I am a Fan of LEVITHANS. BUT how could have the story been better??

At the time that the Leviathan storyline originally aired, I imagine there was no way for the viewers to know whether Barnabas would continue being evil forever or if he would revert to his normal sweet and lovable self.  If the viewers had liked seeing Barnabas be bad again, it might have been months and months before he changed back.  At that time, I wasn't able to watch the show regularly so I didn't have a good idea of what was going on, but if I had been able to watch regularly, I probably would have seriously disliked the storyline, whereas now, as I said before, I love the beginning of it, before Barnabas comes to his senses.  And I love the slow pace of it, too.

We'll probably never know for sure, but I suspect that a lot of the viewers who didn't like Barnabas in the beginning of Leviathans had never seen the early Barnabas storyline - they had either come to know him in 1795 before he was cursed, in '68 and/or '69 when he had some relatively admirable qualities, or, and possibly more likely given how popular a storyline it was, during 1897 when he was attempting to save David and Chris and not bent on world domination as in Leviathans. The switch of Barnabas' persona from 1897 to Leviathans would have been striking to those who only knew him from 1897.

We liked Barnabas.   We were pulling for him.   It's tough to see your protagonist as the bad guy.   For me, in Leviathans it's like the Barnabas I knew and cared about "encased" in something, and invisible from the outside.   He's trapped in this possessed cadaver that's walking and talking for the benefit of someone else.   I want to jimmy the lock and let him out of there.   I can't respond to him as a "villain" because I know better, so he's a prisoner.

The Leviathan storyline started out really fascinating but then went nosediving!!  They ( the writers) never really finished the Maggie/ Barn romance that started and what about the ring he gave her that was supposedly Josette's ring?  That went to no man's land.  I always hated that the didn't finish  that story line. How could they have made it better?  Finish storylines!

They completely dropped the Barnabas/Maggie romance once they went into Parallel Time and introduced Roxanne Drew as another SYT that Barnabas could drool over.

Also Angelique (the RT one) disappeared without a trace once Barnabas and Julia returned from 1995. She wasn't even mentioned as I recall.

Where do I begin: making Barnabas and Elizabeth patsies to the Leviathans, killing off Vicki, bringing back Peter Bradford- those are some of what went wrong with the storyline.

However, there was something that Curtis and the writers failed to do and I am shocked- yes, SHOCKED no one else has brought up this topic within this discussion:  they should've brought back Count Petofi!!!  Without a doubt he was the greatest villain DS ever had, and I bet people who watched his firery confrontation with Garth Blackwood at the end of 1897 were looking forward to see him coming to 1969 to raise hell for Barnabas and a returned-to-Collinwood Quentin.  After all, Angelique followed Vicki from 1796 to 1968 as Cassandra to get Barnabas for once and for all.  

Ideally, Petofi should have come to 1969 with the Leviathans under his control as a way to achieve immortality and get revenge on the Collinses.  So why didn't they bring back such a great character?  Years ago I heard from a third party that Thayer David had told one of the 'studio fans' in late '69 that Petofi may be coming to the modern-day plotline.  Who knows if the story is true, but can you imagine how better things would have been if Petofi were around and there was no Jeb/Bruno/Sky?  What might have been.  The writers were smart enough to build on the 1795 storyline with Angelique's return as Cassandra, so why not the same for 1897 with Petofi coming to 1969?  A real missed opportunity!

Angelique (the RT one) disappeared without a trace once Barnabas and Julia returned from 1995. She wasn't even mentioned as I recall.

I always figured that she had left Collinsport and found some other distant place to live.  Her seemingly happy, quasi-mortal, married life had been ruined and having achieved her revenge against the Leviathans - especially Nicholas - there was nothing left for her to stick around for.  Still, it would've been nice had somebody mentioned something about her being gone when Barnabas and Julia returned from PT and 1995.  One would think they would've at least wondered where to send a Christmas card.

Gerard

In Ang's personal timeline, I guess that's the last we see of her.

CE--- Until I got my tapes in 2002, going by my childhood memories, I was absolutely convinced Petofi had appeared in the present.  In fact, I remembered heated, anxious discussions (around a table in one of the upstairs rooms, with Julia, Barnabas, maybe Stokes, the Hand in the box beside them) in the present, about the world ending if he ever arrived and got his Hand back from where it was hidden and protected in Collinwood.   I didn't even remember seeing Petofi in the past, and when he appeared in 1897, on my tapes, it felt like just a prologue to the more earth-shaking events with him in the present day.

As much as I wanted Petofi there, I'd rather ditch the Leviathans and give Petofi his own story.  He would have seemed as shoehorned into Leviathans as Blair did.

Barnabas/Maggie in Leviathans... as important as Barnabas-Josette is to the basic story and mindset of Barnabas, I lost patience when they seemed to throw an echo or retread of that story into later storylines, without any apparent connection to the storyline, with nothing fresh added.    Barnabas saw Josette in so many realities (twice in 1897 with two different KLS characters!) and started the mooning process all over again so many times, that it became ludicrous I think.  No disrespect intended to anyone who loves the frequent returns to Barn/Josette.

true,

and because of the brutal,inhuman way barnabas treated maggie when he first arrived on the scene in 1967 i find any and all future implied pairings of the two to be somewhat revolting.

a change in the writing for a character can not undo all of their previous misdeeds.

However, there was something that Curtis and the writers failed to do and I am shocked- yes, SHOCKED no one else has brought up this topic within this discussion:  they should've brought back Count Petofi!!!

No need to feel shocked, Charles, because it did come up in the discussion-- the first instance was in the main topic that started the thread  :

To spice it up ... Could have been neat  I would also brought PETOFI in the mix.

They could have had Elizabeth return married to a man who looks remarkably like  the Count.  I'm shocked to think that they didn't do it.

In a blonde wig calling himself Cassander?

It would have been better if he had been married to Julia.

Interesting view!! I do feel if they wanted to rehash this plot it would have been better with it being Julia, yes!  I have read the current 1897 post and I am gonna respond when I get my thoughts all together.   For some reason or another The Leviathans have been what I have wanted to watch lately. I just finished watching 1968 as I am randomly watching storylines. Alas I have not gotten The Leviathan DVDs yet. I also liked the weird unsyndicated years.  They have a certain flavor I like.   My point is I thought it would be cool to list some of the more positive things we liked about thise sequence

[spoiler]1.I know it didn't kick off 1970 but it almost did and so I think The Leviathans are very parallel to the weirdness that was the 1970's. Not trying to get too deep here but I think if the viewers had liked it and it had been executed better it could be legendary in the mythos of DS for it's GENUIS instead of what most consider the beginning of the end.  
2.I loved that the Allmighty Leviathan leader was scarred of the Werewolf. This could have been an amazing plotline if it was fleshed out.
3.Josette appearing to Barnabas and giving him his freedom.  A very tender and poignant moment in this sequence.  It was time.  And the plot line could have always been dusted off had KLS ever returned to the show and also if the show had lasted.
4.The LSD dreams!!   
5. JULIA screaming "Don't Touch Me" and giving us one of here greatest screams of the series.  She acts like she is truly seeing a Leviathan!!  LOVES IT!!
6. ZOMBIES.  My favorite ghoul of them all!!  ZOMBIES horrify me and I think that is why I love them. Cause they are the only monsters that truly scare the.......out of me.  The thoughts of a person being reanimated!  :chill: Especially after dead and buried.
7.The zombies kidnapping Julia scene.  I LOVE IT now because I know she will be fine!!
8."From tycoon to lackey.  Oh how the Mighty have fallen" Angelique reading Sky's ass for all it's worth
9. Great special effects when Nicholas dies.  (Although I hate that NB was defeated twice.  It would have been delicious to have him back had the show lasted!!)
10 I find the episode where Barnabas tells Julia about how the Leviathans brainwashed him(with the flashbacks) to be truly creepy, spooky, and atmospheric. Jon and GH were amazing in these scenes BRAVO!!
11. MEGAN THE VAMP (Enough said)
12. I loooooove the altar. Does anyone know why the serpents were used?? 
13. I personally think these are some of the most atmospheric ep's ever produced, especially as it heats and the plot pace is faster. It's got that creepy vibe (again) 70's vibe.
14. QUENTIN!! QUENTIN!! Did I mention QUENTIN??
15. Grayson Hall changing her hair. Don't get me wrong I love Julia with all her different hairstyles but it was time for a change
16. Chris Bernau's tight trousers!!!


All I got..

Tae

Any thoughts are am I being random....

Any other thoughts guys. 

Where do I begin: making Barnabas and Elizabeth patsies to the Leviathans, killing off Vicki, bringing back Peter Bradford- those are some of what went wrong with the storyline.

However, there was something that Curtis and the writers failed to do and I am shocked- yes, SHOCKED no one else has brought up this topic within this discussion:  they should've brought back Count Petofi!!!  Without a doubt he was the greatest villain DS ever had, and I bet people who watched his firery confrontation with Garth Blackwood at the end of 1897 were looking forward to see him coming to 1969 to raise hell for Barnabas and a returned-to-Collinwood Quentin.  After all, Angelique followed Vicki from 1796 to 1968 as Cassandra to get Barnabas for once and for all.  

Ideally, Petofi should have come to 1969 with the Leviathans under his control as a way to achieve immortality and get revenge on the Collinses.  

Charles,

I agree with your ideas. Barnabas, by this point, was a sympathetic character to the audience. To return him to his evil ways betrayed the audience and the character. Another important reason I did not like this plot was because it took an essential element that the evil Barnabas had- strength. A Barnabas weak and not in control just didn't work for me.

Petofi reveled as behind the Leviathans would have been great; a shock to Barnabas and a threat hanging over his head. Barnabas could have pretended to be allied with the Leviathans, but working behind the scenes to destroy them. That would have been interesting.

Quentin, with memory intact, aware of Petofi as an enemy, would have added drama. And, of course, no Peter Bradford in sight          

Nick C.