Mary Cooper as Josette in 1841PT

[dom]

I was just happy (thrilled, actually) that Barn & Josette ended up together and happy, even if it was in an alternate universe. That emotion over-rode (?) any notice of the Mary Cooper's performance.

I wish they had done the same for Vicki.

[IluvBarnabas]

I thought she was a very sweet woman and did just fine in the role. She held her own against Julia, was very motherly and affectionate with her son Bramwell, even if she didn't agree with the choices he makes or how he handles solutions, and with Melanie [spoiler] whom we find out was her daughter. [/spoiler]

[quentincollins]

The actress I think was likable in the role, even if she wasn't suited for the role. I'd compare her to Betsy Durkin as Vicki in that regard.
I wonder if the existance of Justin and Julia Collins in this timeline had any effect on Josette being a pariah? Perhaps Justin influenced the rest of the family against her? Which makes him a pretty reprehensible hypocrite if that was the case.

[DarkLady]

Justin never struck me as the hypocritical type. I suspect Julia was the prime mover in isolating Josette from the family in the Great House--especially [spoiler]once she found those incriminating letters in Justin's old clothing.[/spoiler]

[Lydia]

Do we know enough about Justin to say whether or not he was a hypocrite?  I think our impression of Justin is formed from what Flora said about him, since we do not see Justin as he was before the great change in him.

As for Josette, I wonder if she herself was the cause of the lack of warmth towards her from the Collins family.  Maybe she was told about the Room and reacted negatively, and persuaded Barnabas of the correctness of her opinion.

In any case, I'm sure that the Barnabas and Josette of parallel time are different from the Barnabas and Josette of our time band.  PT Josette mentions Barnabas's dark moods, and I don't think dark moods were a feature of pre-vampire our-time Barnabas.  What bothers me about PT Josette is her voice.  Kathryn Leigh Scott has a lovely, distinctive voice, and Mary Cooper's voice is completely different.  I doubt the aging process would have changed Josette's voice so much.

[DarkLady]

Justin's behavior about the Locked Room was positively heroic. To me that connotes some kind of integrity, regardless of how much less than blameless his private life might have been.

But I do agree with you about Mary Cooper's voice, Lydia. Not quite what I was expecting the first time I heard her speak. But as someone else has observed, I suppose we can think of her as being like Betsy Durkin.

[Lydia]

Justin's behavior about the Locked Room was positively heroic.

Again I say: We weren't there to see it.  If the writers could have gotten their hands on that event, I'm sure they would have had a ball with it.

[michaelhacketttodd]

To the best of my knowledge, Mary Cooper was a Stage Performer and Friend of Joan Bennett.  The role may have been hastily cast because although the cancellation of the show was by no means assured, the writing was on the wall.  The Barnabas/Julia Hoffman relationship was at the Heart and Soul of Dark Shadows and it must have been very difficult for the writers to create a compelling storyline without these vital characters.  Mary did the best she could under very difficult circumstances and she did come across as a kind caring person, just like Josette Dupre.  She was my favorite character in 1841 parallel time. 

[Philippe Cordier]

I found her performance to be flat and uninspired. The actress may not have seen the show previously and was unable to link the character of Josette to KLS's earlier portrayal. All in all, the 1841 PT Josette was a disappointment to me, though I find this storyline one of the most enjoyable of the entire series.