So I've come to the witchcraft trial episode. Can I stress how much I think it's ridiculous that Vicki got convicted on Abigail's testimony alone? I mean come on, she had Joshua Collins, the most respected and successful man in the community, Countess Natalie DuPres, who knew Angelique since she was a child, and Ben Loomis who was first hand under Angelique's power. I know he went beserk when he saw Angelique appear in the courtroom after having buried her in the woods...but really, it doesn't occur to ANYONE that MAYBE witches can return from the dead?
I think the writers really screwed up during the trial...first if DC felt he had to rehash the witchcraft trial...as I said a couple of episodes ago, he should have sent her back to 1692, where witchcraft trials were running prominent in Salem in that time.
Second, again I repeat that it was silly to have the jurors believe Abigail over Joshua. I think DC should have kept it on an even keel like he did in the OS....have half of the family believe Vicki's guilty, the other half believing she's innocent. I think Especially he probably should have had Joshua a bit against her since his word DOES carry a lot or should have since he is an important figure.
Also shouldn't Abigail and especially Trask have figured that witches have the power to do anything, particularly coming back from the grave? I suppose Abigail made herself believe that Angelique and Vicki were in coherts, but still, no matter how much she wanted to see Vicki convicted, she should have spoken up about how Barnabas and Ben did bury Angelique's body in the woods.
Joshua, Andre and Natalie find Josette at the Old House during the day and take her back to Collinwood. Natalie figures out that it is a vampire who is preying on Josette. Determined to prevent her predicted demise, the family stands guard over her....to no avail. Barnabas wills Natalie to go to sleep (very much like how he willed Joe Haskell to go to sleep in order to summon Daphne) and calls to Josette to come to him. She does. She goes to the Old House and sees Barnabas waiting for her up the stairs and slowly walks towards him.
However, Angelique's ghost appears to her alone and shows her what horrors await her if she goes through with becoming what Barnabas is. Visions of Daphne the vamp, Vicki and Carolyn as vamps, even Barnabas himself (both young and as the 200-year-old-man he temporarily transformed into), fangs and all appear to Josette in her mind. Barnabas notices Josette's sudden change in attitude. He approaches her. Horrified over what Angelique has shown her, Josette runs from him and out of the house. Barnabas runs after her.
Josette heads toward Widows' Hill. Barnabas sees her and desperately tries to stop her, but he is too late. Josette reaches the end of the cliff and feels she now only has one choice to escape. She prepares herself to jump off the cliff, which she does. A devastated Barnabas calls out after her, knowing that he has lost her forever.
This scene plays out almost exactly like JF's Barnabas in the OS described in the early B/W episodes and should have been played out in the OS, but I guess DC was limited with the budget he had at the time. In here Josette's running from Barnabas and leaping to her death is much more dramatic and very well done.
In the present we say goodbye to Joe Haskell, having discovered Barnabas' secret and foolishly taking matters in his own hands. Now, as I said in the previous episode, I don't blame him for being disgusted with the sheriff's reluctance to act....but he had to have known that Barnabas was not without allies. There is Willie and Dr. Hoffman. Even though he made sure that Willie was gone when he went to the Old House, Joe didn't figure on Dr. Hoffman. We know at this time that she is possessed by Angelique....which does not bode well for the fate of Phyllis Wick.
Anyway, as Joe attempts to stake Barnabas in his coffin in the cellar of the Old House, Julia, under Angelique's power, puts a knife in the back. Willie returns and finds her standing over Joe's body. She attacks him but Willie surprisingly manages to overtake her. Later on after dark, Barnabas orders Willie to bury Joe's body in the woods. Having realized that Julia must have been taken over by Angelique at the last séance, Barnabas tells her to go to Maggie Evans to have her exorcise Angelique's spirit.
Not a bad episode by any means. The highlight undoubtly for me was Josette's tragic demise and the events leading up to it.
