Dark Shadows

[Kitty]

457

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If only they'd clued Naomi in on everything instead of making her discover it on her own. Did they really think she never was going to figure any of this stuff out when it was going on in her home right under her nose? It's not like she busies herself with literally anything. She hangs around the house all day doing nothing.

By the way, I'm surprised that we don't get to see any of the other half of the house. I guess it's always been shut up, and they only use the house like a tiny apartment.

[donnie]

I did some research, and I learned that, sadly, Noah's actor was a diabetic and died in 1978 from insulin shock.

Joel Crothers also died pretty young, I believe.

456
What a mess.

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Noah is dead. Peter is framed for murder. Vicky is wounded and in hiding for her life. David is in danger from Nathan. Naomi is about to find her son is a vampire. Millicent is insane... Phew.

Let me make sure I have this correct: Nathan knows Barnabas is a murderer and is being hidden in the tower room, but he doesn't know Barnabas is a vampire. Is that correct?

[Kitty]

456

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Let me make sure I have this correct: Nathan knows Barnabas is a murderer and is being hidden in the tower room, but he doesn't know Barnabas is a vampire. Is that correct?

That's the way I understand it!!! I hope ol' Barn kills him before too long.

[Kitty]

458

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Wtf, Naomi?!

[Kitty]

459

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That was a rather suspenseful ending!

[Kitty]

460

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So here's your answer! This is where the chains on the coffin came from!

Oh, this is so sad....

By the way, Peter says he wants to know what kind of music Victoria likes.... There was literally one kind of music back then.

Don't you think there would be a way bigger crowd to watch the execution of a witch?

And people watching this show back then had to wait till Monday to find out what happens next!!!

[donnie]

Re 457:

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Did you notice the tear on Thayer David's cheek at ~6:00?

Good acting throughout this episode, especially from Joel Crothers.

Re 458:

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Nathan has become the king slime ball of the series (and that's saying a lot )

I thought that was very creative and effective directing to focus on the glass in Naomi's hands for that long instant as she walked across the room with it.

That got to me when she told Barnabas she loved him and died in his arms. And it bought back to mind little Sarah—Barnabas experienced her death the same way.

[donnie]

re 459

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That was a rather suspenseful ending!

Yes. Great episode! It was delicious to see Nathan finally getting what he deserved. Joel Crothers was really a good actor—that look of sheer, wild terror on his face...

I still think Nathan's character morphed too much, though, don't you? In the early episodes of the 1795 storyline, he was clearly portrayed as a caddish, womanizing rake, but also somehow kind of likable, not somebody who would really hurt anyone, let alone have designs on murdering a child. And then he transformed here lately into this monster. Do you think that was weak writing?

re 460

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So here's your answer! This is where the chains on the coffin came from!

Yes, at long last. Now it all makes sense.

Oh, this is so sad....

Yes, a very poignant scene.

Don't you think there would be a way bigger crowd to watch the execution of a witch?

Yes, that struck me as odd, too. Even if it were done privately, there would still have been more of a to-do about it, it seems.

I may be repeating myself, but the whole business of the witchcraft trials and execution for witchcraft was incredibly anachronistic and unrealistic, for putting people on trial for witchcraft had been gone for over 150 years before the time of the story. Oh, well.

And people watching this show back then had to wait till Monday to find out what happens next!!!

Quite the cliffhanger. I couldn't resist taking a little peak at the beginning of 461, though I've not finished watching it.

[Kitty]

re re 459

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I still think Nathan's character morphed too much, though, don't you? ..... Do you think that was weak writing?

In the beginning, he was the sweet, kind beau of Millicent's. I think they decided too late that he was going to be a jerk. He didn't start acting seedy until after Sukie (I think that was her name) came on the scene.

The incontinuity in his character were probably due to writer's lack of planning.

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I couldn't resist taking a little peak at the beginning of 461, though I've not finished watching it.

I did that, too, and also haven't finished watching it yet.

[donnie]

461
Interesting episode! And brings out lots of questions...

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So Phyllis Wicke, then, was the governess who was actually framed by Angelique?

It's been so long since we were in the present time that I'd forgotten some of the dynamics between the characters. I was first confused by the animosity between Julia and Carolyn and between Julia and Barnabas. That last scene brought back to me that Carolyn must still be under Barnabas's spell. And Julia, I guess, is still trying to protect Vicky from Barnabas.

It looks so odd to see Joan Bennett in a '60s gown after being used to her for so long in the 18th century dress.

I enjoyed seeing the shocked looks on Barnabas's face when it was obvious that Vicky had been in the past. I wonder why he is fearful at what she knows. If the original "witch" (Phyllis) didn't know the truth about what Barnabas was, why would Vicky as her stand-in?

I wonder if Peter will ever be able to keep his promise and travel through time to be reunited with Vicky again. And I wonder if he ever learned that it wasn't Vicky who was executed. But then, how would that be, anyway, since it wasn't Phyllis who'd been on trial all that time, etc. So many questions!

And Buzz never showed up in 1795. One of my great disappointments... Oh, well, one can't have everything.

Man. Doesn't it seem like ages ago the days of Burke Devlin and Bill Malloy?? In one way, the plot of this show seems to move so slowly, yet look at the amazing distance covered between then and now—less than two years. I looked it up, and the first episode aired in June 1966 and 461 in April of '68.