Discuss - Ep #0255

[Watching Project]

Robservations - #255

[IluvBarnabas]

The very first episode of little Sarah Collins....I'll say it again she's so adorable. 

Maggie....well as much as she wants to live she'd much rather hold on to her own identity and she can't be blamed for that. Barnabas should have realized if she wasn't willing to submit to being Josette by now she never would.

Boy he sure was cruel to have Willie keep her at arm's length when her father and Joe showed up. Another "so near, (really near this time!) yet so far" moment but this is the cruellest one of all. Knowing she's only a few feet from her father and boyfriend, she can hear their voices yet she is powerless to get to them.
And to hear them believe her to be dead now....what a spirit-crusher. 

Then Barnabas has her put down back in that cell.....his obsession with his beloved Josette has made him not only a lost soul, but also a cruel and unforgiving one. He needs to let her go but is so unwilling to.

Poor Sam and Joe.....thinking they've lost Maggie forever when she was only a few feet away and they never knew it. How unfair!

Great episode. And great acting from everybody.

[loril54]

Great Show this is  what DS is known for. It is nice to see Sarah, great cliffhanger. Barnabas should know by now that Maggie isn't going to change. I think that he is trying to set her up to fail when he puts her to the  test with the kiss.

We see Barnabas' solution to his problems to kill someone. When someone is hurtful they may be hurting themselves. I think that he was really thinking that he could change Maggie and he wouldn't be lonely.

Sad to see Joe and Sam so upset.

I have one question how can it be sooo.....  light in the cell, where is the light I see no hanging candles. Looks like a wool blanket and no pillow how cruel.  This is the beginning of London Bridge.

[Gothick]

I think this part of the storyline was inspired by the 1965 film "The Collector" starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar.  The specifics of the situation between the Stamp and Eggar characters are obviously different but I think the psychological interplay and dynamics are similar.  It's been a VERY long time since I last saw a bit of "The Collector" on television so I should revisit the film to see how much it might have inspired the people responsible for this sequence in DS.

I'm afraid dear little Sarah quickly got on my nerves.  The initial presentation of her and the question of whether she's real or a sign that poor Maggie finally is going round the twist adds an air of intrigue at a moment in the story where there's a danger of the pacing and repetitiveness leading to a slackening of the tension.

G.

[Lydia]

What a wonderful episode!  I just love the careful buildup to Sarah's appearance.  I noticed in this episode, for the first time, several references to insanity scattered here and there throughout the proceedings that I had completely ignored before.

I wonder: given the choice that Barnabas gave Maggie, which way would I decide?  I know that, being a nosy sort of person, I would dispense with the pointless assertions of  "I'm Maggie!" and move on to questions about Josette.  "Look, you're right, I'm a crude, common little nobody.  If I'm going to turn into the glorious specimen of womanhood that was your Josette, I need to know a whole lot more about her.  You said you taught English to her.  Did she ever learn to make the TH sound?  You say she liked flowers.  Did she have a favorite?"  With the average male, providing a sympathetic ear will get you better treatment.  With a crackpot like Barnabas, it's unlikely - but it's worth a try, and you never know when some knowledge might be useful.  The question would still remain: undeath, coupled with loss of identity, or death?  Is anybody out there prepared with an answer?

I must keep an eye out for The Collector.  Terence Stamp is always worth watching.

[CT!_CTP/FITBs]

Be sure to check out these (hopefully  ) humorous topics related to this episode:

From "Caption This!":

From "Complete This Phrase / Fill In The Blank(s)":

[IluvBarnabas]

I would rather die than be one of the undead. Sure there are some perks to being a vampire....sleep all day, stay up all night, always remaining young.....but it seems to me the risk of exposure and destruction that would exsist every day of one's eternal existance, well, it just wouldn't be worth it in the long-run IMO.

Plus the idea of drinking on human blood for all eternity is also a major turn-off for me. And as for my identity....I would be just as determined as Maggie not to give it up.

[EmeraldRose]

So, this is the episode that introduces Sarah Collins!  Is she a figment of Maggie's imagination or a ghost?  I know the answer to that question now, but I didn't the first time I watched.  Sarah is so adorable! Love that hat.  That was a great ending to a Friday show.

As to the question about Maggie's dilemma:  That's a tough one.  I do not want to die, but I wouldn't want to be one of the "living dead", either.  I would probably be crying and pleading for my life and be a total basket case, scared out of my wits.

----- Sally -----