I've seen through episode 1234 today, and we've got some things happening! Bramwell gets back from town and says his ship has (literally, from the Indies) come in, and his money troubles are over -- he's rich now. But Daphne has contracted some sort of unidentifiable disease, and is dying. Unexpectedly, Bramwell is taking the news hard, given that his wife dying is one less obstacle toward him marrying his siter-in-law Catherine (who's married to his brother). Jeez, it's like there's only one family in this town. Regardless, it seems like Bramwell suddenly might love... Daphne? He seems as shocked by this as we are.
Meanwhile, Melanie and Kendrick are still an item. And she's gone to psychic Carrie Stokes to see if she can discover who her parents were. Carrie learns her father is dead, and as she's starting to get a vision of her mother, who's alive, Julia interrupts her. Later, she warns Carrie not to say anything more to Melanie, or else she'll tell Carrie's dad that she was seancing without a license.
And then there's Gabriel. He's been crazypants violent, and locked up in the tower. Flora has gone to him, and while he plotted to strangle her behind her back, she decided she wanted to let him out because it's been a week and he's been a good boy. She goes to talk to the other members of the family, and they all walk her back from that idea. Julia goes up to tell him so, and deliver some food, and when it takes an hour (!) for her to come back down, the Collinses go up to check on her. We see her lying, strangled, on the floor.
Oh, and Morgan has snapped out of the possession by James Forsythe, after a flashback that tells us the history of the Collins curse back in 1680. Forsythe caught Brutus embezzling, then Brutus killed him. And his wife, Amanda, who was helping him. And then his sister, Constance. And then when there was no one else around, he cursed his own family... not sure why!
I've seen through episode 1238 as of last night. It's the end of the series, and we're killing off characters wholesale! Gabriel stabbed Melanie in the shoulder (she's fine) and ran off into a secret passage. Morgan chased him, they fought, and Gabriel wound up falling back onto the sword of a suit of armor! We see him impaled on the bloody sword in what might be Dark Shadows's goriest killing. Then the next day, Daphne comes out of her coma, is all lovey-dovey with Bramwell for an afternoon, he makes her tea, and soon she's dropping dead, telling him she hopes he one day finds comfort with her sister Catherine!
Plus, Kendrick learns that Carrie DID see Melanie's mother in her vision, and after a confrontation with Julia, we learn it's...Josette! She's Bramwell's half-sister, as Justin was her dad -- she's the result of an affair they had on their trips into Boston. Julia wants to make Josette promise never to come to Collinwood again, to spare Flora's feelings. It's not clear if she's agreed to this, but I'm guessing she probably has. Kendrick and Melanie will probably be marrying soon.
Just seven episodes left to go! Back in more innocent times, with just seven episodes behind us, Carolyn told Joe she loved him, but declined his proposal to marry!
I apologize for my lack of faith in you finishing up by the end of the year. As things stand now, even with the holidays coming up, you're going to finish the series long before we will. :(
In other news, I just finished reading S.E. Hinton's Hawkes Harbor, which I burned through in a couple of sittings. Originally intended to be part of HarpCollins' short-lived line of Dark Shadows paperbacks, it was rejected by the publisher. But the author reworked all of the character and place names and released it as a novel in its own right. (Read more about it HERE.) The substitutions are all fairly obvious (Hawkes Harbor, DE instead of Collinsport, ME), but there several more drastic changes to Dark Shadows lore. For example, "Barnabas" was cursed by a native American rather than a witch. Other details of his "origin story" were changed as well. Also, the "Old House" is on Hawkes Island (actually a peninsula), and his coffin was hidden for centuries in one of the caves on the far side. I have read many original Dark Shadows novels, by Dan "Marilyn" Ross, Lara Parker and others, but this is by far my favorite and certainly the best-written.
In Dark Shadows, towards the end of "The Kidnapping of Maggie" storyline, Willie Loomis was written out of the show for seven months while actor John Karlen did a play or something. Willie Loomis was trying to help Maggie, but ended up getting shot in the back three times by the police for his trouble (not that he was entirely innocent in the affair) and sent off to Windcliff Sanitarium. When his play had run its course, he was written back into the show. By this time, Barnabas and Julia were in the midst of creating Adam, DS's riff on Frankenstein.
Hawkes Harbor begins with "Willie" (Jamie) still in "Windcliff Sanitarium" (Terrace View), under the care of "Dr. Woodard" (Dr. McDevitt). Willie's backstory is told via a series of flashbacks and therapy sessions and, just as Ted Knight's backstory is revealed in The Golden Age (even though it is an "Elseworlds"), so too is Willie Loomis's seen through the lense of Jamie Sommers. Both stories progress until Jamie's backstory catches up with the present day narrative (1968), then, just as in the TV show, "Barnabas Collins" (Grenville Hawkes) and "Julia Hoffman" (Louisa Kahne) have Jamie released from Terrace View. But S.E. Hinton doesn't drop him in the midst of that "Adam & Eve" nonsense (at about the halfway point of the book); she proceeds to tell her own story (fanfic by a professional writer). Hawkes Harbor also provides a much more coherent endgame for the "Josette"(Sophia Marie)/"'Maggie Evans"(Katie Roddendem) plotline.
I saw Danny mention this at some point, and it sounds like a blast! S.E. Hinton definitely indulges in her fandoms. I followed her on Twitter back when it was a fun place to be, and her feed alternated between political snark and hardcore Supernatural fangirling. I'd never even watched the show, but it was easy to get swept up in her enthusiasm.
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Today would've been Jonathn Frid's 101st birthday.
Happy birthday, and fangs for all the memories!
I've seen through episode 1234 today, and we've got some things happening! Bramwell gets back from town and says his ship has (literally, from the Indies) come in, and his money troubles are over -- he's rich now. But Daphne has contracted some sort of unidentifiable disease, and is dying. Unexpectedly, Bramwell is taking the news hard, given that his wife dying is one less obstacle toward him marrying his siter-in-law Catherine (who's married to his brother). Jeez, it's like there's only one family in this town. Regardless, it seems like Bramwell suddenly might love... Daphne? He seems as shocked by this as we are.
Meanwhile, Melanie and Kendrick are still an item. And she's gone to psychic Carrie Stokes to see if she can discover who her parents were. Carrie learns her father is dead, and as she's starting to get a vision of her mother, who's alive, Julia interrupts her. Later, she warns Carrie not to say anything more to Melanie, or else she'll tell Carrie's dad that she was seancing without a license.
And then there's Gabriel. He's been crazypants violent, and locked up in the tower. Flora has gone to him, and while he plotted to strangle her behind her back, she decided she wanted to let him out because it's been a week and he's been a good boy. She goes to talk to the other members of the family, and they all walk her back from that idea. Julia goes up to tell him so, and deliver some food, and when it takes an hour (!) for her to come back down, the Collinses go up to check on her. We see her lying, strangled, on the floor.
Oh, and Morgan has snapped out of the possession by James Forsythe, after a flashback that tells us the history of the Collins curse back in 1680. Forsythe caught Brutus embezzling, then Brutus killed him. And his wife, Amanda, who was helping him. And then his sister, Constance. And then when there was no one else around, he cursed his own family... not sure why!
I've seen through episode 1238 as of last night. It's the end of the series, and we're killing off characters wholesale! Gabriel stabbed Melanie in the shoulder (she's fine) and ran off into a secret passage. Morgan chased him, they fought, and Gabriel wound up falling back onto the sword of a suit of armor! We see him impaled on the bloody sword in what might be Dark Shadows's goriest killing. Then the next day, Daphne comes out of her coma, is all lovey-dovey with Bramwell for an afternoon, he makes her tea, and soon she's dropping dead, telling him she hopes he one day finds comfort with her sister Catherine!
Plus, Kendrick learns that Carrie DID see Melanie's mother in her vision, and after a confrontation with Julia, we learn it's...Josette! She's Bramwell's half-sister, as Justin was her dad -- she's the result of an affair they had on their trips into Boston. Julia wants to make Josette promise never to come to Collinwood again, to spare Flora's feelings. It's not clear if she's agreed to this, but I'm guessing she probably has. Kendrick and Melanie will probably be marrying soon.
Just seven episodes left to go! Back in more innocent times, with just seven episodes behind us, Carolyn told Joe she loved him, but declined his proposal to marry!
Just seven episodes left to go!
I apologize for my lack of faith in you finishing up by the end of the year. As things stand now, even with the holidays coming up, you're going to finish the series long before we will. :(
In other news, I just finished reading S.E. Hinton's Hawkes Harbor, which I burned through in a couple of sittings. Originally intended to be part of HarpCollins' short-lived line of Dark Shadows paperbacks, it was rejected by the publisher. But the author reworked all of the character and place names and released it as a novel in its own right. (Read more about it HERE.) The substitutions are all fairly obvious (Hawkes Harbor, DE instead of Collinsport, ME), but there several more drastic changes to Dark Shadows lore. For example, "Barnabas" was cursed by a native American rather than a witch. Other details of his "origin story" were changed as well. Also, the "Old House" is on Hawkes Island (actually a peninsula), and his coffin was hidden for centuries in one of the caves on the far side. I have read many original Dark Shadows novels, by Dan "Marilyn" Ross, Lara Parker and others, but this is by far my favorite and certainly the best-written.
In Dark Shadows, towards the end of "The Kidnapping of Maggie" storyline, Willie Loomis was written out of the show for seven months while actor John Karlen did a play or something. Willie Loomis was trying to help Maggie, but ended up getting shot in the back three times by the police for his trouble (not that he was entirely innocent in the affair) and sent off to Windcliff Sanitarium. When his play had run its course, he was written back into the show. By this time, Barnabas and Julia were in the midst of creating Adam, DS's riff on Frankenstein.
Hawkes Harbor begins with "Willie" (Jamie) still in "Windcliff Sanitarium" (Terrace View), under the care of "Dr. Woodard" (Dr. McDevitt). Willie's backstory is told via a series of flashbacks and therapy sessions and, just as Ted Knight's backstory is revealed in The Golden Age (even though it is an "Elseworlds"), so too is Willie Loomis's seen through the lense of Jamie Sommers. Both stories progress until Jamie's backstory catches up with the present day narrative (1968), then, just as in the TV show, "Barnabas Collins" (Grenville Hawkes) and "Julia Hoffman" (Louisa Kahne) have Jamie released from Terrace View. But S.E. Hinton doesn't drop him in the midst of that "Adam & Eve" nonsense (at about the halfway point of the book); she proceeds to tell her own story (fanfic by a professional writer). Hawkes Harbor also provides a much more coherent endgame for the "Josette"(Sophia Marie)/"'Maggie Evans"(Katie Roddendem) plotline.
I saw Danny mention this at some point, and it sounds like a blast! S.E. Hinton definitely indulges in her fandoms. I followed her on Twitter back when it was a fun place to be, and her feed alternated between political snark and hardcore Supernatural fangirling. I'd never even watched the show, but it was easy to get swept up in her enthusiasm.
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