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Post by Zagreus on Dec 2, 2015 22:39:10 GMT
Ah no worries! I have yet to come across one of these audios that I didn't enjoy  Didn't notice at first that this appears to take place at least semi-concurrently with Tainted Love. I smell more splicing and editing in my future... Anyway, we open on Halloween night at The Whale. Jackie is lamenting the lack of things to do, or a guy to go out with, while Jessica enjoys being back behind the bar. This Nate fellow is just this side of awkward and stilted to put me on edge. Actually, the whole play is a bit stilted and awkward, with oddly paced lilting sequences and music that does a weird mix of comfort and unease. So, given what the story is about, bloody good job well done! I... don't really have a lot to say about this one, really. It just sort of... meanders around. For the first half hour or so, we go back and forth between Jessica and Jackie interacting with 'Nate', as Jessica almost remembers him from her past and Jackie slowly falls for the awkward new guy in town. It's unclear when in Jessica's past he's from, as she talks of having once run a bar, but isn't sure if she does now. I first pegged these flashbacks as sometime before The House of Despair, and her memories have been affected by her attack during Bloodlust. We get a brief note about Willie being away with Barnabas looking for Julia. Nice to know he followed up on that after Curse of Shurafa. So Nate was Jessica's nurse, while she was in a coma, but that still doesn't explain these flashbacks of her and him in the family garden, him tending the flowers and mowing the lawn. So, he was her nurse, but he knew her beforehand? You will, of course, forgive the conceit of me analyzing the story as it happens, rather than commenting on it knowing full well how things turn out. This Nate guy is either a super stalker or a smooth smooth operator. Or possibly a little of both. More fun with insects. Yesterday it was flies, today it's bees. This play does a wonderful job of making the listen question whether anything supernatural is actually going on for a good long while before things become explicitly out there. Jessica had a rough time of it when Ed was younger, it seems. I mean, jeez, turning hiding from your husband into a game. Whoof. I wonder if Jessica was as unconscious as she thought during her coma. Or something. It's hard to figure out quite what's going on. Fortyish minutes in, we start getting confirmation that Nate's really not from "here", and that he was somehow in Jessica's dreams while she was in the hospital. Or something. I get the horrible sense that Jackie's getting caught up in something larger. Ah, yes, there it is. It's interesting getting flashes of stuff that was mentioned, but not seen on screen during Bloodlust. Jessica waking up. Jackie after being told off by Trask. Etc. Also nice getting some callbacks to The Kingdom of the Dead. Glad to see that's going to be a continuing thing. The concept of a 'race' of 'keepers', that escort souls to The Kingdom, isn't exactly new, but Seraph and Susan made it look to be a bit of a unique thing. "Lesser" keepers. Hmm. Not sure how I feel about that. And I'm not quite sure how the bees figured in to everything. All in all, a nice little aside. Interesting insight into Jessica's past and Ed's childhood. I wonder if that will get followed up at some point. Would be interesting to find out more about Jessica's family, and her husband, and what she did... I notice we're getting these a little out of order. Tainted Love takes place around the same time frame as this one, but comes out after Deliver Us From Evil, which is set at Christmas. Ah well. Join me tomorrow for Deliver Us From Evil, as we join back up with Sabrina, Alfie, Danielle, Cyrus, and John, with a bit of Amy thrown in for good measure. |
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Post by omega on Dec 2, 2015 23:23:24 GMT
I'll try to keep spoilers light. Tainted Love takes place over a period of time, so the snippet you hear in Twinkling of an Eye takes place relatively early in Tainted Love.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 2, 2015 23:55:09 GMT
To my shame, I haven't actually listened to Deliver Us or Tainted Love yet. Life got in the way, as it is wont to do, though I did make time to celebrate Burke returning to us. So the rest of the week will be interesting, covering new ground. Will probably double-up one of the days, so we're not left with a dangling end-note to be resolved on Monday.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 4, 2015 0:13:40 GMT
Christmas time has come to the wonderful world of Dark Shadows, as we sit down for Deliver Us From Evil.
Amy's shopping in New York City, when she runs into Sabrina in the perfume aisle. Small worlds. Not sure if she's happy about this or not.
Ah, apparently not.
Oh, look, the power's gone out and they're trapped on the elevator together. How convenient. So Amy begrudgingly listens while Sabrina the story of Cyrus Longworth, and the day John took control. It's nice to catch up a bit with the 1973 crew. Assuming Night Whispers takes place sometime around 1975, there's a two year gap there between it a The Devil Cat where we don't really know what went on. Pennock does a wonderful job of sounding a few minutes short of a nervous breakdown while playing Cyrus. Let's see if I can remember my timelines here. In The Happier Dead they were going vaguely into the holiday season, so I guess the flashback tale taking place around Christmas makes sense. Which means that Happier Dead, Carriage of the Damned and The Devil Cat take place throughout November. Works for me.
I was contemplating listening to this prior to jumping into the full-casts. Might be worth editing out the framing sequence and seeing how that works. I love how they recycle music in this series. Oh, a Comrade! Oh, wait, no, that's "Konrad". Accents. Danielle having fun in a bar. Alfie annoyed that the news report of "Bangor's first serial killer" hasn't given him a nickname. Danielle's hearing John in her head, while Alfie takes care of Konrad in the back alley.
Quick aside to praise the sound design in this. The creepy takes on Christmas music is superb.
Ah, Sabrina gives a firm placement for this tale taking place around Christmas 1974. She states that Alfie and Danielle were in Collinsport the year before. So it's been a full year. Which means that Carriage of the Damned and The Devil Cat could ostencibly take place earlier in the year sometime. Also, the fact that Alfie was leaving behind polaroids of the victims' eyes sounds like someone's trying a too hard. I mean, "The Polaroid Killers" is a nice enough name, but it sounds really forced. Not an organic development at all. It sounds like the sort of thing you'd sit down and plot out before strategically setting about becoming a famous serial killer. Which, well, it is. I mean, Alfie's a bit full of himself, isn't he? I can see why Danielle's getting bored with him.
Danielle sets up the resident talking with dead people board and gets ready to commune. The minute she puts her hands on the board John screams impatiently at her. I mean, damn. Give a girl a chance to dial the phone why don't you? Oh, interesting. Apparently She's been having Alfie channel John via the Ouija board. And she's quite smitten with him, from the looks of it. They might make a nice enough couple. She's getting a little too excited about him setting her on fire. Like, damn, get a room. Oh wait, they did. Ah, and Sabrina's praying interrupts them. Atta girl. Ah Cyrus. He starts breaking down in the middle of talking to Sabrina, and she tries to comfort him.
Even I'm tired of Alfie. But oh, it seems there might be other forces interested in Alfie. Interesting. On the other hand, he might just be losing it. Sabrina tries to trick Cyrus into letting her shunt John off elsewhere. But Cyrus isn't having it. We find that Sabrina was lured here by a spirit posing as Chris. She starts having a bit of a breakdown. Sabrina isn't great at getting things right, is she? Ah, and John takes control. Weird hearing Penning as John. Is this how he plays the character in the show? I've got a good long way to go until I get to parallel time.
Alfie tries to scare Sabrina with his polaroids and knives routine. She just laughs at him. Oh, hey, it's oh favorite beating heart effect. Man, just what the hell is up with that hulking shadow that Alfie keeps seeing? Oh, hey it's Emma. Goodbye Emma. Oh god, Alfie, you are full of yourself, aren't you? I'm still waiting to find out what's really going on. It can't be as simple as that, can it? Like, this is going to end up being a trap, right? Ha! Haha! Cyrus just cold-clocking John was satisfying to hear.
And then we cut back to the present.
And Sabrina won't tell us what happened next. But she's married Cyrus in the interim! That's nice of her.
Wait, did they... oh my god they've got John locked up in the cellar. Where he can't turn off the Christmas music! That's hilarious!
Heheh.
Good stuff.
That was a good one.
Was nice to get some closure to those left-dangling story arcs. Was a little disappointed to not hear more about Stiles and the nurse. Perhaps in the next one...
Speaking of which, join us tomorrow, where we'll rejoin Amy and David, and Hallie(!) for Tainted Love. I'm happy to reveal that I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen.
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Post by omega on Dec 4, 2015 0:38:32 GMT
The Devil Cat takes place a short time after The Phantom Bride, as Tony and Cassandra are still in Britain. The end of The Phantom Bride mentions an in-universe ad for the upcoming Halloween edition of Beyond the Grave, of course that's the ill-fated one we hear in the story of the same name. So The Phantom Bride takes place mid-October 1973 while The Devil Cat takes place shortly after, the opening narration specifies a cold, clear December day near the English coast. There's no mention of Christmas, so it's probably early December, or the setting is too remote or eccentric to be concerned with Christmas.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 4, 2015 0:46:57 GMT
Hmm. In that case I wonder if the line about them visiting Collinsport the year prior was in error. No other mentions are made of it having been a whole year between when Cyrus and Sabrina last met.
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Post by omega on Dec 4, 2015 0:58:25 GMT
Hang on a sec, the Tony and Cassandra arc and the 1973 arc (which Cyrus and Sabrina are part of) only connect through the presence of the Beyond the Grave advert in The Phantom Bride. In fact, the advert for the ill-fated Beyond the Grave special is the only thing to link the Tony and Cassandra arc to any other arc.
I've just listened to the end of Phantom Bride, and in the ad Kate says the Collinsport episode investigating Mad Jack is the first in a brand new series, yet in the next story, Beneath the Veil, Alfie and Emma say they are already huge fans of the show and recognise Tom Lacey by sight. Unless it's a minor uncommunicated thing between the writers, the overseas jaunts could be a spin-off thing, a bit like Location, Location, Location and Relocation, Relocation in the real world.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 4, 2015 1:07:37 GMT
"Series" is the British term for what is usually called a "Season" in the States. So the Collinsport episode was probably set to be their big season opener.
And doesn't The Devil Cat also have some links back into the "back in Collinsport" stuff? I could have sworn...
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Post by omega on Dec 4, 2015 1:21:32 GMT
Devil Cat does have Tony reminisce about his youth and teenage years, though I can't remember where he was based in those memories. I've listened to it recently, but can't recall anything relating to contemporary Collinsport. As far as we know, he left Collinsport behind after his appearance in the TV episodes, when Angelique's/Cassandra's manipulations ruined his reputation there (his main issue with her when they encounter each other in The Death Mask).
And yeah, the "series" thing struck me after the last post.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 5, 2015 0:14:15 GMT
And now, to Tainted Love.
Story picks up a few days after Bloodlust ends.
The banter betwixt David and Amy is great. Apparently we're after Panic (and I guess Curse), since Lela is around. "Be a doctor. Relaunch the fishing fleet. Never wear denim." Great advice, Uncle Roger. And then a crazed madman shows up, demanding his wife. Who is promptly dispelled by Hallie Stokes. Well we're just jumping right into things here, aren't we? Oh, interesting. I now want a series of Stokes & Stiles, to make up for the loss of Tony & Cassandra. Could be an interesting spate of stories.
Oh, weird, is this going to be a sort off anthology release, Crimson Pearl style? I guess that'll make it easier to chop up and edit as part of a season of half-hour episodes. We jump ahead to Halloween, which I guess means we're going to intersect with Twinkling here. Yup, and there's the scene. I never really thought about Collinsport as a Hellmouth, Buffy style. A Disneyland for the damned. What a great expression. Glad to see the fishing fleet's getting back up and running. Also glad to see the mine is apparently not just being swept under the rug. Is this Jeanne character from the show? And that's Jackie's actress playing her, right? David just having an out and out "oh ¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤ ¤¤¤¤" moment was a little amusing. Hallie seems a bit harsh in her "taking care" of the possession victims. Hallie seems a bit... calculating. And forceful. Oh, damn, right there in the office, okay.
Skip forward to Christmas. We rejoin Amy as she comes home from shopping, right after Deliver Us From Evil. First sequence was right after Panic and Curse. Second was right at the beginning of Twinkling. This one is right after Deliver. Puts some context to time passing... Hallie is just... all over the place, isn't she? Ha, even David's calling her out on it. Oh Roger and Elizabeth are back in town? Excellent! It's a shame they couldn't have put some voice clips from the show in the background of the Christmas Party to have them audibly present, as it were. Oh, nice, cue romantic interlude music.
We are officially in 1984. Valentine's Day. Amy and David are a couple, but in secret, for some reason. Ah, right, the kids. Who lost their father less than a year ago. Yeah, that makes sense. I find the fact that they have to have hidden stashes of bacon where Tom won't find it amusing. So too the "knowing looks" that Quentin is apparently throwing David. I wonder if Barnabas is back in town yet? That suspenseful music doesn't bode well. Oh, look, it's Hallie. I'm not sure what to think of her in this one, really. The music keeps telling me that I should be super suspicious of Hallie, but so far she just seems a bit needy and a little pitiable. The writing is just this side of "okay, yeah, I guess that could have come up naturally", but I have a niggling feeling she's been steering the conversation and events in her favor. But I'm just not sure at this point. She seemed a fairly reasonable, if a bit driven, character in Carriage of the Damned. But god she's manipulative here, isn't she? Oh no not Deputy Hanley! Oh that's not going to go over well with Rhonda. Oh. Well. The demon was just like "Yeah I don't really care about David." and left. But left the Deputy behind. Oh dear. o__o Oh god damn it Hallie. What the ¤¤¤¤. Oh god Hallie's just a hot mess, isn't she?
Skip forward a bit to April 1st. We're just hitting all the "holidays" aren't we? Oh no, the fishery is clo- oh wait it's April Fool's Day! Raises for all! I wonder if Ed's working the boats again. Oof. Ugly talk between Hallie and David there. I never really understand the thought process between blackmailing and threatening someone to be in a relationship with you. I mean, they know that can't go well at all, right? Ah, I see. She's possessed by the obsession demon. Hrm. That's not great. So Hallie takes up her place in Angelique's cave. She's kind of turning herself into Angelique a bit here, isn't she? Cue dramatic end-of-episode music clash!
Fourth of July. Damn, we're just zipping along here, aren't we? You know, just having a Crimson Pearl style montage release or two that covered 1974 through 1982 (or even just up until 76 or so, when Strix shows up) could go a long way towards sating my wants and needs, Big Finish. Man we've got just tons of characters popping in just off camera in this one, don't we? We had Roger and Elizabeth (and Carolyn) back in the Christmas bit, and we've just gotten Prof Stokes on the other end of the phone. We got mention of Barnabas and Willie back in the Halloween segment intro. We had bit appearances from Eric Hanley and Jackie, plus some possessed people and ghosts. Mentions of Lela and Quentin, Harry and Tom, Cody. And we've just gotten news that Maggie and Joe are getting married! This certainly feels like it has a much larger cast than it actually does. David snapping at Amy, Hallie continuing to be a manipulative bitch. Of course, we know she's possessed, but still. The demon comes clean and starts expositing at David like a comic book supervillain. Damn demons, and their damn plans to walk the earth. Oh, well, didn't see that coming. I still think she's a bit off her rocker. Oh, yup. Right off her damn rocker. Jesus. Well, we needed a new Angelique now that the old one's gone again, I suppose. If David gets turned into a vampire, I quit.
Jump to August. People are meandering back into town after Maggie's wedding. Good to hear that Quentin isn't shy about letting Hallie know he doesn't like her. I get the impression that Roger and Elizabeth have resumed their world-wide vacation? No mention of them since the Christmas bit. I'm kind of glad that Hallie's love spell is causing her such personal misery. Serves her right. Damn she's messed up. So when does Amy show up to give her what for? Because she kind of needs to do it before Hallie walks him off the cliff. Ah, yes, right on time. Looks like not even Hallie's strong enough to completely dominate his mind. And the minute she tries to hurt Amy, he snaps out of it. Oh jeez did she just fling herself off the cliff? Well damn.
Jump to September. Things are back to normal, or what passes for normal around here. Amy and David being lovey dovey is a little sickening hahah. Maggie and Joe are back in Portland, which means that Red All Over happened in that time-gap. And Barnabas and Willie and Julia just got back in to town! Comments that something's different about Julia. Have they finally decided to recast her? Interesting... "I'm as wise as I am handsome, my boy" is a beautiful line from Quentin.
Oh god Hallie's down in the whispering cave.
And that's... that's where we leave it.
Well damn.
Need to sit down and draw up a chart on chronology, so if I can't separate this set of releases out into shorter episodes. Just from a quick mock-up in notepad, I think you could get twelve or thirteen episodes of varying length out the season.
Hallie just sort of devolves into a new Angelique in this one, which is a bit brutal, though I hear that this was the actress' idea? If so, props to her for taking her character in a harsh direction. Some of the more soapy scenes were a bit hard to sit through, but other than that, this was a great play. Glad I had a slow work day so I could give it a greater amount of my attention. It was a nice change of pace. Was interesting seeing how everything tied together like that. I understand from interviews that And Red All Over was originally going to occupy an earlier slot in the release schedule, but got moved to be the fiftieth release as a sort of anniversary "Hey we got Burke back!" thing, which is perfectly fine, but the ending of this one really does feel like it should have been put last in the lineup.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 7, 2015 23:02:02 GMT
...And Red All Over is by far the shortest dramatic reading yet, clocking in at just about 50 minutes.
Oh god it's just great hearing that voice read out the opening monologue over the opening, isn't it?
"Devlin. My name's Devlin."
Cue opening theme.
I love how, in this series of actors playing multiple parts, sometimes even brothers, or sister, Maggie just immediately dismisses the idea that this is anyone but Burke. Like, just scoffs it off. "You're Burke Devlin. Is this a joke?"
I love all the little sounds design choices. The change in footstep as Maggie steps out into the snow. The drumming of her fingernails on the table as she sits impatiently. The sound of the fabric as Burke (sorry, I mean Finn. Pfft) rubs his arms.
It's nice to hear a bit more about Burke's past. I love how "Finn" comes this close to breaking character, but always pulls back, right before he gives himself away. Before the explanation of what's going on, it's a great way of making the listener think they know what's going on.
I love how they do a good of flirting with whether there's actually anything supernatural going on.
Nice trick with the hypnotizing and the ink-blot tests. We get Finn to break character in his trance, and reveal he's Burke. I love the references to the phoenix storyline. In fact, this whole thing is just a great homage to the pre-Barnabas period of the show. The memory of the plane crash is great. The dream-like recitation of Laura saving him from his impending doom is a nice way of doing. A good way of showing something supernatural without actually showing anything supernatural.
And then the portrait starts talking. The Picture of Burke Devlin reveals that Finn's the one's that dead, and Burke's gone mad, imagining himself to be his cousin. Seems he went a bit off the deep end after coming back to civilization after Laura saved him from the crash. Maggie reasons all this away as a drug-induced hallucination, and The Picture of Burke Devlin plays along and lets her think that.
We get a nice review of what Burke's been up to since the crash. I like the idea of Laura saving him. I can just imagine Roger gloating about Victoria falling in love and disappearing to the distraught Burke, and then not bothering to tell anyone else that he was alive and checked in. That would have been around, what, half a year, in-show time, after the crash? I love how just beautifully pedestrian about the whole thing is. Crashed in the Amazon, held by a native tribe, smuggled back into the country by a photographer, wallowing in the mountains and dealing with his crazy cousin. It's all so wonderfully mundane, and non-supernatural.
Oh for ¤¤¤¤'s sake it's that damn pen! Ahahahahahahahahahaa that's spectacular.
Burke pulls a nice bluff, and for a minute there I thought Laura was going to pop up out of the flame. But instead, he's just buying time until he thinks up something better. So what do we do? We cause an avalanche, and hope for the best, of course!
I must say, that phone call was probably one of the best surprises amongst an episode full of references and callbacks. What a nice treat.
While Tainted Love arguably comes last in the line-up, I'm really glad they saved this one for the fiftieth release anniversary. A fitting sendoff for the end of the season.
I really hope Burke manages to find Victoria.
Though, given Return to Collinwood, I guess things don't work out so simply.
And then there's that 'coming soon' trailer. I can hardly wait!
And, unfortunately, that's it for now. I don't have Return saved to my work computer, and Big Finish hasn't yet announced what they're doing next as far as Dark Shadows goes.
It's been a good run. Glad I did it.
Now, what do I do next?
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Post by Trace on Dec 8, 2015 4:55:26 GMT
How about creating a timeline/chronology and/or cast list for the Dorian Gray audios, similar to what I do for Dark Shadows? I don't believe there is one on the wiki--someone correct me if I'm wrong.
It's a huge undertaking (believe me I know)...but you asked! LOL
Actually I will plan on doing one at some future date when life slows down a bit, if no one has already completed one before I get to it!
Still looking forward to reading (in detail) every post in this thread! You put a lot of time into summarizing and discussing each release, and giving us your thoughts and opinions! I am eager to read them all--and I may have questions or comments when I do! Thanks again.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 9, 2015 19:36:51 GMT
I just want you all to know that my days now seem empty  |
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Post by barnabaslives on Dec 14, 2015 18:19:09 GMT
I just want you all to know that my days now seem empty Ours too I think. I'm missing your write-ups, and thanks again for sharing them. Well, there is always the TV series... |
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 15, 2015 1:00:19 GMT
That's a bit harder to get away with at work Would probably be a lot slower going of it, too. Combined with me stalling out right around when Barnabas first shows up... |
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Post by omega on Dec 15, 2015 1:26:23 GMT
I'm listening to Bloodlust Volume 2 at the moment. It's interesting listening again and picking up on feelings and motivations. The character I feel sorry for the most at the moment is Rhonda, dealing with several unusual and difficult cases with the whole town, led on by Maggie, on her back. The meeting where Rhonda is ambushed and she ends up losing her composure really makes me want to give her a hug. At least she has the good graces to realise she's crossed a line while the rest of the townspeople are still in lynch-mob mode, even attacking her on a personal level. Kate's not helping, stirring the waters to get a better story, and almost everyone doesn't realise just how much effort Rhonda is putting into solving the murders while they accuse her of incompetence.
Episode seven is also, I believe, one of the only times Carolyn plays a significant role in all thirteen episodes. I'd love to hear more of her in post-Bloodlust audios, find out just how much she's changed. We haven't had any in-depth material for her since the 1973 arc.
At this point it's becoming quite hard to sympathise with Maggie. As her anti-supernatural crusade builds up the mob mentality, she's becoming less and less herself, as Angelique notes. Maggie is condoning the attack of an innocent man, flinging accusations of incompetence at Rhonda and her new role in episode eight onwards is becoming increasingly draconian with curfews and blood testing. Her behaviour at the meeting is deplorable, getting cheap shots in at Rhonda and even getting Rhonda's only vocal supported thrown out! It's no wonder Maggie wants to forget when her actions and their consequences are finally brought out into the harsh light of day.
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Post by Zagreus on Dec 17, 2015 15:42:56 GMT
So it appears I'll have more to listen to over the course of the next year! But in the mean time... I may start loading up television episodes on a flash drive or something...
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Post by Polar Bear on Dec 19, 2015 0:26:05 GMT
I've started going through Bloodlust again, being that I've recommenced taking up my exercises. 7 CDs = a solid motivation to hit that mat.
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Post by Zagreus on Jun 28, 2016 1:26:15 GMT
It's that time again! Blood & Fire spoilers below: This was a great listen. We begin with Angelique in Hell, post Bloodlust. She gets sent back to 1767 to make sure the Collins family never gets off the ground. Or rather, that Barnabas never gets born, I guess, since they're somewhat established by that point anyway. We are treated to a host of known actors, from both the Original and Revival series, playing not their normal parts, and in some cases not even their normal roles! Imagine, Lacey playing NOT A TRASK! The horror! (I kid, he's quite good as Mr Sands). And Joanna Going as Laura was a revelation. Not only do we get to revisit one of my favorite pre-Barnabas characters, but we get another of the Revival cast performing in the audios! Episode 1 has Angelique meeting a dashing pirate, running into Patience Collins and Laura and Sands, and ingratiating herself into the Collins family affairs at Anchor House (with Collinshouse (someday Collinwood) in the process of being constructed). Seeing how innocent and unspoiled Laura is, Angelique (giving the name Cassandra Peterson (poor Tony  ) is hesitant to carry out her task... until the family starts showing cracks in its mask with the revelation that Abigail Collins is having dalliances with that pirate I mentioned earlier, and Laura's fiance Joshua (Barnabas' future father) starts attempting to lay the charm on Angelique. She quickly comes to the conclusion that they're all scum, and tries to warn Laura off as she commits herself to her task. Episode 2 sees Angelique summoning an air elemental to cause a storm like never seen in Collinsport, and the bulk of the episode features the cast dealing with it. She, as I said, tries to warn Laura off, but fate has other plans for Laura. She's been catching glimpses of a strange red bird that no one else can see, and Mr Sands has brought something ancient and mysterious to Collins House that he's being cagey about. As the storm rages, so too does the metaphorical one within the family. Joshua and his father argue about what's important, Abigail rebels against her father's forbiddence to see her lover, etc. The storm rages, destroying much of Anchor House and making quick work of the fleet, and during all this, Laura is lured by Mr Sands, and swallows a worm, igniting the phoenix within her, and she quickly beats back the elemental that has been stoking the storm. It is, sadly, too late for her now. Episode 3 sees new cast come in! Selby and Barrett play some erstwhile Collinses, visiting for the impending wedding, and we get to meet the esteemed Reverend... Cunningham? Well I'll be damned (and so will he, I'm betting) Angelique sacrifices Patience to save herself from the angry elemental, Abigail's pirate refuses to die without handing over his treasures to her, and Laura starts to learn the magnitude of what she's done to herself. Episode 4 opens with Angelique showing poor Reverend Cunningham the power of the dark arts by raising the entirety of the graveyard from the dead, while the guests begin to arrive for the wedding of Laura and Joshua. Angelique's dancing dead assault the house on the hill, and most of the guests book it through the tunnels beneath, while Laura stays behind to deal with the witch. Not a whole lot really happens in these last two episodes, it's just a lot of maneuvering people into position and letting the chips fall. Laura submits herself to the flames in order to save the family, incinerating the walking dead, and Angelique is consigned back to Hell, her master disappointed in her. We get a bit of a sense that while Angelique was following out her orders, her heart wasn't really in it, and she's actually quite tickled by the outcome. I actually quite hope Joanna Going comes back again, either once again as Laura or in some other capacity. I really do wish they'd let the Revival actors play those they were cast as in the 90s. We'd get Roger and Vicki back, among others. As a nice little surprise at the end, ANgelique has pissed off the Dark Lord enough that she's banished, without her powers. She wakes up... back in the Collins' mine! And vows to go live in a little cottage in the woods, which sets up her circumstances in The Path of Fate, the only Dramatic Reading I didn't cover in my initial listen through because I couldn't figure out a good place to put it, disconnected as it was. No longer a problem! So, next up, The Path of Fate! And after that, I'll be covering each installment of Echoes of the Past, which ends with another Angelique tale that is set after Path but around the same time period. And then, for the hell of it, I'll go back and give Return to Collinwood another listen. So, to reiterate, on the docket is: Dark Shadows Dramatic Reading 6: The Path of Fate (Angelique, 1990) Dark Shadows Echoes of the Past: Trask The Exorcist (The original Reverend Trask, set circa 1780s/90s) Dark Shadows Echoes of the Past: The Missing Reel (Quentin Collins, set 1958) Dark Shadows Echoes of the Past: Lunar Tides (Maggie Evans, set between Kingdom of the Dead and Snowflake/Bloodlust) Dark Shadows Echoes of the Past: Confession (Angelique, 1990's, post-Path of Fate) Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood (Full-Cast, 2003) Later in the year we'll be getting the next short trips anthology, Haunting Memories (details forthcoming), the next miniseries, Bloodlines, and on a recent podcast they mentioned some stories featuring Quentin & Maggie post-Return to Collinwood, so that's something fun to look forward to as well. Now if only they'd get around to making a recording of Vengeance at Collinwood, we'd be golden |
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Post by iainbenson on Jun 28, 2016 7:32:47 GMT
As you've listened to them all, a quick question ...
Curse of Shurafa, Deliver us from Evil and Panic I believe are all set before Bloodlust in terms of the main story, but are bookended by stuff set after bloodlust. Are there any major spoilers / problems with listening to them in chronological order of their main story, i.e. with all the other 1970s stuff, rather than after bloodlust, which I haven't got to yet?
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) is hesitant to carry out her task... until the family starts showing cracks in its mask with the revelation that Abigail Collins is having dalliances with that pirate I mentioned earlier, and Laura's fiance Joshua (Barnabas' future father) starts attempting to lay the charm on Angelique. She quickly comes to the conclusion that they're all scum, and tries to warn Laura off as she commits herself to her task.