Very good episode. The characters are very strongly written here and the actors are all on the top of their game here. Plus, there is genuine emotional payoff here. Each character is caught in a difficult situation and every action that they may take will impact others. This is what DS should have been more often, rather than being just the shriek of the week.
So the vampire turns out to be Roxanne. Willie is perfectly willing to stake her but Julia stops him. Because this is the girl that Barnabas thinks he loves. Her emphasis, not mine. Willie tries to reason with her but Julia is determined. She is willing to sacrifice her own feelings and quite possibly Maggie's life so Barnabas can have what he wants. Noble? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Barnabas is somewhat surprised at the vampire's identity and wants to have some sort of coffee time with her. But when the coffin is opened, Roxanne heads for his neck in a very savage way. Julia and Willie are there to force her back into the coffin.
This should be enough for anyone to realize that there shouldn't be a second date. Not Barnabas! He wants to take her into his confidence and be, I don't know, the Martha Stewart of the undead. Julia is vehemently opposed to this. Roxanne has come close to making lunch meat out of Maggie. And she probably wouldn't stop there.
I really am not a fan of the relationship between Barnabas and this Roxanne. They are barely acquaintances and she has kept him at a distance. Roxanne is an interesting character but she is nothing like her PT counterpart. She hasn't been especially likeable in any of her scenes. As a vampire, she seems more predatory than Megan or Angelique and there was no question about him wanting them destroyed. He wasn't able to reason with any of the other vampires, including the ones that he sired. In the long run, this really damages the character and makes Barnabas seem like a totally selfabsorbed idiot.
Meanwhile, Sebastian has discovered that Roxanne's coffin has been moved and somehow tracks it to the old house. Looks like he may be about to take matters into his own hands.
