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Post by Rob Morris on Jul 26, 2022 10:32:00 GMT
Oh you are so gonna enjoy the payoff though...
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 27, 2022 20:32:07 GMT
Day 9: 268-273, I always like the blackmail point from 270-275 but the four preceding episodes are so slow. Like 268 and 269 I could barely tell you about. 271 is probably the best of this bunch since it’s the first flashback and my god are they trying to make it work. It doesn’t, you can hear everyone running around to make the flashback happen in the limited time of Joan Bennett’s narration and it’s honestly admirable they tried. I don’t love the idea that it’s all been a con in execution, it works much better in theory especially as dragging it out to letting Jason leave and giving him a day is just dumb. Like this wouldn’t be a scandal it would be more a footnote and Jason can quietly be locked up. Also Anthony George is just not having any presence, like he cannot confront Jason as Burke where Mitchell Ryan could while drunk. Oh well, one more day and I should be out of this storyline.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 28, 2022 14:17:17 GMT
Day 10: 274-276, and goodbye Jason. See you again Dennis Patrick in like 700 episodes when you come back as Paul. I’m glad they keep the wrap up with Liz and Carolyn brief and Julia making her second appearance is wonderful though she hasn’t quite become a major player yet. They’ve shoved off the blackmail and now the writers have to decide what they’re going to do, obviously doing Barnabas full time and have him attempt to seduce Vicki is where things are going but that hasn’t started yet with 276 being more a pause to let people catch their breath
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 29, 2022 18:24:21 GMT
Day 11: 277-280, the costume party sequence, or at least most of it, perhaps what gave the writers some idea to do a flashback style sequence and creating accidental foreshadowing as to how that sequence would go. It’s a nice shift to Barnabas as protagonist to affirm Woodard and Julia as antagonists (even if they don’t appear) and there are some sweet moments where Anthony George as Burke actually gets to have chemistry with Alexandra Moltke’s Vicki but sadly he doesn’t have the right edge and will be a continuing problem.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 31, 2022 4:12:34 GMT
Day 12 (yesterday): 281-284, abbreviated episodes since I felt a bit ill this evening after having a bad pizza. I honestly love how quickly Grayson Hall takes over as Julia, within this week she is finding her way into the Collins family and is the perfect antagonist for Barnabas. She's way too smart and quick witted to fall for any of his tricks. The plot with Victoria, however, is one that I find slowly becoming tedious, mainly because I still don't think the writers know where the story is going yet, they just know that Barnabas is becoming important. Her being a potential Josette replacement does work as an idea but there just isn't enough of it working that the weeks which should be crucial after the costume party drag, the same with Sarah as she's just hanging around singing London Bridges being kind of a reminder of death but not really. I love the way the seance resolves though.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 31, 2022 17:02:48 GMT
Day 13: 285-290, Julia's swift integration into the show makes her the one I want to watch every episode. Vicki has really lost a lot of her early spunk by this point in the show and while I think the writers could do something with her but the let's fall under Barnabas' sway is just something that fills time when they can't have someone like Julia on screen. Heck that's also where the rest of the cast are almost at, unless they're interacting with Julia. Also 290 is where the studio catches fire and I love how Frid and Moltke just kind of run with it the best that they can as two very chaotic actors.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 1, 2022 4:39:39 GMT
Day 14: 291-303, were in color! And to match they build a romantic courtyard fountain set for Collinwood and I think update some costumes for Julia and Maggie in particular. They also actually do a good job of integrating the vampire stuff with the Vicki/Burke romance storyline that’s going on and coming to a head (if a little slowly). Maggie arriving back is the perfect way to get Julia in every story and this works so well that Grayson Hall takes and runs with every scene she’s in. It’s clear that she’s now the star of the show and what really works is how she gets Barnabas to trust her and believe that she does want to help. There’s this moment in 302 where she discusses Sarah and is completely open to there being a ghost and acknowledges Barnabas changing things forever. The Vicki/Burke romance does have the problem of dragging whenever it turns to the topic of Seaview. It feels like a plot stopper and is something honestly doesn’t need to take that much, but there are also scenes of them being cute together and being happy once he proposes. Anthony George makes it close to having the biting edge when he’s threatening and investigating Barnabas for the most part. There are just some things that need to be pushed forward and its clear the writers have something cooking with where Julia is positioned.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 2, 2022 12:59:23 GMT
Day 15: 304-307, This one’s gonna be small honestly. Burke investigating Barnabas is fun and David being lured to the mausoleum by Sarah is great since he’s the one most susceptible to the supernatural but really Barnabas and Julia are clearly the stars
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 10, 2022 4:49:25 GMT
Day 16: 308-311, took a few days off since life got hectic for a while but I’m back now and should be for at least a few weeks. Sadly there’s not much to say about these episodes. 310-311 are perhaps the best with David Henesey giving a great performance as David is locked up and Nancy Barrett always proving why she’s interesting to watch. 308-309 can honestly be skipped, by this point we’ve established Sarah as our focus and don’t need to keep going on that front.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 12, 2022 2:08:19 GMT
Day 17: 312-317, typical of me to think I'm good to do every day again and then immediately skip a day, oops. Okay so this group was also kind of tough to get through, mainly 312-315 since David being kidnapped was padded to hell and back for most of the week. David escaping is nice but Ron Sproat as a writer just likes to run in circles leaving Gordon Russell to try and pick up the pieces. 316-317 at least has some good Barnabas threatening David and David getting very close to realizing what's going on. And 317's cliffhanger is also really good with Barnabas and Julia stuck in the secret room while Dr. Woodard and Sam are searching the mausoleum...for reasons. Yeah this story really doesn't make much sense and I really hope things pick up soon, I remember them picking up fairly soon as we build towards 1795 yet that's like 50ish episodes away.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 14, 2022 15:56:41 GMT
Day 18: 318-325, the run of the show with a bunch of kinescope copies and honestly the point where a switch is flipped and the writers (probably just Gordon Russell) knows that there is somewhere the show is going. While the plot developments themselves are still a little slow to come, there is a genuine feeling of movement as David is becoming the center of the current storyline. I do think it's interesting that while there was an intent to make Barnabas more noble, he's almost reverted to the monster he was, killing another woman, wanting to kill David for discovering his secret, and leading Willie into a coma. It's been nice to get away from Collinwood for a while and have some more focus on Maggie, knowing that they haven't dropped the idea that her kidnapper is still out there. There's also really only one episode that I'd classify as mostly recap, 324, the one Jonathan Frid isn't in but that has a refreshed Joan Bennett and David Henesey giving a great performance. Also the dream cliffhanger to 325 is iconic and is perhaps the first since 225/226 with the actual vampire reveal that is going to shake everything up.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 16, 2022 14:36:45 GMT
Day 19: 326-330, would be more and more another missed day but my car was broken into last night. However this is the week of the show where everything goes insane, Willie is written out for a while as John Karlan gives some of his best performances, David slowly pieces together what’s been going on (and they earn that dream recap), and my god is Grayson Hall so much fun to watch. And it all culminates in the bat. The bat is just this level of camp insanity that only works on a show like this.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 19, 2022 22:00:39 GMT
Day 20: 331-335, the full week this time and it’s honestly a great week, we have genuine terror at what’s happening to David as nobody believes him about the bat, Dr. Woodard is convinced to try to find Sarah and the secret room in the mausoleum and manages it, and Barnabas and Julia really begin to be on opposite sides since Julia doesn’t want to see people die. Sadly there are two very big issues, first the stuff with Seaview is back and I hate it, there’s no real point of interest and it just feels too normal. Second, Peter Turgeon as Dr. Woodard is not great, like at all. Robert Gerringer had this almost paternal charm while Turgeon is just really dull and awkward in the part.
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Post by newt5996 on Nov 14, 2022 2:59:38 GMT
Day 21: 336-342: I'm back at it after a break though who knows how long this second streak will last, hopefully we get to at least 1795 and that pushes me through. The buildup to the death of Dr. Woodard is great, and hey it means there's less Peter Turgeon who I really dislike. 340-341 in particular are brilliant episodes while 342 is very much just a recap episode but hey things are moving and the story is gaining a focus (Julia killing someone she was close too as we focus away from David)
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Post by newt5996 on Dec 5, 2022 19:20:15 GMT
I have started the season 2 blu-ray box set. Planet of Giants just as rubbish as I remember. Wrong thread. This is for Dark Shadows.
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Post by newt5996 on Mar 14, 2023 3:02:12 GMT
Day 22: Wasn't intending another long break but here I am, though maybe this time I'll at least do a couple episodes every few days instead of every few months. 343-348 is a very nice sequence of episodes that move incredibly fast. Like easily this sort of story could have easily stretched 3-4 weeks of episodes but the cliffhangers from pretty much every episode in this sequence feels like a Friday cliffhanger, but hey the writers have somewhere to go and clearly know what they are doing with the upcoming 1795 flashback. Even when these episodes slow down like in 344 and 347 in particular (though 347 begins the extreme upshift in pace into 248) there are these amazing little moments between Carolyn and David that give both characters, though Carolyn especially, a purpose going forward. Also Burke is dead which honestly is kind of a relief, his death gives Vicki some pathos to deal with and Barnabas a chance to really be the leading man, plus Julia is always way too fun to watch, beginning Grayson Hall's massive 21 consecutive episode appearances.
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Post by newt5996 on Mar 15, 2023 19:30:52 GMT
Day 23: 349-351, only three episodes but three brilliant episodes at that, doing Barnabas as an old man and the way it resolves with him biting Carolyn and making her his servant is fascinating. It’s also genuinely creepy. Carolyn as a victim also allows Nancy Barrett to really play up the horror.
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Post by newt5996 on Mar 18, 2023 4:32:57 GMT
Day 24: 352-360, a whopping eight episodes where I am on another roll. These episodes are a bit of a mixed bag, especially on 353-354 and 358 where we're in the middle of the week and there's a big Friday cliffhanger coming but they have to stall for time to get there. Then the big Friday cliffhanger in 355 is actually just setup for the next week of story instead of really a point of danger at all, so the next week catapults the story forward until 360 also doesn't really have a big Friday plot development until the cliffhanger (which is better). It's still the middle of Grayson Hall's big 21 episode streak and she's holding up magnificently, though I hope they're filming at least a little out of order so she can get a break when necessary. Julia vs. Carolyn is a story beat that shouldn't work, but the way Hall and Barrett play off each other is great while allowing Jonathan Frid as Barnabas as the background villain and mastermind. I've noticed Vicki is on a break, going to Maine with David for a vacation, and honestly it means that Barnabas can't be obsessing over Josette instead getting to be at odds with Julia.
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Post by newt5996 on Aug 6, 2023 17:57:17 GMT
Day 25: 361-367, yes several months not watching and then I got the urge to binge a bunch of episodes getting right to the beginning of the 1795 arc. It's such a solid run of episodes, 361 is a contender for the show's best held high by Grayson Hall's performance as Julia Hoffman descends into insanity. The idea of the flashback is also just a great chance for every actor who has been stuck in the background to really come to the forefront with some of their new characters and it actually gives Vicki something to do, for now at least.
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