it was very, very good . . .
I know, I know, you're thinking what vitriol is going to be spilling from Luciaphil's tart tongue today and probably something like, is she bitter or what?
Well the answer to #1 is read on and be pleasantly surprised and I'll let you know about #2 after I finish this semester.
Fashion notes first . . .
Very mixed feelings about Naomi's green dress. I love this color, but then there are very few colors that Joan Bennett could not wear well. It's a lovely shade of green, very springlike, but I dunno. There's just too much going on with the gown to make it a winner to me. If they'd lost the ruffles, or the sprigged flower thing, or if the sleeves had been plainer, but as it is too busy. The cloak, however, is splendid.
Brief comment that Louis Edmonds, stern and plain as Joshua's wardrobe might be, really looks rather handsome in an gentlemanly older man kind of way.
Millicent's cape. Maybe it's the blue or all that lace, but this outfit just sort of washed her out. Not a winner.
Onto the show.
Wow. Nobody was asleep at the wheel on the days when these episodes were taped. I mean that. There was not a one of the actors who was not on target. The writing, although a wee bit weaker in parts of the second episode, was excellent. And maybe because the directors weren't worrying about floating hands or flaming witches, they had the time to devote to the actors. It shows. It really, really shows.
I wasn't actually going to write a column thingy for these episodes, just so much going on with me as far as real life, but when I realized that these particular episodes were airing, well, I made the time.
Where do I begin?
Millicent. You know, what I really love about this character is that she is always trying to do "the right thing." Her notion of what is "right" may be an extreme, but that's part of what it makes it so fun. That and the fact, that Millicent, without much encouragement or attention of others,
tries. She labors mightily hard, but she does try. I have to admire that.
And the poor little thing does have feelings. As was evidenced by her response to Joshua's bull-in-the-china approach and that awful remark that could have come straight from James'
The Heiress about no one looking twice at her.
Crothers, Barrett, and Edmonds were amazing. All of them. The confrontation/blackmail scene in the study . . . wow. The layers of misperception and crossed communication. Watching Joshua's stern facade crack like that . . . really, really something else.
Nathan continues to interest me. Whereas Millicent doggedly keeps trying to steer a correct course through life, he's apparently decided "to prove himself a villain." I don't think it's because he an inherently evil man or he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to perjure himself at the trial. Rather, I think it's because he's lazy and because he wants success too much. Maybe too, it's because any moral compass he did have (who I would venture to say, scarily enough, was Barnabas Collins) is gone. His world's upside down and he's decided to hell with it and that he's going to do whatever he has to to get ahead. Having tasted power, he's not going to stop now.
On an unrelated note, I felt rather sorry for Ben. Poor guy must have been truly exhausted. Put in a full day of work for Joshua, then when he should be sleeping, he has to go to the Old House and try and keep up with Barnabas.
Now we come to the jewel of the piece. The scenes between Frid and Edmonds. They were both spot on. God, they were good. No problem with flies or missed lines, which helps, of course. But what I mean is the perfectly tuned characters, the emotions, the sense of tortured family history that just sort of quietly seethed away under the surface . . . this was damn good stuff.
I do not understand how anyone who has seen these two episodes can question Joshua's love for his son.
You don't feel that depth or kind of pain for someone's actions unless you love them. You just don't.
I was struck at how lost these two men are. Joshua was prepared to bring Barnabas to the authorities, which would probably kill Naomi. Barnabas was prepared to kill his father so that his mother wouldn't find out about him. What seems to occur to neither of them is that either "solution" would destroy Naomi.
Speaking of Naomi, watching her and Joshua and then seeing Joshua with Barnabas, the sad fact is that all of these characters are so alone. They've always been alone. That just comes across so clearly. They're isolated in these separate worlds and the true tragedy is that they never can seem to truly connect. They're lost.
Luciaphil
