Discuss - Ep #0304

[Lydia]

Robservations - #304

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

Re: Discuss - Ep #0304

[dom]

Burke visits the old house. Willie doesn’t budge an inch and Burke leaves without even a small victory. AG’s tough guy act doesn’t play. Karlen’s lying Willie on the other hand is magnificent, right down to the well-placed defensive quivers. Amazing.

Vicki & Julia discuss Sarah’s bonnet and Sarah herself. I don’t know, (that’s me, not Vicki), Vicki isn’t as dumb as everyone paints her. She’s on the right track about Sarah’s bonnet being from another time, another place, another century.

A pleasant David enters from breakfast and gets scooped up from Vicki’s charge by Dr. Hoffman who convinces him to help her search for Sarah. Sarah obviously has no desire to meet Julia as she shows up only to snatch her bonnet and scram unseen.

Burke wants to talk to Vicki off the grounds and while he waits for her to grab a sweater upstairs he pumps Julia for info on Barnabas. I enjoyed watching Grayson here. It was fun watching/hearing her process Burke’s questions by repeating key words back to him. AG was trying really hard to pull off the scene but failed miserably. Grayson didn’t give her finest performance either but it was still fabulous to watch. If Dr. Woodard and Maggie had only mentioned Dr. Hoffman to Burke in the context of their conversations he might have handled his inquisition more slyly or may have passed on it altogether. But he lands every punch and has Dr. Hoffman on the ropes.

Julia: …If Mr. Collins is in any way, unique it’s because he’s a perfect gentleman, (Grayson’s register now drops to that of a ‘30s vamp and she plays with her hair the way I’ve seen everyone from Clara Bow to Marilyn Monroe do) and that is unique. I’ve grown very fond of Mr. Collins. (Mr. Collins is not a villain, and I’m the woman who can prove it.)

So is this the moment we see Julia’s attraction to Barn surface? I am going to say no. I think it was a stunt to throw Burke off the track. But then again…

The scene ends with Burke taking note of the uncanny resemblance of Barn’s original portrait to Barn himself. He and Vicki depart leaving Julia standing silently beside herself.

Jules end up at the Old House questioning Willie re: Burkes earlier visit and admonishes him for his less than perfect performance of throwing Burke off the trail. Karlen makes it seem as though he ad-libs all his lines. Gotta love it.

Burke whisks Vicki off to the Blue Whale and implores her not to go to near the Old House or Barnabas Collins with no questions asked. (Good luck with that.)

Afterthoughts: I guess Sarah is very choosey. She’s only materialized to Sam, Maggie, and David?

Typically, adult actors talk about relishing playing the villain. I am wondering how David Henesy felt about being relieved of monster status. I wonder if child actors have a different view of it than adult actors.

First I hear music cues that aren’t there, now I am seeing bloopers that don’t happen. How fun it would have been to see a man’s hairy arm reaching to snatch Sarah’s bonnet off the rock while J&D were off stage left.

Today I noticed jewelry. Vicki’s ring sparkles beautifully and looks very unique, and Burke is sporting what appears to be a very handsome gold ring of emeralds possibly separated by a sapphire center stone.

I’ve smoked probably half of my lifetime and could never talk smoke without choking on it – how do they do it?

This ep was pretty suspenseful. At least as far as Burke getting closer and closer to exposing Barnabas. And the fact that Maggie brought up her misgivings about Julia in ep #303 makes it seem that evil is getting it from all sides.

[Lydia]

Again I'm thinking: Burke used to respect Vicky.  What happened?

AG was trying really hard to pull off the scene but failed miserably.

The problem was his cigarette.  He didn't know what to do with it once he lit it.  For Grayson Hall, on the other hand, a cigarette is simply an extension of her arm.

Julia keeps going further and further out on a limb.  She told Burke today that she has seen Barnabas during the daylight.  If it ever becomes public that Barnabas is a vampire, everybody will know she was in cahoots with him - or so it seems.  I'm betting Julia would be able to talk her way out of it.

[IluvBarnabas]

I really wondered what Burke hoped to accomplish by confronting Willie about Barnabas' activities. I suppose he might have believed that if he rattled Willie enough, Willie would wind up blabbing something about his master that Burke could have pieced together. Even so, if Burke wants to keep a low-profile of his investigation of Barnabas, going toe-to-toe with the vampire's servant was a really stupid move...

I suppose Burke was hoping that 'Miss' Hoffman would tell him something suspicious of Barnabas, thus his questioning of her, but all he gets is Julia's endless praise of him. If Julia's not careful, Burke may very well decide to have HER investigated as well, in which she could end up in a real mess.

Burke tells Vicki that she needs to promise to stay away from the Old House and Barnabas....he expects her to do this without questioning him as to why he wants her to do this. Come on, Burke, you know how much she admires Barnabas, you really expect her to just do what you say and not even give her a reason? I wonder if Vicki is thinking she may have said yes to Burke too quickly...(I know I would be thinking that!).

David and Julia go searching for Sarah, to no avail. Sarah has her reasons for appearing to people...she appeared to Maggie to help her escape, she appeared to Sam to let him know where he could find Maggie, and she appears to David because....well she's lonely. Ghost or not, she still has human emotions like the rest of us.

[DarkLady]

I like everyone's theories about Sarah's comings and goings. I think she appears to people when she sees that they need help--like Maggie and Sam. Julia is probably as far removed from Sarah's frame of reference as she is from Barnabas's. And as for appearing to David, the poor little ghost probably just wanted somebody to play with. After seeing how relentless Julia can be, she probably doesn't want to face a grilling from her. I do like how she got her little cap back!

I don't get why Burke came on like gangbusters at the Old House. All he really has is the music box and the fact that two women have referred to its light, tinkling music. Not enough justification to barge into the OH and yell for Barnabas.

I would be willing to bet that Julia can talk her way out of anything. I think that she already has truly "grown very fond" of Barnabas. And I still say she realized it back when she saw Barn and Vicki talking by the fountain.

[alwaysdavid]

Julia puts on her gloves to go out which was a common practice in the sixties. She also takes her pocketbook which seems strange, but I guess she has her cigarettes and lighter in there.

[DarkLady]

During the 1960s, especially earlier in the decade, no self-respecting woman of Julia's age and status would dream of going out without a pair of gloves and a handbag, even if there was nothing in it but a lighter and cigarettes. A complete ensemble also included a hat that matched the gloves, but by 1968 hats for women (as well as men) were dying out. The handbag and shoes were also supposed to go together.

[michael c]

besides cigarettes and a lighter julia's colossal purse carried all sorts of assortments and sundries...


sedatives, giant hypodermic needles, that whack-ugly "heirloom" medallion, perhaps a fresh pair of gloves should she wear one out fiendishly pulling them on and off.

it was a world unto itself.

[DarkLady]

I'll bet Julia's handbag was bigger on the inside than on the outside. 

[Roland]

With the non-stop parade of nosy visitors passing through the Old House, I'm kind of surprised that Barnabas and Willie haven't come up with a more plausible cover-story regarding Barnabas' whereabouts and business interests. Willie seems to be caught a bit off-guard at this late date.

The smoke-off between Burke and Julia was really quite impressive, though Burke looked like he'd never held a cigarette in his hands before. He barely looked like he knew what to do with it.