As always, Barnabas is a very bad winner. He watches with satisfaction, and Will watches with tears in his eyes (very like our Willie) as Will's latest opus goes up in smoke. MT, even when I first saw this ep., I wondered why they didn't bring back PT Barnabas--that would have been one of the best encounters in the whole show. Instead Barn decides that his PT counterpart must sleep undisturbed. But this whole act is so awkwardly written and acted that maybe we're better off this way.
I think we already knew that Barn was 25 when he was cursed. But yes, 60 is hardly any age at all--even back in those days, some people lived quite long lives if they were fortunate enough to be well provided for.
At Loomis, Barn steps out of the (dark) shadows and introduces himself to Quentin. It’s fortunate that Barnabas has already read Will's previous opus because that gives him a provenance: He reminds Quentin, Will’s book told how one of the original Barnabas's sons went in search of Andean gold. He died in Peru, Quentin recalls. In full courtly mode, Barnabas says, Well, my disappointment in contradicting you is matched by my pleasure in telling you that he survived. Oh, it was in poverty and obscurity, I am afraid, but with sufficient vigor [interpret that as you will!] to sire four sons for himself. One of them was my grandfather. Quentin inevitably asks, Why did your branch of the family never contact us? Barnabas replies, It was because of the shame of poverty (!), but now that I have made my own fortune, I feel free to visit. I’ve also read Will’s biography of my “great-great-grandfather,” which determined me to renew long-neglected family ties. Quentin is too busy absorbing all these data to reply, so Barnabas remarks, You seem to have many of the family traits. I assume I’m speaking to one of my cousins. Quentin introduces himself at last, and they shake hands.
As always, Barnabas’s face is his passport into the family. He tells Quentin that Will's manuscript was merely a piece of fiction--Will practically whispers his agreement, as he must. But he is free enough at least for now to ask why Barnabas presented himself. Barn explains that he needs access to the PT portal room. Then he orders the unhappy Will--who is just as reluctant to communicate with the dead as our Willie--to take him to PT Barn's grave.
Back at Collinwood, Roger wonders if Angelique really was murdered. Perhaps it was wrong to ask for you help, "Alexis" replies ominously. Quentin returns, still trying to absorb what has just happened. All he will say to the others is that they will meet Barnabas Collins tonight.
At the cemetery, Barnabas reads aloud the inscription on his namesake’s gravestone: Barnabas Collins, 1770-1830. (Sadly, parallel Barnabas lived a mere sixty years.) Then he adds, May he rest in peace. Will is terrified and wonders if he has to be here. Barnabas ignores him and speaks his thoughts aloud: I should have had a grave like this--my Josette and I. Peace should have been mine and hers. He kneels to pick up a handful of earth, then reverently sprinkles it onto the grave as he makes his petition: If there is a spirit here who looks kindly upon me, I beg his help. I am lost among strangers and trapped in a time that is not my own. I do not wish this curse of mine to affect anyone here. Help me if you can. Suddenly Will spots a dark figure, muffled in a many-caped greatcoat, a little way off.
Astonished that his petition has been answered, Barnabas begs the spirit to speak. He addresses the spirit as his namesake, but when it answers, he knows that it is not. Who disturbs this family ground? Joshua Collins asks sternly. Father! Barnabas cries in spite of himself, moving eagerly toward the ghost. Father? Joshua answers coldly, stopping him in his tracks. You are no son of mine. Forgive me, Barnabas replies and asks if Joshua heard his speech. Joshua answers, You speak to a man dedicated to the protection of this family, both the living and the dead. I command you to leave this place and trouble my son's spirit no more. Barnabas says, Do you not know that I am trapped in a world not my own? I want help, wherever it is, wherever it can come from. I only know that evil is in this place, Joshua replies. Barnabas tells him desperately, My name is Barnabas Collins, and Joshua Collins is my father. This only makes things worse as Joshua replies angrily, Do not profane those names. Leave this place. Leave and come here no more. His voice trails off as he disappears from view. Wait! Barnabas pleads, don’t go! I am a Collins! I need your help! Scared almost to tears, Will begs him, Please don’t do this. Accepting defeat, Barnabas tells Will, There’s only one place left--that room.
Quentin, Hoffman, and "Alexis"--the three PT grownups who have seen our time--await Barnabas's arrival. The man is a fraud, Hoffman says flatly, the entire story completely ridiculous. There hasn’t been a Barnabas in the family for years and years. You haven’t met him, Quentin points out. Soon you’ll find out how extraordinary the resemblance is. Does he have anything to do with the Barnabas Collins who was mentioned in that empty room? Angelique wonders. Just then, Barnabas arrives, and Quentin performs the introductions. Presumably by now Barnabas has gotten used to the idea that everyone in his own time has a parallel here, so he doesn't turn a hair when he sees “Alexis Stokes” and Hoffman. (And he has probably made Will prep him.) In any event, Barnabas gets out of Quentin’s offer of a drink by professing (genuine) eagerness to see Angelique's room right away. Quentin leads him upstairs, warning him that the room is rather unpredictable. All the more reason for my curiosity, Barnabas replies.
After they leave, Hoffman admits, Quentin [she should have said Mr. Collins!] was right. This Barnabas Collins looks exactly like the portrait. The people in the room mentioned a curse, Angelique recalls. Does he look to you like a man under a curse? I don't know, Hoffman replies. How could one ever know?
As they walk down the hallway, Quentin tells Barnabas, The room was used by my late wife, Angelique. Oh? Barnabas says interestedly. Now her twin sister, Alexis, is using the room, Quentin continues, but we’ve all been very unsettled by recent events. Warning Barnabas that the room is not unusual, Quentin throws the doors open. Fate is obliging enough to show them our Julia in the empty room, still hoping desperately for some sign of Barnabas. Neither man can enter the room, but they can hear Julia, though she can neither see nor hear them. She calls out forlornly, Oh, it can't be hopeless. Sometime... somehow, you will hear me. Oh, Barnabas!...
