Discuss - Ep #0211

It's worth noting that in an interview somewhere or other (I have read so many, I honestly can't recall the source), Jonathan Frid praised Clarice Blackburn and basically said that it was entirely thanks to her solid support that he got through "that first day"!

You know what! I think Jonathan Frid was talking about Joan Bennett and NOT Clarice Blackburn and I was majorly dissapointed in hearing it!  I also felt CB was superb and deserved high praise. Not that Joan Bennett wasn't fine, but CB added something quite special to that classic scene.

Dark Shadows constantly has me upbraiding my television set due to its BLATANT labefaction of moral fibre.

Labefaction?  LABEFACTION?  I found the word in the dictionary, but where did you find it?  Inside Lt. Forbes's uniform?

I found the word in the dictionary, but where did you find it?

Well, now you must realize that our Gothick has a vast vocabulary. 
(Something we all might strive for, actually.  )

In the voiceover for this ep, Vicki says about Willie, "Wherever he is, some violence is surely taking place."

Despite the enslavement and abuse, both verbal and physical, do you think that crossing paths with Barnabas saved Willie's life?

In the voiceover for this ep, Vicki says about Willie, "Wherever he is, some violence is surely taking place."

Despite the enslavement and abuse, both verbal and physical, do you think that crossing paths with Barnabas saved Willie's life?

This is something that has been discussed in all the groups I'm in. What would have happened to Willie if he hadn't met Barnabas Collins? Would he have gotten killed in some barroom brawl? Would he have ended up in prison? Very possibly.

I think that after meeting Barnabas and becoming his slave, the punishment was greater than the crime. Yes Willie was an obnoxious person and picked fights with everyone, hit on the girls who did not want his attention and was generally an all round creep. After meeting Barnabas he becomes a different person. So the vampire did change him for the better. But what did his life become? He became a slave. He was abused physically and mentally. Barnabas not only beat him with his cane, he called him names and played mind games with him.

It's to Willie's credit that he eventually comes to care for Barnabas. Most of us would hate him and hate the abuse he dished out and try to find a way to destroy him.

So while I like the change in Willie and even come to love him, I do not like how the change came about.

Alondra

It's hard to say, but I'm betting that Willie, even without Barnabas's intervention, would have managed to keep himself alive until his testosterone settled down.

In the voiceover for this ep, Vicki says about Willie, "Wherever he is, some violence is surely taking place."

Despite the enslavement and abuse, both verbal and physical, do you think that crossing paths with Barnabas saved Willie's life?

I do believe Barnabas changed Willie's life completely.  I don't know whether Willie would have been killed or gone to prison if he hadn't 'met' Barnabas but he was headed on a path of self-destruction.  We meet people throughout our life that do influence us so Willie might have met someone else who could have turned his life around if he had given it a chance.  I keep coming back to the episode right after Willie had that fight with Burke.  Jason and Willie were in the ally and Willie swore to kill Burke for beating him up.  That never came about because he released the vampire but what if he hadn't.  Would Willie have made good on his promise and killed Burke?  Or maybe gotten killed for trying?  or arrested by the police for trying?

  One thing amazes me about this, we know that Willie meant it when he said he'd kill Burke. But not that long afterward when Burke had proposed to Vicki, Barnabas threatened to kill him and Willie tried to save his life by talking Barnabas into at least postponing it.

I think that if Willie had tried to kill Burke he'd have failed and if he weren't killed he would have been made to look the fool as he did in the incident at the Blue Whale. And he would have it coming.

Alondra

In the voiceover for this ep, Vicki says about Willie, "Wherever he is, some violence is surely taking place."

Despite the enslavement and abuse, both verbal and physical, do you think that crossing paths with Barnabas saved Willie's life?

I always thought that [spoiler]releasing Barnabas from the coffin was the best thing that happened to Willie in a really warped way. True, Barnabas physically beat, treated him very badly a lot of times (and quite a few as well when he was human) but after being put under Barnabas' spell, we see Willie on his way to becoming a more remorseful, sympathetic, even likable kind of guy. Then we see Willie coming full circle and miles away from the vicious thug he was when he first came to Collinsport when he returns during the Leviathan storyline, sets out to save Maggie, and was even willing to put his own happiness on hold to protect Barnabas once more.

Willie came a long ways during the show, something that I don't think would have happened if he hadn't broken the chains around Barnabas' coffin and released the vampire. As I said, that one act, misguided and wrong as it was at the time, actually turned out to be Willie's salvation.[/spoiler]

I always thought that [spoiler]releasing Barnabas from the coffin was the best thing that happened to Willie in a really warped way. True, Barnabas physically beat, treated him very badly a lot of times (and quite a few as well when he was human) but after being put under Barnabas' spell, we see Willie on his way to becoming a more remorseful, sympathetic, even likable kind of guy. Then we see Willie coming full circle and miles away from the vicious thug he was when he first came to Collinsport when he returns during the Leviathan storyline, sets out to save Maggie, and was even willing to put his own happiness on hold to protect Barnabas once more.

Willie came a long ways during the show, something that I don't think would have happened if he hadn't broken the chains around Barnabas' coffin and released the vampire. As I said, that one act, misguided and wrong as it was at the time, actually turned out to be Willie's salvation.[/spoiler]

As much as it pains me to admit it, (since I adore Willie, and everyone who knows me in the DS world knows that) what you say is true. I just wish Willie had changed in an easier way than this.

Alondra