Certainly Natalie’s target should be Angelique, but Natalie doesn’t know about the “anyone who loves you will die” part of the curse.  All she knows is that Barnabas is a vampire, and that Barnabas, as a vampire, pursued Josette.  From Natalie's point of view, Barnabas chose to pursue Josette, when he could have left her alone.  Natalie doesn’t know how hard Angelique worked to make that pursuit happen.

You make great points, and I would be 100% on board for most other characters.  But we're talking about Natalie, who is knowledgeable about witchcraft and expert at the Tarot, so she is well acquainted with the principle of cause and effect.  While it's true she doesn't know that the curse affects everyone that loves Barnabas, she also doesn't know about B&A's affair in Martinique, and at this point she does know that vampire Barnabas victimized Josette because of a curse placed by Angelique, a witch who hid her powers for years as she played the role of a DuPres servant, living under the same roof with Natalie and pretending to be loyal to Josette, and who [spoiler]mocked Natalie when Bathia was brought in to lift the curse...[/spoiler] I think Natalie would be more apt to feel pity for Barnabas and want to throttle the deceitful Angelique for betraying all of them and setting the tragedy in motion, but that's me.

As to other changes, Ben deserved better than to be turned into a cold-blooded murderer, and Natalie deserved better than to be buried in an unmarked grave.  Of course... [spoiler]if one is patient enough, their histories will be rewritten yet again.  <sigh>[/spoiler]

As for the “I saw him die” stuff...all I can figure is that Natalie assumed that the Barnabas’s curse was a Sleeping Beauty or Snow White sort of curse, and that when Joshua told Natalie that [spoiler]Bathia Mapes had failed[/spoiler]he said it in such a way as to suggest that Barnabas had slipped from sleep into death – so that the original death might as well have been death.  (And never mind the fact that I don’t think Natalie did see Barnabas die his first death.)  This isn’t a very good rationalization, but it’s the best I can do.

LOL  And you're right-- not matter when Natalie thinks he died, she still didn't see it. 

Did Joshua give Natalie any details about what Barnabas's curse actually was?  It may be that she wasn't aware that Barnabas was involved in Josette's death until she put two and two together in the Tower room.

No, he didn't, and Natalie admitted to not knowing more about it and wasn't in the room when Bathia learned the nature of the curse.  Your scenario definitely jibes with what the writers gave us in #665 (Natalie recalling that Josette was pale, etc.), but shouldn't the target of her vengeance be Angelique and not Barnabas?

Joshua did tell her, however, that Barnabas was not dead, so all that "I saw him die" stuff from Natalie in that ep is an annoying continuity error.

[spoiler]If I remember correctly, Natalie did tend to Millicent after Barnabas bit her, but it may be that Natalie didn't know exactly what had happened.  Perhaps she was given to understand that Millicent had somehow been adversely affected by Bathia's efforts.[/spoiler]

That's an interesting theory.  I'm pretty sure the last we saw of Natalie in the original 1796 was when she went to check on Millicent and she still hadn't been told what happened to her.

Of course the other question is: could Nathan have destroyed Barnabas?

A most excellent question, Lydia!

Cool, MB!

Here are some problems with the finale of this 1796 sojourn:

Not too many eps before this, Barnabas revealed to Julia that his father was probably unable to carry out with the plan of shooting him through the heart, so he must have instructed Ben to chain him in his coffin instead.  Yet, we keep getting excuses for Joshua's obvious absence, and Barnabas gets chained minus the poignant final scene with his father.

Natalie already knew about the curse placed on Barnabas by Angelique; Joshua told her in #449.  At that time, [spoiler]she provided valuable assistance in the effort to lift the curse,[/spoiler] but this time around she orchestrates his attempted destruction.  Ugh.

Nathan fired at Ben and missed from a couple of feet away?!

In this changed timeline, Nathan was spared from death by Barnabas, only to be murdered by a well-meaning Ben.

Ben accidentally kills Natalie, a much loved character, so now he's a double murderer and is forced to cover up this terrible secret!

I never would have figured it out on my own!! 

I only got it cuz of D Friedlander's hint, though I actually prefer NCIS, whose characters have respect for the dead, over CSI, which has a nickname for them.  Or something. 

Hee hee, Gothick.  "Not gumming" refers to Frid still having his teeth.  It's just an awfully awful title to an ageist piece.

Thanks, MsC.

Good catch, Lydia.  Hmm, why am I reminded of Sheenasma's photo taken during the recent Fest?--

Nice job with quoting another topic, EmeraldRose! 

I originally thought that Barnabas attacked the real Crystal on the docks, and Angelique was "disguised" as Crystal when she was sitting in the chair at Collinwood. But now that I think of it, it could have been Angelique the whole time. That would mean that Crystal didn't drown after all. Does anyone know which one it was?

It isn't entirely clear either way, is it?  My feeling is that there really was a Crystal, same as you first thought, and Angelique merely took on the appearance of the woman's body.  Her private talk with Barnabas went like this:
B:  So it was you?
A:  Who allowed you to view one of your victims.  Yes.
B:  Why?
A:  To show you that I still have all of my powers. That's something I wanted you to know.

She seems to be saying that she was showing him the aftermath of the attack.  In addition, I can't believe a powerful witch would let herself fall into a large body of water, particularly during a witch craze, but that's me, and I think the answer to your question is left to interpretation.  What do others think?

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-1102-greystone-pg,0,7287328.photogallery

Fans of the '91 series and 2004 pilot will especially love seeing familiar rooms inside Greystone, including the Old House staircase and OH foyer, the fireplace in the OH drawing room (also Plainview's office in There Will Be Blood), the Collinwood kitchen and bedrooms, the basement bowling alley, etc.

The showcase is open through Nov. 16.  Cost is $30.

Did everyone recognize David Groh (Rhoda's Joe) as one of the men standing near the gallows?

And did it annoy anyone else that Barnabas kept referring to Crystal as a girl?  Was it so hard to say "woman" instead?

It was nice seeing Angelique.  Angelique never learns which I find frustrating.

I feel the same way.  I love it when she shows up, but soon after I'm calling her the b word.

I usually like those entrances out of the shadows, but this one disappoints because you can see LP's shadow as she gets into place.