Discuss - Ep #0700

[Watching Project]

Robservations #700

[IluvBarnabas]

So this is the episode where Barnabas I-Chings himself back to the past....we are now heading toward one of the most awesome stories of the series...1897.

Why oh why did Maggie insist on David banishing the ghost of Quentin? He's a kid, not an exorcist! Not to mention he was very sick and weak. She should have gotten him out of that pronto.

BTW I think we've seen the last of Ned Stuart. Good riddance is all I can say.

[Lydia]

Professor Stokes sure jumped to a conclusion today.  I promise you, if you ever find a set of I Ching wands with an accompanying book among my things, you needn't conclude that I'm in any way interested in the occult.  More likely somebody gave them to me and I just cast them into the already existing mess in my house and forgot about them.
 
It seemed strange that Professor studied the book in the basement of the Old House.  He likes his comfort, and I don't think he found much there.  Was the I Ching paraphernalia so dangerous that he wanted to be isolated from everybody else?

Why oh why did Maggie insist on David banishing the ghost of Quentin?

Yes indeed, Maggie didn't exactly cover herself with glory today.  Did it never occur to her that Amy was manipulating her into going to Collinwood?

Quentin surprised me. I have no doubt that he could have brought Maggie under his power again if he wished to.  Why didn't he wish to?  Was his idea that if David died in his possession, he would possess him for all eternity?

So this is the episode where Barnabas I-Chings himself back to the past.

I remember being completely surprised in 1969 by the result of Barnabas's I-Chinging.  I was a 6-weeks-new viewer back then.  I now know that, given the history of the series, what happened was the obvious next step, but I think the chained coffin does suggest several other possibilities.

[Lydia]

Addendum:  Last year when we started our hiatus, Barnabas was working on strangling somebody.  This year he's headed towards a chained coffin.  In the interests of consistency, I hope that when we start the 2009 hiatus, we'll have another Barnabas-centered cliffhanger.

[alwaysdavid]

I agree that the Proffessot was rather rash in his conclusions.  He barely searched the room and how does he know that it was Quentin's room for it could have been anyone's.   Barnabas is once again jumping headlong into the unknown.  One would think that considering how hard he tried to overcome his vampirism, that he would, think twice when he comes up with a pattern of change and maybe throw the things out once again. 

[MagnusTrask]

The idea of using I Ching to communicate with Quentin seemed like nonsense.  Why would "change" lead to that?   In the end, the wands did just what Barnabas wanted of course, even though he could not have justifiably expected it, so the result was imaginative (albeit time-consuming), but Barnabas's motivation and decision to use I Ching made no sense.   No real spoilers there, right?

Perhaps someone up there or out there nudges Barnabas's quarter-baked schemes to work.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The idea of using I Ching to communicate with Quentin seemed like nonsense.

True. Though as I recall, Barnabas merely asked Stokes if it was possible to communicate with Quentin through the I Ching. Stokes swift reply was that it was, but the I Ching was not the way - but Barnabas insisted that if there was a chance, then he must try. There was no certain expectation of success.

Why would "change" lead to that?

They had no way of knowing what hexagram would come up until after the wands were tossed. Some would say it was fate that the 49th hexagram came up.

In the end, the wands did just what Barnabas wanted of course, even though he could not have justifiably expected it

Actually, if one researches the meaning of the 49th hexagram, it seems the perfect one for what Barnabas wanted to accomplish: the reversal of the effects of Quentin's haunting and primarily preventing David's death.

[Midnite]

Great comments, all!

I'm still bothered by the same backwards image of Collinwood seen during the opening voiceover.

[EmeraldRose]

Actually, if one researches the meaning of the 49th hexagram, it seems the perfect one for what Barnabas wanted to accomplish: the reversal of the effects of Quentin's haunting and primarily preventing David's death.

That's exactly what I was thinking, too. I don't think it meant that Barnabas would change, but that the present circumstances would change. [spoiler]It's obvious to me that Barnabas would change, because his astral self was going to inhabit his physical self in 1897, and he was a vampire in 1897. He wanted to change the past, thereby changing the future to save David and prevent Quentin's haunting. [/spoiler]
This episode introduced the I-Ching wands, and was the first time they were used. [spoiler]Hooray! 1897 starts in the next episode! [/spoiler]
When Amy said to Maggie, "David is going to die." - and then gave that evil smirk - that was really scary!

I agree that Maggie shouldn't have asked David to send Quentin away. It was a foolish move on her part.  However, I was very impressed when she was telling Quentin that he couldn't have David and was acting defiant and brave.

It was great to see Julia's love for Barnabas shine through when she was so worried about what would happen to Barnabas when he went through the door. I agree with Robin; it was too bad that Julia didn't reveal Barnabas' secret to Prof. Stokes.  It would have been a perfect time to do that. 

I was impressed with how quickly Prof. Stokes learned the material in the book. He must have had a photographic memory. He became an expert on the I-Ching wands in just a few hours! 

----- Sally -----

[MagnusTrask]

If Julia had told Stokes Barnabas's secret at that moment (without permission), and Stokes had reacted badly to it, Barnabas would have been sitting there immobilized and helpless.  I'm not sure calling the police on Barnabas would have made any sense to Stokes at that point (either practically, or because the Quentin problem was more urgent), but knowing Stokes, he might have come up with some way to take action against Barnabas.

[Pansity]

So this is the episode where Barnabas I-Chings himself back to the past....we are now heading toward one of the most awesome stories of the series...1897.

 

Why oh why did Maggie insist on David banishing the ghost of Quentin? He's a kid, not an exorcist!

Sorry, I can't resist -- I can just HEAR De Kelley saying, I'm a Doctor not an exorcist!

BTW I think we've seen the last of Ned Stuart. Good riddance is all I can say.

Can we buy tickets to watch the door hit him in the butt on the way out? 

Jeannie

[Pansity]

Perhaps someone up there or out there nudges Barnabas's quarter-baked schemes to work.

Or maybe not even UP there.  As I read your post the thought occurred to me that maybe ANGELIQUE has somethign to do with nudging events in Barnabas' favor.  After all, she does try to help him in other ways, of course for her own purposes.  But help is still help.....  End result can be the same no matter WHY the help is provided.

Jeannie

[Pansity]

Professor Stokes sure jumped to a conclusion today.  I promise you, if you ever find a set of I Ching wands with an accompanying book among my things, you needn't conclude that I'm in any way interested in the occult.  More likely somebody gave them to me and I just cast them into the already existing mess in my house and forgot about them.

Not to mention that with a bunch of pack rats like the Collins', they could have belonged to anyone. (With all the stuff lying around for generations, sometimes I wonder if the Collins' are related to the Collier brothers.)  Since they never really go back to it, except for the late timeline use of them, they could have been lying there for ages.  Maybe another of Desmond's souvies brought back for Quentin I from that  trip to the Orient.

And lol Lydia your house sounds like mine....

Jeannie

[MagnusTrask]

Jeannie... I don't think Ang did anything "for" Barnabas without requiring a lot of satisfying begging from Barnabas first, and as often as not the help would bite Barn on his proverbial butt at some point, and turn out not to be real help.   She is hard to figure out sometimes, though.   I think it's 1897 where the help begings to help more and bite less.

[Roland]

It seems to me that Maggie's bizarre insistence that David denounce and cast out Quentin owes more to the conclusion of "The Turn of the Screw" than to any logic in this particular narrative.