Discuss - Ep #0889

Robservations #889

And if you'd care to look back, the first WP discussion topic for this ep:

Re: Discuss - Ep #0889

Barnabas fades into 1969, with the Leviathans box.  I guess the cairn in now multi-temporal.  That was his means of conveyance?  I think it opened, and only then did he fade in.  I don't remember hearing the speech from the robed people that impressed me so much a decade ago, seeing Leviathans maybe for the first time, to my memory anyway.  I remember the charred and blackened star line, not knowing they pull that line out for all ceremonies.  It all sounded as if other planets were entering the story!  The scale of DS was really widening!  I thought.  Well, Lovecraft has that same feel, I realize now.  Other planets were definitely involved, with his supernatural stuff, no science fiction / fantasy line for him.

Welcome back Elliot, not called by that first name yet.  Is that music his theme, that sounds a bit like a clock?  Why is Stokes, a spell expert, working on Sabrina Stuart?  Her MD is another Dr Reade, if spelled that way. 

Chris bounds onto the scene, not shy about needing help anymore, and Barnabas shoots him down cruelly.  I suppose Barnabas, if acting from free will, could have worked further on ending Q's curse, rather than just accepting the relief the portrait gives Q.  The curse is still there, still inherited by Chris.  Now the staff at Wyndcliffe knows about Chris the werewolf?  Or they're under strict orders to ignore those sounds and not let him out... creating curiosity I'm sure... At least Chris is better, randomly changing, but not changed all the time.  What's changing things for him?  I like Lisa Richards' acting here, struggling to overcome the invisible barrier, to speak.

I've always thought that Sabrina was being treated by Dr. Reeves, whom we first met in the very first story arc. Dr. Reeves treated Roger after his car accident long ago but has survived by wisely staying off screen ever since.

If Julia can be both an expert on blood and vampirism and a psychologist, I suppose Stokes can also have medical interests besides his expertise in spells and the occult.

Even now, Sabrina refuses to betray Chris. Maybe Julia prescribed enough sedatives for Chris that he simply was locked into a padded room to sleep them off when the moon was full. How much time is supposed to have gone by in 1969 between Barn's departure to 1897 and his return? Do we know?

Barn is distant and cold to everyone, including his "dear friend," Julia, who is so overjoyed to see him back in 1969 that she doesn't realize he's given her only a perfunctory, one-handed embrace. No wonder he gives Chris the bum's rush. He gives Julia a brief account of Petofi, Quentin, and Amanda. Julia asks about the portrait. I’m very tired, Barnabas announces abruptly. He gets up and retrieves the Leviathan box from the mantel. Julia asks about it. I got it in the past, he replies. She reaches for it, but he snatches it out of her reach. You mustn’t touch this, he warns her. It happens to be very old. He sets the box on a table. Julia can’t help staring in amazement at his behavior and manner. [But if he didn’t want to draw her attention to the box, why did he put it in such a conspicuous spot and then pick it up?]

Julia excitedly tells Barnabas that she may have found a way to help Chris. Oh, yes, Chris, Barnabas replies distantly, as if Chris wasn't one of the primary reasons for his trip back to 1897. Julia says, It was impossible to keep Chris at the mausoleum, so I moved him to Windcliff, but he has just signed himself out. I have reason to believe Charles Delaware Tate is still alive. He would be almost a hundred, Barnabas says dismissively, and totally useless. Julia is arguing that they have to make sure when Chris knocks on the door and almost immediately barges right in. He brings the alarming news that Carolyn has seen Sabrina. If she talks-- Suddenly he realizes that Barnabas has returned. I desperately need your help! he says, relieved. Barnabas is just as cold to him as he was to Julia. With no emotion whatever, Barnabas says, I was just about to tell Julia my conclusion. Chris waits eagerly. I do so with regret, Barnabas adds. Chris’s face falls. Barnabas says calmly, In all the time that I was in the past, I found no solution for you. I'm afraid that there is nothing that I can possibly do for you. Chris is stricken, Julia is dumbfounded. Barnabas again pleads fatigue and goes upstairs. Hoping to make up at least slightly for Barnabas’s inexplicable behavior, Julia offers to walk Chris back to the cottage. Just outside the door, Chris says, I can’t believe he meant that. Julia answers, I don't know whether he did or not! I do know that something has happened to him. He has undergone a frightening change. There was no reason for him to lie to me! She explains, He told me that he returned from the past the same way that he went there, through the I Ching. That would mean through the cellar. But that is not possible--because I locked the cellar door from the outside. Go back to the cottage, Julia tells Chris. I will stay and get to the bottom of the mystery. I promise to explain tomorrow, but there is something I have to do here. After Chris sets off, Julia looks at the Leviathan box. I wonder why Barnabas brought that box back from the past. Julia thinks to herself. He didn’t want me to touch it. There must be something inside it--something that will explain why Barnabas isn’t himself anymore.

Quietly Julia pushes the door open and shuts it behind her as she reenters the Old House. She makes sure Barnabas isn’t about to come downstairs, then goes over to the table where he had set the Leviathan box. She hefts the box to test its weight. Gradually she becomes aware of  the sound of slow, heavy breathing--coming from _inside_ the box. She sets it back down and tries to open it. When her attempts prove futile, she spots a key on the table. She puts the key into the keyhole on the box..........
 

I always thought it was the same Dr. Reeves too.  He's been mentioned a few times over the years.

A priceless capture from this ep:

Fantastic capture, MB.  Stokes seems deeply engaged in helping Sabrina, but her catatonia required a psychiatric specialist, not a specialist in the occult.

Since Chris might transform at any time, he is endangering absolutely everyone by being out and about.

[Calling board cousin Jennifer!]  It sounded like Don Briscoe was doing the heavy breathing this time.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.