Wow! The approach they're taking of a next gen sequel rather then another reboot makes me really excited for this.

I also didn't find the Lord John books very engaging--the general consensus among Outlander fans seems to be that the spinoff books are mostly a bore.  But from my attempt to read the first Outlander novel (I got halfway through), I discovered that the tv adaptation really elevated the material beyond the bodice-ripper genre in which the book lived.  So I assume they are doing the same with Lord John's story. 

I hope my post wasn't too spoilery for you, MB.  But I do recommend you keep going with Outlander, as S2 has some of the best episodes and storylines in my opinion.

Wow!  I never expected to actually see this, it is very interesting.  The atmosphere is very effective; the psychedelic lighting is highly stylized and certainly feels like a reference to the original series dream sequences.  I don't see this as so unfinished/unusable as people claimed at the time, a little bit of cleanup and it could have aired.   

That dream that David had about his mother was thrilling--though sadly it was ultimately about Angelique and not Laura.  Despite the script containing references to a relationship between Roger and Willie's sister, Angeliques dialogue and Roger's visceral reaction made me think they were setting up a 'Cassandra' plot.  Alec Newman's cheekbones rival Grayson Hall's, and I thought it was an interesting touch that when in the rabid vampire state, his smooth cheeks were covered in thick scruff. The transformation of Willie is great, it seems that this Barnabas kills his victims or turns them into vampires, nothing in-between.  But if the series continued, I hope there would be more in store for Carolyn then a redo of 1991 Daphne/HODS Carolyn, though I certainly wasn't thrilled by this version of Joe Haskall.

Most of the youtube comments are characteristically negative, but I liked this.

There was another, equally campy scene in 1840 where Julia recaps/summarizes the recent plotlines with professor Stokes.  I found both of them to be obnoxious and a poor way to explain shoddy writing.  It seemed more likely that Barnabas was under a spell, given his behavior, and not just being blackmailed. 

Where Leviathins lost me was in the seemingly endless episodes that surrounded the leviathan kids playing with david and amy...certainly not what I would refer to as a mature storyline.  I also couldn't stand Paul Stoddard and his undignified spiral towards insanity inside so many dingy rooms.   The character seemed much more interesting back in the Jason McGuire era.

Lol yes, but she's not one of the witches this time...

I was hoping that Ethan and Dorian would have another encounter in the finale, as well.  But the actor who plays Dorian said in an interview that they aren't over yet, so I'm sure they will meet again in season 2.   That is in fact one of the many plot threads to be taken up with this cast of characters next season.  If they wanted to make a different 'penny dreadful' ensemble spinoff after a few years that would be fine but we are not there yet and this show shouldn't try to be an 'American horror story' clone. 

This was another great character-centered episode.  Vanessa's comments to Ethan about feeling like there was an animal inside of her trying to scratch it's way out seems to hint more at his being a werewolf, but we'll see.  I loved the bonding between Victor and Ethan, and choice comments to Malcolm like "I guess ths is what happens when you murder your way through an entire continent."  I'm glad no one is really on his side. 

I'm surprised next week is the season finale.  It seems that Victor hasn't started working on Caliban's "immortal bride" at all (I guess he wouldn't settle for one of those vampire women they find sleeping in warehouses all the time.)  If Victor just takes a complete corpse and modifies it a bit, I guess it could go by fast enough. 

The preview for next episode kind of annoyed me.  [spoiler]Malcolm has the nerve to say to Vanessa that if need be he will 'sacrifice her' for Mina....Why don't you sacrifice YOURSELF for Mina, Malcolm?  How is what Vanessa did any worse then your crimes?  [/spoiler]