I suppose that by now, Willie's first priority has to be protecting Barnabas. And I'm sure he doesn't want people to know that he's enslaved to a vampire--he's already been in trouble with the law and could face life in the slammer (as an accessory) or in an insane asylum. He's in a lose/lose situation. But later, when Willie finds out that Barnabas swapped slides, he babbles, I knew you'd protect me.

Doc Woodard acknowledges that some people are reluctant to give up their blood. Barnabas waxes rhapsodic while the doc performs the venipuncture: In a way, isn’t that understandable? he says. After all, blood is the life force. It reaches into the deepest recesses of both the heart and the brain. It is the familiar of our complete being. To surrender even one drop of it is to suggest a partial surrender of one’s utmost self.

Barnabas asks to see the slide, and the doctor hands it to him, warning him to handle it by the edges. This is almost certainly, Barnabas's first-hand experience of modern medicine. They talk briefly about whoever trashed the doctor's office, and Woodard wonders whether it was a man or a beast who had such tremendous strength. Barnabas replies, In that case, whoever it is must be at the same time more than a man and less than a man. You sound almost sorry for him, the doctor observes. Barnabas disagrees: I loathe him. I loathe him very, very deeply.

Doc Woodard introduces himself to Barnabas, and they shake hands. I guess that unlike in the Bram Stoker universe, a vampire's touch is not icy cold, because nobody every says that about Barnabas.

The doctor asks Barnabas to use his influence to get Willie to give him a blood sample. Barnabas agrees, but ironically qualifies his answer: I can’t force him to do anything against his will.

Nice calls, Janet! Lots of good, snappy dialogue in this ep. I never noticed that about Jason leaving the Old House, but it makes sense--those dogs do make him nervous, as Barn notes with satisfaction. I loved the bombshell Jason dropped on poor Elizabeth at the end of the episode--and no way is it a question, either.

Hoffman, "one of the best men in the field" Yes, yes, yes!!!

Maybe Hoffman can explain the "heavy skirmish" going on between Maggie's red and white blood corpuscles.

Yes, the end of this episode--"terrifying, impossible"--is one of the truly great early cliffhangers. Dr. Woodard is hot on the trail!

Roger tells Elizabeth that PETERSON (hmm) has just told him about the Swiss bank account. Roger says he thinks she's trapped in a private nightmare as he was. He really is capable of compassion after all--at least for his big sister.

What a nerve Jason has--demanding money and a token job, then not even showing up for work.

Roger finds Elizabeth again, and we have a truly touching scene between them. She almost breaks down as she asks him to stand by her--and I for one think he really will.

Then we conclude with Dr. Woodard's smashed-up office and the missing blood samples. Quite an action-packed episode!

Having brought David back to Collinwood, Barnabas asks Roger if anyone has found any clues to Maggie's disappearance. Roger says no, but adds, Perhaps Dr. Woodard's blood samples will provide a clue. This is Barnabas's first hint that medical science could link him to Maggie's disappearance, and he listens attentively to what Roger says about it.

Roger's compassion extends far enough for him to say that he ALMOST feels sorry for Sam Evans.

They reshot the teaser, evidently because somebody realized Maggie should be carrying the music box. What Barn tells her is a little different from what we will find out later:

[spoiler]He recalls that the music box was the only gift she ever accepted from him and that she had to keep it hidden--because there were those who were against their love. He reminisces about how they always used to dine by candlelight. Pointing out the candelabra on the table, he recalls that they were part of her dowry and were brought over from France--and that they were made according to her own design. He also remembers that when she came to America as an eighteen-year-old girl, she knew not a word of English--it was his job to teach her.[/spoiler]

I think Barn's impatience got the better of him. I've never thought of what he tells Maggie as being the truth--it was all a lie, designed to indoctrinate her, destroy her real identity, and bend her to his will. It made the lies he tells Joe and Sam that much worse.

Willie serves Maggie a rather modern fruit cocktail.

What I found strangest of all is that throughout the series, for all Barnabas's power over him, Willie never addresses him formally but always calls him Barnabas--and Barn never corrects him. Anyone have any ideas as to why?

Barnabas does ingest blood, so I suppose his metabolism does something with it.... I suppose MT is right about his room at the Old House.

Meanwhile, his portrait is finally done and hanging above the mantel in the drawing room.

Poor Willie is mortified at the girls' praise and terrified for them at the same time. But after he ushers them out of Josette's room, instead of seeing them out of the house, he stays to straighten things up--dreading another beating, I suppose, if just one little thing is out of place.

And we end with dinner for two....

So Willie has a police record himself. But he answers all of the sheriff's questions with, "Sir." But this doesn't cut any ice with the sheriff, who promises Willie that he's watching him like a hawk. Meanwhile, the marks of Barnabas's latest beating have nearly healed. While the sheriff is questioning him, Willie makes himself busy by replacing the burned-out candles.

We get our first view of Dr. Woodard's office when Burke and Vicki visit him. Dr. Woodard is most interested in the bite marks on Maggie's neck. He's awaiting the report from the lab and has contacted "some associates" to see if they've seen anything similar.

A sad, sad scene with Willie and Jason. Hammer in hand, Willie is about to do some kind of repair to the underside of a little table when Jason comes in. Willie does his best to protect his former friend by keeping him from coming in, but Jason pushes past him and orders him to leave town before the sheriff pins Maggie's disappearance on him. Willie tries again, warning Jason that it will be dark soon and that he should leave the Old House. They go back and forth for a while until Willie threatens Jason with the hammer. But Jason easily knocks it away and beats Willie till he's down on the floor.

After Jason leaves, Willie picks himself up and almost absently wipes the blood off his face. Despite three savage beatings in less than a week and the sheriff’s threats besides, he looks far from angry--rather, his face is suffused with what seems to be terrible sorrow.