That's really fascinating, MB! There really doesn't seem to be any hint that Victoria might be a Collins, at least thus far in the series. It might be fun to take a look at those comics, if they're still available anywhere.
I too really wish there was more character development. But I don't have a real problem with them not explaining why the Collins family is rich - since we know they've had money for years, I'm not sure it would come up naturally so early in the series. Maybe it's just my imagination, but didn't Carolyn mention to Vicki (maybe in the first episode) that nobody knows how many rooms Collinwood has, and most of them are shut up anyway? While I think it's a bit weird for the family to be so incurious about how many rooms their own ancestral home has, most of them being closed up might explain why there aren't many servants.
Agreed with all, Carolyn is weird, and her teeth-sucking, hip-swinging performance certainly does send mixed signals about what the actress is trying to portray. Elizabeth isn't given enough to do, and we really don't know why Victoria Winters is there, what's up with Roger or why David is so hostile. It's all a bit frustrating, but I find it also makes me curious as to what might be revealed.
Barnabas (or maybe a Barnabas/Victoria relationship) is clearly meant to be at the center of the series, and I have to think that if they'd continued, the writers (particularly if they'd had DC breathing down their necks) would have found a way to keep Barnabas (or the B/V 'ship) as the focus of the show. They do seem to have chemistry, and the portrait of Josette looking like Victoria raises lots of questions that they could've taken a long time to answer. Maybe Victoria was drawn to Collinwood because it's where she lived her past life; maybe she could sense that her lover from the 18th century was returning home. That's what I tend to read into it.
Does anyone else think it's strange that the Old House is just sitting there on the property, mouldering? Or that David would be allowed to play in an old wreck like that? And whoever mentioned that it's hard to tell the Old House from Collinwood? I get them confused too - they look like the same place.