Audio - Dark Shadows: Bloodlust Episode 2
My name is Amy Cunningham and my journey has come to an end....
The first thing we find out is that Amy Cunningham used to be Amy Jennings, a character from previous Dark Shadows stories, and she is driving back into Collinsport with her husband Andrew, toddler son Tommy and stepson Harry, who seems obsessed with taking photographs. They are stopped by Sheriff Tait, who warns them that they almost drove through a crime scene as the previous night’s murder is investigated. Andrew tells Harry to stay with Tommy and he and Amy talk more to the Sheriff. The sheriff recognised Amy and finds out that the family are moving into Collinsport where Andrew has got a job with the local paper. Meanwhile a knock on the window introduces Cody and Jackie, from Maggie’s meeting the previous night, to Harry. They chat for a while until the adults return and Sheriff Tait berates Jackie, her daughter, for being out. Jackie flounces off with Cody and they meet Mr Trask, drunk in the alleyway near the bar but he pushes past them.
The Cunninghams arrive at the Inn and Maggie Evans immediately recognises Amy and, after introductions, they discuss the investigation, currently on the radio news. Sheriff Tait arrives to talk to Ed, the bar owner, and asks where he was the previous night and who he saw. He denies seeing anyone and the sheriff leaves. Kate Ripperton, who is also in the bar with Frankie, thanks him for covering for her, as they HAD met the previous night.
Maggie and Amy reminisce over coffee at the Inn. Maggie is telling Amy about the group she set up to try and “reclaim” the town when Kate bursts in to tell about the Sheriff and meets Amy and Andrew, whereupon she explains to Andrew that she will be his new boss at the newspaper. Flustered, Andrew heads for the pub but Kate invites herself to stay with Amy and Maggie to drink and discuss the murder.
Meanwhile Sheriff Tait has arrived home but immediately heads out again when Jackie and Cody tell her about Trask being in the alley. Jackie and Cody also head out, to the Inn to find Harry, and his camera, and “show him round town.”
Unlike the previous episode, where there was one really major twist, this time out, as well as introducing the Cunninghams, we gleaned a lot of little nuggets of information about the rest of the cast to further the plot, like clarification of who Kate Ripperton is and the fact that Trask is working for someone as well as the bombshells at the end of the episode. For me, it didn’t work as a standalone episode, but I do not expect it was meant to, and had the feel almost of a chess game or a jigsaw, getting pieces into place to be useful for next time and giving just enough information away about them. There was also just enough mystery going on to keep it interesting , although I felt a lot of the “setting up” of the Cunninghams slowed the pace down quite a bit for the first part of the episode and it wasn’t until the end that the plot actually picked up again. However, I’m not discounting anything as irrelevant yet, as I get the feeling that everything being said, however small, will prove important at some point. I guess I’ll just have to wait to see how many of the jigsaw puzzles fit together or if other pieces will just be added to the pile and everything come together at the end of the series. One thing I must say though is that the characters of Andrew Cunningham and Kate Ripperton are thoroughly dislikeable and really grate on my nerves but I’m not sure why or if it is intentional or not. If it is deliberate, both are very well acted indeed!
I wonder what the next episode will reveal?
Post a Comment