I guess I'm in the minority, as I love that story. I know the continuity aspect makes no sense whatsoever (but neither do any of the other flashbacks, so who cares), but it's so well done and enjoyable.
Carolyn Groves is just amazing as Vicki - she just hits the ground running, looks perfect and frankly is a better actress than Alexandra Moltke. This Vicki's vulnerable and scared, but she's no fool either.
Also, it really does improve on the original run of 1795 episodes too - Barnabas' confrontation of Nathan in the Eagle is vastly superior, with far better performances - Frid in particular. Added to that the fun of revisiting the 1795 settings, and the shock - well, it was to me - return of Angelique (never a bad thing), and it's a great little diversion that doesn't outstay its welcome.
After the relative disaster of Betsy Durkin's miscasting (not really a bad actress, just visually wrong and too go-get-em), I think it was really welcome to take time out and give Vicki a proper send-off. There's even a little acknowledgement of the parentage thing as she leaves, when she tells Barnabas that she doesn't need to search any more, because Collinwood is her home... awwwww.