Everyone In Collinsport's Favorite Word Slideshow

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you don't want to know the circumstances surrounding today's entry in this slideshow, then don't read any further...






[spoiler]Today's quote:
Ep #550 (1968) - Adam - 'I don't mean to frighten her, you MUST TELL her that, then she'll love me.'

From "Robservations 7/8/02 - Adam Learns His Origins - #550/551"

A man must grab what he wants, says Adam. Stokes replies, "If his hands can hold it, yes." Adam explains that each man has one chance only. True for most men, agrees Stokes. Adam says he's no different, but Stokes hesitates and responds that Adam is different in some ways. Stokes isn't sure what they are talking about, but Adam says he's referring to himself. He asks Stokes if he believes in love. For some people, says Stokes. Some people should not be in love, adds Stokes, it would be most unwise. "I am in love," says Adam--with Carolyn--she doesn't understand; Stokes must tell her for him. Will he do it? Stokes seems at a loss for words.

"What should I tell her?" asks Stokes. How love is, responds Adam. Stokes is sure Carolyn knows that. Adam wonders why, then, is she so frightened. He doesn't mean to scare her, he must tell her that, then she will love him. It's not that simple, says Stokes. Explain, asks Adam. Carolyn is a sophisticated girl who has led an unusual life for our times, says Stokes--she has money, she can do what she likes, see whomever she likes--she has a great deal of freedom. Adam says he wants freedom, too. Carolyn will marry someone of similar background, says Stokes, but Adam says no, she will marry ME. She doesn't love you, protests Stokes. Adam insists he will make her love him. That may not be possible, says Stokes, you are quite different from her. Adam insists he learns fast, and Stokes agrees. I will learn whatever Carolyn wants me to know, adds Adam. Stokes says it's more complex than that. I hate that word, complains Adam--you must make it simple for me. Stokes wishes he could make him understand how they are born, raised, grow up, learn a little at a time; when they reach maturity, they know what they want, they've made their choices. So have I, asserts Adam. No, says Stokes, you are different

[/spoiler]

Unfortunately, once again Robservations makes it seem as if one character delivers a line that is actually delivered by another. The summary says "Some people should not be in love, adds Stokes, it would be most unwise," which makes it appear that Stokes says both parts. But in reality after Adam asks Stokes, "Do you believe in love?" and Stokes replies, "For some people," Adam asks, "Some people should not be in love?" to which Stokes replies, "I would think on occasion it is most unwise."

I tend to really enjoy this portion of Adam's plot - it contains quite a few really poignant parts, like the scene depicted in the slideshow today. And conveying Stokes' increasing unease at what Adam wants to discuss and what he wants Stokes to do is some of the best work Thayer David ever did on the show.

It's just too bad that shortly after this point Adam all too often acts like a boorish thug!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Stokes' increasing unease at what Adam wants to discuss and what he wants Stokes to do

Yesterday's screen caps was an example of that:

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you don't want to know the circumstances surrounding today's entry in this slideshow, then don't read any further...






[spoiler]Today's quote:
Ep #317 (1967) - Barnabas - 'I MUST see to it that he never TELLS anyone.'

From "#0317/0318: Robservations 01/16/02: Who Influrnces Barnabas?--Only Sarah"

Barnabas tells Julia the story of his being locked in the coffin, then reveals the secret room. He shows her his coffin inside, closing the door behind them. Barnabas finds David's pocket knife on the floor and is positive David knows his secret.

Julia protests, insisting this isn't definitive proof at all. Barnabas, however, is stricken with fear and feels he must prevent David from telling anyone.

[/spoiler]

Once again Robservations rephrases rather than using a direct quote, though it definitely gets the exact same point across...

[KMR]

That looks like Barnabas is holding a USB drive.

[Gothick]

MB, thanks for re-posting that very expressive photo of Stokes and Adam. Great shot!

Your comments reminded me of the potential the Adam character had and his storyline, but it was all written into the ground, most likely because of how DC dictated the story outline at the time.

Stuff like that is why I get frustrated with the hagiographical narrative that DS was such a great show because of Curtis' artistic direction. "In spite of Curtis' interference" would be more accurate, I have often thought.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That looks like Barnabas is holding a USB drive.

Who knew David was so ahead of his time?! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

the potential the Adam character had and his storyline, but it was all written into the ground

There was certainly no reason it had to be written into the ground because Adam came under Nicholas' influence. But sadly, that's how it turned out.

Stuff like that is why I get frustrated with the hagiographical narrative that DS was such a great show because of Curtis' artistic direction. "In spite of Curtis' interference" would be more accurate, I have often thought.

As several posts by several members here attest, you're not alone in that thought...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you don't want to know the circumstances surrounding today's entry in this slideshow, then don't read any further...






[spoiler]Today's quote:
Ep #50 (1966) - David - 'I went down to TELL Aunt Elizabeth and they MUST have come in here.'

From "#0049/0050: Robservations 06/21/01: Where's Bill?"

Vicki drags David into her room. I want you to see what you did, she says sternly. Why did you have to come and wake me up for? he asks sleepily. I don't think you were asleep, but if you were, I'm not at all sorry I woke you up, she says--look at that, go ahead--tell me what it says. He doesn't respond at first, so she asks again. Death, he replies. And who wrote it there? she asks. I don't know, he says. I've had just about enough of this nonsense, says Vicki. I didn't write it! he says petulantly. Who did? she demands--a ghost or a widow?--I want you to take these tissues--she pulls them from a box on her dresser--and wipe it off. No, says David. I'm not fooling, he says, I didn't go near your old mirror, I was asleep in my room! I want you to take these tissues and erase that, right now! she orders, thrusting them into his hand. It wasn't me, he says, it must have been the widows. What's going on in here? asks Carolyn, entering the room. Something between David and me, explains Vicki--David, listen to me. They were in my room all night, he says, I went down to tell Aunt Elizabeth and they must have come in here. That's awfully strange, says Vicki, because they seem to have the same handwriting as you. Death? asks Carolyn--that seems to be the password for the night--she grabs her cousin and shakes him, demanding to know how dare he write that? Vicki stops her and gives David once last chance--either he wipes it off right now or else they go down to his Aunt Liz. All right, he says, viciously swabbing it off--there!--satisfied? Now I want you to go to your room, says Vicki--and I'm warning you, I don't want anything like this to happen again! I didn't write it! he hurls back at her--it was the widow! He goes into his room.

[/spoiler]

Something that I'd never really thought about until today is was it, as David repeatedly insisted, really the widows who'd put the warning on Vicki's mirror? Up to this point, the supernatural stuff on the show was all tease and considered fancifulness that was only in someone's mind, particularly David's. But that would change shortly with the actual sighting of Josette's ghost, followed fairly soon by Bill's ghost. Was Ep #50 the first concrete evidence that the supernatural really was at Collinwood? Though they did still leave it up to interpretation because David could have lied that he didn't write "DEATH" on Vicki's mirror and Vicki even remarked that the handwriting seemed to look like his - but was it? The widows definitely had Vicki on their radar because they were instrumental in saving her from Matthew, and Vicki often heard their wailing when something was about to happen. Perhaps the widows saw Vicki as someone who could be open to their communication. But I suppose we'll never really know for sure if Ep #50 was meant to be a first hint of proof of their real existence or merely just another tease...

Actually, it's too bad that the widows disappear after the first year of the show. Maybe they went on vacation and decided to never come back. Maybe they got tired that, despite all their contributions, David was the only one who truly believed in them. They probably said to themselves, "Who needs this?! We have much better things to do with our afterlives!!"    Though the real reason is more likely that the writers who'd kept the widows a part of the plot simply weren't writing the show anymore and the ones who were weren't invested in keeping them in play...

[Gothick]

I agree MB, the Widows were marvelously creepy and one would have expected them to show up again at such points in the plot as when Liz is about to marry Jason. I think the answer, as you suggest, is that they simply got forgotten. I seem to recall that they were mentioned several times in the early Dan Ross novels, the pre-Barnabas ones, but that's a memory from nearly 50 years ago now.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I think the answer, as you suggest, is that they simply got forgotten.

Makes one wonder what DS might have been like had Art Wallace stayed on as head writer longer than he did?

I seem to recall that they were mentioned several times in the early Dan Ross novels, the pre-Barnabas ones, but that's a memory from nearly 50 years ago now.

It's over 50 years for me since I read the pre-Barn Ross novels. I don't even remember the widows being a part of them. (Though back then it would have meant less to me than it would now because, not having started to watch DS until September of 1967, I hadn't seen most of their contributions to the plots. Maybe the only instances I ever saw regarding them were when Vicki heard their wails right before and soon after Burke's plane went down in Brazil. In fact, those instances might have been the last times they were ever heard from on the show.) But it's definitely nice that Ross included them because there are so many more aspects of the actual show that Ross either glossed over or outright contradicted...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you don't want to know the circumstances surrounding today's entry in this slideshow, then don't read any further...






[spoiler]Today's quote:
Ep #839 (1897) - Quentin - 'You MUST TELL me!'

From "Robservations 3/5/03 - #838-839 - Julia, Prisoner of Petofi!"

Roger starts to walk away, covering his face with his hand in sorrow.  David's hand drops from his chest--he awakens!  Roger turns.  David calls to his father--what am I doing here like this? Asks the boy.  Roger holds him.  "Oh, my son, oh thank God!" he cries.

"They're gone," says David, "Quentin and Beth have gone, forever!  I was with them!"  Julia rises from the pillow, laughing, repeating, "David is all right!"  Barnabas is relieved.  Quentin asks what it means--"Quentin is gone, what does that mean?  What?"

You must tell me, demands Quentin.  Julia calls Barnabas.  He goes to her, assuring her everything is all right--"You're here with us in the past."  Julia looks around, asking if it's the 10th of September.  He's saved, Barnabas assures her, this is Quentin, and he's no ghost.

Julia stares nervously at Q, he looks back.  You look the same, she says, but there's no evil in your face.  "You saw me in the year you came from?" asks Quentin disbelievingly.  Yes, she says, you were with David just before...  David's all right, says Q quickly--you told us that.  Barnabas nods.

[/spoiler]

Julia (back on the 2nd), Carolyn (back on the 10th) and Quentin (today) each have the distinction of having their simple "You MUST TELL me!" quotes used in this month's slideshow. Though theirs are hardly the only examples from the show. In fact, I think half of this month's quotes could have been characters simply demanding that! But I figured that would have been awfully boring after a while so I went with mostly more diverse examples of "MUST" and "TELL" combinations. Though there's nothing that says another "30 Days Of To Tell Or Not To Tell" can't pop up again somewhere down the line. There are certainly plenty more quotes to do another round...

Tomorrow's quote, like Beth's "You MUST not TELL him. You MUST not TELL him about me" from the 17th, is another definitive "MUST" and "TELL" combination for this round because it also contains two uses each of "MUST" and "TELL," though in different ways than Beth's quote so it might actually be more definitive, if such a thing is possible, because of that. It's definitely fitting that it comes up last because it sends this "30 Days Of To Tell Or Not To Tell" round out with a bang...

[Gothick]

I realize this is quite irrelevant to the theme, but...

My God, David Selby had pretty lips back in 1969. SWOOOOOOOONNNN.

G.

[Gothick]

Today's photo is very special to me. It's a shot from the very first episode of DS I ever saw, in June of 1968... just over 52 years ago now.

And the fact that Alex and Thayer both featured in it was so very important, too.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I realize this is quite irrelevant to the theme, but...

Anyone is free to comment about anything in this topic that somehow relates to the slideshow. And I presume your comment -

My God, David Selby had pretty lips back in 1969. SWOOOOOOOONNNN.

- relates to the Robservations screen cap of Quentin, so it's definitely fair game. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you don't want to know the circumstances surrounding today's entry in this slideshow, then don't read any further...






[spoiler]Today's quote:
Ep #518 (1968) - Sam - 'Listen to what I have to TELL you. I MUST TELL you the dream before I die. I MUST!'

From "Robservations 6/12/02 - #517/518 - Stokes, Dream Police"

[/spoiler]

Here we have an instance where the Robservations doesn't summarize the teaser act because it's a recreation of the closing scene of Ep #517. Robin frequently did that. However, even if I'd taken the quote from its appearance in Ep #517 (though at the time I'd picked it I didn't actually know it's also a part of that ep), it wouldn't have changed things all that much because the Robservations for Ep #517 also makes no reference to it. But as I've mentioned before, the Robservations from this period of time are nowhere near as detailed as most other periods on the show.

(What is interesting, though, is that later on in Ep #518 Sam says "I must tell the dream" - and I could have gone with that because it is included in the Robservations for Ep #518 - but I didn't want to go with that as today's quote because it's nowhere near as good as the quote I did pick.)

But be any of that as it may, beyond what I wrote yesterday about today's quote, it is perhaps very fitting that we close out this sub-theme with a quote from the Dream Curse plot because, well, one of the major points of it was to be compelled to TELL the dream...

And as we look forward to what may be coming up in the slideshow in July, I feel my own compulsion to TELL and so I MUST tease that Midnite came up with a major find to kick the month off. But more on that tomorrow...