Discuss - Ep #0368_0369

[Watching Project]

Robservations - #368_369

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

Re: Discuss - Ep #0368_0369

And also remember:

Thursday, January 10: No Episode, originally Thursday, November 23, 1967 was Thanksgiving

[IluvBarnabas]

She's heeeereeee!!! Welcome, Angelique!

The episode starts out raining. Barnabas is concerned about Josette because her ship is late. Vicki assures him that Josette WILL arrive safely, instead of saying 'I'm sure she will arrive safely', which is what she should have done. Barnabas starts to believe she's psychic despite her strong denials.

In comes Joshua who sends Vicki off and berates Barnabas for not being at the yards. Joshua's ideas about women, love and marriage are definitely a bit on the chauvinistic side, but this was the 18th century after all. I can't help but chuckle hearing his views on how a woman should NOT be man's future...I'm more amused than offended because again, this was probably the view that most men had in this era.

And a knock on the door and lo and behold here comes our dear Angelique, explaining how the carriage carrying her and the Countess Natalie DuPres is stuck in the mud...Barnabas agrees to let Angelique tag along as they go out to bring the Countess to the house, but for a moment we see Angelique stare behind with a great longing, and also a bit of deviousness in her gaze.

The Countess comes walking in, aghast that Josette is not there yet, flabbergasted that no one has rolled out the red carpet for her despite the fact that the family did not know she was coming early. She criticizes the color of the house. Joshua and Naomi comes in, Barnabas introduces them to her, and of course Natalie
immediately "endures" herself to Joshua by complaining about her travels and insulting New York which where she was visiting previously. I love how the Countess speaks her mind and enjoy watching Joshua's obvious shock at having to endure such a woman with strong minded opinions which I'm sure he did not appreciate. We've already heard how his views on women....this was a brilliant scene and Grayson and Louis were both great.

Joshua complains about the Countess to Naomi, who isn't the least bit offended at having to call her Countess. Joshua apparently thinks he has the right to cancel his son's wedding whether Barnabas likes it or not. He also apparently only cares about the business end that will come out of the marriage, not whether or not Barnabas might actually be happy. Naomi is unhappy about this.

The Countess reads the tarrot cards to Barnabas. Vicki mistakes her for Julia and apologizes for it. I laughed how Natalie is disgusted that there may be more versions of her....I can only imagine the horror that this would undoubtetly have produced in Joshua if he had heard of this. lol

Natalie warns that there is a wicked woman in the house who will cause grief, and she throws a suspicious look at Vicki....is it real suspicion or is it Natalie is still sore that Vicki implied there were other women who resembled her out there in the world?

And of course we have Angelique coming to Barnabas' room and declaring her love for him, but Barnabas tries to push her away. It's been debatable whether they just had a one-night stand or if it was a brief affair that lasted only a bit longer. [spoiler] Later on, as a vamp Angelique claims it was nights they had in Martinique as Barnabas is in her power and very weak. [/spoiler] We only have her word for that but I can't say 100 percent that it couldn't be true.

Angelique tries and tries and TRIES and TRIES to work her wilies on him, but Barnabas will have none of it, he is determined to stay true to Josette. Angelique angrily leaves the room but we know she has only yet begun to fight.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but there was so much I wanted to write. In addition to Grayson and Louis, Jonathan, Joan and Lara were also great. We get our introduction to Angelique, and already we're starting to get a hint of what is to come. Great episode.

[DarkLady]

Loved your long post--you said almost everything I would have said!

Joshua makes it clear to Vicki that she can't go anywhere without Sarah. In those days, some servants would have been expected to stay indoors 24/7, except of course for church on Sunday.

I love GH as the countess. She is obviously enjoying herself immensely. Her scenes with LE are terrific. The countess wonders if she can have a cup of hot tea. Joshua hints that he won’t allow tea to be served at Collinwood--our first indication of his political views. Later he refers to the townspeople, who fought for equality less than twenty years ago. Does this mean he has one teeny redeeming characteristic?

JB looks absolutely radiantly beautiful, even in black and white. BTW, the beautiful arch that we first saw in Tony Peterson's office now adorns the master bedroom.

And yes, welcome (so to speak) to Angelique! Clearly she is expecting more of a welcome from Joshua. She gives the drawing room such an appreciative and anticipatory look that we already know she expects Barnabas to treat her as more than a servant.

After dinner, Barnabas finds the countess reading her tarot cards. He pooh-poohs them as superstition, but she insists they're really sophisticated and offers to show them to him. Barnabas looks at the cards as the countess explains them. Your card is the Magician, she tells him, because you have won Josette (whom the countess obviously loves dearly). Barnabas thanks her for the neat compliment. In answer to his questions, the countess tells him, The symbol on the Magician’s card is the sign for infinity--eternal life. Don't you want to live forever? Of course, he replies lightly. But the countess sees another card and says, No, you wouldn’t!

And then of course, there's famous scene in Barnabas's room. He looks especially nice in his poet's-sleeve shirt. JF and LP play this scene to perfection!

[dom]

...and then came Maude.

Emotionally, I found the whole damn thing distressing and extremely ugly. This is my second viewing and knowing generally everything that is going to happen (with repercussions even in future story-lines) made it all so very depressing (for me). Add in the haughtiness and cruelty and it just becomes one big ugly moment (for me). And it being a kinescope was the nasty icing on the cake. I did not enjoy this episode at all.

That said, I give Lara props for her acting in this episode; it was flawless. I don't like the character at this stage of the game (or in this story-line) and I did not savor her arrival on the scene. The first time around I found Natalie a riot, this time I'm really turned off by her. And Grayson's acting is sub-par to her talents and uneven at best, in this episode.

I admit that I really got a kick out of seeing Barn in the scene described by DarkLady: in his poet-sleeved shirt. I got a big kick out of the pants also. Not used to seeing Barns legs and him moving so spryly.

IMO, no one but Lara pulled off their roles in this episode. Grayson's tarot card scene with Frid was painful to watch. Edmonds & Bennett both faltered with their lines. And at this point I won't rate Frid, except to say that I only remember not being disappointed with Lara Parker.

So, we've been presented with two more new characters. Natalie is obviously going to provide much comic relief and so far as I can tell will be on the foe side of Vicki. And Ange, well, there is no indication either way at this point as she hasn't met Vicki. But even at this stage of the game it appears Ange is on only one side - her own!

We see that Naomi has an issue with booze and that Joshua is not at all sympathetic or amused by it. We see that Barn had an affair with his bride-to-be's family servant. And it's been made obvious that she (Ange) is going to be a problem. Natalie is a snob of the highest order and is sure to be a thorn in the side of many and believes in the supernatural. Joshua is a prideful American but hypocritical as he scoff’s at titles saying everyone is equal and yet is misogynistic, and he does not see eye to eye with his son Barnabas.

This was definitely a jam-packed exciting episode. Too bad (for me) that it pushed all my buttons and (again, as far as I'm concerned) was poorly acted with the exception of Lara Parker.

[alwaysdavid]

There is a new player on the scene and her name is Angelique and no mention of her was made prior to this by anyone at Collinwood in the present time.  She arrives as the Countess' maid.  The Countess herself comes across as pompus. It is revealed that Josettes father is a sugar cane planter.

[dom]

I rewatched and have to add that AM as Vicki did do a very good job of acting as well.