IMO, the blogger brought up a very point about the whole Josette-reincarnation thing. In the original DS, in the Barnabas-arrives storyline, there was no reincarnation - Barnabas was smitten by Maggie simply by her similar appearance to Josette; nothing ever indicated that she was the deceased bride's reincarnation (TLATKLS's second character in the 1897 plot was her reincarnation). When it didn't work out with Maggie, he decided to reinvent his fiance in Vicki, who definitely did not look like Josette. In in HoDS, from what I remember, it was never explicitely stated that Maggie was Josette reborn - Stokes made a statement that Barnabas thinks she's Josette. It was until the '91 version that Josette might be reincarnated (this time as Vicki) was more explicit. But was it ever directly stated that she, in fact, was? I'm not even really sure about that. Regardless, the blogger opinied that having Barnabas seeing his long lost honey-bun in another woman rather than her actually being the one-in-the-same was a far better plot devise. I agree. Consider the fact that if Maggie was, indeed, the actual Josette, her past-life memories under Barnabas' influence would've surfaced and most likely they would've went off together, coffin-'n'-coffin. That would've ruined one of the most suspenseful storylines of the series - Maggie trying to survive.
Gerard