And I was really looking forward to seeing that again.  Geez.  Why would they remove that awesome little piece?  Well, I'll have to hunt down my Sci Fi tape and put it in a safe place.  I know it's on there.

I'm close to the end in watching the premiere ep of the British version of this series on BBC America (with Patrick Stewart as Hood!), and I'm shocked that the CBS pilot is a scene by scene, LINE BY LINE copy.  That's just sad!

I was wondering why the writing was so good!      

I thought the series got off to a good start.  I'll be watching this one.

So, this half was definitely better than the first.  Once again, I must say that the direction and music of this pilot are top quality.  Both are exceptional.

This show's whole take on the vampire story is really refreshing.  The "experts" are all seemingly open to the possibility of this being a real vampire, and I like that take a lot.  It gets the story going a lot quicker, instead of holding everything up by having scenes where everyone is arguing over whether or not the vampire is real. 

I am really starting to like Barnabas as a character.  I wasn't too sure about him in the first half, but now I think I'll like him.  I love Victoria and David even more than I did in the first hour.  Both are exceptional.  I still don't like Carolyn or Roger.  Willie is just sort of annoying.  He's supposed to add comic relief, but I think he's a little over-the-top so far.  He may get better as time goes on.

There were a couple of things that bothered me.  The first thing was how they dressed Elizabeth in a couple of the scenes.  Some of her outfits just don't seem to fit the rather regal, strong lady Elizabeth seems to be.  Another thing that bothered me was the staircase leading to the basement of the Old House.  It looked so modern that it completely threw off my whole sense of immersion.  Another quibble I have with this part of the show is how I am unable to tell whether or not I am looking at Collinwood or the Old House.  They look exactly the same to me, and it's very confusing.  Another little thing that I noticed here that didn't really bother me, but I am thinking is a blooper, is Barnabas returning to look up at Victoria's window without his cane.  I can't imagine him walking all the way back to the Old House just to drop off his cane and then come back to hiss at Miss Winters' window.  It's entirely possible, but I think they just omitted his cane because of the logistics of the scene; ie: running after Sarah.  The problem there is that they made such a point in the previous scene to emphasize the cane, that Barnabas not having it a few minutes later just seems like a big oversight. 

There were two wonderful scenes in this part of the pilot.  The first was Willie's interrogation.  I thought that was a very well directed scene.  The other was Barnabas and Victoria in Josette's room.  Once again, I have to comment that the music is superb, especially Josette's Music Box theme. 

As a side note, I must say that I am watching the DVDs, and the removal of the "night" filters on the day for night scenes doesn't really bother me.  I just think of all that excess light as really bright moonlight, and since the setting for this show is really quite surreal, it works in my opinion.  My tapes of the original broadcast include the filters, and the heavy blues in those scenes always bothered me, because they made the scenes seem fake.   

My grade for this part of the pilot is an A-.  Over all, it's great.  The few problems I mentioned above don't really take away from the show itself, but the excess "sex appeal" elements written into the script do detract in my opinion.  Frankly, I'm not interested in seeing Joe and Daphne swap saliva or Carolyn tease that future victim in the bar.  Those things detract from the quality of the show, imo.  I want to see character build-up, more emphasis on the family, on Barnabas and Victoria, etc.  But, that's just me. 

Isn't she just great?!  Too bad she didn't get to play many characters like this on Dark Shadows.  She's perfect for the role of the villainess.  Thanks for posting this!

Direction:  First of all, let me say that the direction of this episode was fantastic.  The whole setting seems sort of "dream-like", while maintaining a strict sense of reality.  That balance is very important to maintain.  Secondly, the music is superb, one of the best "mystery/horror" scores I have ever heard.  The direction and music is perfect for what I've watched so far.

Characters:  There are some characters/actors I already know I will like.  Joanna Going as Victoria is definitely going to be one of my favorites, as well as Jean Simmons as Liz, Mrs. Johnson, and little David.  I want to like Barnabas Collins, but I can't say that I do just yet.  Perhaps it's how Ben Cross carries himself that makes me sort of "stand-off-ish" when it comes to this character.  I haven't seen enough of either Cross or Barnabas yet to determine if I will like him.  Some characters I don't really care for right now are Carolyn and Roger.  I'm sort of indifferent towards some of the lesser characters and Willie.  My main problem with Willie is how he is involved in the plot. 

Plot/Story:  The overall premise of this series is a great one, one I really like.  It's got a big mansion, a spooky family, lots of secrets, and a vampire.  I did have a few problems with the storyline for this episode though, mainly how the character of Willie is involved.  First of all, I think the writers made a big mistake having the Collins family send an incompetent drunk to pick up a new employee.  It doesn't seem like something either Elizabeth or Roger would do.  It is classless and senseless.  I understand that the writers wanted to tie the character in with the rest of the story, maybe add a little depth to him, but there had to be a better way.   A family like the Collinses isn't going to do this, no way, no how.  It just wouldn't happen.  I also have a problem with how Victoria would be stupid enough to place her life in danger by riding with Willie when she could clearly see how drunk he was.  I can see how it might show a compassionate, understanding, "give him a chance" type side of Vicki, but it also makes her seem stupid, when the rest of the time, the character is not.  Another problem I had (also involving Willie) was how he figured out that the lion was the central part of the riddle.  Logically, from the way the poem is written, the key to the riddle would be the dove, not the lion's head (especially when it comes to the placement of the dove in the scene.  It was bigger than the lion.)  So, those things made very little sense to me.  I can overlook them though, because the rest of the show is making up for these poorly written character actions. 

My grade of this episode:  B

Somehow, I think the author reversed the order, because on #1, he says "it was between this and the Munsters."  Well, if it were a decision like that, then the Munsters should slip into slot #2.  So, either the order is reversed, there is no order, or the author was running really close to his deadline.   

It does have a similar sound in the first seven seconds.  The notes are the same up until then, and then it changes completely.  So, I am a big fan of those first few seconds.