Discuss - Ep #0439

Robservations #439

What was Barnabas's problem today?  He has been a vampire for several weeks now so he knows the ropes, and Maude Browning's throat was completely uncovered and available for biting - and yet he fumbled his attack.  He came at her from about three feet away, and he was very slow to close in on her neck, giving her every opportunity to scream for help.  He needs to get his mind off of Trask and onto the essentials of un-death.

Barnabas has his ring back.  I'm not sure when we first saw it back on his finger.  It's a pity nothing was made of the joyful and touching reunion of the vampire with his ring.

Maude's dialogue after the attack was strange.  It sounded as though it were written for a Pansy Faye-style Cockney accent, but Vala Clifton delivered the "I'm all a-tremble" lines in a straight American accent.

Ha ha! You are quite right. I thought the same when Barnabas bared his fangs for an hour or so as he slowly closed in. No wonder the woman got away. There is a distinct Jack The Ripper vibe in these sorts of scenes with its bawdy girls in dimly lit docks. Mind you, I live near London and the last time I saw Whitechapel there was not a can can dress in sight.

Perhaps the Vampires of London have cleaned up the streets of Whitechapel.

As I said before, Ben is the 1795 version of Willie. The relationship between Barnabas and Ben is similar to the one between Barnabas and Willie. Barnabas can't kill Ben, because he's the only one who can protect him during the day. That scene between them was sad, indeed. Ben is torn between his loyalty to Barnabas and his disgust at the monster Barnabas has become. 

Nathan is getting closer to Barnabas' secret in this episode. It was quite methodical. First he gets Noah to question Ben; then he saves Maudie from an attack by Barnabas, where Barnabas, in a rare move, leaves his cane. 

----- Sally -----
 

As I said before, Ben is the 1795 version of Willie. The relationship between Barnabas and Ben is similar to the one between Barnabas and Willie.

I can't agree with this.  Barnabas enslaved Willie and was cruel to him, and in 1967, if Willie could have gotten away from Barnabas, he would have.  If Barnabas had killed Willie in 1967, the only thing that would have bothered him would have been the problem of disposing of the body.  Ben, on the other hand, helped Barnabas of his own free will, remembering how good Barnabas had been to him in better times.  Barnabas could have gotten somebody else to protect him during the day if he had killed Ben, but he didn't want to kill him.  If Barnabas had thought it necessary to his own survival to kill Ben, I think he would have - but I'm not 100% sure.

Well, Lydia, I really just meant that Barnabas was depending on Ben to help him, and that Ben was the one who Barnabas was tempted to hurt - which was similar to Barnabas and Willie. I realize that Ben and Willie had different relationships to Barnabas. I was speaking just in general terms about it. Maybe a better comparison to the relationship between Barnabas and Ben would be the one between Barnabas and Julia. Barnabas certainly did throttle both Ben and Julia enough times! 

----- Sally -----

Barnabas certainly did throttle both Ben and Julia enough times! 

I'm sitting here imagining Barnabas throttling Julia and saying, "Why couldn't you have a neck like Ben's?  There's barely anything here to get a grip on!  How I miss the glorious past!"

Barnabas seemed particularly monstrous when he started strangling Maude.