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Post by ammochief on Apr 5, 2022 0:51:39 GMT
Taking a little bit of a break right now... I'm into the 1795 storyline, which is really neat but I can tell I watched too much too fast because my attention is drifting a lot while watching. Gonna not watch for a little bit, so I can come back re-focused. 1897 is where it's at...hang on!
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Post by Digi on Apr 5, 2022 4:30:47 GMT
Taking a little bit of a break right now... I'm into the 1795 storyline, which is really neat but I can tell I watched too much too fast because my attention is drifting a lot while watching. Gonna not watch for a little bit, so I can come back re-focused. 1897 is where it's at...hang on! Oof, that's not till like episode 700 or so. I'm in the 380s right now. There'll probably be a few weeks- or months-long breaks before I get that far! Incidentally I couldn't keep away I've met Reverend Trask now!
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Post by Digi on Apr 12, 2022 19:47:06 GMT
Man, Lara Parker/Angelique really has the crazy eyes. Barnabas should've known better from day one.
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Post by Digi on Apr 14, 2022 0:53:20 GMT
Oh something I forgot to remark on, wrt to the 1795 storyline:
The various actors who have changed character here...it really, really stands out which of those actors are actually rather good actors. Certainly most of them are shades of their 1960s incarnations, but I'm really struck by a few of them, namely Louis Edmonds and Kathryn Leigh Scott. With most of the rest you could be forgiven for thinking it's just their 60s characters in different wardrobes, but Edmonds and Scott bring a lot more nuance and subtlety to their 1795 roles than the rest, and I really buy them as different characters. Where Roger is dismissive and smarmy, Joshua is condescendingly superior in a distinctly classist way; where Maggie is innocent but traumatized, Josette is wronged but assertive. I'm speaking in broad strokes of course, there's much more to their performances than that, but I'm just finding it pretty striking how good the two of them are.
Contrarily, I'm even less impressed with Joan Bennett than I already was. I'd long ago grown tired of her constant stumbling over Elizabeth's lines and flat performances, and it's just...no better here. The saving grace of her performances in the 1795 episodes seem to be the lack of them, really. She seems to have been reduced to an occasional guest rather than main cast, and I'm pretty content with that.
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Post by Trace on Apr 14, 2022 15:56:41 GMT
Contrarily, I'm even less impressed with Joan Bennett than I already was. I'd long ago grown tired of her constant stumbling over Elizabeth's lines and flat performances, and it's just...no better here. The saving grace of her performances in the 1795 episodes seem to be the lack of them, really. She seems to have been reduced to an occasional guest rather than main cast, and I'm pretty content with that. Don’t be too hard on Joan, though. Where most of the other cast had done summer stock and theater, Joan had been a major movie star. Theater training helps on a live soap, where you have to learn to be on your game because you don’t get retakes. Joan was a product of the Hollywood studio system…perfect lighting, you only have to learn ONE script and retakes, retakes, retakes. That’s a different kind of training. Grayson Hall was also a film actor, but her film successes were in a different era than Joan’s…and there were far fewer of them. The one you should REALLY be more critical of (with regard to flubs) would be Jonathan Frid! He was a trained theater actor and flubbed far more than Joan, although in his defense, he had a LOT more storyline and lines than Joan did, and also was supposedly nearsighted and relying on the teleprompter.
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Post by Digi on May 7, 2022 23:48:42 GMT
Burnt out, took a break, started rolling again. Closing in on the end of 1795/96, with episode 444 on right now.
Lots of fun stuff in this era, and (pacing-wise) it seems to move along quite a bit faster than the 1960s-setting stuff did. Will be sad to see it go and go back to the 1960s, but hey I know there's plenty of good stuff to come!
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Post by Rob Morris on May 9, 2022 10:25:50 GMT
Oh it just gets quicker. They move from cliff-hanger of the week on a Friday at the start, to a cliff-hanger every day, then finally a cliff-hanger every act eventually.
What I learned in my writing for DS is basically every scene needs to end on a cliff-hanger. Doesn't need to be a big one, but it should always end up with something changing and a "where do we go from here" moment.
To be honest I think that's probably a good rule of thumb for all writers of fiction. Every chapter, every scene should propel you forwards and keep you hooked.
(Not saying I get it right all the time, but it's the aim. I think it's what Steven Moffat described as the "trying to stop people going down the pub" rule of Doctor Who.)
But the TV Dark Shadows writers really rise to it.
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Post by thewatcher on May 18, 2022 22:14:47 GMT
I watched The Rescue it was a good two-parter.
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Post by Digi on Jun 9, 2022 23:48:59 GMT
Almost almost done with 1795/96
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 19, 2022 21:42:27 GMT
I’ve decided I’m going to do it. I’m rewatching the show and going to try to do daily updates in this thread based on thoughts. Started at 210 since two years ago I did a 1-226 rewatch but dropped off because pandemic, so Day 1 (yesterday): Episodes 210-219 and it really is a slow first twoish weeks for Barnabas to show up but the correct decision is made to have the two storylines syncing up at the outset. The characters shine with all of the interactions but I’ve noticed starting here you can really tell they don’t quite know what they’re going to do with Victoria…yet.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 20, 2022 12:56:21 GMT
Day 2: 220-227: Eight episodes that start off dragging before actually giving us a plot point or two to latch onto which is very nice. Once focus shifts to Maggie in episode 221 despite some of the episodes in between just turning gears you get something genuinely great by 224 and 225/226 and those two brilliant cliffhangers leading into the point where we get some real vampire action
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 21, 2022 4:12:21 GMT
Day 3: 228-231, okay four episodes only which isn’t a lot but these are ones where quite a bit happens. Kathryn Leigh Scott gives a genuinely great performance as Maggie under Barnabas’ influence, especially in her outbursts at Joe. Robert Gerringer takes over as Dr Woodard and in his first episode has such a better presence. The one blackmail episode is also a highlight with Carolyn always being a joy to watch. Here’s hoping tomorrow I can stop the trend of less episodes being watched and keep steam rolling
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Post by Digi on Jul 21, 2022 23:22:50 GMT
I’ve decided I’m going to do it. I’m rewatching the show and going to try to do daily updates in this thread based on thoughts. Started at 210 since two years ago I did a 1-226 rewatch but dropped off because pandemic, so Day 1 (yesterday): Episodes 210-219 and it really is a slow first twoish weeks for Barnabas to show up but the correct decision is made to have the two storylines syncing up at the outset. The characters shine with all of the interactions but I’ve noticed starting here you can really tell they don’t quite know what they’re going to do with Victoria…yet. Good for you! I ran out of steam again, so I'm back on break haha
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 22, 2022 2:13:33 GMT
Day 4: 232-236, five whole episodes today, basically a week's worth even if it wasn't an actual week. So, this one was a very weird grouping of episodes especially 233 being the one that just recaps things and actively moves the plot backwards for an episode so 234 takes a good half its runtime to catch up. Once it does, it's great, Kathryn Leigh Scott continues to be the highlight, changing mood on a dime and being genuinely frightening at times while 235 has David Ford and Joel Crothers shining (Ford especially makes your heart break for him despite the episode essentially waiting to Maggie being kidnapped). 236 is also chilling by the end with the reveal of Maggie as a replacement for Josette and the first confirmation of Barnabas and Josette being of the same vintage.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 23, 2022 16:29:33 GMT
Day 5: (yesterday) 237-243, okay seven episodes and things are moving, well okay the wheels are turning with tension if Maggie will be discovered in the Old House, especially with David just marching right up and talking to her as Josette, and the scene earlier with Sam and Joe downstairs and Maggie upstairs, but outside of that not much actual plot has moved forward. It doesn't help that 242-243 begin to bring the blackmail storyline back towards the forefront. I do like the blackmail storyline, and 243 ending on Jason proposing to Liz as a twist of the knife is brilliant, but the writers never really know how to balance these two storylines together and I am dreading 266-275 since that's two full weeks of just the blackmail storyline with everything interesting and what Dark Shadows will be known for being shoved to the side. Oh, well we'll see how far I get tomorrow since it's Saturday and stormy, perfect weather for Dark Shadows.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 24, 2022 15:18:44 GMT
Day 6: 244-256, 13 episodes, nearly three weeks worth of the show and it’s a lot. The buildup to episode 250 is wonderful except when they start alternating the vampire story with the blackmail story, the alternating really slows down both stories and makes them feel just a bit too stuck in a story loop, especially when the show decides to take everyone to the basement to see there isn’t the body of Paul Stoddard that Liz apparently killed. The introduction of Buzz is nice and his appearances are all too short, especially since he gives Carolyn something to do. Once 250 hits and Maggie nearly escapes you get some great moments of her being tortured and Barnabas slowly focusing on moving towards Victoria for his affections. And then the ghost shows up making another left turn to build towards Maggie’s escape.
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Post by Rob Morris on Jul 24, 2022 17:49:02 GMT
Ah yes Buzz...
Was Carolyn the first beard to be on a soap opera?
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 24, 2022 18:09:43 GMT
Ah yes Buzz... Was Carolyn the first beard to be on a soap opera? I don’t know about that but she’s perhaps the most recurring beard on dark shadows
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 25, 2022 13:45:24 GMT
Day 7: 257-265, Well I made it up to just before the dreaded two weeks that wrap up the blackmail storyline, and honestly this is where the problem comes in. Once again there are episodes that alternate the vampire story and the blackmail (especially 262-264) while it’s the vampire story that’s the most interesting and grabbing of attention. I do love what they do with Liz once Carolyn is put in jail for a night and Buzz’s short appearances are fun if a little odd considering the writers want him to be a bad boy when he just isn’t, he’s a nice guy really. Liz confiding in Vicki about killing her husband just feels like an artificial story lengthener too. Oh and the recast of Burke, who is fine but that’s not really what cuts it. Now the real star is episode 265 which understand how to introduce a character and although Grayson Hall basically starts as a day player there’s so much of Julia Hoffman that’s already there. It’s just a shame there are 10 episodes in between this and her next appearance.
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Post by newt5996 on Jul 26, 2022 4:38:26 GMT
Day 8: 266-267, only two episodes because of a lack of time and yet little to say. They’re basically the same episode with Liz contemplating ending it all before the big wedding to Jason. There are some okay bits, Mrs Johnson’s in 266 so there’s a Clarice Blackburn appearance and Barnabas in 267 is also a nice melancholy. And Joan Bennett is great as always but these next few episodes are going to be tough.
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