barnabas collins...skirt chaser

[michael c]

as i near the completion of the series i must say that barnabas collins is something of a randy and often fickle fellow.

now of course we all know that josette collins was his "one great love".this was one for the ages.

josette was played by kathryn leigh scott.so when the show travels back and forth in time and the various storylines unfold one of two things happen between barnabas and whatever character kls was playing at that particular time:

a.)barnabas pursues the character with an obsessive,manic,often violent fervor(1967 maggie evans,1897 kitty hampshire).
b.)barnabas persues the character in a sort of weak,half assed way because she reminds him of josette but it never really goes anywhere(1897 rachel drummond,1970 maggie,1970pt maggie).

so supposedly josette's the one.but i'm currently watching 1970pt and the minute roxanne appears on the slab with a red shag and a bullet bra he's smitten.ignoring all rationality in the situation and the advice of his good friend dr.julia hoffman he decides that simply based on her beauty this creature must be brought to life.

let's not forget either that for a long time victoria was the apple of his eye.and at some point in 1840 he tells angelique that she was always the "one he loved".

all the while the good doctor's obvious affections go all but ignored.

this was one fickle vampire.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Dear mscbryk,

Yes, as a Dark Shadows fan of a "certain" age, I hear what you are saying about Barnabas' rather unfortunate "fickleness."  (Or does Barn actually suffer from a really bad case of romantic "capriciousness"?).

In any event, I think we all have to realize, that after being cooped-up in that "musty" coffin for so many years, it just may have adversely effected (affected?) Mr. B.'s "better" judgment in affairs-of-the-heart.

So, trying to vainly remain "hip" and "with-it" in today's "contemporary scene," I like to think of the fickle, "love-'em-and-leave-'em"  Mr. Barnabas Collins, as Dark Shadows own modern-day "answer" to, say, George Clooney, or, perhaps, even better still, the infectiously-appealing Ashton Kutcher-Moore (?)!!!

Happy Easter,

Bob the Bartender, still pining over "the woman," the timelessly-divine Ms. Mapes!   

[Barnabas'sBride]

Josette's the woman he holds every other woman to for most of the show. Maggie, Rachel, Kitty and Victoria all remind him in either looks (Maggie, Rachel, Kitty) or personality (Victoria) of Josette.  Kitty's a different case because she actually was the re-incarnation of Josette. It's just a shame they went about it like a possession instead of the way it was supposed to be. It's obviously all about Josette with these women and Josette only, with one exception - Victoria. A very good argument can be made that he loved Victoria by the time she left the show, and not because of her similarity to Josette. He let her go because she was happy with Peter.

That leads us to Roxanne, which I don't get. With the others, it was Josette. His relationship with Victoria was built up over time to become much more than just Josette and IMO, it works well. It's believable. With Roxanne, however, it's just magically supposed to be there. It's very similar to Quentin & Amanda Harris. I was half expecting him to recite "I'll Be With You Always" to her while they danced. There's no build up or development, it's just suddenly there. And that doesn't work. It didn't work with Quentin and it didn't work with him.

Only one left - Angelique. I felt his declaration in 1840 was way, way out of character. I couldn't believe a word of it. For me it was just a way for the writers to tie up the storyline to change everything to PT and the characters suffered for it. Him telling her that he'd forgiven her - perhaps in the hope it might give her peace - would have been much more believable and a lot more powerful. Best of all, it wouldn't have belittled so many people he loved (Josette, his family in 1795, Victoria...etc - honestly, that's what bothers me most of all).

*Ducks flying brandy glasses*, In the last year of the show, it seemed to me that character development had kind of fallen by the way side, and the plots dictated everything. I think Roxanne, and most definitely Angelique, were out of character for Barnabas.

[stefan]

I honestly don't think Barnabas' fickleness was character driven but actor driven as Jonathan Frid became a sex symbol of sorts and since Josette was long dead by the 60's, they had to pair him up with all the hot dames to satisfy the public. Or, at least they felt they had to. Leaving him with Josette would have been just as sexy (my opinion anyway).

[BuzzH]

With Roxanne, however, it's just magically supposed to be there. It's very similar to Quentin & Amanda Harris.

OMG!  I *totally* agree w/this!  I mean, Quentin was *crazy* about Beth, then all the sudden there's Amanda and he's crazy for her.  I was like, "What the f*%#?!!"  

[arashi]

With Roxanne, however, it's just magically supposed to be there. It's very similar to Quentin & Amanda Harris.

OMG!  I *totally* agree w/this!  I mean, Quentin was *crazy* about Beth, then all the sudden there's Amanda and he's crazy for her.  I was like, "What the f*%#?!!"  

I agree with those sentiments exactly.

[CyrusL]

I've always believed that Barnabas's problems came from his innate fickleness (is there such a word). Who knows, had he been more open and honest with both Josette and Angelique...well then, we wouldn't have had a series. One the whole, I think Jonathan had real sparks with both Lara and KLS, and to a lesser degree with Alexandra. That's why the Barn/Josette/Angelique triangle is both believable and intriguing.  The Barnabas/Roxanne thing isn't as natural and therefore has that obvious veneer of contrivance. I like Donna and I think some of her best moments were actually Roxanne telling Trask to bugger off.
        Quentin was more natural as a skirt chaser. I think Quentin/David had a much better onscreen chemistry with Beth/Terry than Amanda/Donna and definitely than Laura/Diana, and I think that's why we feel Beth's hurt so deeply. In 1840, I think Quentin/David had a good chemistry with Daphne/Kate, which also made us feel stronger about their sticky triangle with Samantha, who as played by Virginia Vestoff was  definitely one of the series best performances, so you can feel there would have once been that early 19th romance novel passion that had grown as cold as a search for the north pole. 

Michael [/color]

[Luciaphile]

There's a line in a movie that makes me think of Barnabas. It's some British flick (Peter's Friends maybe?) Kenneth Branagh says it to a female character who's got a new boyfriend every time you turn around. He's talking to her and he says something to the effect of "You're in love with romance."

I don't know that Barnabas really loves a lot of the women he's paired with. I think he's in love with the romance of it all. I mean, you look at his parents. You look at his aunt. You look at the shipyard (okay, the idea of the shipyard). There's not a lot of romance in his life. Hell, it's a time when romance was the province of poets and ladies' novels. You married because it was a good match, not because you loved the person. That's what the engagement is all about to Andre and Joshua. It's pure coincidence as far as they're concerned that he happens to be in love with Josette. I guess what I'm getting at is that romance is his way of escaping all of that.

It gets to be a habit with him. And then I think the addiction to drama takes over...

[michael c]

i wonder if perhaps in intoducing roxanne the writers were simply trying to take the show in a new direction.

after all there are only so many characters played by kathryn leigh scott that barnabas could fall in love with.i think that after kitty hampshire that part of the storyline was played out.his "fondness" for maggie post-1897 was weak at best.it just never really went anywhere.

it's true that quentin was more the "skirt chaser" in the classic sense.perhaps that was the wrong choice of phrase for barnabas but you know how it is when one just fires off at the keyboard.
the onscreen chemistry between quentin and beth was very compelling.i was stunned when quentin randomly picked amanda harris and deeply saddened by beth's unfortunate fate.

[BuzzH]

It gets to be a habit with him. And then I think the addiction to drama takes over...

ROTFLMAOPIMP!!!!!!!  I love this!  Too funny!  It also happens to be TRUE!  LOL!     Our beloved Vampire/Anti-Hero IS a drama queen!   

I too think he's "in love with love".  He had so little of it as a child, that's plain.  I mean, I'm sure Naomi showed her love for him (when she was SOBER that is), in fact, doesn't Joshua accuse her of "coddling" him as a boy?  I can't remember, been awhile since I've watched 1795.  Hell, you'd think I had it MEMORIZED as much as I love it--sheesh!    

Anyway, I digress....certainly Joshua never showed any love to him, until [spoiler]the end when he promises to put a stake through his heart at dawn[/spoiler] and Abigail, well...someone just needed to pony up and give her some!  God knows it wouldv'e wiped the sour look off her face, LOL!

[BuzzH]

after all there are only so many characters played by kathryn leigh scott that barnabas could fall in love with.

LOL!  God you guys are on a ROLL tonight!  I died on this one!  And I ain't even drinking tonight!  

[Miranda]

I think CyrusL hit the nail on the head...I think it was the chemisty Jonathan had in spades with Lara and to a lesser degree with KLS that made the Angelique/Josette/Barnabas triangle so intriguing--the Roxanne thing was indeed forced, except for maybe in 1840, and to me you could definitely notice the age difference between Jonathan and Donna Wandrey, where to me it was not noticable at all with Lara or depending on the character, with KLS....

[BuzzH]

I think CyrusL hit the nail on the head...I think it was the chemisty Jonathan had in spades with Lara and to a lesser degree with KLS that made the Angelique/Josette/Barnabas triangle so intriguing--the Roxanne thing was indeed forced, except for maybe in 1840, and to me you could definitely notice the age difference between Jonathan and Donna Wandrey, where to me it was not noticable at all with Lara or depending on the character, with KLS....

Very true!  Jon had great chem w/KLS and even better chem w/LP, especially during 1841 PT--oh my, my!  Were they HOTTT together as Bramwell & Catherine or what??!!    His chem w/KLS was more on the "sweet" side, particularly during 1795 and yes, during that plotline the age difference seems minimal to me, but in 1897 when she's Rachel, it seems there's more of a gap.  Haven't REALLY seen the end of 1897 yet so can't comment on Kitty/Barnabas.

[michael c]

one more thought.

on viewing the further progression of this storyline i cannot believe how inconsistent and out-of-the-blue the romance between barnabas and roxanne was.i totally do not buy it.

when barnabas cried out to roxanne through the flames of the parallel-time room i thought i was going to barf.

[stefan]

I've always believed that Barnabas's problems came from his innate fickleness (is there such a word). Who knows, had he been more open and honest with both Josette and Angelique...well then, we wouldn't have had a series. One the whole, I think Jonathan had real sparks with both Lara and KLS, and to a lesser degree with Alexandra. That's why the Barn/Josette/Angelique triangle is both believable and intriguing

It's hard to tell just WHAT Barnie's problem was sometimes. I do agree somewhat that Barnabas tended to be a romantic and was "in love with love". I also think he viewed women as either bad or lustful (Angelique) or good and ethereal (Josette). Because the youthful Barnabas was played by a man over 40 with great deep soulful eyes, it's hard to see him as just plain "young and immature" and I view 1795 Barnabas as exactly that. Pretty ordinary with guys in their early 20's and nothing unusual, except he show an unusual insensitivity, stupidity and poor judgment in choosing his fiancees' maid for his bed romp.

As far as the chemistry goes. KLS youth hindered her orginal performance as Josette and though she had some touching moments and random magical scenes with Frid, many of their scenes were forced, in my opinion. I think she either didn't understand the magnitude of her role or was too immature to cope with the intensity that was needed for Josette. LP was already 30 I think, better educated and had a superb grasp of Angelique, her motivations and her scenes with Frid seemed more like a meeting of equals. Also, storywise - because of the youth of both Barnabas and Josette and the innate reserve of Josette, the Josette/Barnabas pairing really needed more time to develope and grow. Absolutely were they not given enough screen time to blossom. As we all know, no sooner did they all get together was Angelique knocking on Barnie's door and going at it. 1895 Kitty/Josette/Barnabas was more successful as far as chemistry goes, KLS seemed more comfortable as Josette and I was very happy with their delicate chemistry. But, again, that whole triangle was not given enough screen time and was abruptly and ridiculously cut short by the Levinthian thing.