i've been watching early barnabas episodes too, and was wondering something similar. there was an episode i saw last week i think in which victoria and carolyn are shown going to the old house to inspect the renovation barbabas and willie have been doing on the place. they actually show the girls climbing the steps up to the porch of the spratt house, and going around to the front door in a great exterior shot. since jf was already on the show, it really makes me wonder why they didn't send him out for some location shooting too.

didn't the spratt house burn down at some point during the original run of dark shadows?

i really liked this week's episode - the mystery deepens and victoria disappears!

i'm not normally a fan of the actress playing carolyn, but i agree with philippe cordier's thinking that she was pretty good in ep #6. i was wondering though, how long barnabas could continue to use her without her sickening and dying, like her cousin daphne did. and i also thought poor joe haskell - his girlfriends always get bitten. have to say, i'd be willing to fill in if he needs a new love interest!

if carolyn had been successful in killing julia either of the times she tried, would barnabas have been more likely to be exposed? it's obvious from the seance that the sheriff hasn't given up on finding the killer. and what if sarah hadn't interrupted barnabas when he was trying to strangle or bite julia on the stairs? what would he have done with her body? barnabas is getting out of control in his desire for revenge against dr. hoffman.

am i alone in finding the appearances of angelique off-putting? the special effects are really well done, but it's just cheesy to me, for some reason. can't say for sure how i think they should've done it, but the shreiking banshee/ghost in the floating chiffon doesn't work for me.

the costume party was weird, now that you point it out, lydia. they do this every year in collinsport - why? it does seem strange that everyone would have access to all of those accurate (at least to my eyes) eighteenth century costumes.  but i did enjoy the moment elizabeth and barnabas shared on the terrace. i really like jean simmons, and i wish the character of elizabeth was more developed.

it was strange when little david accompanied victoria down the staircase during the party. he seemed very stiff and kept looking from side to side - rather distracting. it was an unnatural moment from a kid that seems a generally natural little actor to me. and victoria's party dress was not all that, in my opinion. it kinda looked like coffin lining and was unflattering.

i liked the seance scene - seances in movies and on television are always my favorite scenes. i'd probably be too scared to attend one in real life though. joanna going did a terrific job with the little girl voice of sarah. it was a truly spooky scene, and i thought it was just shocking when victoria disappeared and the eighteenth century governess (played by ellen wheeler appeared). they did well casting Wheeler, i think. she has a different kind of look - for some reason she just seems like she has a face like someone in an old early american portrait. i remember her from the soap "another world" years ago. she's a good actress.

well, that's all for now! can't wait to hear what others think

oh hey, mscbryk don't go - i know i'm interested in reading your comments.

i thought the pilot got off to a good start. although i can see the seams - the quality of light is wrong and the buildings don't really look right for new england - they did an effective job of creating a creepy, gloomy mood.

i tend to go back and forth on some of the actors. willie is strange, and i don't get what's going on with his teeth. is this "british book of smiles" or something? he's alternately dumb and threatening, but i suspect that's the writing. jim fyfe manages to project some pathos into the role, and i think that's what vicki was reacting to when she agreed to get into the truck with him

it's strange that there's really no mention of victoria's background. what would cause a stunningly beautiful twenty-five-year-old woman of relative sophistication to chuck everything and head out for this small town to be a governess? seems like something out of a nineteenth century novel.

there isn't much going on to let us know who the collins family members are, either. elizabeth seems kind, but so far, the character is just a sketch. and there is no explanation as to why she has an english accent while roger sounds like any well bred man of his generation.

carolyn is just...weird. seems like she's tripping or high all the time. and i have to agree with whoever said upthread that there was even a scene in which it seemed like she wanted to seduce victoria.

they don't waste any time in getting to the vampire, do they? less than fifteen minutes in, and willie has already found his resting place. really liked the rhyme about the lion and the dove. why do you suppose that was written? did someone hope the vampire would eventually be found?

daphne is such a throwaway character. even though i think it is stated that she is a collins, she has "star trek red shirt" written all over her. when she was found after the attack i had to think "wow - that barnabas is a messy eater!" but then again, he must've been hungry after his 200 year fast!

two of the best actors so far (imho) are mrs. johnson and david. both are utterly believable. while it's strange that vicki isn't more put off by the little guy's hostility, it appears she won him over pretty fast. an aside - why are the family letting david play in the old house? wouldn't that be unsafe?

maybe i missed it, but was it ever explicitly stated where this is all taking place? the police car i saw in one scene may have had maine license plates, but i couldn't tell for sure.

it's odd to me that the collins family would just accept barnabas being who he claims to be at face value. i'd think they might run a background check on him - even given that he looks so like the portrait of his "ancestor." and did anyone notice the other portrait on the stairway next to his? it looked like marlon brando in "the godfather"!

really loved the look barnabas gave vicki when he first saw her - despite his restraint, it's clear that there is something more going on than him being bowled over by her beauty. and joanna going played her first encounter with the vampire just right: a hesitation/attraction combination mostly shown in her eyes and through body language.

can't wait for next week!

i've been watching the 'beginning' dvd sets - i'm about halfway through the third set. think i just saw the count petofi box in the hallway of collinwood just outside vicki's room, but i can't remember which episode. did it show up that early?

sorry about my previous post.  apparently i don't know how to use the spoiler feature.

tried to edit it so that it made a bit more sense, but i guess it took me too long to edit, because when i tried to save the changes, i got a msg. that said i wasn't allowed to edit because too much time had passed.

hope you can figure out what i was trying to say - sorry for my confusing, repetitive post.

I've also always wondered if Judith/Edward and Quentin/Carl had different mothers.

I totally can't believe that Barnabas would have been twenty in 1795. Jonathan Frid looked lots younger in the flashback, but not THAT young!

 i was buying the dvd sets kinda piecemeal. a set from the 1795 storyline, then one from leviathans, next one from 1840. then i decided to start with the "beginnings" sets and just work my way thru from start to finish. i've never seen the series that way.

so a couple weeks ago in late june, i started with episode number one. i'm watching one every weeknight and am now up to episode fourteen. it's so cool! i have never seen some of these early episodes and they're a treat!

but it's strange too. i don't recognize sam evans. and who is this matthew morgan character? he is scaring me.

roger, david, victoria and maggie are not that similar to the people they were later in the run. and it feels like elizabeth collins stoddard is always present, even when she's not onscreen, presiding over everything. joan bennett was so regal and enigmatic iin that part! why couldn't she have had a prominent storyline throughout the run? she's an amazing actress.

any thoughts from you die hard fans that have seen these early eps before?

yeah, for me it would be the show where barnabas tells victoria and carolyn about josette's death.

also the episode in which julia [spoiler]gets the harassing phone calls from barnabas masquerading as dave woodard's ghost.

and i love the episode where nicholas blair turns angelique's hand into a skeleton.

lets see, what else? oh yes, the whole sequence with the psychic medium janet findley and the ghost of quentin. that is really chilling, to me anyway.

and i love the beginning of 1897, when barnabas first shows up as a "cousin from england". again.[/spoiler]

and any interaction between barnabas and angelique. these are the kind of things i like to show to friends, and my partner. they are all curious about dark shadows, maybe i can ramp up their interest. the 1897 storyline is really compelling. think that's a good place to start?