Some small spoilers here . . .
As much as Vicki irritates me, I am going to take a different tack here.
I don't think she is stupid, as much as she is in denial. Big time. I will go further and say that there is an argument that the character needed professional help before the substitute for a ouija board sent her tripping down the centuries.
Let's think about this. Her interest in historic times wasn't exactly academic. Vicki seemed to focus a lot on the concept of escapism, which explains why Barnabas and his drafty home were such attractions to her. The dream of Josette was the fantasy of putting on pretty ball gowns and being somebody else. Having an identity of someone who not only belonged, but who was a valued member of the family that Vicki ached to belong to (of course, Vicki seems to have completely disregarded the whole suicide thing, which to a lucid person should indicate that Josette was not the happiest of people and that ball gowns weren't everything).
To occasionally dream of escape or to fantasize is fine, but when it becomes a fairly chronic thing . . . well, there can be a problem.
There are much earlier indications that Vicki has problems with denial. Her very negative reaction when Julia suggests that Barnabas is obviously interested in her (that is, Vicki), for instance. Her almost violent reaction when Julia pointed out that Barnabas had a role for her to play as "Josette".
Let's now add the loss of her fiance in a sudden, unexpected, and disturbing accident to the mix. There's no closure for her because a)she didn't get to say goodbye and b)there's no body. Even with that closure, they say it can take
two years to process a death of someone close to you.
She's had what? two weeks?
I was watching some episodes from earlier this week (or maybe it was last weeks)there was that scene where Vicki wanders into Angelique's room. It's one of the few times where I could sympathize with Angelique, btw. I mean, Vicki wafts in and Angelique is obviously not there. Does Vicki leave? No. Instead she wanders around. She looks at Angelique's possessions. She examines the furnishings. It's really a rather dreamlike Vicki that we see.
Taking that a bit further. Vicki, at this point, doesn't seem to be too clear about a lot of things. It's as if she doesn't quite realize where she is or why she's there. She's in the fantasy world she and Barnabas wanted, but instead she's there as a high-level servant.
Like Angelique she wants to be the heroine in the fancy dress--hence her repeated, if quiet, insistence on trying to be in the middle of things (it was a nice bit of writing, when Joshua put her back in her "proper" place, btw). The resemblance ends there, Angelique may suffer from some similar problems, but she can take care of herself and she works quite nicely from the sidelines, thank you very much.
Now Vicki was obviously, not even in the early days, never the sharpest knife in the drawer, but initially the character was just fine about looking behind the curtain to see who was pulling the strings. She's at the point now where she doesn't even want to see the curtain. That's not stupidity. That's avoidance.
Starting to babble now . . . but I think there really is an argument here to be made for mental instability. It certainly explains Peter Bradford
.
Luciaphil
