EPISODES 451-460
Well well well.. Like any good (and dragged out) plot in a soap opera, this too had to come to an end. And while watching these remaining episodes of the 1795 story, I've had so many "A-Ha" and "I knew it!!" moments that it was uncanny. I practically guessed how most of the stuff would turn out in the previous post. I'm beginning to suspect I've been a fan of the show in my previous incarnation or better yet I may turn out to be one of the deceaced cast or crew members (with my luck, I was probably serving coffee). So anyway, lemme tell briefly how it ended~
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| Burn the witch! |
-Last time we were left with a seemingly tame and obviously old witch trying to lift the curse off
Barnabas. However,
Angelique's influence was so strong that she not only fails at her second attempt but burns in
Angelique's supernatural flames. It was kinda left open ended whether she became toast or survived but I think former is more likely what happened.
-People finally remembered about Vicki. Joshua tried cowardly way of helping her by having a talk with the judge and later with the governor, both of which bounced back flaccidly. Turns out Mr. Collins doesn't have much of power or influence as we have been led to believe. Pfft. Some people are full of themselves.
But Peter Bradford ain't one of them. When the shit hit the fan, he grabbed Vicki's jailer's gun, locked him up and freed Vicki. But not before Vicki managed to shoot herself on the friggin shoulder. Don't ask me, if you've seen the episode you'll know.
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| Ben the everloyal |
-So this is where we got to learn who's loyalty lies with who.
Ben Stokes, the servant who I've had a love/hate relationship (actually it was more like sympathy/annoyance), put me to shame when he willingly helped
Vicki and
Peter hide (there's a slight but totally amazing reference to the time when
Matthew once kept
Vicki captive in the Old House). I mean yeah I knew he had a big cuddly heart and all that but after the incident at the court where he was wrongfully declared insane I'd kinda lost faith in him.
Naomi was also as generous as ever when
Vicki had to hide in Collinwood.
Daniel too was very helpful.
Nathan Douchebag Forbes was douchebaggy as always but we'll get to that later in more detail.
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| Vicki goes BANG BANG |
-
Nathan finally wanted to have
Daniel out of the picture so he could inherit
Millicent's wealth. He hired/blackmailed his ginger frienemy
Noah Gifford for the job, who unwillingly kidnapped
Daniel but before he could kill him, the boy escaped into the cemetery where he was nurtured by
Vicki who happened to be
snoozing hiding in the secret room of the Collins Mausoleum. She then shot
Noah on the back to save the boy. That was her first and probably the last kill.
-When Vicki and Daniel fled the scene, Nathan discovered Peter hovering over the body, who got framed for the murder and was sent to the gaol. This broke Vicki's heart later when she learnt.
-Nathan, crazy with what little authority he gained -via blackmail- within the walls of Collinwood, started to act like he is the boss. Suspecting his intentions concerning Daniel, Naomi had the boy sent to a secure place in town which naturally angered Nathan and made him give her the news about Barnabas and how he's the Collinsport Strangler now hiding in the Tower Room. After that, it was all downhill--
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| Naomi's demise |
*
Naomi discovered the body but was told
Barnabas was put under a
sleeping spell.
*Then Naomi saw Barnabas going for the delicious artery on Millicent's neck and screamed her lungs off.
*Joshua had to admit everything and if I remember correctly he specifically didn't use the word vampire as not to give the woman a heart attack on the spot.
*Naomi killed herself anyway by poisoning her drink. She went in style and in Barnabas' arms. It was a dramatic scene where she said she loved him no matter what. Afterall, Angelique's spell was directly aimed at the destruction of whoever loved Barnabas..
*..which Barnabas used as an excuse to be emo towards his father one last time. "You are incapable of loving me so you will be spared as a victim of the curse"
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| Nathan's last moments |
*But my favorite one came from
Ben when
Barnabas was feeling guilty about his mother's death:
"You can't just tell somebody to stop loving. It ain't that easy." You tell it boy!!
*Barnabas threatened Nathan about killing him in half an hour.
*Ben taunted Nathan about Barnabas threatening to kill him in half an hour. Joshua also didn't object much.
*Nathan found a crossbow from the Collins Family collection of weapons (my brain went BuffyBuffyBuffyBuffy), shot the vampire but missed the heart (Buffy would never) and got himself killed. It was a bit rushed considering how Nathan was one of the main villains of this storyline but what it comes down to is..he is dead and his body is dumped like the carcass he was.
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| Locked Up For Eternity |
-When this was all over, it was time for
Barnabas to leave this world.
Joshua'd been doing some research and found out silver bullets can kill a vampire as well. When
Barnabas was taken back to the Mausoleum in his coffin, J
oshua couldn't bring himself to shoot his own son. So what happened was he had
Ben put up a silver cross inside the coffin and lock
Barnabas up within with multiple chains while he's sleeping. They hoped that nobody would ever find and release him back to the world. But we know better don't we. It just took one
Willie Loomis to do it. It was also quite symbolic that with most of the family and friends dead or gone,
Joshua and
Ben -two polars of social hierarchy- had to work together for this one final job.
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| Can he reach across the universe? |
-Last but not least,
Vicki Winters had been found and turned over to the authorities by
Nathan before he was killed. Back in her cell and so close to the execution, her last wish was to see
Peter Bradford, who too was facing charges. Before she was taken to the gallows, they kissed and cried and
Peter promised
Vicki that he'll find a way to find her in the future. Kinda romantic. Possible future storyline. Then at the gallows, they put the rope around
Vicki..she asked for the mask..they covered her face..great tension..total silence...breaths hold...and they pulled the weight under her. She is hung!
WHAT AN ENDING!!!!
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| At the gallows |
Well I'm pretty sure that
Vicki will open her eyes in Collinwood on the séance table all traumatized and shit but still...WOW!! I was on the edge of my seat. The moral of this story must be "live in the
now; not the past". Things all in all went quite consistent with my alternative reading of this all being "
Vicki's mental escape into the past to avoid facing
Burke's death". She had to literally face the death herself to be able to come back to reality, which is quite mythtic if you ask me. I'm curious to learn what'd happen if
Peter reappeared in
Vicki's time.
We also got to learn Joshua deliberately decided to change the written family history to cover up the shame caused by Angelique. Every mention of her will be removed from the records, Jeremiah will be given a natural death, Barnabas will be written as having left for England and everything will be recorded as the way it's known by Vicki and the other members of the family. Speaking of which, I think the family history book is trapped in the past. Maybe it'll appear on Vicki's lap when she wakes up? Or maybe Peter will bring it with him?
Now let's do a final situation update of the characters:
*Naomi, Sarah, Jeremiah, Abigail, Josette Collins are all dead.
*Barnabas will be locked in the tomb for the next 150 years or so.
*Millicent and Daniel will be raised by Joshua Collins as if they're his children. Millicent is also a total kookoo head right now.
*Angelique too is dead but her body was gone from where it was buried the last time we checked and she appeared at the court looking very much alive so we don't know for certain.
*Ben Stokes is set free from his servitude by Joshua upon Barnabas' last request. Actor Thayer David also has the honors of doing the first male voice-over prologue narration of the series. Dingdingding!!
*Rev. Trask's skeletons remain within one of the walls of the Old House cellar.
*Andre du Pres had left the town after Josette's death. We dunno what happens to him.
*Natalie too strangely disappeared during the last couple of episodes. I bet she opens the first tarot shop of the history.
Ok so, as much as I enjoyed this ride I'm glad it's over. It was surely a ballsy move on the writers' part to take the series into a brave new territory, especially when the year of the production is concerned.. And they must have liked it themselves cause we'll apparently have couple of more different time-travel stories in the future. I'm looking forward to them but I'm just glad we're back in the present for now.
PS. Also, what the hell will happen to
Phyllis Wick the other governess?
Barnabas is our old Barnabas but now still human and romantically waiting for his bride-to-be to arrive from Martinique. He's the first person Vicki runs into in this timeline. He's quite noble and gentle but an unexpected visitor from his past comes to bite his ass. He's quite like the Barnabas we knew actually, minus the fangs and the aggressiveness plus the sunshine on his skin. He thinks Vicki has some kind of 6th sense when she occasionally slips her knowledge of the future.
Barnabas' dear sister Sarah is also still alive. She mistakes Vicki for her new governess that they've been expecting and her instant liking to Vicki actually plays a big role in her getting the job. We haven't seen much of her since then, I think we're gonna witness the whole dramatic sickness and death of hers. It also seems even as the living, she had a tendency to say "I must go now" and run off. Well, even death can't change some habits.
Barnabas and Sarah's mother, poor Naomi is expected to be everything a woman of the 18th century is expected to be: obedient and silent. She has a good caring nature, not unlike Liz of 1900's but she has almost no authority and everything she does is questioned and controlled by her husband Joshua. Honestly it's kind of hard to buy her as Barnabas' mother but it may as well be fitting since in those days it'd be common to have early marriages and pregnancies (trivia #101 Actress Joan Bennett is only 14 years older than actor Jonathan Frid). She may have minor psychic abilities for she has nightmares about Angelique's spells. She also seems to like a drink or two.
The father of Barnabas & Sarah and husband to Naomi, Joshua is a tough man who shows little compassion (if not none) to those around him. All he does is order around. He's also quite an opportunist as he plans his son's and brother's weddings according to the wealth of the brides' family. Everybody one way or another obeys him but Vicki. As she's from a century where women have started to liberate themselves from the patriarchy, she doesn't mind questioning Joshua's judgements to his irritation. Well, he's totally a Roger of that century, his power comes not from self but only from his title. Oh and he gets turned into a cat by Angelique. It's nothing personal really, she just needed a diversion to push her plans forward but personally a pig could have been more fitting.
Spinster sister of Joshua. She's very superstitious who first thought Vicki is possessed by an evil force because of her "immodest" clothing (thank God it wasn't Carolyn that got sent to the past) and her mysterious appearance. If it weren't for the others, I bet she'd have set the girl on fire right there on the spot. She is kinda tough but as she's a woman she doesn't really have much say in the deals. She and Naomi have some strong sister-in-law strife and it's fun to watch. If only Mrs. Johnson could see this huge social class leap her look-a-like took. 
Jeremiah; younger brother of Joshua and Abigail, whom we've known as Josette's husband and Barnabas' sworn enemy from the established history. It turns out he's Barnabas' uncle and had no connection with Josette until Angelique came along and cast a lovespell. Under the spell, the two secretly meet and kiss and can't pull themselves away even though they try. Also they both have the mark of the devil, a pitchfork, appearing/disappearing on their hands. His "resemblance" to Burke often surprises and saddens Vicki. He's also one of the few people who find Vicki's oddity interesting.
A distant cousin of the family, she is actually everything Carolyn would have been in this century. She's naive yet flirty and reminds me of Cécile de Volanges from "Les Liaisons dangereuses". Joshua wants his brother Jeremiah to marry her (yuck @ the incest factor) because of her family's wealth but Jeremiah isn't interested. She comes to the Old House from New York specifically for Barnabas & Josette's wedding. I really like the way actress Nancy Barrett performs this character, she totally shines among those who play their new characters rather similar to the ones of the 1960's.
Ahh finally, Angelique!! She's Josette's maid who arrives one day before the bride does. It turns out Barnabas and her had an affair some time ago in Martinique and she's still in love with him. But when Barnabas rejects her, she resorts to magic to ruin the wedding. She also has the caretaker of the house under her influence to do her bidding. I think she'll be my new favorite character. Her piercing eyes and her little French accent are amazing. She also has a slight resemblance to Nicole Kidman. For some reason, I can't take her as a real villain probably because she doesn't really want to kill people, just make them you know, miserable and act out of their wills.
Our good old Josette, now in flesh and blood (of Maggie Evans), arrives in Collinwood as an excited bride. Too bad soon after her reunion with her husband-to-be, she falls victim to her maid Angelique's spell and hopelessly falls in love with Jeremiah. After people begin to suspect something's up, her marriage with Barnabas is pulled one month forward in a rush but she disappears on the night of the ceremony. It's so nice to finally see this character as a living person and witness her progress as she goes from being Barnabas' fiancee to Jeremiah's wife and leading to her suicide at Widow's Hills.
He is, not surprisingly, Josette's father. His wife is apparently dead. He's too arrogant to find American way of things acceptable. He's proud of his French heritage. When he finds out about his daughter and Jeremiah, he confronts and persuades him to leave. But just when Jeremiah was about to leave, his brother Joshua 
Josette's snobby, tarot-loving aunt who refuses to drop the title countess from her name. She positively hates Barnabas' father Joshua. And when I said tarot-loving I meant tarot-obsessed. She's almost always reading the cards and suspects evil is around but she does it with a certain sophistication that is not to be confused with Abigail Collins' outright superstition. It was her who first saw Jeremiah and Josette kiss and made the urgent wedding plans. She also suspects Vicki to be a witch and subtely presses the girl about it. I think she shows some similarities to Julia Hoffman with her belief in the supernatural and her determination to seek it out. Just watch your neck around Barnabas.
Matthew of the 18th century. He's the caretaker who is not so bright and easy to manipulate. Angelique's spell totally bound him to her, he can't even speak about it without choking. He hates his boss Joshua but has loyalties to Barnabas and Jeremiah, which sometimes causes problems when he's forced to do something against them for Angelique. But he did get happy when she turned 
Lieutenant Forbes is a naval officer and works for the Collins family. He's one of the first people Vicki ran into in this timeline but she learned her lesson when Nathan turned out to be nothing like Joe Haskell. He tried to get his way with her more than once and is shamelessly casual about it. He also starts to show interest in Millicent Collins after learning about her family's fortune. I'm so glad Nathan is so different from Joe. It must be a terrific experience for the actors to experience this kind of variety within the same show. He does have a rather distracting bulge though, if you catch my drift.
