It's interesting to read these reactions to people watching these shows for the first time now. (I assume that you're all discussing the episode where Julia discovers Barnabas' body, and tries and fails to drive a stake through his heart to prevent him from rising as a vampire.) When I first saw this show back in the Summer of 1968, I was still pretty much a new viewer, and I remember that the show had me struggling to hold back tears of sadness (bear in mind that I was 9 going on 10 at that point).
I obviously did not know the previous history Barnabas had with Julia and Willie, and how odd it was for Willie to be reactiing the way he was to the situation.
Watching it as an adult, it seems like a very odd episode indeed. It seems as if Grayson and Johnny had barely had the chance to rehearse their scenes in the early part. You get the feeling that it was one of those "off" days in the studio. Strangely, though, the awkwardness and jerkiness of the two characters' behavior makes a weird kind of sense, given their emotional state as written in the script. At least, that's how I see it.
The script is beyond bizarre in places, though. How goofy is it to think that burying someone would keep him from rising as a vampire? Someone as knowledgeable about that particular as "affliction" as Julia Hoffman was, would know just how ridiculous that idea was.
Gothick
