In the voiceover for this ep, Vicki says about Willie, "Wherever he is, some violence is surely taking place."
Despite the enslavement and abuse, both verbal and physical, do you think that crossing paths with Barnabas saved Willie's life?
I always thought that [spoiler]releasing Barnabas from the coffin was the best thing that happened to Willie in a really warped way. True, Barnabas physically beat, treated him very badly a lot of times (and quite a few as well when he was human) but after being put under Barnabas' spell, we see Willie on his way to becoming a more remorseful, sympathetic, even likable kind of guy. Then we see Willie coming full circle and miles away from the vicious thug he was when he first came to Collinsport when he returns during the Leviathan storyline, sets out to save Maggie, and was even willing to put his own happiness on hold to protect Barnabas once more.
Willie came a long ways during the show, something that I don't think would have happened if he hadn't broken the chains around Barnabas' coffin and released the vampire. As I said, that one act, misguided and wrong as it was at the time, actually turned out to be Willie's salvation.[/spoiler]