If Elizabeth and Roger knew Barnabas' secret

[michael c]

in the hundreds of times barnabas visited collinwood,didn't anyone notice that he didn't cast a reflection?as i recall,there is a large mirror in the foyer.

[Luciaphile]

Timing.

So let's say Elizabeth and Roger found out about Barnabas right about the time that [spoiler]Barnabas was terrorizing David and biting Carolyn.[/spoiler] Roger needs a fire lit under him to get him to do anything so I'm not sure what he would have done. But I have a feeling Elizabeth's reaction would have been pretty harsh. And given their comparative lack of scruples when it came to certain things, I suspect Barnabas would have been toast.

Later on when they were both practically caricatures. Shock, disbelief, then firmly back into denial.

[The Ghost of Sarah Collins]

I believe Elizabeth would take such a shocking secret with much more ease than Roger,  Liz has always been the stronger Collins where as her baby brother would run to the sherry to help his nerves... 

[Julia99]

I believe Elizabeth would take such a shocking secret with much more ease than Roger,  Liz has always been the stronger Collins where as her baby brother would run to the sherry to help his nerves... 

yes she did believe her dead (murdered by her own hand) husband was buried in the cellar .. .she kept cool about that for 18 or so years. . .vampire? oh, well, who am i to judge, she'd think.. .

[Philippe Cordier]

I would assume, too, that after all the present-day Collins family had gone through, and with Barnabas having been a close member for several years by series end, that Roger and Elizabeth would have protected Barnabas.  It always bothered me when I read something, I think it might have been Sam Hall's article for TV Guide on "what happened" after the show ended, to the effect that "Roger discovers Barnabas' secret and tries to kill him."  To me, that doesn't ring true.  (But then Barnabas and Julia going off to the Orient had to be tongue in cheek, didn't it?)

I love the ambiguity the series left us with regarding whether or not Professor Stokes guessed Barnabas' secret.  In my view, leaving things up to the viewer/reader to resolve, hash over, discuss endlessly, is a sign of respect for the reader's/viewer's intelligence, rather than spoon feeding us with all the answers.

(Not surprising that I find movies like "Memento" and "Gosford Park" brilliant ... )