Moments that made you go "WHAT?!!!!"

[IluvBarnabas]

While I agree Barnabas meddled more than he should have when he went back to 1897, we must remember it had NEVER been his intention to go back in time....[spoiler]he merely wanted to use the I-Ching to get in contact with Quentin's ghost and try to get him to release David.[/spoiler]

True, Barnabas accusing Angelique of meddling in history did seem too hyprocritical, she's no innocent babe either. [spoiler]She only agreed to help Quentin rid him of his werewolf curse and to help Edward and Jamison when Petofi had possessed them if he agreed to marry her. She always had a price for helping people. And the way she smugly told Beth Quentin was going to marry HER instead was so cruel and heartless.[/spoiler]

So even though he did meddle too much in the past (intentionally or unintentionally) Barnabas at least had good intentions [spoiler](saving David's life and trying to end Chris' curse).[/spoiler] Angelique on the other hand, was always demanding a price for helping someone, for her own selfish gain.

[Nelson Collins]

I think my WHAT?!?!?! moment was when we learned that Vicki in 1795 had told Daniel and Sarah about the zodiac charms on her charm bracelet, and had described one of them as a "devil" and had described things that would be invented in the future like air travel and horseless carriages.

Vicki Vicki Vicki, I love you but you can be really clueless sometimes.  You already have a religious zealot (Abigail) looking for the least thing to trip you up and you go talking about things that are sure to have you sent to the gallows for practicing witchcraft or at the very least locked up as insane (and mad houses in the 18th century were horrible places indeed.) tsk

[Joeytrom]

Daniel also said Vicky told him about a box that you hear voices out of LOL!

Being a governess/tutor, I would gather she assumed witchcraft trials were over and done with for over one hundred years, so she probably thought she was safe.

Actually there were witch trials in the 18th & 19th century I learned from Wikipedia.

[Lydia]

Given that Abigail was talking about possession by the devil right from the start, Vicky should have been more careful, if only to avoid being thought of as "Miss Winters who always sends Abigail into a tizzy...surely we could find somebody more suitable for Sarah...Nathan, do you know if any of the serving girls at the Eagle would be interested in the job?"

Not long before the disastrous end, Vicky got hysterical and said it was all a dream, and tried to wake herself up from it.  Perhaps she had that feeling all the way through, so that it seemed it didn't matter what she said - and, in fact, if she started talking about resemblances and future inventions, the 1795 people would turn into the 1967 people and she wouldn't be alone anymore, and a plane would come up to the front door of the Old House and take her to Belem to find Burke.

[Willie]

When Vicki was first accused of witchcraft, Barnabas took her to see a judge who was very sympathetic to her.  He didn't believe in witchcraft, he was quite willing to drop the whole matter, etc.  So then Vicki decides "it would be best" to tell him the truth, that she's from the future, she came back via saence, etc.  Since she was basically giving a full confession, the judge really couldn't help but put her on trial.

That was pretty much the moment when I lost all sympathy for Vicki. 

[IluvBarnabas]

I agree it was very stupid of Vicki to keep blabbing about coming from the future. All she did was fuel the flames and give her enemies more annumition to destroy her with and even those who came to her defense (such as Barnabas and Naomi) began to doubt her....after all who ever heard of anyone travelling back in time (non-witch of course)?

[michael c]

i can only guess that the writers must have felt that vicki's compulsion to always tell the truth in spite of the perilous situation it placed her in was supposed to make her seem "virtuous"...in other word good girls don't tell lies.

this quality of of "virtue" imposed on the character is what eventually lead to her coming across as so dimwitted.

it's probably not what the writers intended at the time but ultimately(especially when put into a contemporary context)that's the impression one gets.

p.s. it's funny that the whole "witch" thing started because vicki showed up in a short skirt and a charm bracelet.

[Brandon Collins]

I can only imagine the riots that she would've started if she had started blabbing about the adult film industry.

[Willie]

this quality of of "virtue" imposed on the character is what eventually lead to her coming across as so dimwitted.

That's a good point.  When we start talking about the subtelties of where virtue ends and stupidity begins, we have to remember the show was made almost 40 years ago, and we're viewing it through much more jaded and cynical eyes today. 

[Nancy]

I can only imagine the riots that she would've started if she had started blabbing about the adult film industry.

Good one, Brandon!!  

[IluvBarnabas]

i can only guess that the writers must have felt that vicki's compulsion to always tell the truth in spite of the perilous situation it placed her in was supposed to make her seem "virtuous"...in other word good girls don't tell lies.

this quality of of "virtue" imposed on the character is what eventually lead to her coming across as so dimwitted.

Good point. At the time it was still being shown on the air, it must have seemed to the viewers at the time Vicki was mercilessly and cruelly being persecuted (which she was). But even as a child back in the good old 80's, while I sympathized with her (because she was kind and had a good heart) I could see that she did bring a lot of her troubles on herself. She did more harm than good to her own safety by constantly telling everyone what was gonna happen to them. Her intentions were good, but you know what they say about the road to good intentions....

[ProfStokes]

When Vicki was first accused of witchcraft, Barnabas took her to see a judge who was very sympathetic to her.  He didn't believe in witchcraft, he was quite willing to drop the whole matter, etc.  So then Vicki decides "it would be best" to tell him the truth, that she's from the future, she came back via saence, etc.  Since she was basically giving a full confession, the judge really couldn't help but put her on trial. 

But even in that case, wouldn't the more obvious assumption be that Vicki was insane rather than that Vicki was a witch?  Wouldn't a reasonable, skeptical judge be more likely write out an order committing her to Windcliff or Rushmore Sanitarium or whatever version of Bedlam existed in 1795?  The very idea of trying somebody for witchcraft in 18th Century America is what seems so absurd.

ProfStokes 

[Raineypark]

Good point. At the time it was still being shown on the air, it must have seemed to the viewers at the time Vicki was mercilessly and cruelly being persecuted (which she was).

Sorry....even in the 60's we "original" fans knew she was acting like a flaming idiot by talking her way into the noose.  I specifically recall tossing pillows at the TV and shouting " For Pete's sake, SHUT UP!!"

[BuzzH]

Sorry....even in the 60's we "original" fans knew she was acting like a flaming idiot by talking her way into the noose.  I specifically recall tossing pillows at the TV and shouting " For Pete's sake, SHUT UP!!"

OMG!  Me too!  I was like, "Shut the F up woman!"  

[IluvBarnabas]

Sorry....even in the 60's we "original" fans knew she was acting like a flaming idiot by talking her way into the noose.  I specifically recall tossing pillows at the TV and shouting " For Pete's sake, SHUT UP!!"

I don't doubt there were a lot of viewers in the 60's watching it that first time infuriated by Vicki's continuing stupidity in 1795. My mom, when she was watching it back then told me that the moment [spoiler]Vicki told Josette about Josette's impending death and the Collins family history book, Mom was thinking Vicki might as well start walking towards the gallows and put the noose around her neck right then and there.[/spoiler]

I also think Vicki was equally dumb admitting [spoiler]on the stand that she had taken part of a seance, a ritual to talk with a spirit. Of course that is gonna look bad! I know Trask was really grilling her and he wasn't about to let up, but in this instance she should have known to admit participating in an attempt to talk to the dead was to sign she was sealing her own fate![/spoiler]