Nicely, the Daybreak Saga has concluded with Midnight Whispers, and boy, was it a experience.
We went full circle from Longchamp to Cutler to Longchamp yet again, as Christie might have formally freed herself from the curse of that blasted Cutler household and located one thing akin to happiness.
However, in fact, happiness all the time comes at a value, and it was main.
Is it attainable to reside fortunately ever after within the V.C. Andrews Universe? It doesn’t seem to be it.
And this closing installment was an ideal reminder because it was riddled with darkness and demise, together with of our treasured Daybreak and her beloved Jimmy.
Clearly, this collection isn’t a stranger to darkish themes. It virtually relishes them at each conceivable flip, continuously gearing towards the melodramatic.
However off, this was a darkish one, as we discovered bits and items concerning the household’s previous, and we needed to watch Christe battle for her life towards her lecherous Uncle Philip and spineless Aunt Beth.
Christie had factor going for her for a while, in order that’s one thing. She at the very least received to make it by most of her life, dwelling in a privileged, well-adjusted, loving, supportive household and minimal scars.
Midnight Whispers had some modifying points. It began with how they dropped us into this random level in Christie’s life after which relied so closely on exposition to hold many of the story.
With the lengthy, convoluted historical past of V.C. Andrews’ Daybreak Saga alone, not to mention all the opposite tells, one barely batted an eye fixed over the truth that someplace in time, Christie began relationship her step-uncle Gavin Longchamp.
Positive, a few of this franchise’s enchantment is watching the forbidden, and lots of notch posts of inappropriate relationships truly play out in entrance of us. We are able to’t all the time have romance, I assume.
Gavin Longchamp was a bit one-dimensional, regardless of Emrik Lopez’s admirable makes an attempt at bringing the character to life.
Gavin had that Longchamp attraction and swagger if the motorbike and that chain round his neck didn’t make that clear. Oh, I see you, sir.
It was arduous to get connected to the character or their romance when it principally felt like background fodder in an aimless chapter of this saga.
However he undoubtedly had his brother’s goodwill and “Captain Save a… Healthful Blond” high quality. It’s a Longchamp superpower.
Presumably, among the best issues about their romance is that if she inevitably ties the knot together with her Step-Uncle now that her precise uncle is locked away and never chasing after her, she doesn’t even have to vary her identify.
She’s destined to be Christie Longchamp for the remainder of her life, and he or she doesn’t even must abide by all that Cutler nonsense and the hell that identify brings.
The Longchamps weren’t notably cursed a lot as humble, working-class people with a penchant for bother right here and there, save Fern, who’s a hellish anomaly not price claiming.
Did any actual good even come from her studying her twisted household historical past on the Meadows?
It didn’t really feel like we discovered a lot of something we didn’t already know or couldn’t guess, and we already noticed a lot of what Christie pieced collectively.
However her studying the reality didn’t appear to have a lot bearing on how she operated since Christie already acknowledged that anybody who wasn’t her mother and father was batshit cray.
As an alternative, we borderline received one other rudimentary albeit traditional Lifetime fictional piece a few younger woman making an attempt to flee the sexual assault of her obsessive uncle.
Frankly, Dane Schioler is simply too good at taking part in this crazed, entitled, creepy man, and I absolutely count on to see him in related Lifetime films.
This dude is tailored for this particular style and may very well be deep in his bag with these roles. He has that Lifetime antagonist position down pat. Extra, please!
The movie peaked when our woman Daybreak died in a blaze of glory and love with Jimmy in that resort inferno after Philip clocked Jimmy within the head with a wrench within the boiler room, like a live-action sport of Clue.
Relaxation in peace, child woman. You died manner too younger, trying each little bit of an adolescent regardless of taking part in 33, however alas, I admire they didn’t do something too drastic to age up her, Jimmy, or Philip. My ego couldn’t have taken a success in the event that they received too loopy.
I’m nonetheless mad that the Longchamps received blown to bits when Beth was proper there.
I hate to be that one that would sacrifice a lady’s life for a sizzling dude, however Beth was the worst, they usually may’ve saved their household issues inside their interior circle as an alternative of spilling over into the Longchamp bubble, dammit.
In reality, this film sucked for making me advocate for violence towards girls. In hindsight, issues would possibly’ve been higher if Philip had killed Beth and gone down for it.
Goodness is aware of she had no sense of sisterhood solidarity by laying by and permitting her psycho husband to sexually assault an adolescent within the subsequent room.
And her personal violence towards Christie was abhorrent.
And a lady shouldn’t have been virtually feral when Homer snatched Fern up.
Homegirl in some way managed to make The Craft her complete character 5 years earlier than it even got here out, and possibly simply wanted old-fashion ass-whooping.
Her lack of sympathy when she discovered the actual purpose Christie fled Philip was abhorrent and but not all that shocking from a lady who cried abuse to govern Jimmy into taking her in and proceeded to offer Daybreak holy hell throughout Twilight’s Little one.
The Meadows had been creepy, even with electrical energy, and Charlotte and Luther had been glad out of their minds.
It wasn’t shocking to study that the satan’s youngster Charlotte supposedly had was truly a biracial son with Luther. Emily and all of her pseudo-Christian, sexist, racist evil bullshit would freak out about her sister having a toddler with a Black man.
They usually implied that the household was paying for sins from slavery. And hey, a lady gained’t knock a generational curse within the identify of justice.
However throwing all these items out into the ambiance felt foolish once they didn’t quantity to something or lead wherever.
Discovering out that Lillian received offered to Massive Daddy Cutler for the Meadows was simply an errant story that supposedly defined away why Lillian was hardened broad.
However all of it felt like random issues from the ebook thrown at us to pad this story additional for a film that didn’t really feel prefer it wanted to occur.
In the event that they selected to finish the story with Midnight Whispers as an alternative of tossing us that Darkest Hour prequel, they might’ve simply left issues at Twilight’s Little one, alluded to Daybreak and Jimmy’s demise on the finish with a flashforward or one thing and left issues there.
Watching Pedo Philip lose his thoughts over by chance killing the lady he obsessed over and harassing his niece to the excessive heavens sucked.
And it felt like manufactured contrivances to have Zaddy Bronson unavailable and unable to take Christie and Jefferson in.
They teased that he and Christie had been like “two peas in a pod” and that man was principally conscious of all of the household’s nasty, soiled secrets and techniques.
The person knew rattling nicely that Philip was a creep and that his spouse was a jealous, wounded lady with a vendetta, and that the twins had been evil spawn youngsters.
It additionally didn’t make any sense that Daybreak and Jimmy wouldn’t have any will or paperwork to deal with what occurred to the resort or, extra importantly, the children if something occurred to them.
Why wouldn’t Tricia take them in or one thing? Even when she introduced them again to her dwelling in NYC and organized for them to have supervision, it will’ve made extra sense than leaving them with Philip and his spouse.
And as a lot as a lady enjoys laying eyes on Joey McIntyre, particularly since he stopped trying like a Ken doll within the newer installments with the blond hair, Christie seeing her father once more didn’t quantity to a lot both.
However so ends the V.C. Andrews Cutler Saga. Was it the whole lot you wished it to be and extra?
Which V.C. Andrews collection do you hope they cowl subsequent? Hold forth under with your whole ideas.
Should you haven’t already, you possibly can take a look at all of our V.C. Andrews opinions right here at TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior workers author for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching manner too many reveals and binge-drinking manner an excessive amount of tea. Her eclectic style makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for advanced characters, various illustration, dynamic duos, compelling tales, and responsible pleasures. You’ll undoubtedly discover her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Comply with her on Twitter.