it's been a long time since I've seen this part of the show but if I recall correctly Professor Stokes arrival at Collinwood had nothing to do with Barnabas originally. he came to look into the circumstances surrounding his distant relative Ben Stokes' time at Collinwood. of course he would have encountered Barnabas as part of that "history" but his present day "release" didn't factor into his reasons for launching his investigation...


the idea that Barnabas either caused or was somehow involved in Burke's plane crash is one of the series' great misconceptions. Sarah told Carolyn and David that someone was going to die. they heard it in the music. no one would cause it and nothing could stop it. then Vicki heard the wailing of the widows...

if one missed this particular episode or even just this scene it's easy to speculate on this point but the writers actually made it clear Barnabas would not be responsible for this event. as I recall he was as surprised(although pleased)as everyone else when it happened. why they decided on this rather than just having Barnabas kill him(a plane crash in Brazil was rather random and out of left field)we'll never know but that's how it went down. 

interesting...


a friend of mine is a neighbor of sam I believe in upstate New York and mentioned a lawsuit(local gossip)to me awhile back. he seemed to be under the impression it had something to do with the depp/burton film but I guess this must be it.

very nice to see old Karlen back on the guest roster. his health must have improved considerably.

amazing Selby hasn't been back to Lyndhurst since the NODS shooting. there have been several DS related events held there in recent years.

I must admit I'm somewhat surprised at the 'Katie' cancellation. more than dreck like 'the chew' she is a well respected journalist with what I thought was a built in audience.


I'm wondering if the network is doing a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking on it's decision to cancel shows with decades worth of viewership with a bunch of disposable junk?

what's obvious from all this is that capturing a substantial daytime audience for any sort of programming is much more difficult than it used to be.

yes my experience with the Tarrytown events is that it is a pared down variation on the big New York festivals.


just one evening of "festivities" as opposed to two and if I recall no closing "banquet" on Sunday although I could be wrong on that point. sometimes there is a dealers' room(again, pared down)and sometimes not although MPI and a few other 'select' merchants get to peddle their wares.

otherwise it's the usual sate of affairs: the panel discussions with the actors, Q&As, various video presentations, little skits and performances by the actors and fans, the autograph situation and so forth...

since I live in New York I've just come in for the day with the Tarrytown events in the past and found that sufficient. hotel bound guests obviously make a weekend of it. it's sort of what you'd expect. the format doesn't vary too much from year to year.

since David was open and above boards about his communications with his mother from his opening scene I didn't consider it a "secret"...


in terms of Carolyn "hints", "clues", whatever I still found it unforgivably stupid.

true. in retrospect there were a couple of "clues" about Carolyn. but it's rather irrelevant since the "reveal" didn't add or mean anything to the overall story. it didn't remotely factor into anything else that had happened in the previous 90 minutes other than an off-color remark made by a nine year old. and for 99.9% of the viewing public, who are not going to review the DVD ad nauseum looking for "clues", it was totally out of left field and pointless...


I forget where we first heard that everyone in the house harbored a dark "secret"? because it really didn't turn out to be true. Elizabeth, Roger and David really didn't have any "secrets" unless you count Roger stealing people's wallets at a party. there were certain pre-release rumors that have taken on a life of their own(the "secrets", Elizabeth being a "recluse", etc.)and become a strange "truth" even though nothing that happened onscreen actually bear them out.