DARK SHADOWS 294 and 295
DARK SHADOWS
294 and 295
I’m engrossed in this more than ever before. So much so that I don’t really want to write these reviews any more. Burn out? Maybe? These two episodes take the show to new levels and new plot directions.
In any case Maggie gets a flurry
of IDKs in the first episode and there’s also a host of IDU in them, too. Sarah
comes off as a nut case again, telling Maggie she’d never leave her and then
leaving her to wander into the Blue Whale by herself, though Maggie and Sarah’s
scene are charming and warm. In addition, the end of 294 refilmed for the start
of 295 (which for the first time has this show presented in COLOR! OH MY!) has
one of the most pivotal and iconic events in DS history: Maggie is free and
known to be alive by Burke and Vicki while in the Blue Whale for the first time
in some three months or longer AND Barnabas, who found out she was alive from
Julia few eps ago, is there, wondering if she will expose him. Anyone NOT
tuning in after the end of 294 must be nuts, too! It’s that good.
Burke and
Barnabas’s rivalry is starting to, as ever, annoy me. Their sniping at each
other is childish, petty, and almost…I don’t know, unrealistic. It nearly ruins
the jaunt the three of them take to the house by the sea that Vicki wants to
live in. BTW, what’s happening to Vicki? Has Josette’s possession left her
mentally challenged or disturbed, too? She talks to Burke of a three masted
schooner she saw from this house but it was a joke and when Burke brings it up,
she takes it seriously. Does she want to impress Barnabas and thinks that this
joke about the past will make him cringe? Either way, here is when Vicki starts
out irrational and almost dopey and on drugs.
Dave’s an
idiot, leaving Julia alone with Maggie.
Julia’s an evil woman. Barnabas’s threat to Julia just as the phone rings is
priceless and classic. Her movements to dance away from him are hilarious.
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294
Vicki. Maggie wants to go home. Sarah
listened hard and found Maggie, who
hears Sarah mention David. Does Maggie
remember David? It's hard to tell.
Sarah flubs. Maggie rants about going
home and then...says she's not even
sure she wants to go home. Sarah's doll
looks different as Maggie holds
it. Together, they fool nurse Jackson.
Maggie hides behind the door. When
the nurse sees Sarah sitting on the bed,
Maggie sneaks out and shuts the
door and it's locked. Nurse Jackson tries
to open the door and shakes the
entire and I mean THE ENTIRE wall! Sarah
vanishes from the room. Sarah is
singing London Bridge.
Burke, Vicki and Barnabas are outside in
the woods trekking to the New Old
House by the sea. It looks rundown from
outside but it's big. Barnabas
sees the No Trespassing sign in the dark
and Burke comments he must have
eyes like a cat to have seen it from
where he did. Barnabas just excuses
this as having grown accustomed to living
in candlelight. The reverse
should be true. Barnabas tells Burke his
caution about rummaging about the
house is admirable but he thinks they
should anyway. Burke, despite his
earlier worries, tells them he thinks the
house is well built.
When Burke joins Vicki at the window, in
the pane, we see reflected
another cast or crew member walking about
getting ready the set or
something! Burke flubs. Vicki tells
Barnabas she wants to know all about
the people who lived in this place.
Barnabas flubs or the writers do when
he says, "SOMETIMES, that isn't
ALWAYS a good idea." Huh? Is it sometimes
or
always? He makes a deal: he will go the rooms up above and the attic,
so Vicki will not be in any danger from
the unsound structure and if he
finds anything of "past" value
he will bring it down to her.
Sarah leads Maggie through the woods and
Maggie has to sit for a bit.
Maggie laughs nicely as Sarah talks to
her. They also hug.
One hour at the house and Burke wants not
to wait for Vicki's "eager chum"
Barnabas. He mocks Barnabas's like of the
darkness and the shadows and the
chill. Burke likes the heat. Vicki
doesn't want Burke to put heat in this
house or at least now she’s saying no.
Burke jokes that it would be funny
if they leave Barnabas here. He returns
with a lady's hanky he found in an
isolated room upstairs. It is embroidered
with initials FMcAC or something
like that. IS THAT SOMETHING about
Vicki's past? A clue? Or what were they
going for?
At
the Blue Whale, there are four costumers and Bob, I think it's Bob, the
bartender. Burke and Barnabas and Vicki
come in. Barnabas goes to get
drinks (later when they sit and drink, he
avoids the drinking
altogether--but haven't we seen him drink
with Roger before?). Vicki
comments she wants the house but not with
ghosts. Burke considers it a
complement that he and Barnabas are
different. Barnabas brings the drinks.
Vicki tells Burke that that is the only
house she will be happy in for the
rest of her life. She's a nut. Maggie
walks into the Blue Whale!
A better ep and one that has a great set
in that New Old House by the Sea.
It is truly the best set up to now...well
it is empty but the walls looks
sturdy and I’m not sure it was
specifically made for DS but it looks
great. Maggie's return is also well done!
KLS: I’m not her biggest fan but
seen in a row like this, it's easy to see
how Maggie was made from wise
cracking waitress, to whining daughter to
victim but the thing is, now, in
these, she's warmer and likable and not
that hard to watch. In past
eps...especially during the
Burke-Sam-Roger thing...well, I like her much
better now in these. She does a good job.
And when she faints when she
sees Barnabas, she's got great legs.
295
Vicki. And...WHAT'S THIS (Batman
narrator)??? ARE WE IN COLOR? The reprise
is a different take (another similarity
to DOCTOR WHO's early years) on
what was already seen, different lines,
different shots.
A word about color. Here, it looks great.
It's vivid. In the past, many
shows were in black and white while a few
went to color years before. The
semi excellent THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN
with the great George Reeves
went to color in the 1950s I believe even
though the first two seasons
(and the best despite a few good
adventures later) were in black and
white. GONE WITH THE WIND was in color in
the 1930s as was THE WIZARD OF
OZ. It was just too expensive to have
everything in color. LOST IN SPACE
and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
didn't go to color until their second
seasons (shame that!). DS in black and
white was...something to behold
really. Frankly, I love color and was
glad to see DS go to color but I
also like black and white which graced
THE OUTER LIMITS, THE TWILIGHT ZONE
and for horror it was apt. Yet,
DS...benefits from color somehow AND from
black and white.
Modern dayers, even people in their 30s,
refuse to watch anything in black
and white. We have whole generations who
do not know ABBOTT AND COSTELLO,
BURNS AND ALLEN, THE HONEYMOONERS, or
even the first seasons of LOST IN
SPACE and VOYAGE. They are black and
white prejudice. Also the age of some
of the material bothers them. They are
prejudice against anything that is
old! They prefer the JERSEY SHORE, THE
REAL WORLD, etc to the classics.
Even some 1990s shows are old to them. To
them and all the younger people
who don't want to try older shows: WTF?
They also don't want to watch anything
that does not look good them being
used to special special effects and not
bats on strings or shadow puppet
monsters or monsters with gaps in their
fake monster hand wrists or
zippers down their back. There is no
imagination and anything that takes
some effort to concentrate on, anything
that takes some patience and/or
time to grow, anything that requires some
suspension of disbelief and/or
major thought...they disregard. In part,
some younger people are Disney
snobs: anything not Disney is not good.
Tirade over. Thing is: even though DS
goes to color this ep, today we
can't enjoy it because many of the
original prints of the eps went missing
or were gone or destroyed or whatever
(shades of DOCTOR WHO'S past). So
while this ep is in color, there are a
few later (a lot IMO) that are once
more black and white.
The theme tune plays over a new edition
of the waves crashing into the
rocks or so it seems new. The logo DS
comes waving out of the waves and
then vanishes before settling like the
old logo. Sometimes things are so
bleak (such as the drawing room or the
outside shot of the house in the
credits--is it still black and white?)
that it might have well been still
in black and white. The outfits look
great though. Yeah even those lime
green ones. Julia looks better in color
but not that close up.
During the credits, the narrator of the
show (not one of the cast) says,
"Good news! This program Dark
Shadows is now being presented in color!"
Barnabas is understandably upset and
flubs, "I think you ought to take her
to I...I will go tell her father."
He looks for the little girl that
Maggie says is outside. She's not there.
At Dave's, Maggie recognizes Woodard,
Vicki and Burke...eventually. Burke
is looking at the teleprompter. Maggie
recalls a scent and a room and the
music from the music box but Vicki, while
curious, does not make the
connection.
At Collinwood, Barnabas is in the drawing
room where he tells Julia he
will now kill her and then Maggie or
Maggie and then her. He and Julia do
their walk menace thing again. He follows her around the room as she
nervously tries to talk him out of
killing her and then...the phone rings
and he lets her get it. Julia tells Dave
to clear his office so she can
come and get in and out without being
seen.
Dave flubs when he says something like
"re-cup-eration" or it sounds that
way. Somewhere I read that in a past ep
(one of Julia's first meetings
with Barnabas), Barnabas refers to Julia
(as he talks to Willie) as a "he"
but I didn't hear that and don't plan to
go back and try to find it!
Maggie remembers she has a house by the
water (it is?) and that there is a
big bay window that her father used to
paint near. She remember an old
house and she is somewhat afraid of Julia.
Julia comes in and the bitach
says, 'Not another word!" so sternly
that Dave should suspect something
and kick her a8s. Julia kicks Woodard
out. Maggie remembers what she
claims is everything: the cemetery, being
put in a coffin and being locked
in the room. She even knows Barnabas
Collins is the one who did this to
her. "He's a creature from the world
of the dead. He's not alive." Julia
asks her to listen to the sound of her
voice and uses her pedant. When
Dave returns, Maggie remembers
everything...except what happened to her.
A good ep and somewhat shocking thanks to
the evil that is Julia.
296
Julia. Ahh, it's so good to be in color
again...DOUGH what the hell
happened?
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