Quentin walks a very fine line indeed. In the end he doesn't betray Barnabas but Julia.

Good point about the embalming fluid. 

Quentin insists that no one can come back to life. But at least one person in the room actually has. Between them, Barn and Julia explain everything to him. But did they really not know about the skeleton in Quentin's room? I guess not, since David and Amy put it into that trunk. I guess this means that the skeleton in Quentin's room never was Quentin after all. Maybe Quentin the ghost didn't like it cluttering up what was, after all, his room, and so got the kids to bury it, and they naturally assumed it was his.

Quentin continues his attempts to fulfill his bargain with Petofi without harming Barn or Julia. He comments, It seems that all of my life I have caused trouble. I find that I really hate having come back and continuing after my death. If you will excuse me, Barnabas, I don't want to talk about it. I thank you. To Julia he says courteously, I am glad that you are feeling better. The next time, you will have to tell me all about the world that you know. Barnabas was very secretive about it. Don’t say anything to anyone about this, Barnabas cautions him. Who would I tell? Quentin replies, though he has the grace to look a bit ashamed as he makes a hasty exit.

The big reveal of this episode is that we know for sure that Chris truly is Quentin's great-grandson. I'm guessing that Lenore married someone whose last name we don't know and had only one daughter. She never knew about her father's curse, and so she never was able to warn anyone about it. Joe Haskell told Maggie or Julia that Tom was a cousin of his, so Lenore's daughter must have married Joe's mother's brother, whose last name was Jennings. They had three kids--Tom, Chris, and Amy--before they both died. But Tom never became a vampire--was it supposed to happen when he turned 21, and he hadn't yet? Or did vampirism trump the curse?

I'm sure Barn would hate to admit that he failed where Petofi succeeded. But he soon gives himself a new mission--to save the Collins family (again). Julia tries to talk him into returning to 1969 but concedes defeat: I always lose with you, don't I? she admits resignedly but fondly. Barnabas tells her, You must cure me again so that I can live in the daytime and deal with Petofi. I can’t do that, Julia protests. I don’t have the right drugs with me. As the discussion becomes more heated, they unconsciously draw closer together so that they are almost nose to nose. Don’t fight with me! Barnabas says with all his old imperiousness. You will use substitutes. That is impossible! Julia argues. Barnabas breaks away and shoves an 1897 gown at her (where did he find one so quickly!) as he gives her instructions: Here are your clothes. Now there is a certain lawyer, Evan Hanley--he practices the black arts. You will go to him as a member of the New York coven. When you introduce yourself to him he will know you. [How, if they’ve never met??] He will be afraid to do anything else. [Okay, I suppose he’ll pretend he knows her.] He will help you get the things that you need quickly. Now, this is what you are to say to him. He leans forward to tell her, as if they are talking about a far more intimate subject.

Quentin tries to drown his betrayals, as usual. Barnabas confronts him about the portrait and how he saw it change on the night of the full moon. The portrait changed, but you yourself didn’t: Why? Because the gods laugh sometimes, Quentin answers bitterly. I refuse to accept that explanation, Barnabas snaps. Quentin says, There is none, then. There is, Barnabas insists. Did you asks Tate? He can give no reason either, Quentin replies. Did you see Petofi? Barnabas asks. Quentin looks away guiltily. No, he answers much too quickly--why would I? I think you did, Barnabas says, because you know that he was a werewolf and you know that he is not one now. Quentin answers, I also know that he is an enemy! An enemy doesn't give kindness or explanations. With guilty anger he goes on, That is all there is to it, Barnabas. Now, my throat is parched. I have talked too much tonight. He takes his glass back and fills it. Holding it up in a mock toast, he tells Barnabas, Now, if you are in charge of finding my mystery, _you_ find out why I didn't change. _You_ discover the secret of the portrait. I am tired of secrets. I am tired of living this way. I want to be decent again! I want to be normal again! I want to be myself again!

The clock at the rectory reads 4:35 when Barnabas returns, bringing a storm with him. He calls out to Julia as he steps into the upstairs room. He gets no answer and looks around. To his horror, he suddenly realizes that the room has been ransacked and Julia is gone......

Henry James wrote "The Turn of the Screw," as well as several other ghost stories. It's sort of a short novel. Benjamin Britten wrote a wonderful one-act opera on it. And there's also the movie, The Innocents, with Deborah Kerr.

I think you're right, MT, that Quentin hasn't quite caught on that he is now immortal. I think he's so overwhelmed that he doesn't have to be a werewolf anymore that it just hasn't registered yet.

There's also a movie of Dorian Grey with a very young Angela Lansbury.

I found a one-minute clip on YouTube with Alec Newman that made me swoon all over again. I hope that someday the whole pilot will be available....

I'm sure Julia thinks of her clothes as part of her astral self. Good thing she's still wearing her coat, though, or she might have gotten cold lying out there on the doorstep.

Once again we get to see how brave Julia really is. And once again I wish I had seen the show when it first aired and I was desperately in need of good, strong female role models. But better late than never.

I absolutely adored Pansity's cut-out, lace-up bright blue shoes and want a pair in every color. Now.

Funny how Pansity's first impression of Julia is that she has "doom and disaster written all over her face." But Quentin is much smarter and takes the time to read the letter. He immediately goes to the Old House and springs Barnabas. He is careful to hang the keys to the cell back where he found them and comments with gleefully, It is going to be a generally disappointing evening for Edward, isn't it?

Barn tells Quentin that the Old Rectory is on Pine Road, which kind of seems off campus, at least off the estate. I doubt the Collinses would have had their own private chapel and clergyman. I can imagine them dressed up in their opulent Sunday best, riding to town in their magnificent coach and perfectly matched horses for services at the church that they surely paid for every brick of. They would sit in their own private front pew so that all the lowly townspeople could admire them (or at least pretend to) and so that they could be really sure that the poor parson wouldn't preach on annoying texts like "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."

Lovely to see how solicitously Barnabas cares for his "dear friend." But alas, it's now the morning of September 10.

That's too bad, MT. But now I have a mental image of Diabolos/The Devil glaring at a smoking TRS-80. And no wonder.

"Hell's search engine" I'm dying laughing here! I also remember those punch cards.

And just as I thought! Here is a link to a CNN story about some archival photos recently discovered at the offices of Condé Nast (publishers of Cosmopolitan, among other mags). They're all great, but be sure to check out no. 8 to see a very dishy young Joan Bennett--before she started coloring her hair, I believe. If you're lucky enough to be in London, you can check out the photos in person.

O mighty guardians of this Web site, my apologies if I've posted this in the wrong spot. If you think it should be moved elsewhere, I bow to your superior knowledge and wisdom.