EPISODES 281-290
Possessed by what appears to be Josette's ghost, Vicki relives the moments leading to her death, before passing out. Later, she becomes highly immersed in family history and especially Josette owing to Barnabas' implicit pushings. Her condition disturbs Burke, some of the Collins' and eventually herself. Meanwhile Barnabas starts showing signs of compassion when he can't bring himself to hurt Vicki.
Dr. Julia Hoffman gambles with Maggie's life when she takes her to the cemetery to help jumpstart her memory. Maggie reacts weird around the Collins Tomb. Vicki, also visiting the cemetery (for Josette's birthday) almost catches a glimpse of Maggie.
Diverting her investigation to the Collins Family, Julia introduces herself as a historian specializing on families and begins her "research" once Liz is persuaded. With every resource available to her, Julia digs her way through the family history and eventually finds out about Barnabas' secret.
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| Burke dislikes Barnabas' gifts; Barnabas dislikes Burke. |
So, Vicki is a hungry hungry hippo and Barnabas is feeding her the balls (in forms of Josette's music box, some random rare book, fancy talking etc.) I can actually understand her fascination with the family history as there's no TV in Collinwood and the Collins family is known for her juicy soap-like affairs. However, I wonder how long she's gonna keep playing the orphan card to explain her obsession with the Family. C'mon Vicki, it's OK to admit you want some of that fame and fortune that comes with being a Collins.
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| Barnabas stops Vicki's trance before she can utter his name. |
About the seancé..what's with the English speaking Josette? Where is our old reliable French speaking ghost that graced the first one with her haunting presence. She didn't even emit the scent of jasmine this time. I think she didn't care much for this unexpected and rather joke of a seancé, so she went on and babbled something just to be over with it. Or Vicki faked it. Come to think of it, her moans did sound a bit fake. But then again, we gotta ask that to Burke..or maybe to the late Frank Garner (although I think they were stuck at first base for so long Vicki had to sack him eventually hence his sudden outwrittenage). And once again Josette's spirit and Vicki got interrupted before they can point a certain person (this time responsible for Josette's suicide).
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| Maggie's made to remember Sarah |
When the Collins Family is busy indulging in coctail parties and surprise seancés, poor forgotten Maggie is undergoing some weird forms of therapy that involves Julia speaking extremely slowly for some reason. That cemetery stunt was bold but helped great deal to uncover the mysteries. Obviously she's someone who knows exactly where to look and isn't afraid to, correction, LOVES to, think outside the box.
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| Julia's mirror trick |
Her casualness while trying to get a glimpse of Barnabas' lack of reflection on her make up mirror or her pleasure in snooping down to the cellar during the day and opening his coffin with him sleeping in it is admirable. I bet she's even figured out the little girl that Maggie saw, Sarah, is Barnabas' ghostly sister.
I especially loved her and Barnabas' exchange of witty dialogue that's full of mutual "I'm on to you"s. However, the cliffhanger ending of #290 showed who is actually onto who. Suspecting Barnabas may plan something to take care of her that night, she bloated the sheets with pillows and kept waiting for him in the dark. Barnabas indeed came through the window, walked up to the bed and was ready to strangle the feathers out of the pillows when Doctor Balls stood up and greated him, saying she's been waiting for him for a long long time.
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| Julia welcomes Barnabas's unexpected night visit. |
Now I don't know what that means (does she mean tonight or is she like this weird vampire lover person thing) but it is exciting. I also have a feeling that Julia isn't planning to share this information with anyone else..then how the hell is she gonna make our dear Maggie alright again?
Also, why the heck is she staying at Collinwood? I don't remember it ever being discussed with Liz. It's one thing to supposedly do research on the family, another to share the same bathroom with them. What now, after the Jason ordeal, Collinwood is open for every drifter? Liz you better put an end to this shenanigans darling.
Honestly, I still don't know how I feel about this Julia Hoffman. Normally I'm known to like cold bitches (e.g. Emma Frost and Lilah Morgan) or strong independent female characters but there's something offsetting about her; she's in such a grey zone I can't place her under neither camps of good and evil. And the funny thing is, I can't quite concieve her face. I think it's because her eyes are mostly like two slits. Weird~
This concludes the DVD Collections 1 & 2~
Recently I got sick with fever and the show kinda got hard to watch so I stopped until I got better. But I'm happy to announce in 5 episodes, we'll finally get color so it'll be easier to sit through. Personally I, although love old school Hollywood as much as the next guy, am sick and tired of watching the show in B&W. So far it's been almost 100 hours of footage watched. That means I won't be watching any film noirs for a long loong time~
2 comments:
I'm glad you are feeling better.
Great post...informative and entertaining at the same time.
"Burke dislikes Barnabas' gifts; Barnabas dislikes Burke.".....I love that caption and pic.
Some entertaining sparring certainly goes on between these two, sparring that I can't really imagine between Barnabas and the old Burke. I liked the old Burke better. He seemed a lot tougher than the new one. It would have been interesting to see how things developed between the old Burke and Barnabas...I think there would have been more of an edge to their relationship.
And yes, why IS Julia Hoffman staying at Collinwood? As the show progresses, Collinwood does seem open to every drifter. Perhaps it was a way to control costs by using less sets.
As far as Julia being offsetting...Hmmm, yeah, I'm with you on that one.
Hehe, thank you!
Not yet sure but I think I like the old Burke better too. It's like he's suddenly become a side character, maybe he needs some new storylines to make him tough again (tough I like it more when he is with the Collins family and not against them).
And I agree with you on the edgeness that would have come with the old Burke. I usually like the idea of a character being played by different actors, I think it's because it adds some different kind of dynamic to the mix. But this one is like a totally different person.
But what I'm enjoying the most right now the interaction between Julia and Barnabas. And from what I read, the duo will be together for a long while so maybe I can bring myself to like them if not just Julia herself :)
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