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Logosian

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  1. I've enjoyed the series quite a bit, being a history buff. It's like having Birmingham's "Our Crowd" brought to life and serialized. So many interesting characters, so many currents to follow: Marian and Mr. Raikes: Doomed from the moment he set up shop in New York. Aunt Agnes saw through him almost immediately, even before Raikes himself knew what he was about. Marian's connection to one of the old families provided an entrance for Raikes' introduction to other connected families. His looks and charm did the rest. By the time of his last meeting with Marian in the park, where he again expressed his love, he knew that it was over. He'd met Cissie Bingham by then, knew that she was interested, and also knew that she could provide what Marian could not - the lifestyle he now knew he so coveted, as Agnes divined from the start. Raikes is the adventurer and opportunist Marian was warned about, gold-digging his way into the lifestyle he craves. Peggy and Marian: what a progressive relationship for the time! Only a few decades out from blacks being held as chattel and Peggy and Marian, despite the societal obstacle against it, find a friendship based on mutual affection and outlook. Bravo to the series creators for including this dynamic. Peggy: An upper middle class black family, a true rags to riches story. Peggy is educated, fierce where necessary, and ambitious at a time in our history when she has no right to be, based on the prospects for women and blacks. Her father strong arming the destruction of her marriage, and financing and abetting the theft and giving away of Peggy's baby, was horrific, especially for an ex-slave. I'm afraid this portends an irreconcilable conclusion to that relationship for Peggy. How do you come back from having given away a woman's child, then lying to her about it, especially if you're the one man she should have been able to count on for protection? Marian: I take an opposite opinion from many of those posted on these forums. Marian is a proper "Miss" for the times, polite, aristocratic in bearing even if from humble origins, not given to hysteria or overly emotional scenes. Expecting her to give a modern reaction to something like Raike's betrayal completely misses the context of the Victorian times in which she was raised. Remember how aghast Agnes was later, when she'd come to her senses after her crashing of Peggy's small dinner party. There was a way of doing things then, especially for the upper classes. I expect to see Marian's character grow and develop with Raike's abandonment being a pivotal moment for her. Agnes and Ada: I'm enjoying these two much more than I expected to. Agnes, without even trying, is a hoot. ;) Her militant snobbery, while having it constantly challenged by circumstance, and her over the top dramatic read of situations amuses me to no end. The actress brings so much to the role. Ada is the real surprise! She has depths that even Agnes does not realize, in ways seeing even deeper than Agnes. Yet she also has a strong nurturing streak that's displayed in her dealings with Marian and Mrs. Bauer. Yet she can be tough as Agnes, as displayed in her handling of Aurora's information at the time of Marian's intended elopement. Bertha Russell: What a vain, silly, insecure, manipulating woman! And yet she has so much strength. She sublimates her family's happiness, and even well-being, to her own social amibitions, as displayed in being concerned with George's possible indictment primarily in the context of how it will affect her social maneuverings, as George throws into her face. He daughter is not "out" because Bertha sees her daughter's emergence as another shoe horn into the society she so deeply craves. And she doesn't even realize that Gladys knows what her mother is doing and will begin to distance herself from her later because of it. That's enough for now, more later...
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