This just was not Barnabas' night, was it?  Plans A (Jamison will be convinced to not believe what Dirk told him), B (Beth will prevent Jamison from telling the secret to Edward), C (Dirk will stay on the sofa until he can recover his strength), D (Dirk will be kept under the vampire's control), E (Dirk will tell Jamison he was lying), F (Dirk will recover his strength in the secret room), G (Edward will be convinced to not believe Jamison), H (Beth will sit with Dirk until his death) and I (Dirk will be under Barnabas' supervision when he rises as a vampire) did not come to pass.

Since according to Barnabas, Dirk had to "do what I ask you to do," I sure wish the vampire had asked him to stop overacting.  Sheesh.

Jamison said a few eps ago that he liked to play in the Old House basement, yet the way he looked over it here seemed to not gibe with that.

Beth:  "He's going to die.  ... Oh no."
Was she really grieving for Dirk, as Barnabas said?  Or was she troubled that his death would mess up Barnabas' plan?  Because I would swear that in the last ep, she said she was okay with Barnabas doing whatever he needed to do to stop Dirk from talking.

Interesting that a servant would refer to the Collinwood drawing room as the "living room."

Barnabas:  "I don't know what to say, Jamison."
Well, for starters you could call him Edward, cuz that's who's in the room with you.

I wonder if David H was supposed to fall coming up the cellar steps??

He slid his foot backwards right after taking a step with it and dropped where he stood, so yes, the fall was intentional.

I LOVE that couch that Dirk is on.

I like that the seats on the ends slant inward.  If DS' set choices are any indication, the Victorians were very adept at designing furniture that promoted conversation.

Poor Beth wrapped up in all these crazy shenanigans!

Speaking of Beth wrapped up (bad segue, I know), there's a terrible storm out and the best coverup she can find is a shawl?

Seems that chomping on the kid for some reason never crosses Barn’s mind.  Odd, since he was all gung ho to kill David before the 1795 time travel intervened.

Noooo.  Jamison is key to the future of the Collins family.  And, prior to Vicki's trip into the past, Barnabas was not the self-appointed family protector.

Taeylor, if you have a copy of either version of the DS Almanac, you an see the exit staircase in the set plans.

Poor put-upon Beth-- she's assigned to guard the vampire but falls asleep before dawn even breaks.  And while sitting upright on the circular sofa (and armed with a gun!)... Had Dirk not come in when he did, would she have fallen right over?

I dislike Roger Davis playing crazy.  I dislike him as lowly help.  I dislike him as the romantic hero.  I dislike him as the loving brother.  Notice a pattern?  I see toward the end of the ep that madness did not stop Dirk from grabbing his hair a lot.

Shame on Laura for telling him about the coffin in the basement but stopping short of telling him that a stake or silver bullets are needed to kill a vampire.

Had Barnabas been destroyed, I'd imagine that Beth would have felt the end of his power over her, but I suppose she wouldn't have any way of knowing this so I can't fault her for not realizing that no break in their connection meant he wasn't dead.  She read up on werewolves, but as far as we know she has not boned up on vampire lore.

I LOVE Jamison's navy coat.

Stagehand, I see you in the cellar!

Is Roger improvising with the howling?  :EYE ROLL:

Who knows?, though I wouldn't doubt it.  In the last ep he called Beth a watchdog, and in the redo she was a hound dog.  I doubt the same writer of both eps would change that, so it may be evidence of some improv.

I also loved B’s coat.

His bulletproof coat?  Or is the fabric self-healing?  

In the Barnabasless 1897, did Dirk go insane and want to punish the Collinses?  Or was it Barnabas' actions that made him want to seek revenge?  I don't think this was made clear.  But if Dirk did want to kill the first time, who stopped him then?

Also, if you check the Forums after midnight, it will be listed on the home page under the day's events.

Quote from: ProfStokes on May 03, 2009, 07:53:12 AM

Maybe being turned into a vampire while he was under Laura's thrall has impaired Dirk's mind permanently

Barnabas didn't bite him hard enough to turn him into a vampire yet.

I'm picturing Dirk in a Monty Python sketch proclaiming he's not dead yet.

Didn't Barney offer Magda jewels in his first episode in 1897 to help him and keep his secret??

Yes, he dangled a bit of the family jewels in front of her, heheh.

Magda said she only loaded the gun with 5 bullets, but I saw her put 6 bullets into that gun.

I'm remembering that she opened the barrel, inserted 2 bullets, then closed it without a bullet at the ready in her fingertips.  Later she opened it, inserted 3 more, and closed it.  JMO

Guys and Dolls in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl
choreographed by Donna McKechnie
July 31, Aug 1 & 2
See link for the cast and more info: http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tickets/performance_detail.cfm?id=4171

Thanks, Bette!

A Tribute to Dick Smith: The Godfather of Special Makeup Effects
June 17 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater
For more info, including scheduled panelists:  http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2009/dicksmith.html

Thanks, Kosmo!

Also, see:

Special Effects makeup legend Dick Smith honored by peers