STRANGE PARADISE 8
STRANGE PARADISE ep 8
“This house…this island which is like some strange land from
out of the past.”
“You’re frightened of what?”
“Of my sister in a cryonics capsule and her husband trying
to keep her alive. And Raxl trying to convince me that you’re possessed by some
evil spirit.”
Gosh! Whenever I do understand what everyone is talking
about, it’s the same old same old from all seven episodes again over and over.
Raxl is an old savage servant who rants about the devil, even though she’s not
in this episode Allison and Jean Paul talk about her. Frankly, I’m glad she’s
not in this episode. While the ole creepster is amusing, I need a break from
her. Quino is in this episode and mainly to mysterious shield and shuttle
papers from Ben Foster (remember him?). Jean signed Jac’s name to important
documents.
I’m afraid I forgot what those documents are for and Ben doesn’t
tell us THAT important info! Everything is gone over though. Vangie does her
tarot cards and tells Ben she’s taking him a trip 3000 years into the past but
she doesn’t. Shame, that. I thought we’d get out of these same old same old
sets. I was even hoping the Minister would show up!
He doesn’t. There’s a few hilarious dancing scenes in the
off island hotel bar/restaurant set and an old woman in the back ground trying
to look NOT like the same old woman we saw last ep or so. She’s with a young
woman now. I think one or both were smoking. Who cares?
Ben picks a card from the deck, seemingly impressed AND
unimpressed at the same time (the writers can’t seem to make up their mind what
they want Ben to do or what he is for). Ben also has the problem of deciding if
he should go to the island and bring the papers himself or let Quito do it. He
keeps going back and forth over it. Vangie also brings down the mood by telling
Ben that…the devil is eternal (no, he’s not, he’s not even real, Vang, hon).
Vangie seems suspect but then seems up front about making
sure Quito guards those papers with his life! She also wonders why Ben picked
that card, the card of Jac. She also called Ben’s card, the King of Swords or
something like that. Is Ben our hero? Absent for most of the episodes? And
older than when we first saw him?
Ben and Vangie drink at the bar, she unimpressed by him
drinking Cherie. Oh, and Allison and Jean, who becomes Jac at times, go over
EVERYTHING again. The Doc’s death, his body gone with Quito’s visit at Jean’s
orders? I thought he was in a coffin in the basement? He was. They go over
Erica’s being in the cyro. Allison brings up God’s desires for her sister (“It’s
God’s will that she die!” is particularly stupid for anyone who believes in a
loving God OR anyone who is a medical doctor) against Jean’s desire to keep her
frozen until the future time when she can be cured or brought back to life.
Jean helps Allison light the fireplace. Riveting stuff. Well, no.
Oh, and Jac takes over Jean again of course and talks about
Allison’s possible connection (like his with Jean/Jac?) to a few other women
whose portraits hang in the set. Hey, were those always there? One he mentions
has a hawk like or hook like nose. We do not see any of them clearly. This
fascination with portraits is not riveting like it is on DS (DARK SHADOWS) from
which this show seemed to want mimic and does so very, very badly. The music is
all the same. It’s good but not as good as on DS. What else is there to say?
Oh, yes, this is very boring. Occasionally, you might see a
spark of life in this dull as dishwater series, like a moment that’s funny.
Jean fumbles over a line about Allison leaving. There is a mic shadow. There’s
also a feeling that NONE of this is going anywhere!
Of the many confused characters here who cannot make up
their minds, Allison tells Jean that she does not believe in Raxl’s ravings but
her actions and other speak indicate she DOES. That Jac is the devil. Allison
also makes note of Jean’s changes and that he seems like Jac but won’t admit
it. When Allison first arrived, she loved the house. Now, she seems to totally
hate it, mock it, insult it and hate it.
What the serious hell are these characters all about?
Why can’t any of them make up their mind?
Well, only Jean and Jac seem determined but Jean only for
Erica and Jac for….what? What is his plan? Just cause mayhem?
While this episode seems to be driving the plot forward, it
really is NOT. It ends before anything new happens. Other characters not in
this episode also have no real momentum either, the father, Liz, her daughter
Holly, the minister (is he a priest?), Tim…
Raxl also told Allison about Quito but we learn nothing.
Only that he goes to the mainland daily for mail and supplies. Allison has a
few good lines though, one about the house being its own land.
This episode feels a bit fresh at the start but then lets
one down by the next few minutes after the start. It’s not as bad as the
previous five episodes but the lack of any substance is really showing a lot
now. Unless you want to riff on this bad series, avoid! Which I can’t really
understand. The actors here are not resoundingly bad. Colin has always been
great in anything he’s in (various Canadian made shows like PSI FACTOR and
before that an ep or two of FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES and lots
more). The rest of the cast aren’t terrible either. It is really the total lack
of enough material and story to drive ahead. It’s as if they only expected a
viewer to see one or two episodes out of all eight and so go over the whole
thing again and again and again.
Nancy Barrett of DS once said that she thought DS should
have taken their stories SLOWER to get going and milk the plots for all they
are worth. I totally disagree and love DS’s pace. I think it’s actually quite
good and when compared to this paint dry watch, magnificent.
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