Discuss - Ep #0726

[Watching Project]

Robservations #726

[alwaysdavid]

Trask is just as terrifying as I remember.   Barnabas is so clueless.  If he had any insight he'd realize that Quentin was raised in a family that did not trust anyone and everyone wanted something.    I thought that Quentin's questions to Judith about why she kept Jenny were right on the mark.   

[Midnite]

Does 1897 Collinwood bear any resemblance to what it was originally?  Judith is buying into Gregory's lies whereas she didn't seem all that taken with him before; but if Barnabas had stayed in his coffin, Quentin wouldn't have died and risen again, so Judith would not have had the opportunity to see the so-called Reverend "perform a miracle."  In addition, Rachel wants to quit her job and isn't responding to Quentin's charms... both a result of Barnabas' meddling.  Quentin ran into Jenny and literally into a knife due to his decision to pay a visit to Barnabas on the night she roamed the grounds.  Edward, Judith and Carl thought their brother had died, and the latter two witnessed a possessed Jamison.  Judith legally became heir to Collinwood.  Edith died of shock.  Sandor has no desire to leave now that he's been enslaved, and Magda is staying on at the Old House as Barnabas' servant.  All of this is thanks to Barnabas...

And yet, Vicki's presence in 1796/6 caused barely a ripple despite the fact she never once tried to blend in.

It seems to me that in order for the Reverend Trask who died in 1796 to be the great great grandfather of Gregory, the Trask in every generation would need to have fathered his son at a VERY young age.  And that's giving Gregory the benefit of the doubt that he was prematurely grey.  So I think it would've made more sense if they'd left off a "great."

OMG, Quentin winked.  Be still my heart! 

[Pansity]

Really good points, Midnight.  The differences in the timeline that Barnabas' presence caused are really headache making.    One does wonder where, if anywhere, Trask came in in the original timeline.

Really good scene here with Q and Barn -- excellent point about Quentin's first reaction being to keep things to himself in order to keep them from being used against him.    One gets the feeling that Quentin's family was very against the marriage, which made him all the more determined, just to spite them. 

Very well done scene with Judith and Quentin -- he's understandably freaked about having a knife shoved into his ribs, and determined not to let it happen again.   Apparently he's also wondering about Judith's motives, what they are, and when she will drop the other shoe on him.  And her reactions are as wary as his -- wondering what he's up to next, not to mention his physical violence.  JB did a wonderful job of portraying that uncertainty and fear just with her body language.

Jeannie

[Lydia]

Golly, 1897 is good!  I was thinking that Jenny had been lost in the shuffle, but Quentin comes back to life and she's the first thing he thinks of.

Great points, Midnite.  I'm thinking that Trask wasn't as big a player in the original 1897.  A while ago, I made a suggestion in jest that now I'm liking better and better:[spoiler]It was indeed Quentin's body that was walled up in his room in the original 1897, and when that did not happen in the altered 1897, Fate lifted a finger and beckoned to Trask.  If somebody traveled through time later and caused there to be a third version of 1897, in which, for some reason, Trask was not walled up, who would be chosen to be walled up instead?  Petofi would be an interesting choice.[/spoiler]

I like the difference between the Collins family's reception of Barnabas in 1897 and the reception he got in 1967.  In 1967 he was a serious threat, but everybody thought he was just wonderful.  In 1897, Barnabas's motives are pure, but sooner or later everybody suspects him of evil intentions.  It's partly the difference between the 1897 Collinses and the 1967 Collinses, but not entirely.  The Collinses of early 1967 were not a nice bunch.  If Barnabas had arrived several months earlier and played the Bill Malloy role in trying to sort out the Burke Devlin threat, Roger would have been happy to believe David when David started telling everybody that Barnabas was evil.

I'm loving Trask.  He's so clever at getting his way!  And I'm wondering what he makes of the fact that he actually (as far as he can tell) performed the miracle of restoring Quentin and Jamison to their rightful bodies.  He doesn't show any surprise whatsoever, but surely, inside himself, he's thinking: "HALLELUJAH!  If I can pull this off on a regular basis, I could quit the education racket!"

When Trask talked about purging the poor lamb, I thought for sure that this was the cue for Jamison to throw up.

[EmeraldRose]

  I'm thinking that Trask wasn't as big a player in the original 1897.  A while ago, I made a suggestion in jest that now I'm liking better and better:[spoiler]It was indeed Quentin's body that was walled up in his room in the original 1897, and when that did not happen in the altered 1897, Fate lifted a finger and beckoned to Trask.  If somebody traveled through time later and caused there to be a third version of 1897, in which, for some reason, Trask was not walled up, who would be chosen to be walled up instead?  Petofi would be an interesting choice.[/spoiler]

That's an interesting theory, Lydia. I like it!

It sure did seem that Trask "saved" Quentin and Jamison. I agree that Trask must have been quite surprised at his success. When I originally saw this, I was surprised, too. [spoiler]Of course, we know that Angelique was the one who really did it. [/spoiler]

I loved the exchange between Trask and Barnabas. Barnabas was right not to trust him... In fact, in my opinion, I think this Trask was far worse than the original Trask that Barnabas knew. 

I thought it was great when Quentin came back to life and he acted as though he just had been stabbed. He had no recollection of being a Zombie.  I don't blame him for being angry, wanting to find out where Jenny was, and rightfully assuming that Judith knew all about it. 

----- Sally -----

[IluvBarnabas]

Yes, I too believe that Angelique was responsible for Trask's supposed miracle of curing Quentin and Jamison. To spite Barnabas of course. She did not want him to appear to be the hero, and as a added bonus, instead his old nemesis' descendant gets to be the "good" guy in Judith's eyes.

Trask had to play some part in the original timeline, though, to my way of thinking. Barnabas or no Barnabas, Quentin did
come back to Collinwood and Edward, in either timeline, wanted to get Jamison away from Quentin's bad influence and sent him to Worthington Hall. The question is [spoiler] did Judith end up marrying Trask anyway, without Barnabas' presence, or did she remain single? Did Jamison and Nora end up having to spend their childhoods in misery at the hands
of Trask at his school if Judith didn't wed him? [/spoiler] Maybe Trask didn't have as much a role to play in the original order
of things in 1897. Who can know for sure?

Yes indeed, trying to sort out the two timelines, one with Barnabas and one without him, is enough to drive one bonkers.

I agree with Quentin that Judith did NOT lock up Jenny at Collinwood over any family loyalty. I believe Judith never liked Jenny at all, even before she went mad. Judith's attitude towards Jenny has convinced me of this. Still Judith doesn't want
Quentin to find Jenny for she knows he'll want to kill her. From Judith's point of view I would have thought that she might
have been for it, having been rid of the problem of keeping a dangerous woman in the house a woman who can and has killed. No more worry about everyone's safety, no worry about damaging the family name.

Barnabas, Quentin and Jamison can see right through Trask. Too bad Judith couldn't. But then she has just met the man. And after "his" saving the day, it's natural she'd feel grateful to him. Still it's too bad she couldn't have been a bit more wary the more time she spent with Trask.