I thought the Final Judgement was pretty good and thought it painted a complex portrait of both women. I thought there was enough subtlety and shading in the writing and performance that Angelique was both sympathetic and horribly monstrous all at the same time. Josette was shown to be vain and selfish, but not truly a bad person.
Lost Girl is also very good, focused on Josette, and I think that story will redeem a lot of the things about Final Judgement that people didn't like.

ITA that the audios work very well as a continuation of the DS story, the continuity between the tv series and the audios works really well imo. They're spooky stories with the original cast reprising beloved roles, I am mystified why so many fans are opposed to checking these out.
Return to Collinwood is intended as being the future of the full cast and dramatic readings, and one of the new characters from RtC has been brought into the audios.
The time placement for the Cassandra/Tony story is unclear, but I thought it worked best as being how Angelique of 1971 kept herself entertained while Barnabas was in the past. She just used to Cassandra Collins identity for the society connections the name carried. It's worth mentioning that Angelique again used the Cassandra identity in RtC.

Quentin was used poorly in mist of the modern day, which is a shame, he was so great in 1897.
I'm pretty sure Quentin was supposed to be a cousin to Liz and Roger in PT. I always thought he was the descendent of Jenny and Quentin's son who lived in PT, but that's just my theory.
I always wondered who Maggie's sister Jennifer was supposed to be. In my imagination she's Maggie's adopted sister , the PT version of Vicki.

Vicki comments on Naomi looking like Liz. I always interpreted it that all characters played by the same actors were supposed to look alike. I think that adds a subtext to Barnabas's relationships especially, given that Liz does really look like his mother. I always felt like Barnabas was very fond of Liz, and that resemblance surely added to his fondness of her.

That's a really interesting point about Josette being bigger than KLS. Josette is almost a religous figure on the show, with her painting, her room, her music box, etc all taking on iconic roles. Still, KLS was very important in strengthening Josette as a person, and even in her early appearances as a ghost KLS has spooky presence.
I do think that Maggie is a leading character by the time Vicky leaves, and really before that, if she's not a lead character she's the closest anyone else got without being one. I think of her as part of the main cast, but then so is Carolyn imo too.
I do think that post 1795 the idea of Josette is much bigger to Barnabas than the real woman was, as he's pretty out of control with trying to replace her with look alikes and Vicky. Roxanne never made any sense to me as a love intrest for Barnabas, but that's a whole other topic, as is the mad chemistry Barnabas has with Angelique and Julia.
For what it's worth, my bedroom is decorated in DS autographed pics, and I have SIX autographed pictures of KLS including a gorgeous B&W Maggie and Barnabas poster that's the centerpiece of the whole room, so I may be biased

Where can I order the book with the signed bookmark? I've checked KLS's website and Pomegrantate, and I can't find anything about that.
I loved the cover art with KLS's eyes.
Are there any plans for KLS to do an audiobook for it? I thought that would be great to listen to her read it.

I always introduce people to DS starting with the begining of 1795, it's a great jumping on point, as they don't need to know anything about the show by starting at that point, and the pace of the show picks up really well at that point, and it's one of the best stories from the series.
The first few months of Barnabas being released from the coffin before 1795 can be a little slow paced for new viewers.

Amanda really didn't work in 1897, she broke up the pacing of the story with Quentin, Beth and Angelique. I have no doubt with Angelique in the picture Beth could've been driven to the edge and beyond without Amanada around.
I love 1897, and have often thought how the Leviathons would work in that time period.
I have read a fan fic with Barnabas vs the Leviathons in the 1870s which was great but wasn't finished.
Amanda/Olive worked a lot better in the modern day as Quentin's lost other half, another immortal he could've shared eternity with, and a connection to his past.