Times Have Changed

[Cassandra]

I like this 1840 storyline but I can't help but find how strange the "new" Barnabas has been behaving.

For instance, the first place he goes to (that we see anyway) is Josette's room at the old house.  He then proceeds to take her portrait down while he's biding her farewell my lovely, and going on about beginning a whole new life now without her.

What a far cry from the Barnabas we know, who once released from his coffin in 1967 went about restoring the old house and fixing up Josette's room.  He had her room practically restored right down to the letter along with the perfect vanity she had on the dresser bureau!   And Heaven help anyone who would ever think of removing her portrait.  He seemed to be so obsessed with her.

So, why this sudden change of heart?   I guess 175 years as compared to the 40 year "absence really does make the heart grow fonder."


Cassandra

[Debra]

So true Cassandra. But then Barnabas always did seem to me to be a bit fickle when it came to women!

Thats a good point though. He would have never done that in 1967!  I would have said that it was on account of Roxanne,but he hadn't even met her at that point so go figure! ;)Deb

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What a far cry from the Barnabas we know, who once released from his coffin in 1967 went about restoring the old house and fixing up Josette's room.  He had her room practically restored right down to the letter along with the perfect vanity she had on the dresser bureau!   And Heaven help anyone who would ever think of removing her portrait.  He seemed to be so obsessed with her.

So, why this sudden change of heart?   I guess 175 years as compared to the 40 year "absence really does make the heart grow fonder."

In terms of what we saw in 1967, the fact that Barn disposed of his feelings of Josette so easily does seem odd. But apparently the audience had grown tired of his Josette obsession and wanted him to move on (which is more than likely why the writers chose to have the scene during Leviathans in which Josette gave Barn her ring back and basically told him to get a life).

Here's just one of the letters that fans were writing to the various daytime/teen magazines shortly after Lady Kitty's appearance in 1897/the trip to 1797(sic)/the start of Leviathans:

JOSETTE LOSING APPEAL?

Dear Editiors:
  I greatly enjoy After Noon TV and am happy to have found a TV magazine that is written and headlined in good taste and that appeals to an intelligent audience.
  I am wondering if the writers of Dark Shadows realize that Josette has lost appeal to many D.S. viewers and has become almost a figurative character. Although she was an integral part of the story originally, it has since evolved into a more central theme in which Barnabas and Julia hold the spotlight as hero and heroine. I believe that most D.S. viewers idenitfy more strongly with these two and that their relationship should be emphasized, and that of Barnabas and Josette de-emphasized. Barnabas is living in the present now. Josette is part of his past but should not become a vaguely-defined future. Julia's love for Barnabas has already been established. Now it's time to make him deal with that love realistically. If this does not occur in the near future, I'm afraid many viewers will become frustrated and eventually disinterested. I have spoken to several people who feel this way--most of them teenagers.


Of course, the writers didn't decide to deal with Barnabas and Julia's relationship - at least not in the way this person had hoped. Instead they introduced Roxanne...

[Joeytrom]

That article really descibed the problem with DS midway during 1897.  The writers would not move the characters forward but kept them in the same "limbo" state for the rest of the series.

The scene in Angelique's room following the end of Parallel Time where Julia tells Barnabas about him not being the only one who has had so little hope would have been a good starting part for a Barnabas/Julia pairing.

In a way they resemble Dr. Steve Hardy and Jessie Brewer on General Hospital.  Both of them had a lot of stories together where they helped the other out but never ever had any romance between them.

[Cassandra]

MB wrote:

In terms of what we saw in 1967, the fact that Barn disposed of his feelings of Josette so easily does seem odd. But apparently the audience had grown tired of his Josette obsession and wanted him to move on (which is more than likely why the writers chose to have the scene during Leviathans in which Josette gave Barn her ring back and basically told him to get a life).

I totally agree with you here and I can understand the audience, as well as myself getting tired of his long Josette obsession.  What bothered me is the way the writers went about portraying it in this storyline.  The scene in which I described above with Josette's portait just didn't seem to fit in with the original Barnabas' character who had only been confined to the coffin for 40 years sort to speak.

Shortly after that he met Roxanne anyway so I felt they should have just left well enough alone without having him actually saying goodbye to the portrait.  It seemed so out of place to me and definetely out of character for him.


Cassandra

[Josette]

Or, at least if he had met Roxanne first, and then decided to say goodbye to the portrait, that would have made some sense.

[Cassandra Blair]

And just where is Josette's ghost in all of this?  True, she did appear during the Leviathan storyline to give Barnabas the brush-off, but in 1840 shouldn't she still have been actively haunting the Old House?

Maybe her ghost would have been pissed that Barnabas gave her the brush off so easily after waking from his relatively short dirt nap.  :-

I too was bothered by the farewell Barnabas so hastily bid Josette.

[Julia99]

Thanks MB for that excerpt. . .interesting to know that "teenagers" felt that way about B&J. . i mean look at what writers have done recently .. deepening a relationship but propelling the story along, Friends (the neverending Ross & Rachel storyline), Scully & Mulder (obviously a close parallel to B&J--if not downright rip off). . .I'm sure the writers were a bit concerned that if they "consumated" that relationship one of their main pull-ins would be gone.  There are so many other things they could've done .. i.e. get Julia a man whom she actually liked, give up on B and then have him fall for her and have it precluded in some way from acknowleding his love (e.g. Nicholas Blair will KILL ALL!)  I've obviously had too much time to think about this tonight. . .

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I wonder if because KLS was departing for Paris to be with her future husband for an indefinite period of time was, in fact, the final nail in the coffin (please pardon the extremely poor pun) of the Barnabas and Josette story line, as far as Dan Curtis & company were concerned?

[Cassandra Blair]

Yeah, KLS's departure would have had to make the whole Josette angle much harder to deal with.  They couldn't work the lookalike concept in 1840.  They would have been left with making someone her reincarnation who DIDN'T look like her, which really wouldn't have worked with any of the existing 1840 characters.

I think the article posted by MB (thanks!) shows that the audience was tired of the Barnabas/Josette romance, and didn't want that repeated.  Why the PTB chose to pursue the May/September thing with Roxanne instead of building something between the vampire and our fave doctor is beyond me, though.  They could have gotten a lot of mileage out of a "will they or won't they" storyline between Barnabas and Julia.

[Philippe Cordier]

Why the PTB chose to pursue the May/September thing with Roxanne instead of building something between the vampire and our fave doctor is beyond me, though.  They could have gotten a lot of mileage out of a "will they or won't they" storyline between Barnabas and Julia.

Personally, I much prefer the ambivalence and ambiguity in the relationship that we were left with.  To my mind, that's one of the subtleties that make DS stand apart from most TV shows.  The predicatable thing would have been to have them fall in love, and then there would have been a "Rhoda" style wedding (reference to the 1970s for those who remember!).  I say, thank goodness DS didn't fall into that formulaic, cliched trap, but rather left things as unsettled as real life often is.

[Cassandra]

Cassandra Blair wrote:

And just where is Josette's ghost in all of this?  True, she did appear during the Leviathan storyline to give Barnabas the brush-off, but in 1840 shouldn't she still have been actively haunting the Old House?

Good question!  And her spirit had also been there in 1967 too when Barnabas was released from his coffin.  There were also numerous other occasions when Barnabas was either in trouble or imprisoned in some way that Josette's ghost would suddenly emerge out of nowhere.

I wonder if because KLS was departing for Paris to be with her future husband for an indefinite period of time was, in fact, the final nail in the coffin (please pardon the extremely poor pun) of the Barnabas and Josette story line, as far as Dan Curtis & company were concerned?

That's a good point Bob the Bartender and I never thought of that reason before.  Still, though as far as the storyline goes they could have just kept things up, meeting Roxanne and falling for her etc,  instead of adding that goodbye message to Josette in there.  Or at least have him meet Roxanne first then say his farewells.

Cassandra

[Joeytrom]

Kathryn Leigh Scott was originally to have played Samantha Collins.  We are lucky that she didn't, otherwise Barnabas would be fawning over Samantha during this story and try to make her into Josette.

[Philippe Cordier]

Kathryn Leigh Scott was originally to have played Samantha Collins.  We are lucky that she didn't, otherwise Barnabas would be fawning over Samantha during this story and try to make her into Josette.

I like KLS, but have to admit that it's good to have someone new in a this particular role, especially since Virginia Vestoff did a good job with it.

I think we were blessed with good casting in this storyline overall.  I'm relieved John Karlen got the Desmond part (in reference to a comment made by MB recently ...).

Louis Edmonds is always good, especially in these period pieces.

[Julia99]

Personally, I much prefer the ambivalence and ambiguity in the relationship that we were left with.  To my mind, that's one of the subtleties that make DS stand apart from most TV shows.  I say, thank goodness DS didn't fall into that formulaic, cliched trap, but rather left things as unsettled as real life often is.

You make a valid point--I'm glad too that it didn't go formulaic.  . . it would've been interesting if all the sudden Julia was sleeping over at the Old House most of the time and everyone was just left with a frown trying to figure it out . . .you know getting B to embrace an "adult"1970s type of arrangement. . .Julia didn't necessarily want to marry him i don't think. . .
just shag him. . . and maybe read some poetry to her by the fire.