"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down...."

This episode has a cast of thousands--well, anyway, twelve, surely a record for the show!

I love, love, love the way Jason tells Willie about being engaged to Elizabeth.  I’ve finally given in to her proposals, Jason says airily. I can’t believe she would ever marry you, Willie comments. Why not? Jason replies. I’m a fine fellow, in the flower of my manhood.  I'm sure Barnabas lengthens Willie's leash every so often just so he can get tidbits of news like this one.

Once again, Jason accuses Willie of being in on a sweet deal at the Old House. Once again Willie tries to warn him off.

I've always wondered what Buzz offered Carolyn, and I've always guessed it was acid. In the end, though, Carolyn doesn't seem interested. Maybe the writers didn't want to get in trouble for an explicit mention of drugs. And because Carolyn is not supposed to be a "bad" girl, they had to keep her (more or less) pure.

Joe tells Carolyn that Buzz seems like as much fun as a bag of spiders. 

Later, Carolyn goes home and drops a bomb on her mother--and Jason too.

It does make sense that Flora must have been born a Magruder. I just can't see Millicent having any children, not with her being insane and most likely stuck in the Tower Room for the rest of her life. I'm sure her little brother Daniel took great care of her.

Interesting idea, Lydia. Even if Maggie never sees Joe again, she would still be loyal to him, I'm sure. She might think she will come back as a ghost, just to keep her pop company. We already know that Joe doesn't believe in an afterlife.

Good point, Lydia. It's Carolyn who thinks safety doesn't count. Buzz seems to realize that Carolyn is only using him, but he doesn't seem to mind. Maybe going out with THE Carolyn Collins Stoddard of Collinwood will win him some points with his biker pals.

Actually Roger gets a good line too: Each individual reserves the right to ruin his or her life as quietly or flamboyantly as he chooses.

I'm not sure Mary Cooper was the right choice as Josette. I would have thought that even in PT she would still have some Gallic or Creole traces, perhaps a love of (carefully preserved) finery or a trace of bygone glamor--maybe one last piece of the jewelry Barnabas gave her that she's held on to all these years. Anyway, something.

But I do think MC did a good, concise job in her few appearances of convincing us that she knows what makes Bramwell tick. She's the only person he really listens to and almost the only one he really respects.

I wonder...did some of Barnabas's obsession with Maggie rub off onto Willie via vampire influence?

I don't think so. Remember how Willie insulted Maggie and Sam at the BW just before his disastrous trip to the Collins mausoleum. I think that ever since he learned compassion at Barnabas's cruel hands, he's been eaten by remorse. So he'd take any chance at all of making it up to her--and really, it's the one source of human interaction he has now.