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« on: December 06, 2014, 11:03:30 PM »
I've always admired what Curtis and the writers tried to do with the end of 1840, but agree that the execution wasn't really all there.
As a loyal supporter of Barnabas and Angelique, I've always thought the conclusion of their arc was very poignant and fitting. However, I thought their was very little development of it prior to this, and very little to explain how Angelique turned so quickly to support Barnabas' cause. This is especially jarring considering that 1840 Angelique is established as being 1795 Angelique 45 years later (I'd imagine that would make sense to everyone), and therefore didn't share the experiences with Barnabas in 1897, 1968 and 1969. As a fan trying to make it out, I've tried to treat this in terms of narrative time, but logistically it just doesn't work out.
An attempt has also been made to reconcile the timelines, but it's very sloppily done. Joeytrom has mentioned the lack of a "legacy" character, which I feel would've been especially important here, especially considering the dense, time jumping elements of the story arc as a whole (1995/1970/1840). Edith, in spite of all her nastiness, really should've been that character, but her untimely death put an end to that. I guess it could be explained away in terms of 1897 Edith being a different character, but I don't really buy that as 1840 Edith fits in perfectly into 1897 in terms of her generation and family lineage. Edith being killed off, therefore, would have major implications in 1897. Who would be the guardian of "the family secret"? The results of this would be much different due to another person carrying this knowledge, and I'd imagine the effect would carry on into present time. I agree with Josette with regards to not having a problem with the continuation of the family. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine they carried on through an alternate line.
There are some other inconsistencies which no doubt would have had a major effect throughout all the timelines but I won't get into it as I think they've already been mentioned a lot on these forums. I think the cause of them is simply a major case of burn out on the part of the writers. Barnabas and Julia had been back and forth throughout time so much by this period that keeping up with everything would've been an impossible task. I'm sure they had no idea that committed fans of the show like us would be discussing this over 40 years later!
My nitpicks don't mean that I hate 1840; far from it. I have a great affection for the storyline, and I find it to be by far the easiest storyline to write about (even more so than 1795 and 1897).