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Roxton's Lady · Joined: 21 Jun 2007 Posts: 32

Like Xelda, I was a little discombobulated by this episode. Perhaps the problem is that I am not a fan of vampire stories. I will say that the actress who played Calista was very good. She was able to convey an enigmatic, almost ethereal image, even though she was a blood-thirsty father killer.

When Roxton first entered Marguerite’s tent, he was tempted to “feed” on her, but was able to control himself. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to control the urge to force himself on her. What started as gentle lovemaking turned brutal, and both of them were lucky Challenger is not a sound sleeper. Similarly, the love scene between Roxton and Calista struck me as brutal and animalistic rather than sexy. In short, his transformation was not appealing. In fact, I was repulsed.

Therefore, I found it hard to sympathize with his anguish after he was cured. What was the attraction to being a murderous vampire—even if he could smell a deer from 50 feet away? I didn’t feel that he was in tune with the universe, much less himself. Other than the howling at the moon scene, he was grim and pained. Despite his own ambivalence, the gentleman in him had to try and save Calista, even though he knew she would resist.

Marguerite’s initial reaction to Roxton’s nocturnal visit was that it was a dream come true. I really would have liked to have seen the following scenes with her shrugging off Challenger’s attempts at comfort. Her decision to help find Roxton took courage and considerable caring and friendship, which was never acknowledged. Naturally, her pragmatic side came through after getting tired of the search, giving her the best line of the episode: “For all we know it could have been a stampede of bunny rabbits.” But we know she really didn’t want to give up.

Her reluctance to risk Roxton’s life in order to cure him was interesting. Her philosophy at that time was that survival is almost always preferable to death. In her mind, keeping him alive was preferable, even though he wouldn’t have been the Roxton she knew. The best scene was when Roxton, once again, choose her as his confidant. Her gentle “no” when he asked if she had ever felt as if she was “home” or belonged was touching, especially after watching Cave of Fear. If anyone could understand Roxton’s pain, it was Marguerite.

In contrast to his search for a cure for Malone in The Visitor, Challenger’s cure seemed based more on a hunch than science. I guess there wasn’t time for him to research his hypothesis. It was interesting to compare his moral compass to Marguerite. Whereas Marguerite’s philosophy is to stay alive at all costs, Challenger believes that living without honor is worse than death.

The B story was even less satisfying for me. The first scene with Malone and Veronica was promising. Unfortunately, it unraveled with Malone’s confession to Summerlee. If Malone had said he thought he loved Gladys but confused by his feelings for Veronica, I would have rooted for him. But he flatly stated that he loved Gladys, making him come off as a cad who was using the innocent, lonely Veronica. This was very frustrating because Malone was obviously falling in love with Veronica, so this was a missed opportunity to explore Malone’s conflict between his obligations to Gladys and Veronica.

Although we weren’t supposed to sympathize with Ned in this episode, I understood his confusion: Veronica was skinny dipping and with him one minute and angrily rejecting his concern the next. I understand that she kept him at arms length because she thought he would leave as soon as he found a way off the plateau. She was also deeply scarred by her parents disappearance. So, was she leading him on? Did she secretly want him to stay? Unfortunately, these issues weren’t explored.

Also, why would she run away? Even before Resurrection, it was well established that she loved the treehouse. And don’t even get me started on the ‘suicide’ scene. It would have been a much better episode if Veronica and Ned had, after a few arguments, found a way to work together to convince Niko to leave. It would have humanized Veronica if she admitted that, although she didn’t need anyone else, it was nice to have the others (especially Malone) around. The resolution should have given Veronica and Ned a deeper understanding of each other, even if it did not bring them closer romantically.

Summerlee didn’t have much to do, even though he was badly needed. His scene with Malone demonstrated the character’s wisdom, sometimes it is best to let others work out their conflicts by themselves. I would have liked to see Veronica seek his counsel as a counterbalance to his scene with Malone. It also would have given her the opportunity to express the feelings of feelings of confusion, loneliness, and insecurity that she couldn’t explain to Malone. The nightshirt was also a nice touch.

Not an episode I rewatch often.

Xelda · Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 185 Location: Louisiana

I agree with you 100% Roxton's Lady. Exquisite description of this episode too. Ned and Veronica never had a romance I'd tune in for and this episode is an example why.
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Marguerite from Blood Lust: It's just a broken limb. For all we know it could have been from a stampede of bunny rabbits.

Geoff · Joined: 11 Feb 2008 Posts: 157 Location: California, USA

Yay! I watched this today! It still gets me! ah...good ol' TLW! Razz

If you have the time, (I couldn't find the one I posted on this forum, but...) head over to the official lost world site and see the blood lust trailer here! It's still scary...in a good way.
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They're not mushrooms! They're jungle truffles! ~ VL

See my videos at: youtube.com/Geoff