Discuss - Ep #0841

Robservations #841

Oh my gosh, this has to be THE most exciting cliffhanger to an episode we've had in a long time! I was shocked the first time I saw the ending to this episode.

Anyone who can still muster up any sympathy or any kind of goodwill for Petofi and Aristede after this is more generous than I am. I wanted Barnabas to kill both of them for their treatment of Julia, especially Aristede who so enjoys commiting murder in cold blood and tormenting his victim with his scheme. How evil of him to set up Barnabas of all people to shoot Julia!

It was nice of Beth to help Barnabas even though she's tired of being used and hurt all the time (can't say I blame her there).

The thing is, often it's possible to engage with Petofi, be diplomatic, and even give him what he wants, rather than responding with the typical TV hero's line of "I'd rather die than give you what you want because you're evil"...  The "heroes" make all sorts of mistakes trying to read Petofi and fight him at every turn.   

Well, considering later on we learn [spoiler] the only way Petofi can get to the future is through Quentin's body [/spoiler] I think that is one area that no one could or should have to negotiate with Petofi on.

Why should Barnabas and Julia be faulted for not wanting Petofi to get to 1969? How do they know he won't go to the future and snuff out the present day family out of spite? I don't know if Petofi would go THAT far as I think he just wants to get as far away from the gypsies as he possibly can but I don't think it's an unreasonable or unlikely possibility.

For having lived so long and supposedly having such knowledge; I find, Petofi to be incredibly stupid.  He has Julia who is from the future and he decides to kill her.  He decides to use the I Ching without researching how it works.  You expect that from Barnabas.  Where are his powers of coercion he uses on others?   He again remarks that Aristede is no intellectual giant, but perhaps he keeps him around to make himself seem intelligent.  Aristede must have some capacity to come up with the plan to kill Julia.   

Major Milestones:
1. Count Petofi was the first person to have a bad experience with the I-Ching wands.
2. Barnabas was able to get Beth to help him without using his vampire powers on her - she went to the lair and reported back to Barnabas that Aristede was about to kill Julia.
3. Aristede rigged it so that when Barnabas opened the door, a gun would go off and shoot Julia.

I really like the green walls, door, and Count Petofi when he was in his I-Ching trance. Neat shade of green. Adds some ambiance to the scene.

The room reminded me of the Dream Curse room of doors. Similar setup, and even Barnabas and the fire were used again, I believe. 

The ending, with the gun going off, was one of the few scenes I remember from when I first saw this episode as a child. Really thrilling!  Poor Barnabas!


----- Sally -----

I too was reminded of the Dream Curse, and I liked that tribunal set a lot.  And it was fun to see I Ching being terrifically unhelpful.

I'm always intrigued by Barnabas's inability to find Magda, when he asks Beth to help him.  I can't remember - assuming we knew - where she vanished to when Edward was all set to see Barnabas shrivel up to nothing at sunrise, and we haven't seen her since then.

I feel sorry for Julia.  She thought she could go to 1897, save Barnabas and Quentin, and then zip back to 1969.  But Barnabas dragged his feet, and now it looks as though she's going to die - and all (as far as I can tell) within 48 hours of arriving in 1897.  When Barnabas got to 1897 he had a little time to catch his breath and find a Josette substitute, but Julia was immediately plunged right into the thick of things.

Instead of restaging the finale of the previous ep, the same clip was simply repeated at the start of this ep.

The effect of the spinning I-Ching wands was dizzying, especially by the 3rd time.

I'm sure I saw Barnabas dematerialize in the woods outside of Collinwood.  Did they forget that this power was taken away?  Then he hid behind a tree as he waited for Beth to come along; give me a break!!  Just because the subject matter is the supernatural does not mean we don't deserve some consistency:  Either Barnabas has a power or he does not.  If he regained the ability to disappear, he should have done so in the basement cell and certainly would not need to be ducking behind foliage.

Ha ha, when Petofi passes through the door while in a trance, you can see remnants from where the I-Ching wands were attached.

Was that fantastic tribunal set a redressed Collinwood foyer?

He again remarks that Aristede is no intellectual giant, but perhaps he keeps him around to make himself seem intelligent.

I love the expressions on Aristede's face while Petofi talks about their relationship.

The "heroes" make all sorts of mistakes trying to read Petofi and fight him at every turn.

The man seems incapable of discerning whether someone is telling him the truth or not.  Even when faced with total sincerity, such as Barnabas' assurance that he cannot take him to the future, Petofi assumes he is hearing a lie.  So if being truthful is only going to make him lash out like a petulant child, I figure you may as well make something up.  And stroking his massive ego probably wouldn't hurt.  Instead of telling him, "I told you everything I know," Julia should have found some some excuse to stall him or make herself seem indispensable as a time traveler / co-conspirator / doctor / whatever.  But by affirming that she was no longer of use to him, she basically signed her own death warrant.  And btw, what prevented her from spitting out the gag or tumbling onto the floor along with the chair?  Sigh.

When Petofi accused Julia of knowing what awaited him beyond the door because the I-Ching trip occurred under her "supervision," it brought to mind his Cupboard-o-Vision in which he sees to it that another party has a vision that, unfortunately for him, he cannot see for himself.  Jerk.