I love love love our first look at the PT East Wing! I've always thought Hoffman was one of the great DS creations.
Still desperate to finish off the Leviathan story, the writers have even more characters doing even stupider things.
I suppose that Sky had to blab to Barnabas about Megan's being his vampire so that he could reveal that her coffin was in the East Wing. Very clumsily done, writers. There must have dozens of other ways to do this. Barn and Julia could have figured out that she was a vampire and searched various previously unheard-of parts of the house for her coffin.
Jeb sees the shadow, practically drags Carolyn out of the house. Carolyn promises to phone as soon as they stop somewhere. Jeb practically hustles Carolyn out the door before Elizabeth has time to blink. After they leave, Elizabeth picks up a box of Carolina rice (though in those pre-product-placement days, the brand name was carefully covered) and reflects sadly, We forgot to throw it at the bride and groom--another bad omen.
Very nice little scene as Barn and Julia visit Elizabeth, who is now an empty-nester parent. Julia offers to help her redecorate the carriage house for Jeb and Carolyn, leaving Barn free to look for Megan's coffin.
In an apparent breakdown of the Breen codes (which stipulated that a couple could be shown in the same bed only if one of them had both feet on the floor), Jeb and Carolyn are asleep in each other’s arms. Presumably at least one part of their wedding night has gone without a hitch, and Carolyn has given herself, body and heart and soul, to her father’s murderer. Jeb wakes up and gets (topless--nothing terrible, but he’s no David Selby or Joel Crothers or even Don Briscoe) out of bed, but Carolyn doesn’t stir as he turns on the light. He shrieks in panic when the shadow appears, even larger than before. He wakes up a groggy Carolyn. I’m sorry, he tells her, but we have to keep driving tonight. She senses that something has frightened him and holds him tight.
The East Wing has obviously not been inhabited in quite some time and is a jumble of forgotten furniture and pictures. As Barnabas searches for Megan’s coffin, he thinks to himself, There are so many places to hide. No one has been down these halls for years. He comes on a set of double doors at the end of a corridor and opens them. He is amazed to see a “brilliantly” (according to the next ep.’s voiceover) furnished, even luxurious room, with covers on the furniture and also above the mantel, apparently over a large painting. Like the drawing room in the main part of the house, this room has a pair of large french windows with a couple of steps leading up, and also a window seat. Through an arch at the opposite side of the room from the doorway is another room. We hear a music-box version of a melody that will soon become all too familiar. Dumbfounded, Barnabas tries to enter, but is even more astonished when some invisible barrier seems to block his way. He spots on a nearby table a photo of Quentin and David posed seemingly like father and son, with the inscription Your loving husband, Quentin. Suddenly Elizabeth enters, wearing a very ordinary pink blouse and sweater with a nondescript gray skirt, very unlike her usual glamorous outfits. (The Mistress of Collinwood would never wear anything so casual as separates!) She opens a wardrobe and begins removing women’s dresses, including a pale-blue chiffon Grecian-style sleeveless gown with a sequined waistband. (We will see this gown again.) Barnabas calls to her, but she can’t hear him or simply ignores him. The next moment Julia Hoffman enters, dressed in a very plain, severe dark blue dress with a minuscule white lace collar. Barnabas calls to his dear friend, but she likewise pays no attention to him. What are you doing? Hoffman (definitely not Julia) asks in a freezing voice. I’m clearing out _her_ clothes, Elizabeth says. You will not touch her clothes, Hoffman says as if Elizabeth were a lower life form. _He_ will want the room open, Elizabeth says. Oh, will he? Hoffman asks as if daring _him_ to. You know that, Elizabeth says with a hostile look. It will be _their_ room. She will be back, Hoffman says flatly. When _they_ come back, _they_ will be living here, Elizabeth argues. They will not, Hoffman answers coldly. It is _hers_. It will always be _hers_. She is dead, Elizabeth says with seeming satisfaction. She will be back, Hoffman says as if settling the matter. No one else will ever live here. It will always be hers. She will be back. Elizabeth drops the clothes she is still holding and rushes to the doors. Don’t say that, she says, apparently scandalized. What if the children heard you? Again Barnabas calls to her, but she evidently doesn’t hear him as she slams the doors in his face. Highly confused, Barnabas wonders, What’s happening to me? It must have been my imagination, he decides. He turns to go, but the doors fly open again behind him. When he turns around, he sees that the room is dark and unfurnished. He is able to enter it now, and he steps in as he thinks to himself, Empty! It wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t! What was it?
Elizabeth and Julia return from the carriage house as Barnabas comes downstairs. He is amazed to see them. (Just like a man, he doesn’t even note they’re dressed entirely differently!) Where have you been? he asks. We were at the carriage house all this time, Julia replies. Barnabas tells her, It sounds insane, but I saw just you in the East Wing......
