BuzzH, Diabolos here (I don't know how to change the name, my chosen name was Diabolos) I know I'm a newbie, but I've been watching DS since I was two, I'm fourteen now, and I totally agree with you, the Leviathan sequence is one of my favorite storylines. I really thought the return of evil Barnabas was just what the show needed, especially since he wasn't a vampire anymore, and you can really see when the show got bogged down when he was cured (re Adam and Eve).
I really thought that the writers had a funny take on Jeb Hawkes been scared of his own own shadow i.e. the shadow monster plotline. Christopher Pennock really rocks in this storyline!
I don't know what everybody's problem is with little Alex, I thought he was a dynamite actor for his age.