When these episodes first aired, did anyone think that this was set up for Jonathan Frid to leave DS and another actor to play "Barnabas" in a different body?
I was wondering about that the other day while I was picking out the captures from this ep for the "Complete this Phrase/Fill in the Blank(s)" board. The truth is that among my friends, at least, I don't remember anyone being in any great panic. I think it was more of a sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat-waiting-to-see-what-happens sort of situation. And maybe because of the reappearance of RD as Jeff Clark, many felt that if Barn's life force had actually been transferred, Frid would have simply come back as a different character.
The one thing that was nice back in those days was that the daytime press rarely if ever reported that actors were leaving their soap roles until after it had already taken place, so if they were being killed off, whatever twists were planned for their departures were allowed to play out on the shows without being spoiled. It really was a case that there was actual suspense because anyone could go at any time. Nowadays the audience frequently knows months in advance that an actor is leaving/being killed off. They sometimes even know the exact date/ep it's going to happen. There's barely any suspense about anything any more. And that's sad... (And people wonder why soap ratings might be in decline?)