I also liked NB's 1680 gown. I always thought she was wife no. 2, and probably in an arranged marriage. Brutus looks like just the type who would wear his wives out, if not through constant childbearing (wife no. 1) then by aggravating them to death.

In 1680, Brutus is literally playing with fire by dabbling in the occult. The witchcraft trials were in 1690 and thereabouts. But it's all of a piece with his arrogance that he seems to think he can get away with anything, up to and including murder--or whatever he did to James and Amanda. I'm not sure he was the Room's first victim, but he was probably already insane after what he did in his secret lab downstairs, so it's no wonder he wouldn't hesitate to curse his own family. It's interesting too that he cursed his own bedroom--one wonders if he slept there afterward. If so, it couldn't have done much for his mental health.

And yes, it would have been fun to see more of Constance, especially in that spiffy black and gold period gown. (I'm just a sucker for a really good costume--I loved Naomi's 1795 gowns!)

And one more thing: In parallel time, there seems to be some confusion about when the Great House was built. By rights, Brutus and Amanda should be living in the Old House, not Collinwood, which in RT wouldn't be built for another hundred years.

Brutus also seems to have been far ahead of his time in medicine. Modern, skin-piercing hypodermic needles weren't invented until 1853.

Couldn't they just have drugged his food?

Well, if PT Quentin is anything like the RT Quentins, he'd think of drink before food. And there is after all a decanter in Morgan and Catherine's bedroom.

And anyway, it is a truth, universally acknowledged, that except for the very earliest eps., almost no one at Collinwood ever, ever eats.

Yes, an incredibly weird séance, even by Collins standards! The 1840PT family seems to be a bunch of users--look how Quentin was able to talk Ben Stokes (the Younger?) into letting him talk to Carrie about being in the séance. And then he talked Carried into it--unfortunately off camera. Too bad this was Selby's final appearance on the show!

Fun scene with Catherine and Morgan/James, who downs the drugged brandy so trustingly. Forsythe must have been a first-class idiot--Brutus must have found it pathetically easy to do-- whatever he did to him.

Well, my only reason for saying that Carrie was James's sister's 1840 avatar (so to speak) was that he addressed her by name at one point. But this was, I think, after he touched the lottery vase--which does seem to have some sort of power over him.

Why does Daphne love Bramwell? He's older and mysterious and more than a bit wild. All of these things would make him very attractive to a very young and naive girl. But yes, she seems genuinely to love him, even though he never treats her with the same gentleness he shows to Melanie. But what would life be without a little mystery?

Poor Carrie, it seems, is the double for James's sister Amanda.

Whoops, I meant "James's sister Sarah," of course! End of the day, no other excuse.

Too true! 

Interesting posts by both MT and Lydia!

although I daresay DarkLady will disagree with me, I think Daphne had a reasonable chance of making the marriage work, if only Catherine hadn't dropped that baby bombshell on Bramwell within hours of Bramwell's and Daphne's wedding.

Well, actually I don't disagree with you. I do feel sorry for Daphne. I think she is one of those women who think they can change a man once they're married. Her youth and naivete are no help either. When I first saw 1840PT (back in SciFi days), I was hoping that somehow Daphne could persuade Bramwell to at least notice her. But once she sees Bramwell and Catherine in the gazebo, I think she realizes she hasn't got a prayer. And the more I think of it, the more I'm inclined to believe that their marriage has not been consummated.

I also think that Melanie did kill Stella during one of her possessed episodes. If Brutus is running that show, he is cruel indeed. Kendrick seems remarkably forgiving, but I suppose the writers had to move the plot along.

I know it's probably morally degenerate of me, but I find Bramwell's declaration to Catherine particularly swoony: You are remarkably generous with the rest of your life, considering it belongs to me! Every moment you live is mine, just as every breath I take is yours!

Thanks, Lydia--that is interesting to know!