Yes, Janet, Barnabas is fun to watch. I was about to say, "More fun when he's thinking than when he's emoting," but then I thought about a scene or two when he emoted, and decided I had better reserve my judgment. He looked youngish and handsome today - much younger than he did in the late Leviathan storyline. I cannot come up with a rationalization for that right now. Maybe someday.
Maggie's reading of Quentin's love letters was pretty indefensible, I was thinking, but then she managed a nice defense when she said she wanted to understand Quentin. And when Quentin said he thought she already did understand him - what was that supposed to mean? His favorite sentence is "I don't want to talk about it!" and yet he expects her to understand him.
The foyer seemed cramped today at the end, with all those big dresses. It didn't seem to me as though much preparation had been made for the big party. Where was the dancing going to be? Because of course there was going to be dancing. But here's my real question: why did they do the whole costume ball thing at all? I'm aware that it's because it's in Rebecca. But by this time we have diverged far enough from Rebecca so that I don't see the necessity of including this business rather than finding something better accommodated to the Dark Shadows constraints. Or am I completely missing the point? Is it that this wouldn't be a recognizable Rebecca rip-off if the costume ball were not included? Did Dan Curtis tell the writers, "Cram it in, by hook or by crook, or you're all fired!"? And so they crammed it in, but not very comfortably - is that it?