Dark Shadows 1/2: Angelique's Descent (spoilers)

Very interesting background on Angelique, and Lara Park's voice is as angelic as it was when the show was being made. If you like the character of Angelique then absolutely seek this out.

I haven't read the book, so I can't say how this version is different from the original text. There are points where it looks like bits were cut, like the time Angelique spends in Haiti between Part 1 and Part 2, but it doesn't affect the pacing and the point, Angelique's tutelage in magic, comes across regardless.

The interviews, short as they are, feel like there's a wealth of information the discs didn't have room to cover (each Part easily comes in at least two and a half hours with the story alone). One thing to considering it that in 1991, when Lara wrote the book, she only had videotapes and episode summaries to go by, and collecting Dark Shadows on VHS must have involved building an extension onto your home (thankfully the Coffin DVD collection is a lot more compact). It's understandable she didn't touch on the Miranda DuVal backstory revealed during the 1840 storyline in this (it's used her 2006 novel The Salem Branch, which is advertised on the back cover of the CD inserts for the two Angelique's Descent CDs), but she does get to cover the Angelique-centric beats of the 1795 storyline. Again, I haven't read it so I don't know if it was like this in the original book. If I rewatch 1795, it'll be interesting to factor in the backstory behind Angelique and her relationship with Barnabas that Angelique's Descent reveals.

The famous love affair. Perhaps its that in the original series Jonathan Fird had better chemistry with Lara Parker than he did with Kathryn Leigh Scott (I'm not selling KLS short, she's brilliant with Joel Crothers), but Barnabas in the books comes off better than the Barnabas of 1795, at least where the Angelique/Barnabas/Josette love triangle is concerned. AD gives us more insight into how they met, as well as the circumstances behind the two relationships Barnabas has. On one hand he can be who he wants with Angelique, and while amidst the responsibility and social expectations his relationship with Josette represents (she's been raised as a proper lady and comes from a wealthy family) he does come across as genuinely falling for her. It's unfortunate that Angelique, who has been through so much and risked not just her job but her very soul, has to be the one who loses out. And as the original series shows many times, she does not take disappoint well. You can appreciate where Angelique comes from, even if her methods are extreme.

The music adds to that as well. This sub range of the Dark Shadows line up to The Ghost Watcher uses music from the first full cast season. It really helps to give us an idea of how lonely Angelique was as Bas Point. I can almost picture Angelique and Barnabas in the marketplace, a bright and happy scene compared to the rest of the story.