what did barny do for 172 years?

[tripwire]

while he was in that coffin?? wonder if he made notches for every decade that passed...waking up every night in "solitairy confinement"..he would have to have quite an imagination to keep him occupied for that long...and S
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when he first went to 1897, he was able to summon sandor the first day he was there....should have thought about summoning up some poor collins long before 1967...and another thing, when joooolia buried barny alive not too long ago, they said he had about an hours worth of air, or something like that??  well, as a vampire, he did ok for 172 years!! maybe vampires didnt need air.oh well, just some thoughts

[Nicole]

I dunno...I always assumed he was in some kind of limbo, sleeping, dreaming and halluncinating like no one could imagine just to fill his dreary existence.  He probably dwelled alot on what had happened to him, making him really bitter.  I almost feel sorry for him just thinking about it  

[Craig_Slocum]

Maybe he went into suspended animation mode.

[A.I.Collins]

I felt sorry for him at the end of the 1795 storyline when i saw the coffin chained up at the end of the credits....it was sad....maybe he kept falling in and out of sleep and conciousness...

Adra

P.S...man o' man, wouldn't life be boring!!!

[lurkerintheshadows]

He probably woke up at dusk and lost consciousness at dawn,inbetween which he went stir crazy with bordom and horror. :oThus,when willie found him he was as julia diagnosed later insane.  

[Gerard]

I imagine there were several things he did to whittle away the time.  For one, he knitted a killer afghan.  Then there was the collection of New York Times crossword puzzles.  He tried to read every single page of the Internal Revenue Service's instruction and regulations manual (he never did finish - he only had 172 years).  Oh, and he managed to memorize the theme to The Patty Duke Show.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Gerard

[VAM]

Pre-computer days we Librarians could of used him to file catalog cards...

[jennifer]

I imagine there were several things he did to whittle away the time.  For one, he knitted a killer afghan.  Then there was the collection of New York Times crossword puzzles.  He tried to read every single page of the Internal Revenue Service's instruction and regulations manual (he never did finish - he only had 172 years).  Oh, and he managed to memorize the theme to The Patty Duke Show.  Time flies when you're having fun!Gerard

That's great Gerard the IRS form is something!


jennifer

[doombuggy69]

>>>>>>>>when joooolia buried barny alive not too long ago, they said he had about an hours worth of air, or something like that??  well, as a vampire, he did ok for 172 years!! maybe vampires didnt need air.oh well, just some thoughts

I believe the reason that Julia made the comment that he has only a few hours of air, was because she knew that Barnabas was human because of Adam. He was not a vampire at that point, so he would not have survived the buriel.

As for what Barnabas did for 175 years, I am sure he played tic tac toe many times on the inside of the coffin lid!  

[kuanyin]

Well, the kind thought is that he was in a suspended animation mode. However, if I remember right he made comments about his time in the coffin, which leads me to believe he regained consciousness each evening. Either way there are leaps to make. If he was suspended why did he "wake" up to lead Willie to his coffin? Willie definately appeared to be under Barney's influence, staring at his portrait and so on. Though I guess you make a point for that being greed alone.

If he was alert throughout, why didn't he lead someone to him sooner? Can a vampire exist indefinately without any blood?

Regardless, he certainly got up and out of there in a one cranky mood. Can a vampire get up on the wrong side of the coffin?  

[tripwire]

and what about that hair and beard?  might make zz top look like peach fuzz.  

[ROBINV]

I suspect Barnabas awakened every single night for 172 years, which would account for his crankiness (?!) upon finally being busted out.  I always figured he had a lot of self-control not to drain Willie dry, given that he was probably very thirsty!  Then again, he had enough savvy to realize he'd need a slave to tell him about the century into which he awakened and help him adjust and slide into a life as close to that of a human being as possible.  

how he survived without blood is another matter, however, and a very good question.

Love, Robin

[Josette]

SPOILERS FOR 1897
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Someone mentioned his managing to call to Sandor immediately.  But, then someone else referred to the effects on Willie about staring at the portrait and so on before he found him.  I had forgotten about that.

I think it's quite possible that he always tried "reaching" out to someone.  In the case of both Willie and Sandor, they were interested in finding the supposed jewels (Magda was urging Sandor to go) and were already susceptible to going there.  Perhaps those were the only occasions when he suceeded in making contact with a person who would go there and open it.

[IluvBarnabas]

I personally think he had to wake up at sunset every night, being stuck in that coffin for long, endless hours and then go back to sleep at sunrise, every night for 172 LONG years with an insational lust for blood....you gotta feel sorry for the guy! I know I do.

[spoiler]I mean watching the show as a child, I remember being mad at Joshua for chaining Barnabas in the coffin, doing that to him when it would have been so much better for his son if he had just shot him with the bullets and give him peace. But now from an adult point of view, I have a better understanding of why Joshua couldn't shoot him with the silver bullets....despite what he believed I think Joshua DID love Barnabas, it's just that Joshua was the kind of man who didn't believe in showing his emotions. But that look he and Barnabas gave to each other as they said their farewells said it all.[/spoiler]

[Lydia]

I think I Ching had a lot to do with the vision in Magda's crystal ball that sent Sandor to the mausoleum.  What I can't remember is whether Willie heard the harrowing heartbeat in 1967 as he was getting closer to Barnabas.