Daughters of Darkness is a great, early 70's arthouse flick. The story takes place in Ostend, Belgium and it's explained that the hotel is empty because it's the off-season. Delphine Seyrig is divine in this; so beguiling. And yes, you do see John Karlen in the all-together and I do mean the all-together; nothing is left to the imagination. Are you watching the Blue Underground DVD? If so, watch the movie again with the Karlen commentary, it's both informative and funny.

Abigail was always smugly adamant that she could spot evil-doers, witches and the devil possessed, but when confronted by Barnabas, she refused to believe. No doubt she was a repressed, vinegary spinster and perhaps her zealotry wasn't just an outlet for her repression, but a mantle to cloak decades of bitter disappointment. Maybe facing something truly unnatural and evil tore that mantle off (made all the more shocking as it was her own kin) and her final moments involved some major reassessment of her beliefs. Probably not, though. I wasn't sorry to see her go, she was an annoying quidnunc.

I've always liked the scene with Trask and Daniel. When Daniel told Trask that he was the one who looked like the devil, Trask's smile conveyed a lot, at least to me. I don't know if it was scripted, direction, or accident, but Trask seemed genuinely amused and able to laugh at himself. During most of the conversation with Daniel, Trask came across as a more traditional minister, patiently and quietly attempting to teach a child about good and evil. Of course, that didn't last long and he was right back to the usual foaming-at-the-mouth fanaticism. I loved Naomi comforting Daniel and taking Trask to task.

I watched this episode over the weekend, so I've forgotten some things.

Abigail confiscating Daniel's list, she just can't stay out of people's business, even a child's.  I liked how Daniel persuaded her to give it back. I really enjoyed the scene when she was asking him about Vicki. Although we never see Vicki tutoring the children, we learn a couple of things. 1) Given the situation, she's none too bright in having told them about life in the future and 2) you can understand why Daniel and Sarah liked her so much. To them, her fantastical stories about the future were entertaining compared to the usual dry lessons.
 
Daniel's curiosity about the future appealed to his imagination, but I think it also showed that he was like his cousin Barnabas; open to the possibilities. Daniel eagerly reaches forward, whereas Abigail stubbornly clings to the past. Abigail has a line (paraphrasing) "If the good Lord intended me to fly, he'd make me an angel." Watch it, Abigail, some demons have wings, too.

Ben's line about Abigail getting what's coming to her was priceless.

I drew Desmond. I got him a top of the line Kevlar vest.

I would love to have seen what John Karlen would have done with this stupid dialogue.

While watching these episodes, I kept distracting myself, imagining JK's line readings. So much better.

Hall, here and there, has curious pronunciation; "that's my mot-TOE" and "don't get exci-TED." As if there's extra letters or emphasis on the wrong sy-LLA-ble.

I think my hesitation in believing Willie to be a real danger in a fight is because, so far, there's been nothing to back it up. We've seen him leering and mashing on a couple of women and threaten/challenge a couple of men to a fight, with fisticuffs always being avoided due to Jason (because it serves his own interests, granted). Perhaps the writers opted for a more subtle approach, but I still see it as bravado. I would have liked to have seen something. We know Willie is volatile; trying to win some money in an impromptu poker or craps game on the docks and busting up a guy when he believed he'd been cheated or something like that. Even if Jason and Willie just talked about the incident. That being said, there's definitely a creepy, predatory rapist vibe in Hall's Willie. There's no doubt in my mind that, given his temper, Willie would abuse a woman. I get disturbing images of him beating a prostitute in a dingy motel room because of a quibble over payment.

But I'm not sure Jason has Willie under control. He could do nothing to prevent Willie from joining him at Collinwood. Willie had the upper hand there.

Perhaps I didn't think through or express the thought well enough. Willie's a brawler and Jason's denied him the opportunity to do what he likes and does best, fight, by metaphorically neutering him and that may be why I see Willie as posturing as a tough guy. And maybe Willie is starting to think that's how people perceive him and he resents it. Jason, by preventing his friend from fighting and withholding info about the 'big job' has, in a couple of ways, emasculated Willie. Not being fully aware of the plan, what's going on at Collinwood and stuck in a lousy rooming house, Willie had to adopt another tack, taking a page from Jason's playbook and using it against him. Willie's turned the tables and gotten the upper hand by using his brain, something Jason hadn't bargained on. He underestimated him, probably believing he always had control over Willie, until this critical mistake.

I'm starting to wonder if any of that made sense.

Well, at least part of bellowing Burke's Unfair Manslaughter Conviction!™ story line has been resolved with Sam coming clean to Burke. Interesting comment by Sam to Maggie about going to Collinwood; since Roger never believed he'd have the guts to tell Burke, it's worth going to see the look on Roger's face. I suppose Sam thinks that if he's going to do a stretch in stir, he'll have the satisfaction of having stuck it to Roger before hitting the hoosegow.

Jason is loathsome. Sprawled out, brandy in hand, with his feet on the sofa, like he's lord of the manor. Smug, demanding, manipulative, arrogant son-of-a-b—h.

Frid's Barnabas was such a haunting figure of mystery... those eyes ... that voice.

Whether it was Frid's innate talent or classical training (or a combination of both), he accomplished so much with nuanced expressiveness in the face/eyes and use of his voice. In the latter especially, he could move from sorrow to growling rage in a second (Astredo could do the same, suave to fury in the blink of an eye and all in the voice). Frid's Barnabas had gravitas.