Roger remarks to Cassandra that if the large, grotesque stranger hadn't been moving around and making grunting noises, he (R.) would have imagined he was dead. A walking dead man? Cassandra asks innocently--although we know she already has met (and married) at least one walking dead man.

Maybe Julia is trying to scope Cassandra out under the guise of forming a friendship with her. This is her chance to get to know the woman who so nearly destroyed the man she (J.) loves.

Barnabas and Julia do a 180-degree turn in their attitude toward parenting. Barnabas has given up the search and returned to the Old House, where he and Julia meet up. The logical Julia concludes, Adam has probably gone home--just as a small child would do if he were hurt. (They took long enough to make up their minds that I wondered why they didn't just go downstairs!) Barnabas is skeptical but when they go downstairs, sure enough Adam is there. He's hostile at first, till Barnabas gently reassures him that they want to help. Then he lets Julia (who has suddenly gotten sympathetic) treat his wound--it's just a scratch. Barnabas wants to go to Collinwood to somehow talk Roger out of having the police search the Old House, but Adam gets upset when he makes to leave. Julia has to explain some of the finer points of parenting, and Barnabas promises Adam he'll return soon. He's still very pleased with Adam's progress. I think you'll learn very quickly, he tells Adam encouragingly--and even proudly.

dom, you are absolutely right about Robert Rodan. He is amazingly good, and his final scene--where he learns his second word--is just beautiful.

David is enjoying himself playing mumbly-peg with the new knife Cassangelique bought for him. Being patriotic, he’s humming the final strain of _The Stars and Strips Forever_ when he hears someone else trying to hum and suddenly realizes he isn't alone. Possibly because of the security of generations of wealth and (in)breeding, or maybe simply because he’s just a little boy, he is initially fearless, only curious about this stranger. David tells him, I like that song too. Why don’t you come out where I can see you. When Adam does (he knocks over a bush), the ingenuous David can't help observing, Wow! You're tall! When it becomes clear that Adam can’t speak, David concludes, You must be a foreigner. I’m glad you can't speak English, he says expansively. I’ve gotten pretty tired of people asking me questions all the time. He shows Adam his new knife, but doesn’t realize he’s dealing with the world's largest toddler.

Adam grabs the knife but David doesn't let go, so he gets hurt when Adam picks him up along with the knife. Adam doesn't realize what he's doing and drops David, who hurts his leg. Thinking to help him, Adam picks him up again but that only makes things worse, since David starts hollering to be set down. Roger and Barnabas finally hear his cries and rush to the scene. Roger waves his gun around, but Barnabas takes charge and eventually talks Adam into putting David down. When he does (clumsily but not ungently), David rushes right to Barnabas (apparently having forgotten all those nightmares about coffins). Roger is amazed at Barnabas's apparent power over this strange creature. But when Adam tries to come closer, Roger shoots and wings him in the shoulder. He shambles off howling, while the other three follow.

Adam finally makes it back to the only "home" he knows. Clutching his shoulder and moaning in pain, he collapses onto the cot....

Willie discovers that he and Adam have something in common after all--a love of bright, shiny objects. Whether this elevates Willie to Adam's level or lowers Adam to Willie's is not made clear, but Willie counts the bricks in the wall, then pushes one (as Sarah showed Maggie long ago, allowing her to escape). The whole wall swings open to reveal Barnabas's means of support--a cache of jewels. Willie picks out a small box and tells Adam, These were Josette's. They’re my favorites. Willie gives them to Adam to play with but takes Josette's emerald and diamond earrings. He reminisces, I once saw her wear them--well, anyway, this girl Maggie who looked just like Josette. When I saw her coming down the stairs toward me, it made me feel like I'd never felt before. I helped her escape--well, kind of. I wish Maggie wasn't scared of me because I'd sure like to get that feeling back, but now I never have a chance to be near her.

Later on, though, when Julia returns, Adam strongly hints that he would like to play with the jewels again, but Willie seems reluctant to take them out in Julia's presence. She must know about them, but Barn may have told Willie not to show her. 

Later, Julia brings the tape recorder and turns it on before she and Willie leave. Adam is captivated by the music, then listens in astonishment to Dr. Lang's famous warning--which almost no one else will ever hear. And no one is there when he reaches a developmental milestone and speaks his first word: "Barnabas."

 

They go for a nice symmetry, in which Adam's first few moments of pondering and puzzling out the world on his own happen concurrently with Barnabas pondering his supposed last few minutes, also on his own.

MT, what a brilliant observation!

I've always liked the way Adam is written and the sensitive job Robert Rodan does in portraying him. They could have written him as coarse and stupid, but I guess he does resemble his "dad" after all.

Good point, alwaysdavid. But remember, this is the Collinwood Universe! 

Barnabas is even more heartless than usual when he tells Julia to get a grip on herself. When Mrs. J. shows up, Barnabas tries to get her to go home. Mrs. Johnson protests, I simply can’t leave without doing whatever it is I came to do. Finally Julia shows Barnabas her trembling hands. How can I run the experiment properly in this condition? she asks. And even if Mrs. Johnson went home, I would be compelled to follow her. So Barnabas has to relent. (Behind him we can see a very nice painting of a four-masted schooner.)

Good scene with Barn and Vicki and very well acted. Near tears, Vicki tells him, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you the kind of love that you have given me. Barnabas reassures her, Perhaps it's better you don’t feel that way now. One day we will talk again, he promises her, and I'll be able to tell you things I’ve never told anyone else. You'll realize then that if you loved me now, you would be making the greatest mistake of your life. At this moment thunder announces the usual approaching storm, and Barnabas wants Vicki safe at home before the storm breaks. In his courtliest manner, he bows in farewell, saying gently, Until we meet again. But once he's seen her out he simply closes his eyes in anguish.

But don't be too sympathetic toward him. Poor Julia twirls all the dials like mad to keep the man she loves alive. And unlike Eric Lang, who was always whining about needing an assistant, our Julia performs the entire experiment all by herself! She is nervous about keeping track of so many devices with such recently gained knowledge. Things go well--until they don't. Barnabas crossly demands to know why he's still alive, then barks, Go back downstairs and check Lang's notes to see what you did wrong. He assumes it was her fault!

Adam is alive--but so is Barnabas, much to his chagrin....

Maybe it's a really, really big gazebo.