While watching the July 9th eps I was reminded of how much I love the 1970PT storyline, chiefly because it relies on a good deal of human drama to tell its stories. Don't get me wrong, I also love DS' supernatural elements. The show simply wouldn't be the same without them. But I find DS most satisfying when the supernatural and the human are intertwined and 1970PT often does that beautifully. Ep #1054 is a perfect example of human drama, deception and manipulation coming to the fore. It's nothing short of mesmerizing to watch the scenes of Angelique manipulating Quentin into believing Maggie killed Carolyn and Roger masterfully steering Maggie's certainty that Quentin killed Liz. Add to that Angelique's taunts of the agony Julia will experience should she not choose to cooperate and reveal Barnabas' secret and the ep is really something quite wonderful.
In a similar vein, it's fascinating to watch the cruelty Barnabas will resort to in order to get done what he firmly believes must be done, and ep #531 is a perfect example of that. After discovering that Joe has been attacked by Adam, Barn needs to get Joe to the hospital ASAP, however, Willie refuses to drive them because 1) he believes Joe has always hurt him, and 2) with Joe out of the way, Willie believes he'd have a better chance with Maggie. True, Willie's beliefs aren't exactly operating from a point of complete reality (Joe's attitude toward Willie is perfectly justified because he still believes that Willie was Maggie's kidnapper - and Maggie simply sees Willie as a friend, whereas she loves Joe), but what does Barn do - he resorts to blackmail, threatening that unless Willie takes them he will lead the police to believe that Willie was the one who attacked Joe. Actually, that tact goes beyond being cruel. But as we know only too well, Barn subscribes to the belief that the ends always justify the means. Joe needs to go the hospital, and Barn isn't about to let what he perceives as Willie's silliness stop him from getting Joe there, so he resorts to persuading Willie in a way he knows will definitely get through.
(It's also interesting to note that apparently Barn couldn't drive a car yet - otherwise he could have simply driven Joe to the hospital himself. Perhaps one of the added "benefits" of Leviathans possession is that one instantly knows how to drive. Makes one wonder what other talents one might suddenly possess.
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