She sobs, Operator! Get me the police, quickly! Quickly!

True. I don't think I need to mark it as a spoiler when I say that Barn too often thinks with his, um, fangs. 

Gosh, thank you so much, Gothick! *blush*

I also love how the 1795 story line takes Barnabas so very far away from his original, true self. Kudos to the writers and especially to JF himself. Angelique truly destroys what she loves, doesn't she.

As I said, the modern, cured Barnabas--well, as cured as he ever can get--never stops being a user. This aspecy of his character has an interesting parallel during the times when he's a vampire. He's cold-blooded, yes, but as Nicky says, somehow still tragic. He ends up being neither totally good nor totally evil.

With Jeff available, the "creature" should now not be needed.   Lang doesn't have to slice off Clark's head or face and attach it to the "creature".   Lang can now simply transfer Barnabas's consciousness into Clark's body.  Guess that hasn't occurred to Lang yet.   Lang is obsessed with the stitched-together thing he considers himself to have "created", so there's really nothing in it for him if he just does a Jeff-Barnabas bodyswap (presumably killing Jeff-in-Barnabas's-body afterward).   I guess.

Interesting idea--and true, of course. I suppose that if JF had decided to leave the show, that's how the writers would have made the switch work.

The idea that Barn's big reformation and moral transformation happens here hadn't occurred to me either. But I think you're right, MT. Barn actually risks his own life to save another's, which would also mean giving up the woman he loves. I guess it doesn't really get much more moral than that.

In the first scene, Jeff is wearing a blue shirt.

Vicki comes to the House by the Sea and is practically in tears as she tells Lang that if she loses Jeff, she'll lose everything. As he eavesdrops, Barnabas looks very sad (nice bit by JF) as he learns all over again the price of being human--and that losing the strength of a thousand (plus that pallid makeup and industrial-strength eyeliner) may be the least of it. As he listens to Vicki’s pleading and weeping, his heart is pierced with pity. He gazes down at the unconscious Jeff for a moment, then picks up a scalpel and cuts the straps. Sarah would be proud!

Best line in this ep: Barnabas explains to Jeff that he's free. Not right now, I'm busy! Jeff snaps.

But Lang comes back after shooing Vicki off and injects poor Jeff again. Barnabas picks up the phone to call Julia, but Lang takes a gun out of a desk drawer. Barnabas is sure nothing will happen if Lang shoots him, but Lang replies, A melancholy aspect of your cure is that you are now vulnerable to death like any other man. You had better hang up the phone before I count to three….

Cassangelique is only temporarily taken aback when she opens the door to Josette's apparent modern twin. But the resemblance helps Cassandra choose the first victim of the Dream Curse.

Welcome (I guess) Room of Doors. My favorite part of the Dream Curse is the fog machine.

Meanwhile, Jeff wakes up to find himself strapped to the second table in Lang's laboratory and comes to a horrifying realization. You’re going to use my face! he shouts. That’s the only part of the monster that’s still missing! You’re insane! he screams. Unperturbed, Lang answers, I am one of only a handful of men who have had the courage to challenge the laws of nature. Lang quickly tires of Jeff’s protests and injects him again, and Jeff falls unconscious once more. Dr. Lang murmurs to his unconscious victim, You should be honored, Jeff. It is through your eyes that Barnabas has chosen to see the world, and through your lips that he has chosen to speak. With these words and with a blithe disregard for antisepsis, Lang picks up his scalpel.....

My notes from ep. 475 say that the stitch marks on the creation's arm are very large and conspicuous, but if Barnabas hasn't seen Frankenstein yet, he probably doesn't get it.

This exchange cracks me up: Life out of death? Barnabas asks incredulously. Do you think I’m altogether mad? Dr. Lang asks. 

Jeff and Lang spy on a gravedigger at some unknown cemetery. The man is working far too slowly to suit Lang, who gets especially impatient when the gravedigger pauses to light up. Lang threatens to expose Jeff's allegedly murderous past to Vicki, but Jeff stalks off, officially on strike.

This episode marks another first in Barnabas's life: Julia meets Barn at the gazebo. He explains, This was the only place I could think of where She wouldn't overhear us. It’s also why I insisted we leave the house separately. Julia comments, You did seem to be behaving strangely at the house. Getting right down to business, Barnabas tells Julia, I’m faced with the biggest decision of my life, and I want your advice as a doctor and as a friend. [This is the first time Barnabas uses this word of Julia! He’s on the way!!] Julia prepares to listen, focusing all her considerable intelligence and compassion on the man she loves. Barnabas continues, I want you to tell me what you know about Dr. Lang as a fellow professional. [Not so long ago he said he didn’t like her kind of woman!]

Unfortunately, Barnabas lingers too long and is forced to watch in jealous agony as Jeff and Vicki kiss passionately. Barnabas rushes back to Dr. Lang to tell him not only that he wants to go through with the experiment, but also that he has decided he wants his new face to resemble Jeff Clark's. Without missing a beat, Dr. Lang replies smoothly, I can do better than that: I can give you Jeff Clark's face!

And yes, unfortunately, Barn does seem pleased at this idea.

Welcome Roger's room! The chief piece of furniture is a large bed with a tall wooden headboard in Gothic-revival style.

Fun stuff with Elizabeth and Cassangelique. Poor Elizabeth is finally forced to reveal that Roger thinks he's Joshua and that she's Naomi. It's extremely difficult for the proud Elizabeth Collins Stoddard to reveal such weaknesses to a stranger, but Cass is unmoved. In fact, she's pretty hard pressed to conceal her delight at how things are going.

Cass tries to get Roger to postpone the honeymoon. I'm used to people not liking me at first, she says piteously. I feel that the family is against me, especially your sister and that Barnabas down at the Old House. Roger reassures her, They’ll accept you in time. With a confident smile, she tells  him, I have my little tricks.

Later, Julia has to doctor Cass's sprained ankle, so Cass has another person to complain to. Julia assures her, Mrs. Collins, you’re talking about a very inbred family. I don’t mean that in a bad way [though it’s true all the same!], just that they’re not used to Collinses doing the unexpected. Then the talk turn to "that Barnabas down at the Old House." She leans in to tell Julia, Barnabas seems to be a man of many secrets--and I imagine that you know them all. She asks if Barnabas is married. Julia replies stonily, Barnabas has _never_ been married. Oh, hasn’t he? Julia asks significantly. Julia is quick to disavow all knowledge but Cassandra knows better. Julia is now a little worried.

For about a nanosecond, the writers have made Vicki the smartest person at Collinwood--she's sure that Angelique has returned to settle the score with Barnabas. But that Barnabas is dead, reminds her. I know, Vicki replies. I just don't understand it. [And her smart moment is over.]

Later, Cass drugs Roger, using powder that she has concealed in a poison ring! I remember when everyone (though not me) had those! Once he's safely down for the count, Cassangelique steals downstairs and warns Barn's portrait that she means business.