Needlessly harsh behavior by 1897 Barnabas

[Garth Blackwood]

SPOILER ALERT

I was watching episode 827 where King Johnny and Istvan hold Magda at widow's hill about to kill her, and Barnabas arrives. Just to show King Johnny that he meant business, he put Istvan in a trance and makes him walk off widow's hill!! He ended up striking up a deal with King Johnny shortly after anyhow, so this murder seemed totally unnecessary. By the way, Johnny didn't seem to care one bit that his tribesman/traveling companion had just died, LOL..

[MagnusTrask]

True.    I think Barnabas in 1897 was in a sort of haze, where the "evil" of his restored vampirism and his new perspective from 1968 are pulling at each other, and it's difficult for him to tell if he's doing the right thing.    When he acts on impulse to save one person, from the best motives, he can be responsible for an atrocity to another.

[IluvBarnabas]

True.    I think Barnabas in 1897 was in a sort of haze, where the "evil" of his restored vampirism and his new perspective from 1968 are pulling at each other, and it's difficult for him to tell if he's doing the right thing.    When he acts on impulse to save one person, from the best motives, he can be responsible for an atrocity to another.

I think you've made some great points, Magnus. It did seem that Barnabas was struggling between his evil vampire nature and his 1968 mindframe at this point.

SPOILER ALERT:

Barnabas helped save Jamison and Nora from the clutches of phoenix Laura, very commendable. On the other hand, he coldbloodly murdered Carl Collins (when there was another option, why not make him his slave for heavens' sake!). His murder of Carl was far worse than what he did to Istvan....Carl was actually a member of his own family.

[Mark Rainey]

That's why Barnabas's character is alluring. The extremes of which he's capable make him unpredictable and therefore interesting. I would have thought less of the character if he didn't exhibit the evil side of his nature, sometimes unexpectedly. Many was the time I wished his dark side would have surfaced, rather than the ineffectual hand-wringing, which became too common.

[PennyDreadful]

That's why Barnabas's character is alluring. The extremes of which he's capable make him unpredictable and therefore interesting. I would have thought less of the character if he didn't exhibit the evil side of his nature, sometimes unexpectedly. Many was the time I wished his dark side would have surfaced, rather than the ineffectual hand-wringing, which became too common.

I agree with you 100% Mark. 

[MagnusTrask]

the ineffectual hand-wringing

I liked the way you put this.   

I think plain old "good" and plain old "bad" Barnabas were relatively uninteresting.   It was when both were in there fighting to control his perspective that the character took off.

[Joeytrom]

I never understood why Barnabas had such a reaction upon seeing Laura & his fear she would take her children with her.
Obviously she is a part of the family history and the family continued originally without any interference from him

What if he arrived in 1893 when she was mortal married to Edward, would he have tried to do her in even then?

What if he were to time travel to February 1967 & feel he "had to do something about Laura or David might die" regardless of the fact David was there in April 1967 when he first showed up.

[MagnusTrask]

I need to see early Laura in 1897, but in the later portion that I have seen, it seemed as if the writers were torn between wanting Barnabas to convey the viewers' startled recognition of Laura from their having seen her in 1966, and staying true to the fact that Barnabas could not have seen her in 1966.   So they invented Barnabas's history with Laura from before 1795.

You're talking about something else I think.   Barnabas was not showing up in 1897 on the assumption that things will go well as long as he doesn't interfere.    Once there, he decided that it was his purpose to change a tragic timeline.     

[michael c]

please don't get me wrong because i love,love,love diana millay as laura collins and would have relished her inclusion in any storyline however...

i always found her presence in 1897 to be odd and even slightly uneccessary.she wasn't the key player like she had been in 1966.the storyline was clearly about quentin and the werewolf curse and later on the whole petofi thing gets going.laura was actually only around for about two months of a nine month storyline.it seems like the plot would have worked out the same with or without laura's presence in the end.

plus since the show had not been particularly highly rated during the first laura story it's strange to think that they needed barnabas' reaction to her to reigister the same "shock" as the viewers because so many 1897 viewers were new to the show.that said it was a nice bit of continuity to recognize that laura had been a part of the show from the early days.

[Brandon Collins]

I always liked Laura in the 1897 storyline because I thought her and Angelique made great sparring partners. I think there should be an episode or a scene in any new DS incarnation where Julia and Laura take on Angelique and battle to the death!

[IluvBarnabas]

I too liked the battle between Laura and Angelique. It's too bad we didn't get to see these two duke it out a bit more.