Well, gee, I rather liked it.
Interestingly enough This blog post from the Dark Shadows Everyday site mentioned upthread nails exactly the reason the DS reboot doesn’t work for me.
To summarize, the blog draws a parrallel between the original Dark Shadows and Melrose Place: Both shows introduced a cast of characters and a setting first, and only introduced a game-changing new character (Barnabas in DS, Heather Locklear in MP) that completely shook everything up.
The prime-time DS immediately zoomed from Victoria’s arrival to Willie unleashing Barnabas. While that skips over a year’s worth of dull storytelling, it also prevented me (and probably a lot of the audience who originally tuned in) from getting to know, form opinions about, and getting invested in any of the other characters. Consequently, they are all just cardboard cutouts just standing around in the background and once in a while saying “I don’t understand what’s happening!” or “Vampires?? Please!” If the show spent just one hour in better grounding the series’ characters and setting before introducing Barnabas, it might have worked. But they skipped over that and hence I felt no interest in what was happening to them.
Huh. I never knew there was a 1991 prime-time revival. But then, the first half of '91 I was living in Albuquerque without a TV and the second half just starting graduate school in Hawaii without a TV.
So I am up to Episode 585, and have to say this whole Adam storyline is becoming tedious to me. The only thing that makes this story arc good is the whole clever connection between Barnabas and Adam, that Adam can drain his “affliction” away, and if one dies the other dies. It is creepy and weird. Adam just stole into Vicky’s room overnight through the window and grabbed her.
And for Vicky’s room to be on the second floor, alot of people sure do come in through her window.
I read that Alexandra Moltke was pregnant and left the show around this time, so I am looking for her to be written out soon. I need more Barnabas, Naomi and Professor Stokes! Even Nickolas Blair has become sort of a bore. Thank goodness for Angelique, I like that she is chewing up all the young good-looking men in Collinsport.
Another thought that occurred to me about vampires in general…how to they not starve to death when they are locked into their coffins for decades, or even hundreds of years? If they need to feed when they are among us, how do they sustain themselves when locked away? Is it usually explained by them using some kind of suspended animation?
They are already dead. In some stories, they are very week when not feeding and need blood to be able to bring themselves back up to par.
Yeah, I know they are already dead, but they are UN-dead, so they need some kind of sustenance. Each author takes a variation of the lore, but I guess it makes sense they just get very very weak and shriveled, but they won’t perish without feeding. feeding makes and keeps them beautiful.
The only way they can die is having a wooden stake driven through their heart or be burned. Therefore, they can’t be starved. Pay attention, there will be a test on Tuesday.
I am watching 586-588 and they are revisiting the whole Maggie/Josette - Barnabas thing. Maggie is stuck in the Collins Family Crypt Secret Room (again) and she is starting to remember what Barnabas did to her. And Kathryn Leigh Scott’s hair and make up are terrible for this sequence, btw…but I was wondering when they might get back around to revisiting this.
Carolyn, Maggie and Vicky frustratingly suggestable and naive, but I still love the story.