Dear gang,

I'm surprised not to see at least one topic acknowledging the advent of the Prince of Darkness... erm, I mean the Bailiwick of Sanctity, "Reverend" Gregory Trask!

I think the 1897 Trask is my favorite of them all.  He seems the most complex, and the most devoutly hypcritical.  1795 Trask and poor deluded Lamar (his name is a joke the writers indulged in on Lara Parker's name in real life) both seem to have been fairly sincere in what they were doing, and Lamar actually had personal reasons for going out of Barnabas and Quentin.

Greggie-poo's motives are pure, unadulterated greed, occasionally laced with lust and a good healthy dose of thirst for power.  He gets some fantastic lines, and fabulous Jerry Lacy just goes from strength to strength in his portrayal of the character.

I don't watch the series on Sci Fi, so I'm not sure whether Mamma and Daughter have made their entrance yet, but they are wonderful to watch in their interactions with Big Daddy.

Ah, Trask!  vicious and hypocritical though you are, what would Collinwood be without you?

Gothick

Yes, Doombuggy, but it's GRAYSON HALL.

That adds a megawatt level to the shcok value to those of us who grew up thinking of Dr. Julia Hoffman as our favorite eccentric aunt next door.

Steve

Rachel doesn't get on my nerves as much as PT Maggie Evans did.  The real problem with Maggie and Quentin in that storyline is that the hero and heroine are such dreadful characters that you are rooting for the baddies to win.

When I think of characters like Rachel Drummond, I'm reminded of a line that Oscar Wilde had about one of the original soap opera heroines of literature:  "one would have to have a heart of stone to weep at the death of Little Nell."  Maybe that's an overly subtle way of stating that people who fall for fake sentimentality of this sort can be guaranteed to lack the capapcity to act with compassion when faced with victims of violence in the real world.

KLS isn't my favorite on the series by a long shot, but I do think she was a competent actress who also had sufficient warmth of presence to explain why the characters, male or female as the case may be, took an interest in her.  On Monday I watched an episode where Maggie had escaped from Barnabas only to be recaptured by him and subjected to a horrifying punishment in the Mauseoleum.  She played a wide range of emotions with understated, persuasive ability in this show (and had wonderful onscreen chem with Johnny Karlen in their scene together, too).  

Just some thoughts...

Gothick

Hi Doombuggy,

Just to be clear .... GH's BACK is nude in this scene, but you don't see the derriere of the Divine One.  You do get to see just how freckled she was!

I think Grayson's TONGUE is the most amazing thing about this scene.  

Also, the movie was filmed in 1968.  The director was a former film editor and he spent one year editing his first movie.  Sadly, two of Grayson's scenes got left on the cutting room floor, and the director is now dead, so ...

Gothick

Marsha doll,

Just have to rave over how much I luRVe (pronouncing it in Cilla-ese) your new avatar!  Stop! in the Name of Love! before you STAKE my Heart!  

Sounds like something Barnabas SHOULD have sung to Julia.

EMI has a new series called "Sixties" that is CD reissues of the original LPs in the original mono mixes.  I just got that Cilla one, with Cilla's first 2 albums.  It sounds simply gr-rand!  I'm casting covetous eyes upon the Lulu one.

Hope your day is groovy, hon!  

xoxoxo  The Tuftress

On the topic of Leviathan:

I was intrigued recently while watching a video that included a clip from a 1967 underground film about the Church of Satan, "Satanis," to learn that in the liturgy of that church, the Evil One was addressed as Leviathan in their invocations.

Perhaps one of the writers actually saw that film at one of the art film festivals in NYC and that is where this came from?  

I've always wondered where they got from the Leviathan of the Bible to the notion of DS of an ancient race that once held mastery over the Earth, nomenclature wise.

As for originality, I think the Dream Curse was fairly original, though you may not care for it very much!  I've wondered, though, whether the idea for it may have been suggested by E. F. Benson's wonderful tale, The Room in the Tower.

And Count Petofi is a pretty original "creature" although presumably suggested by tales of such magicians as Cagliostro, the Comte de Saint Germain, and Ally (NOT McBeal) Crowley.

Gothick

For those who haven't read it before, a talented group of my friends have been writing their very own version of how the 1897 storyline COULD have gone as part of that continuing daytime drama, Shadows on the Wall.  This is another great source of stimulation during the dry season Sci Fi is imposing upon us for the holidays (don't they know about the tradition of Christmast ghost stories???)  The URL:

http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/1/1231

There's an archive that goes back to episode 1 of this series, but I don't have the URL handy.  Maybe someone else will be kind enough to post it.  It is a WONDERFUL series that I can't recommend too highly.

Gothick

Luciaphil darling, I started the story, and I think it is superb!  I just finished Chapter 2 on my lunch break.  Can't wait to read more!

Of course, you realize you are going to start receiving serious nagging emails from me when I get to the last cliffhanger!  

Your mention of a Temperance Meeting at Collinwood still has me cackling.  Where on Earth would they hide all the brandy, the sherry, the cognac, Quentin's whisky, etc. etc. etc.!!!

I can just see one of the Temperance ladies going over to admire a cabinet and have a load of bottles come crashing out before her horrified eyes!

Gothick