Discuss - Ep #0618

[Watching Project]

Robservations #618

[Lydia]

I remember reading an essay in which Matthew Hall talked about his father, Sam Hall, pulling at his (Sam's, not Matt's) eyebrows trying to figure out motivations.  It seems to me that when all else failed, the writers could always fall back on "Angelique gets some fool notion into her head and follows through on it despite the fact that it's obvious to the meanest intelligence that it makes no sense whatsoever."  At the moment Angelique is planning to turn Barnabas back into a vampire despite the fact that she has listened to Dr. Lang's tape recording even more times than the viewers have and she therefore should know that unless she kills Adam, Barnabas will never be a vampire again - and we see no sign of her planning to kill Adam.  Or is she?  Have I forgotten something here?

If Louis Edmonds didn't burst out laughing when he read the script for today's episode, I would be surprised and disappointed.  Roger's seen enough to make him think very ill indeed of Jeff - but it's a dream that prompts him to tell Vicky that it would be a mistake for her to marry Jeff.  And when she asks what Roger's got against Jeff, Roger doesn't come even close to mentioning that he saw Jeff kissing another woman that very evening.  And what's this with Roger being so nice?  It's just wrong.

How is it that Barnabas is able to communicate to Vicky telepathically?  That doesn't ring true to me.

[Sunny_Collins]

I can't blame Vicki for being angry with Roger, that dream he had is too ridiculous to be believed.

I think barnabas's and vicki's sudden telepathic abilities can be explained as a convenient plot device since cell phones hadn't yet been invented. 

[Joy Collins]

How is it that Barnabas is able to communicate to Vicky telepathically?  That doesn't ring true to me.

Maybe the writers pretended that, since Barnabas so close to becoming a vampire again, he regained some small amount of his vampire, er, powers and, since Vicki was the last person he'd bitten, he was able to "call" her to him just like the old days. It's pretty lame, but it's a thought. They were never very paricular about what vampires can and can't do anyway.

[loril54]

Haven't you ever thought that you needed to call someone or go see someone. You knew something was wrong?

I am glad that Barnabas called out to Vickie, she knew a hidden place that Julia did not. I wish that Vickie would have told Julia where Barnabas was. Barnabas and his respect for Julia feelings was sometimes very strange.

[Taeylor Collins]

I agree with you Lori and that is how I viewed her being able to know that something is wrong with Barnabas. It is shocking though  since she usually doesn't understand.     I too wish she would have talk with Julia. 

[MagnusTrask]

Yes, I think it was supposed to be one of those remarkable things that many believe can happen in an extreme crisis, Barnabas calling out to Vicki.  If random supernatural phenomena can't happen in Collinsport, where can they?

Roger dreamed that Vicki marrying Jeff would lead to her death, interesting in view of (from Leviathans, so people know whether this is a spoiler for them)[spoiler]"Jeb Hawkes" (whoever or whatever he was in 1796) sending her over the cliff or getting her rehung or burned or whatever dead-again Peter claimed.   Roger's dream was right.[/spoiler]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

[spoiler]"Jeb Hawkes" (whoever or whatever he was in 1796) sending her over the cliff or getting her rehung or burned or whatever dead-again Peter claimed.   Roger's dream was right.[/spoiler]

That's very true. But I never thought about this before with regard to Roger's dream, but I wonder if even at this point they intended in some way that[spoiler]Vicki would disappear back into the past with Peter and possibly be hung again as a witch? They were certainly aware that Alexandra was leaving. And while many fans have surmised that Vicki was simply sent back to the past because Betsy Durkin didn't work out as Vicki, I don't really remember having heard/seen that confirmed. Writing Vicki out might have been the actual endgame all along, and perhaps Alexandra didn't want to play it or insisted on leaving when she did for entirely different reasons rather than stay around just another month to play it.

I didn't attend any of the Fests in which Betsy took part and I honestly don't remember much of what I read she talked about. Did she ever mention how long her contract was for (or if she even had one), or if she was surprised she'd played Vicki for so short a time? (Though the latter wouldn't necessarily be definitive proof of anything because, if she didn't have a contract, they may not have even told her how long they were going to use her.)[/spoiler]

[MagnusTrask]

[spoiler]many fans have surmised that Vicki was simply sent back to the past because Betsy Durkin didn't work out as Vicki[/spoiler]

I've never heard that one but I'm a fandom neophyte still.  There was Victoria #3, so they didn't just jettison the character, obviously...?   After all the build-up about the romance across time, it's hard to imagine it just petering out, with Victoria 2 staying in 1968 and Jeff/Bradford staying gone (if Durkin had been thought to be working out)... not that DS isn't full of unhappy endings.   Quentin [spoiler]lost Amanda Harris[/spoiler] and just soldiered on....

Vicki has just disappeared in my viewing, by the way.  Anyway, Roger's dream must have meant something, and obviously it didn't refer to Jeb Hawkes, so I'm guessing that the danger Jeff would lead her into was the past.    Earlier on with Vicki they talk about her obsession with the past, how it might be dangerous, and how she might lose herself in the past.  That all seems like some pretty heavy foreshadowing to me.  It could be that they were considering having her hang for real the "first time around" though.

[IluvBarnabas]

Wow, Magnus, you bring up another intruiging insight.  Guess maybe Vicki really should have listened to Roger after all.

Why he didn't tell her he saw Jeff kissing Eve if he was so hellbent on preventing the  marriage I have no idea. Surely THAT would have made Vicki more willing to listen and start having second thoughts about marrying Jeff.

Once again, I love watching Angelique sink her teeth into Barnabas. Here she talks about the "pledge without words" they had made so long ago in Martinique.  If there had been such a pledge, she took it more seriously than Barnabas. It seems to me while she might have made this so called promise, he did not. And look what happened...

[Taeylor Collins]

Vampelique bites are indeed sexy as hell.    Lara Parker also looks as if she is relishing in  part!

[EmeraldRose]

The last scene in this episode, when Vicki found Barnabas in the woods, holds a special affinity for me. On Friday, August 23, 2002, as I was channel surfing, I got to Sci-Fi channel, which I had only recently been able to get on my cable TV. To my pleasant surprise, I found DS! I was so excited! It had been about 20 years since I had seen it. I have been a reborn and rabid DS fan ever since, thanks to Sci-Fi and computers! I only wish I had known when DS first ran on Sci-Fi.

Now about the episode... I loved the scenes between Angelique and Barnabas. Angelique sure was a sensual vampire. It pulled at my heartstrings to see Barnabas being so weak and controlled by Angelique. Poor Barnabas!

I was also touched by Julia's worry about Barnabas. She wanted desperately to save his life, but didn't know where he was. She was powerless and dejected. Her love for him was quite evident. I felt sorry for her.

It was quite strange that Roger did not tell Vicki about Jeff and Eve's kiss. It did seem rather silly for him to tell Vicki not to marry Jeff on the basis of a nightmare. But this is DS, after all, where dreams can and do come true - or at least can warn of similar disasters!

Of course, my favorite part of this episode was when Barnabas called out to Vicki, and she found him. It was exciting and emotional to see him clinging to the trees and pleading with Vicki to find him. 

----- Sally -----

[michael c]

i haven't seen the betsy durkin vicki episodes but i never got the impression from alexandra's final episodes that they were winding down the character.there was no sense of finality to them.her departure was very abrupt.if they had wanted vicki to disappear into the past they probably could have figured out a way to do it in alexandra's final weeks rather than hiring a new actress just for that purpose.

alexandra had a five year contract with the show.at least now she seems to want to dispel any rumors that she left the series for reasons other than her being pregnant.in interviews she's quite emphatic about that.

but of course that could just be spin.

[Taeylor Collins]

OT:  But I have really really really really did I say really enjoyed AM's interviews on The Collectors Series.  It is nice to see her and listen to her talk about her days on DS.  Since she doesn't do Festivals (which I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING IF SHE DID) it is quite nice to see her. 

Moving along...I agree with mscbryk (which is an interesting name ) that they could have finshed Victoria's story with AM if they had intended to leave her in the past.  She was recast because it seems they wanted to try and keep the Victoria character.  Since the recasts didn't work out (actually I loved Carolyn Grooves) I guess they gave Victoria her happy ending.  I say happy ending because I choose to ignore what later transpired concerning Victoria's character because it was a total travesty!!

[MagnusTrask]

I'm up to this point in my viewing but I don't think the WP is.   Anyway, with Quentin and Chris and the reigniting of Liz's burial dread taking up screen time, maybe there just wasn't a chance to wind up any planned storyline where VW re-enters the past soon enough for Moltke.