Discuss - Ep #0390_0391

[Watching Project]

Robservations #390_391

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0390_0391

And remember:

Monday, February 11: No Episode, originally Monday, December 25, 1967 was Christmas

[DarkLady]

For all that she insists that she loves Jeremiah, Josette never wears a wedding ring.

Angelique shows fiendish mastery in her manipulation of Barnabas into agreeing to marry her. Knowing that he is a man of honor, she calls his bluff and releases him from his promise. Of course he has no way out. Looking utterly miserable, Barnabas tells her, If you will take me as I am, and knowing that I love Josette, I will marry you. Too absorbed in her own happiness to notice that Barnabas doesn’t share it, she flings her arms around him. Anticipating his father’s probable reaction, he adds, You must also let me tell the family myself. Overjoyed, Angelique promises to be a dutiful wife and to let him break the news to his family himself in his own way. She says, My obedience to your wishes will be an indication of our married life. Our married life, Barnabas echoes moodily, but Angelique doesn't notice.

Naomi's tender concern for her son's happiness is wonderful to see. Nice mother-son scene.

[dom]

Interesting observation about the wedding ring, DarkLady. I wonder if this is theoretically due to J&J not having time to have rings made or just an oversight on the part of the writers?

Jeremiah's entire head is wrapped in gauze and this is obviously due to AG being gone, not that the audience necessarily knew it then, but it still seems absurd. Josette is somehow aware of impending death -- Jeremiah's. I expected this foresight to be Angelique induced but I was wrong. I also expected Ange to tell Josette about her eminent marriage to Barnabas but again I was wrong. I am glad I don't exactly remember everything that is going to happen or when. It's makes it a bit more interesting and enjoyable. I don't know that I could sit through this story-line a third time. I was almost fooled again thinking I sensed sympathy in Ange during her conversation with Josette about what Barnabas wanted to say to Josette, but Ange's parting glance nixed any of that silliness on my part, lol.

Things progress as one might expect, or at least there are no revelatory surprises. Obviously Andre would want to lighten his daughter's burden and I can see him thinking Barnabas is the go-to guy for that. I understand Barn's reluctance but also understand his decision to do as Andre asks. And while Barn can find it in himself to forgive Josette he seems unable to do so where Jeremiah is concerned. Understandable, but not impossible. I don't know how I feel about that. I really think Barn should be able to forgive Jeremiah, Barn being the man that he is. I will say that I was surprised that Ange was at all willing to let Barn out of his marriage agreement. I can only wonder if she would really have let it go without going off the deep end as per usual. I guess, luckily for everyone's sake, Barn has a change of heart and does the noble thing and agrees to live up to his promise to marry Ange. Again I was surprised because I didn't remember that he did that at this point. Jeremiah dies and appears to Josette in her room as a ghost. I wonder if Jeremiah's presence is felt by Josette because they are connected by Ange's spell?

I agree DarkLady, I enjoyed the mother & son moment between Barn & Naomi.

Random observation: You'd think that Josette would have at least attempted to run into Jeremiah's arms when he appeared to her in her room.

[DarkLady]

I don't think Angelique EVER would have let Barnabas get out of his agreement. She was so sure that he would marry her in the end that she played her ace and offered to free him--a masterstroke of reverse psychology. If that hadn't worked, I'm sure she would have thought of something else to try. Also, she is so utterly incapable of seeing things from anyone else's point of view that she just can't imagine that he wouldn't marry her.

I also think that Angelique wants Barnabas to be the one to tell Josette about the marriage because it would be yet another twist of the knife with which she has stabbed Josette's heart.

I also think it's hilarious that Jeremiah's head is so completely wrapped up.

[Joeytrom]

Its odd that they wrapped up Jeremiahs head that way, I wonder why they didn't just recast.

[Uncle Roger]

In a way, it's much like the significantly taller blonde guy who filled for Bela Lugosi in Plan 9.

[alwaysdavid]

Jeremiah is finally seen again. Well sort of anyway. I was wondering if it were a dummy or a real person and then eventually there was movement in the body.  They talk of Jeremiah dying while right next to him unless maybe his ears were shot off in the duel. Jeremiah appears in Josettes room and she says, "have you recovered?"  As if a man with his head shot off at close range would recover.  Not that I wanted to see it, but AG never got a death scene. Either he was running away as fast as he could or they did not want him back.
Barnabas gets trapped into marriage just when his rival is dead and he had a chance to get the widow within a suitable period of mourning of course.

[MagnusTrask]

I think Andre was really tasteless and oblivious when he asked Barnabas to convince Josette that she did nothing wrong.   Alert servants should have rushed in immediately, grabbed Andre, and taken him by force to his room and made him take a nap, which might have restored his sense, since his brain needed a rest.   (No disrespect whatsoever meant toward anyone who disagrees, just my impression on this viewing.)   Barnabas is consumed with rage, still, toward both, even though the love keeps mixing in with it.   Barnabas feels betrayed to put it mildly.   He and Josette both have their guts twisted inside out, with blame shooting off in all directions, and guilt.   Andre might as well have had Josette tell Barnabas it wasn't his fault, even though Barnabas just shot Jerimiah in the face.   Andre, there's no easy quick fix for your daughter's emotions, just let it be.

This episode might have my favorite Anthony George performance.  Yes, I realize he wasn't there, and the extra might have just been a dummy with a sack of potatoes for a head.   Except when walking.