quentin in the "present"

[BuzzH]

buzz,

it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment but quentin [spoiler]does tell barnabas and julia that chris,amy and sabrina have left collinsport.a stunning lack of any sort of a conclusion to a storyline that they allowed to languish for way too long.  they should have found some way for barnabas to reverse the curse in 1897[/spoiler]

I agree that this plot point should have been resolved.  But, unfortunately, DS was famous for not concluding plotlines.  Case in point, [spoiler]Who are Vicki's parents?  It becomes obvious from that plotline that Betty Hanscombe, not Elizabeth, was Vickie's mother.  But once Barnabas is introduced that plotline, and the portrait of Betty, disappear!  The portrait, which Sam Evans had given to Vickie and she'd taken to her room in Collinwood, actually finds it's way back to the Evans cottage during the Adam/Eve plotline.  Nicholas goes there to for the pretense of buying a painting, and there it is among the ones for sale.  Hello???[/spoiler]

[Gothick]

Hi Mscbryk,

I certainly respect your decision not to watch the final months of the series--I've done that with other shows--I only watched about half of the final season of Babylon 5 (although I did finally view my tape of that last episode, mainly because it was originally filmed as the finale of Season 4), and the same with Beastmaster--both shows in which I found my interest failing due to poor writing and poor production strategies.

Despite some spectacularly awful plot decisions, there are some gems in 1840 and PT 1841.  I think the most notable to me are Virginia Vestoff's performance as Samantha which really is some of the best acting in the entire series, and some of Grayson's scenes as PT Aunt Julia Collins (originally a widow, she then became a spinster, poor dear--no wonder she often seemed tetchy!).  I also ADORE Joan's early scenes as Flora, the pixilated romantic novelist.  Hysterical!  Unfortunately somebody or other decided they needed to tone the character WAY down and she soon became yet another version of Joan's iron matriarch character--still fun, but not all that noteworthy.

cheers, Gothick

[BuzzH]

PT Aunt Julia Collins (originally a widow, she then became a spinster

I did not know this!  Interesting! 

[Gothick]

Another stellar element of the 1840 storyline is Chris Pennock's work as Gabriel Collins.  By far Pennock's most nuanced, emotionally plausible characterization on the series, I think.

I also enjoy John Karlen's work as Kendrick Young in PT 1841 because it is so unlike anything else he did on the series.  He gets to play the young romantic hero--more in the vein of Jane Austen than Bronte (that's Frid as Bramwell--even his name is Brontean), I think.  His courting scenes with Nancy Barrett are adorable, and of course I love watching him cross swords with Grayson's acid-tongued Aunt Julia.

G.

[BuzzH]

Another stellar element of the 1840 storyline is Chris Pennock's work as Gabriel Collins.  By far Pennock's most nuanced, emotionally plausible characterization on the series, I think.

Couldn't agree more.  Now that I've seen all (well, almost all, still hacking away at Summer 1970 and his Sebastian Shaw) of Pennock's character's, I have to say he was VERY versatile!  Even played three different Gabriels (1840, 1841 PT and NODS) and each one seemed like a different character!  (well, maybe because they were, duh!   )  I liked his Cyrus the best though, just loved Cyrus.  I could fall for a guy like that. 

I also enjoy John Karlen's work as Kendrick Young in PT 1841 because it is so unlike anything else he did on the series.  He gets to play the young romantic hero--more in the vein of Jane Austen than Bronte (that's Frid as Bramwell--even his name is Brontean), I think.  His courting scenes with Nancy Barrett are adorable, and of course I love watching him cross swords with Grayson's acid-tongued Aunt Julia.

Again, agree 100%.  Loved Johnny in every role he played on DS but I have a soft spot for Kendrick because, as you say, he got to finally play a romantic hero.  Nice to see the John's play romantic heros at the end of the show's run.  Frid's Bramwell was just spot on too, even though sometimes, I'll admit, he acts like a deushbag!  But hey, he was emotionally abused as a boy so who can blame him?   

BTW, Bronte's brother was named Branwell, ALMOST Bramwell. 

Also BTW, my favorite line in Wuthering Heights is after Kathy dies and Heathcliff is beside himself.  His wife, Earnshaw's (Kathy's husband) sister, says to him, sarcastically, "Heathcliff, why don't you go lie on Kathy's grave like a faithful dog?!"  I roared laughing when I read that.  Sounds like something you'd expect Angelique to say isn't it?  "Barnabas, why don't you go lie on Josette's grave like a faithful dog?!"   

[jennifer]

doesn't Liz say to quentin that that wing is closed and
he says he doesn't care he''ll take care of it
also by this time old gregory is just a pile of bones the room would smell
musty and old(sort of like my house at the moment where is MrsJohnson or Hazel when you need her)
but i do agree that they just didn't know what to do with Q and it was a big let down after
1897 Q

jennifer

[Joeytrom]

The skeleton

[spoiler]was buried by David & Amy prior to 1897 when it was thought to be (or may have been at that point) Quentin's,  but in the altered timeline they may never have found the secret room. In the altered present,  I wonder what Liz and Rogers reaction to seeing the skeleton was when the room was being prepared for Quentin, especially with it wearing a ministers uniform.  Quentin must have had a big smile on his face when he realized what he suspected Judith did was true!  DS cheated the viewers on a lot of good scenes like this.[/spoiler]

[BuzzH]

The skeleton

[spoiler]was buried by David & Amy prior to 1897 when it was thought to be (or may have been at that point) Quentin's,  but in the altered timeline they may never have found the secret room. In the altered present,  I wonder what Liz and Rogers reaction to seeing the skeleton was when the room was being prepared for Quentin, especially with it wearing a ministers uniform.  Quentin must have had a big smile on his face when he realized what he suspected Judith did was true!  DS cheated the viewers on a lot of good scenes like this.[/spoiler]

I agree wholeheartedly Joeytrom!  One of the reasons I love fan fiction!  It fills in all those annoying 'gaps'!   

[jennifer]

you are right Joey i never thought of Quentin's  reaction
and that he would know who it was!

[IluvBarnabas]

The present day Quentin was sadly wasted during the Leviathan storyline (the one exception was the amnesia/Amanda/Mr. Best nonsense). But he sure did have a lot more to do during the PT storyline and back in RT where....[spoiler]he wounded up becoming infatuated with the ghost of Daphne, trying to help her, though it was against his better judgement and against what was best for the children.[/spoiler]

And though it was a different Quentin altogether during 1840 he had some really juicy scenes, especially with Daphne, Gerard, Samantha, Barnabas and Desmond.

[petofi]

Quentin may have been "wasted" in terms of his plotlines and relevance as a character in 1970, but, at the time, his presence as a draw on the show was not wasted.  Though the ratings may have faltered at this time, the audience base of younger folk were still interested in Quentin, and we were inundated with articles and pics of Selby in many youth-oriented mags of that time.  From my own perspective, if Quentin as a character had not been at least present on the show during 1970 (and all the machinations around the filming of HODS), the ratings may well have taken a more dramatic nosedive during that time.  For sheer marketing, it was important to find any excuse to have Selby show up as Quentin after 1897.  I agree, however, that the lack of care in handling/developing the character in 1970 was a shame.   Loved Selby's turn as a crazed Quentin in 1995, though.

Petofi

[michael c]

well put petofi.

when i first saw quentin(and that gramaphone)in his old room in the present i thought that this was not so much storytelling as it was marketing.that room(and that gramaphone)were part of the quentin "brand" much like barnabas and his inverness cape.they were used whether or not it made sense.

of course "we" overanalyze every aspect of the show but the pre-teen audience the show was courting at the time probably didn't question quentin's presence there.

i haven't seen the 1840 storyline but i gather quentin regains some of his relevence.

[Para L. Time]

Personally, I feel that David Selby should have played a different character in 'present' time. Quentin belongs in 1897, his story is there (I actually would have loved it if he and MAGDA had ended up together, but oh well). Selby could have played Philip Todd, Sky Rumson, or even Grant Douglas as just Grant Douglas. The show should have learned from Barnabas that you don't put all your energy on one character and hope that they carry the show. A soap opera is an ENSEMBLE cast, not a one-man show. Selby (and yes, even FRID) should have had the chance to play 3 or 4 characters like everyone else, not just a great-uncle with the same name or a parallel counterpart. David Selby had more than enough star quality to be any character he wanted to be on Dark Shadows, not just another Quentin.

[IluvBarnabas]

Personally, I feel that David Selby should have played a different character in 'present' time. Quentin belongs in 1897, his story is there (I actually would have loved it if he and MAGDA had ended up together, but oh well). Selby could have played Philip Todd, Sky Rumson, or even Grant Douglas as just Grant Douglas. The show should have learned from Barnabas that you don't put all your energy on one character and hope that they carry the show. A soap opera is an ENSEMBLE cast, not a one-man show. Selby (and yes, even FRID) should have had the chance to play 3 or 4 characters like everyone else, not just a great-uncle with the same name or a parallel counterpart. David Selby had more than enough star quality to be any character he wanted to be on Dark Shadows, not just another Quentin.

Have to say you make a lot of sense there. I think instead of an 1840 version of Quentin, they should have given Selby the same version of the character but with a different name. Same with the 1970 PT version of him. It does get kind of confusing sorting out all the different Quentins he wounded up playing.

In Jonathan's case though, at least he did get at least ONE chance to play a character other than Barnabas, that of his 1841 parallel time son Bramwell Collins. David NEVER got the chance to play anyone other than a Quentin.

But you know, not just Dark Shadows, but a lot of shows tend to focus on the popularity of one character at the expense of others. Many believe Dallas wouldn't have been Dallas without J.R., Dynasty without Alexis, Cheers without Sam Malone,
M.A.S.H. without Hawkeye. I like all those shows but not solely because of their "big-guns"....I enjoyed the whole casts as a whole....you are quite right, not just one person or character makes a show, it takes the rest of a brilliant, experienced cast to make a show.

[Barnabas'sBride]

In the case of shows, movies, even books....there's almost always going to be that one character - even in an ensemble cast -  that is the star. The one that carries the majority of the weight of the show, if not all of it. For Dark Shadows it was Barnabas Collins. To use another example, for Pirates of the Caribbean it's Jack Sparrow. That's not to put down any other members of the cast/characters. There are many great characters in them, and in the case of movies and television shows there can be great actors. But there is that one character that usually defines and dominates the show, sometimes intentionally, other times unintentionally.

The best use of an ensemble cast to me was by Joss Whedon in the early seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While Buffy is obviously the central character and the focus remains around her, each character had their own distinctive personality and story arc in Buffy's world. Dark Shadows rarely came close to that,  but that takes very strong writing, drama and development for characters and DS, IMO, stopped focusing on that after a while. And it's not because Barnabas was the main character. It's because they tried to cram everything but the kitchen sink into the storylines.