Vicki as Josette

[FireRose]

In some respects, I think DS borrowed the worst of traditional soap opera story telling and ignored the best.

The writer's did something else too... They had this habit of telling us one thing and then later on it became something different.

Example:

When Barnabas and Julia were on Widow's Hill and Barnabas was telling her about Josette. Barnabas said that Josette came to Collinwood to be Jeramiah's bride and that from the first time he... Barnabas saw her he fell for her and that even though as time passed Josette loved Jeramiah that she became fearful of becoming old. That is when Barnabas began to win her affection. That he would do anything to be with her.

It seem to be hinting there that Barnabas became a vampire willingly to be with her.

But when they went into the past... The story was completely different and Barnabas was the one Josette came to Collinwood to marry.

When you saw that it was like what? That wasn't what Barnabas told Julia, in an earlier episode, when they were on Widow's Hill.

FireRose

[Joeytrom]

It appeared that the writers had no clue as to how Barnabas became a vampire in pre-1795 episodes.  There isn't even a hint of how it happened.  Barnabas never brought the subject up with either Julia or Willie and neither one even asked him.  That would probably have been one of the first questions one would ask in that situation.

When I first watched DS, I remember seeing that episode where Barnabas is telling the story of Josette's suicide and saying to myself "At last, now they finally revealed what really happened!" lol.  This episode is also only a month before 1795 begins, so they still hadn't outlined the deatils of it yet.

Barnabas' original origin seems to have taken place over several years instead of five months from 1795-1796.  The writters obviously didn't know they were eventually going to tell a five month flashback.  The time period it originally was intended for was apparently the 1830's as Barnabas was said to have left for England "130 years ago".

Ron Sproat said that they originally were going to tell Barnabas' origin through books and ghosts instead of Vicky going back in time.  If they had gone that route, then they could have used the material they had been mentioned for the past eight months.

[stefan]

I keep wondering "What if". What if Barnabas had been able to make Maggie believe she was Josette while she was alive, and then turned her into a vampire.

It is interesting to compare KLS's Maggie in Josette's room, so alienated - in a virtual haunted horror chamber when Barnabas kidnapped her, and then see KLS in 1795 as bona-fide Josette in the same room, comfortable and at home. Sometimes even laughing....

Sometimes it seems that Maggie's complete lack of empathy and connection to her past twin, the elegant Josette, almost adds to the elusive and transient quality of Josette herself. Maybe it is this "foggy perceptions" that connect Maggie and Josette - it could indicate they are past incarnations of the same spirit. I never felt either character completely understod themselves and that both had hidden depths they were afraid to acknowledge.