such past experiences as the Nude Weekend, the Which Witch sWitch Weeks, of The Zen and the Art of Macrame site taught you anything about how I LOVE to put you all on?    [/spoiler]

[michael c]

yes!yes!yes mysterious!i agree that the silver filigreed fountain pen was monumental in it's impact to all concerned.

i think when i first watched the storyline i sort of actually got into it.

[Darren Gross]

Not August 4th, the date of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS Premiered?

[AndreDuPres]

Yes, but the afgan!...it's the central motif behind every aspect of Dark Shadows!  It symbolises the black despair the Collins family experiences time and time again (notice how the afgan miraculously travels through time, sitting and waiting unobtrusively upon Tate's couch or Ben's sickbed or Jeb's chair); but that despair/afgan is embroidered and inset with psychedelic colourfullness and brief happiness a la the great romances presented throughout the show.  Yes, the afgan is a potent symbol and metaphor--nay, even a conceit!  When Vicki finally disappears into the past, we have only that familiar woven blanket to be our guide and observor as Vicki was.  It's the one unifying image that ties in all characters and plotlines.  I rest my case.

( )

[Raineypark]

Yes, but the afgan!...it's the central motif behind every aspect of Dark Shadows!......It's the one unifying image that ties in all characters and plotlines.  I rest my case.

I absolutely agree with AndreDuPres!  The Afgan is much more intimate in the daily affairs of the Collins Family.  Besides, the Pen is obviously trying its best to ESCAPE its psychic relationship with the Collins' while the Afghan steadfastly refuses to abandon them in any of their frequent hours of need!!

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Not August 4th, the date of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS Premiered?

[spoiler]Well, the August 4th premiere of NoDS would be a serious possibility for MOST celebrated date in DS history - but there's very little seriousness in the creation of this topic.  [/spoiler]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

While I'm all for the dicussion of symbolism or even implied symbolism, when it comes to the afghan, I'm sorry, but attributing a symbolic meaning to how often it shows up - actually, one might say how it shows up *too* often - is just too much of a stretch, IMNSHO. Indeed, some people may want to believe that it's the same afghan that's baring witness to centuries of trials, tribulations and tragedy, but I'm here to tell you at last that is quite simply not the case. No, no, no, no! The sad and unbridled truth is that there were possibly thousands of afghans produced with that same exact pattern in Collinsport because it was the only pattern the people of the area were able to come up with and successfully execute. The idea that seemingly the same afghan shows up so often is an errorenous one due simply and unequivocally to a colossal lack of imagination and talent on the part of the afghan makers in Collinsport. Sorry, but that's the reality. Face up to it. Accept it. Live with it. And what's even sadder is that the people of Collinsport became so accustomed to seeing that same pattern of afghan that after a time they ceased to even register its existence in their lives. 

On the other hand, don't even get me started on the mighty phallic symbolism of the silver filigree pen and the very real resounding repercussions it brought into the lives of the people who were unfortunate enough to have encountered it during its time as a central star in the DS spotlight. Their life paths were unquestionably forever alterred...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

i think when i first watched the storyline i sort of actually got into it.

[spoiler]In all seriousness, the storyline is an unfortunately maligned one. It actually contains quite a few really suspenseful sequences and some richly layered material for several of the DS actors to work with - particularly Louis Edmonds and Alexandra Moltke. Who would have ever thought that such a normally insignificant item as a pen, even one as fancy as a silver filigree one, could be the catalyst for and such a central player in an often tense gothic suspense/murder storyline? Well, obviously Art Wallace would.  [/spoiler]

[Connie]

I defy anyone to name another inanimate prop on DS that is so central to the action.

Sky Rumson

[Nancy]

MB, You've been at that rum candy again!
 

[Raineypark]

On the other hand, don't even get me started on the mighty phallic symbolism of the silver filigree pen

I KNEW we weren't really talking about a stupid pen !!!!!!!!!!!! 

[AndreDuPres]

While I'm all for the dicussion of symbolism or even implied symbolism, when it comes to the afghan, I'm sorry, but attributing a symbolic meaning to how often it shows up - actually, one might say how it shows up *too* often - is just too much of a stretch, IMNSHO. Indeed, some people may want to believe that it's the same afghan that's baring witness to centuries of trials, tribulations and tragedy, but I'm here to tell you at last that is quite simply not the case. No, no, no, no! The sad and unbridled truth is that there were possibly thousands of afghans produced with that same exact pattern in Collinsport because it was the only pattern the people of the area were able to come up with and successfully execute. The idea that seemingly the same afghan shows up so often is an errorenous one due simply and unequivocally to a colossal lack of imagination and talent on the part of the afghan makers in Collinsport. Sorry, but that's the reality. Face up to it. Accept it. Live with it. And what's even sadder is that the people of Collinsport became so accustomed to seeing that same pattern of afghan that after a time they ceased to even register its existence in their lives. 

On the other hand, don't even get me started on the mighty phallic symbolism of the silver filigree pen and the very real resounding repercussions it brought into the lives of the people who were unfortunate enough to have encountered it during its time as a central star in the DS spotlight. Their life paths were unquestionably forever alterred...

Not quite the *only* pattern:  for there was another...that brown and yellow afgan that appears less frequently and is even *less* noticable.  I'm sure some hidden meaning can be attached to that one, too, but we were discussing *the* afgan.  I'm sure if Donne were alive to see Dark Shadows, he would have to agree that *the* afgan is, in fact, a metaphysical conceit.  Yes, *the* afgan is that important to the show and its rich symbolism.  I just don't understand (to quote Vicki) how one could possible refuse to believe in its unifying image and potency.  As to the pen...I don't know, I just don't know.  I only know (to quote Julia) about *afgan*, for I've never seen the pen plot.