This is interesting: unlike lori54 and IluvBarnabas, I see Vicky's interest in the past as being perfectly normal and harmless in its present form, and I think that Elizabeth, Carolyn, and Burke are being totally unreasonable. All this fuss over putting flowers on somebody's grave! I guess I'm out of the mainstream here. I grew up on stories of my ancestors - some funny, some sad. They are real people to me. My real name isn't Lydia; Lydia is the name of a great-great-great-grandmother of mine whom I rather admire. Oh, gosh, here I go identifying with Vicky. Truth sure is stranger than fiction.
And yet I know that Vicky's interest in the past is part of Barnabas's nefarious plan to draw her into his web, and to condition her to the point where she will accept the persona of Josette. And therefore Elizabeth, Carolyn, and Burke are right, but for all the wrong reasons. At what point, if I lived with Vicky at Collinwood, would I think a line had been crossed? and say, "Enough is enough. Something weird is going on here." I just don't know. I know I wouldn't worry about Vicky's "imaginary" sightings of Sarah and Maggie. The Sarah sighting could be explained by flickering candlelight, and somebody else of Maggie's general size could easily have been in Eagle Hill Cemetery. But everybody is convinced that Vicky's going round the bend.
It always strikes me as odd, in this storyline, that the Past refers to the time when Josette lived. Any other time is just not interesting. Civil War - forget it. Gay Nineties - dullsville. Roaring Twenties - no way. But nobody says to Vicky: "Aren't you being just a bit exclusive here?"
