Barn insists Julia kill Woodard. She says: “I can’t!” He says: “You must!” Add an extremely urgent phone call by Woodard to the sheriff and a visit by Sam Evans to Woodard’s office for a script to refill Maggie’s sleeping pills and you’ve got yourself an episode. See ya on Monday.
Emotionally hated the character of Barnabas in this episode. We get plenty of sympathetic opportunities re: Julia. But I’m not sure I fully understand this wavering of the Barnabas character. Perhaps my perception of him in the latter years of the series is leaking into my current perception of the character? I feel like Barn’s attitude toward Woodard’s death and his insistence upon Julia’s participation is unnecessarily cruel. I thought he was displaying a fair amount of conscience and reluctance at this point in the storyline. Why the calculated cruelty? Perhaps the writers want us to take the same emotional rollercoaster ride as Julia? And is the storyline going in this direction because the writers don’t think Julia’s love for Barn is enough to keep her bound to him? I’d’ve loved to’ve seen Julia haul off and smack the cockiness off of Barn’s face and tell him: “Now go ahead and kill me and see where it gets you, you bastard!”
Sam notices and questions Woodard about his excited nature. The sheriff’s not in to receive Woodard’s call. This prompts Woodard to stress that the sheriff must return to the office immediately to meet him on an extremely urgent matter. Sam’s visit and Woodard’s call will bring future moments of suspense when Woodard’s death is investigated. Otherwise, I didn’t see the point of even having Sam written into the script. Maybe David Ford knows how to maneuver a camera or control the chroma key device.
Some corny stuff – Woodard reads the notes cover to cover and I really doubt the notebook would be full but I know that is a silly point on my part.
Julia appears to have metal flourishments on her flats – fancy shmancy. And like Dr. Woodard, she has no respect for antique chairs.
Barnabas’ chroma key appearance in Woodard’s office – Barn was too small. That made me giggle, which broke my concentration. He should have been physically present in the room once he fully materialized – I expected it after the cutaway. Maybe it’s just supposed to be a vision and not Barn in the flesh. I guess we will know come Monday. Still, a downscaled Barnabas threatening Woodard with sleep from which he’ll never awaken didn’t pack its intended punch. Helium anyone?
